Spanish on the River

Vocabulary
50% of Spanish vocabulary is way different from English. What is more important, usually the differences are found in very common words which makes the trouble even bigger. No one could possible guess that the word ‘casa’ means ‘house’ or ‘coche’ for ‘car’. Also it is very easy to encounter one of the many ‘false friends’, that is, words that look alike in two different languages but whose meaning is not exactly the same. Sometimes they mean totally different things like ‘carpeta’ (file folder) and ‘carpet’ (alfombra) and some others (by far the worst situation!) their meanings are alike but not absolutely the same.

Apart from that, one of the most challenging areas for English speakers is the gender of nouns. All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine and depending on that corresponding articles and adjectives have to be chosen. An example: ‘el cielo’ (the sky, masculine) and ‘la tierra’ (the earth, feminine). Some can even have both roles and have to be differentiated through the use of the accompanying article or adjective. So, we can use ‘el estudiante’ to refer to a student boy or ‘la estudiante’ for a student girl. Generally speaking, masculine nouns end in ‘o’ and feminine nouns end in ‘a’. However, this is not always the case and some of them are not regular. Once more, the exceptions affect very usual words, making it hard to easily recognize them. Here are some very common ones: ‘la mano’ (hand, feminine), ‘la foto’ (photo, feminine), ‘el día’ (day, masculine), ‘el problema’ (problem, masculine).

To end up, there are many widely used variations and derived terms to express certain nuances. For example, words ending with ‘ito/ita’ will indicate something small or alternatively something for which we show affection. You can see this effect in ‘la casita’ (the little house) or in ‘mi casita’ (not my little house, but my beloved house). Words ending in ‘azo/aza’ will indicate something big like ‘la casaza’ (a very big house). Similarly, words ending in ‘ucho/ucha’ would denotate disdain like ‘la casucha’ (a hovel).

Ser/Estar
In Spanish there are two verbs for ‘to be’: ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’. You can read the explanations in a grammar book and understand them very well but it will be a long time before you will stop making errors when you speak. The usual explanation is that ‘ser’ is used for permanent things, for features that define the particular object you are talking about and ‘estar’ is used for temporary states. Choosing one or another can really change the meaning of a sentence. To give you an example look at these two sentences in English. ‘I am boring’ and ‘I am bored’. The first means that you are a boring person and the second means that you are temporarily bored by the situation you are in. These two sentences translated to Spanish would be ‘Soy aburrido’ and ‘Estoy aburrido’ respectively. For possessions you use ‘ser’, eg. ‘es tuyo’ (it’s yours) and for position you use ‘estar’, eg. ‘¿Dónde está el coche?’ (Where is the car?).

Sayings
The Spanish language has a very long history evolving from latin since the Middle Ages. That has made it collect many sayings stemming from the popular wisdom. Even we, natives, don’t know all the existing sayings, or are even able to interpret them correctly. However there are many that most of us know by heart and use in everyday life. ‘Poderoso caballero es Don Dinero’ or ‘Marzo ventoso y abril lluvioso hacen a mayo florido y hermoso’ are just two of those, the first one meaning: Mister Money is a powerful knight, and the second stating: if mars is windy and april rainy then may will be full of flowers and beautiful. Many times this type of rhymed sentences are the subject of conversation or are used to justify or argue a point. You can find lots of examples in the internet just typing ‘refrán’ at the search engine.

Slang
Same as in any other language, what people say in the streets is not the same as you can find in the newspapers. People tend to use more familiar constructs and words in day-to-day situations than what is considered as standard Spanish. The main difficulty with this is that this jargon evolves very quickly. Words are created and forgotten each and everyday. And even more, the evolution of slang is different not only in each Spanish speaking country but also on a region per region basis. A person speaking slang will be very likely not understood by other Spanish speaking persons not living in the same country.

Verbs
In contrast with the easy and extremely regular verbal tenses of English, in Spanish we find a great variety of verbal forms. Not only do we use more verbal tenses with different endings for each pronoun, but also the chosen tense might as well be used to convey a different meaning or our opinion on the things we talk about. Also, the subjunctive is used a lot in Spanish but not so much in English. For example, one of the most common uses of the subjunctive in Spanish is with ‘want’. An easy structure for a foreigner learning English could be: ‘I want you to do me a favour’. In Spanish you would have to say (literally) I want that you do me a favour (‘Quiero que me hagas un favor’). ‘You do’ would normally be ‘haces’ but because you have to use the subjunctive you have to change it to ‘hagas’ which is the subjunctive form.

Tú/Usted

Spanish has an informal and a formal form of address. Eg. ‘What is your surname?’ is:
Formal: ‘¿Cómo se apellida usted?’
Informal: ‘¿Cómo te apellidas?’
It is very difficult to know which one to use and there are different social norms especially in South America. The formal form is becoming less and less used in Spain. However there are occasions that could be appropriate or even mandatory.

Don’t get disappointed!

If up to this point you are getting disappointed don’t discourage! There are also a lot of advantages for the English speakers that learn Spanish. To name a few:

Vowel sounds in Spanish are very easy for you since there are only five (a, e, i, o, u). Phonetics are very simple.

It is very easy to write in Spanish. Once you have learned which sound corresponds to each letter you can easily write correctly in Spanish. The only difficult thing with writing is the accents.

The opposite is true also. Look at any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced.

Even though 50% of the vocabulary is different from English, there is still the other 50% that is very similar if not the same.

Acronyms are almost always the same just changing the order back to front. Eg. ‘OTAN’ for ‘NATO’ or ‘FMI’ for the International Monetary Fund.

The grammatical constructs to make affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions are also very similar.

If you don’t always say things properly (for example not using the correct tense of the verb, not using the subjunctive, or mistaking the gender) you will probably be understood most of the time so it’s not such a big problem.

This article was first published in number 2 of the free online magazine aprendespañol.com. You can see it and download it here. Check it out for other useful free resources to learn Spanish.

The Spanish Cultural Association is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to spread knowledge of the spanish language and culture throughout the world.

The areas we act on are:

* diffussion of the spanish language
* generation of useful free resources to learn spanish
* publication of our free spanish learning magazine at http://www.aprendespanol.com
* diffussion of the spanish culture
* promoting tourism in Spain and other spanish-speaking countries
* helping foreigners with different tasks they might need to carry out in Spain
* we are open to any other ideas that may match other stated goals

aprendespañol.com is a free online magazine to help people around the world learn Spanish. You can find easy spanish articles with vocabulary tips, audios, dictations, cultural information, etc. It is edited by the Spanish Cultural Association.

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There are many differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America. Different dialects and a sprinkling of Native American or Aztec words means that the languages spoken in different areas of Central and Southern America vary greatly, too.

The accent is another thing that makes the languages different. Think about the difference between the way that an Australian and an American speaks. Both are speaking English, but it does not sound the same.

In the US, heavy accents can make it hard for someone from Alabama to understand someone from New York. But, since the words are basically the same, it is possible to eventually figure out what someone is trying to say.

The same is usually true of Spanish. Although some words may be completely unfamiliar, it is usually possible to figure out what someone is saying if you know the basic language.

The origin of the language is Castilian. The Castile region included areas in the northern and central part of the Iberian Peninsula on which Spain and Portugal are located.

Castilian or Castellano is the official language of Spain. It is referred to in this way to distinguish it from the other languages spoken in the country. Those include Basque, Catalan and Galician.

This is one of the primary differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America. It is only referred to as Español (literally Spanish) outside of Spain. Within the country, the subject has been a point of controversy having to do with the origin of the different peoples.

The most widely spoken form of the language is referred to as Mexican Spanish. Mexico City was the main government headquarters for the colonies that composed “New Spain”.

Until it was conquered by the Spanish, Mexico City was the capital of the Aztec Empire. For many generations, speakers of the Aztec language Nahuatl outnumbered the Spanish-speaking population.

So, there are differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America, as well as that spoken in Mexico. The difference has a lot to do with the influence of native peoples.

Over the years, many English and French words have become a part of the language. Just as English and other languages have changed and evolved over the years, so has Spanish.

If you want to learn a foreign language, you start with the basics. You can only become fluent in specific dialects if you are totally immersed in it, but you can communicate if you learn the basics.

The differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and Latin America are easier to overcome than you might think. It just takes practice and finding the right course to teach you what you need.

Finding the right latin american spanish course is all about striking the right balance between learning traditional Castillian Spanish and the Latin American Spanish that is spoken in South America. Take a look at the latin American Spanish course that hundreds of folks have used to great effect, not only giving them the basic phrases but showing them the grammar and how to use it ==> http://www.LearnLatinAmericanSpanish.org

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