Very interesting article. But as a Spaniard (excuse my english) allow me to comment something about the use of "vos".

The use of "vos" didn't start in South America. It was used in Spain much earlier, ever since the IV century. It was indeed originally a second-person plural, but it was widely used in Spain as a respectful way to address people in second-person singular, for centuries. You will see it used in Don Quixote and in many other old spanish literary works as a second-person singular. It started being replaced by "vuestra merced" in the XV century, and lost ground in our country, being replaced by usted (a deformation of vuestra merced).

The one change that was really originated in South America was the different /deformed conjugation of vos. "Vos sóis" became "Vos sos", "Vos tenéis" became "Vos tenés", and so on. But not the use as second-person singular, which was very normal in our country. We still even use it sometimes when pretending to speak old spanish (as a joke), or when actors have to portray characters from those times in movies and tv series.

An interesting case of voseo: In Chile they also use a conjugated deformed version of voseo, colloquially. Instead of saying "tú quieres" they say "tú querís", "tú podís", a deformation of the original Spanish "(vos) queréis", "(vos) podéis", etc.

If I put the word put in English the Google translator says the Spanish
verb is Poner.. But I used to work with a bunch of men from many South
American countries. I am not sure what country our maintenance man came
from, but he was from central or south America. He put up a sign once
telling people not to put paper on the floor in the bathroom. He used
the word Mette. According to Google that is Italian for put, not
Spanish. But this man was Hispanic, not Italian. Can anyone explain
this?

To me Castilian is the best form of Spanish which l was exposed to, growing up.

Beautiful, hermoso commentary, os agradezco.

1. The use of "vos" does not "appear to be growing in parts of Latin America". The "voseo" has completely and extensively developed in all of Central America (except Panamá and Belize), some regions in Colombia, Bolivia and elsewhere since the XVI century. It's not, by any means, a growing or developing process or phenomenon. Nicaragua is perhaps the most "voseante" country in Latin America. Even more than Argentina. In some Central American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua to a lesser extent, "vos" is even used as a pet word.

2. Most Latin Americans do NOT refer to their language as "Castilian". The use of "Español" to refer to the language spoken in the continent is by far more popular and widespread, although people do use the word Castellano more in some countries and both Castellano or Español indistinctly in certain regions.

3. Ironically, although people from Spain definitely have a much better use of vocabulary and grammar than the rest of the Spanish speaking world, their pronunciation is the worst. Even for a Latin American it can become a bit confusing and frustrating trying to understand the Spaniards. Specially those from certain regions. They speak too fast, skip many sounds or even just grunt and mumble the last few words in a sentence. Not to speak the level of disappointment some foreigners might feel finding out how pointless those 5 years at the academy were, back in their home countries, after going to Spain and listening to locals talk to each other for five minutes.

My opinion about the best Spanish, in terms of pronunciation and clarity: Mexico, Colombia.

Interesting to say that use of vos may be even commoner in Nicaragua than Argentina - where it is used pretty well 100%!! I don't think I have ever heard tu used there. Neither have I ever heard anyone say they speak Español- it's always Castellano.

Agree. I am from Nicaragua and we use "vos" -informal- or "usted" -formal. Not many people use "tú".

Never heard a "vos" in Peru.

I agree with you except I would probably add Costa Rica to that list and switch the order to Colombia (Bogota) Costa Rica and Mexico.

Nope - not true. As a Spaniard I have to admit that I don’t understand Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and quite a few Mexicans. Not only do they have their own idiomatic expressions but they also use different vocabulary and have a different rhythm when speaking.
It happens in most languages . In English it is not uncommon that Americans can’t understand somebody from Wales.
Latin America is very large and diverse, needless to say it is very different from Spain. It’s only Americans that are unaware of the cultural differences not only between Spain and Latin America, but also with Latin America.

awesome

Another significant difference when it comes to pronounciation is the way the "ce" and "ci" groups are pronounced. For example,if in Spain the words "hacer" and "acariciar" are pronounced as |aθer| and |akariθiar|,respectively,in Latin America these words are pronounced as |aser| and |akarisiar|,respectively.

The use of the Ustedes is also very popular in the south of Andalucia ( Cadíz)

The Gipsy Kings who are originally from Andalucia and emigrated to France because of Franco I guess, also pronounce "caballo" as "cabajo" (the letter "j" pronounced as in English), "la calle" as "la caje" and "yo" as "jo". Interestingly the [LL]/[Y] sound has been replaced by a similar pronounciation form many words in modern French.

Hi, Thanks for your article! As norteamericanos headed to Bogota, we are trying to learn Spanish from a lady from Nicaragua. Should we be concerned about differences in her speech as concerned with what is spoken in Colombia?

There are no differences in the Spanish being spoken, but some vernacular terms used in Nicaragua may mean something else in Colombia. Just like the word "Coger". If you say that in Latin America you would be understood, but it would be rather odd and instead "Tomar" is used to replace Coger

or "agarrar".

Hello and thanks for your comment. You don't have to worry, the Spanish spoken in Nicaragua and the Spanish spoken in Colombia are the same language. Of course some vocabulary may change but the grammar is basically the same. I hope this helps!
Wish you a lovely day!

Yaa,you are absolutely right AlessandraESL.☺😃😊😉😆😀😘😘😘😙😚😘😍😘

Hi! Reading this article I see the complex that's my native language to forieng speakers, it's exactly that happens with my English learning.

I think that without mind the languge, the most important to may speak with a native it's speaking and listening, I may say that both are my headaches.

I imagine original Castilian compared to Colombian or Argentinian sounds to non-Spanish like British English to us compared to US English. I prefer how the US one sounds, some prefer the British one; some understand better one and some the other.

The sad thing is that beautiful Colombian is the one by Gabriel García Marquez. Now, go through the internet, read what colombians have written and tell me you like the majority of that. I imagine the same is happening with Spanish of Spain, English, etc. We're doomed haha fuck. Good, intelligent and healthy education is the future; which one are we raising?

Hello Keyser, thank you for your comment! Every variety of English and Spanish is beautiful and worth learning, difference is an enrichment not a barrier to education, don't you think?

I am learning Mexican Spanish since according to my professor it is the almost identical to the type of Spanish that is spoken in the Philippines. She is one of the dwindling number of native Spanish speakers here in Manila.

The Spanish settlers in the Phillipines brought many Mexicans and castizo Mexican-Spaniards to the islands to teach the language, hence the similarities.

In the Philippines they have a corrupted word for spanish. They say 'kastila' instead of español.
I learned this from a friend from manila. Interesting.

It's not really a corrupted word for Spanish, but rather their version of the word "Castillian" which is the real name of the language popularly known as "Spanish". As a matter of fact, the use of the term "Castillian" to refer to the Spanish language is more common in at least five Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Specially South America and the Caribbean.

Interesting. I was wondering about that.

I wish to learn English. I'm Mexican and I can help you to improve your Spanish and you can help me to improve my English.

Your English writing that comme my is excellent. Best way to improve your knowledge of any language is to use it. Practice.

I just got slammed by a snobby teacher from Barcelona who insists that Castellano and Latin American Spanish are distinct dialects. I beg to differ. They are distinct accents, yes, and there are yet more distinct accents on both sides of the pond. I am assuming that el don maestro, like many Spaniards is still quite snobby about their colonial inferiors. I much prefer Latin Americans, by the way. Much nicer and more genuine and nowhere near as arrogant as their Spanish hermanos y primos. As for Castellano, I was given to believe that the term is interchangeable with Espanol, but life is short and each to their own, eh?
saludos y amistad desde un hispanohablante canadiense!

From experience, I would partly agree with your teacher. For example, the Spanish spoken in Madrid is very different from what is spoken Sevilla. I often heard from locals while I was in Spain that people in Seville speak Castellano and those in Madrid, and in much of Latin America, speak Spanish. My family is from Mexico, and we were fine communicating in Madrid, but when we got to Sevilla it was almost like another language: the accent, vocabulary, grammar, syntax, etc.

In Seville they speak "Andaluz" / Andalusian dialects of Spanish. Spanish (Castellano) originated in the region of Castille (so definitely from Madrid), spread to the rest of Spain from there since it was the most influential region, and later spread from Spain to the Americas. And actually the dialects of Andalusia are closer to Latin American dialects than the dialects of northern Spain like Castillian, because many people from Andalusia immigrated to the colonies in America (probably because their region was poorer so they were looking for a better life elsewhere, like most immigrants). Examples are Andalusians speaking with seseo and ustedes just like in Latin America.

I'm surprised to hear that you look at Spaniards as being snobby. They are very warm, and wonderful people. Just as in the US, don't let 1 bad apple sway your thinking.

Quetion not by the theme. There are two sentences:
1. The cat is sleeping; and opposite -
2. The cat is not sleeping.
How they will be in Spanish?
What are the rules of using "duerme", "duermiendo" and so on?

1. el gato esta dumiendo
2. el gato no esta durmiendo.

for continous time, al verbs ends with "ando" and "iendo"

El gato duerme.= The cat sleeps.
El gato esta durmiendo= The cat is sleeping.
El gato desperto.= The cat woke up.
El gato dispierta.= The cat is waking up.
El gato se esta despertando.= The cat is waking up.
As you see, you can omit se(is) if you like. In fact you don't even have to say the cat and it's right.
?Que iso? Se durmio. Kinda like- What is do? Is fell asleep.
Hope this helped.

I am a USA American going to hopefully be doing border patrol, on the southern border. Thank you , because I "Learned spanish" in high school, an using rosetta stone to learn "Latin american spanish" which I was having just a slight trouble grasping as things are coming back, again I am sure ALOT has changed in the language in 20 years. BUT again I was wondering if i was learning the right one. I am catching on quick. I am a perfectionist. so I am doing the first set of lessons over an over once finished till i 100% them .

Years ago I checked into joining the border patrol and field note on the job announcement that they have a language school they teach and learning Spanish is actually a requirement for getting through their Academy so wouldn't worry about learning the language before going just apply and hopefully get accepted and they will teach you.

Hi Andy, thank you for your comment. It sounds you are indeed catching up again on your Spanish! Language is constantly evolving and it is a good idea to practise as often as possible. If you would like to find out more about the Spanish immersion courses that ESL Education provides, please visit our website here: https://www.esl-languages.c...

Thanks,
Laura
ESL Education London