1 year, 11 months ago
I want to learn Latin American Spanish. Do you have good links and tips to help me out?
If you are fluent, would you help me out with translations and practice for $M tips?
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M$1 Answer
Though I'm not fluent, I can forward you onto some great sites, and give you some tips.
Places to learn Spanish online:
http://www.studyspanish.com/
http://www.lingolex.com/spanish.htm
http://www.livemocha.com/learn-spanish
Resource for Latin American Spanish specifically:
http://www.askoxford.com/languages/es/toi_las/?view=uk
Fantastic other resource(s):
http://wordreference.com/
http://wordreference.com/conj/EsVerbs.asp
http://forum.wordreference.com/
In general, American Spanish is completely understandable to one from Spain. It's like when a person from America meets up with someone from the UK, they can understand each other. There may be a few differences in vocabulary or pronunciation, but their mutual understanding of "standard" English bridges any difficult gaps.
The biggest difference between American and Spain ("Castilian") Spanish is the lisp - when saying "c" or "z" (before the letters "i" and "e") in Spain, it comes out almost as a "th," whereas in the Americas, it's simply "s" and "z" like you would expect.
Castilian Spanish also users "vosotros" ("you all") while American Spanish uses "ustedes" (which means the same thing). "Vosotros" is from the Latin "vos otros" ("you others") which is retained in other romance languages ("vous" in French, "voi" in Italian), while "ustedes" comes directly from the Spanish phrase "vuestra merced" ("your mercy").
There are also some vocabulary differences, illustrated in this article. I'm sure if you begin using the WordReference dictionary to search for vocabulary, you will find that some words are marked "AmL" ("Americana Latina" or "Latin America") or "Esp" (Castilian Spanish), and note which words are used where. There is a great index of all the notations they use here.
Best of luck with your studies!
Places to learn Spanish online:
http://www.studyspanish.com/
http://www.lingolex.com/spanish.htm
http://www.livemocha.com/learn-spanish
Resource for Latin American Spanish specifically:
http://www.askoxford.com/languages/es/toi_las/?view=uk
Fantastic other resource(s):
http://wordreference.com/
http://wordreference.com/conj/EsVerbs.asp
http://forum.wordreference.com/
In general, American Spanish is completely understandable to one from Spain. It's like when a person from America meets up with someone from the UK, they can understand each other. There may be a few differences in vocabulary or pronunciation, but their mutual understanding of "standard" English bridges any difficult gaps.
The biggest difference between American and Spain ("Castilian") Spanish is the lisp - when saying "c" or "z" (before the letters "i" and "e") in Spain, it comes out almost as a "th," whereas in the Americas, it's simply "s" and "z" like you would expect.
Castilian Spanish also users "vosotros" ("you all") while American Spanish uses "ustedes" (which means the same thing). "Vosotros" is from the Latin "vos otros" ("you others") which is retained in other romance languages ("vous" in French, "voi" in Italian), while "ustedes" comes directly from the Spanish phrase "vuestra merced" ("your mercy").
There are also some vocabulary differences, illustrated in this article. I'm sure if you begin using the WordReference dictionary to search for vocabulary, you will find that some words are marked "AmL" ("Americana Latina" or "Latin America") or "Esp" (Castilian Spanish), and note which words are used where. There is a great index of all the notations they use here.
Best of luck with your studies!
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
No problem! Let me know if some of the grammar trips you up, I am generally familiar with it (due to my experience with Italian and French) and may be able to help you out. :)