K
Katharine
Guest
Has anyone done a spanish immersion in DR or found a package that includes some spanish lessons (more or less 3-4 hours/day). Any recommendations or suggestions is welcomed. Thanks
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Spanish Immersion/Lessons
D
DR One
Guest
Entrena, in Santo Domingo, offers personalized intensive Spanish lessons structured in four week programs. For more information, contact them at 809 541-4283
A
arcoiris
Guest
I would really like to know if the Spanish lessons given in the DR are in Castillan or Dominican Spanish. I know people interested and some of the clergy learn Spanish there.
D
DR One
Guest
The Spanish lessons are in Castellano. Dominican Spanish is a sort of slang, although some words have been incorporated into the Academia de la Lengua Espa?ola. Dominicans are taught Castellano.
J
JC
Guest
Hi Katharine!
I must advise you that the DR is a poor choice for a Spanish immersion program. Maybe one of the worse in the hemisphere.
In an ideal situation you should go to where people speak the espa?ol more properly and the cadence of the pronunciation is not so much into the rapid fire fashion of Dominican conversation.
A pretty good friend of mine went to Costa Rica for such a program and I was very impressed with the results.
To give you an idea of what you are in for: military personnel trained and certified by the U.S. Army in Spanish by their Linguistic School have the hardest of time when they get assigned to missions down the Caribbean.
I must advise you that the DR is a poor choice for a Spanish immersion program. Maybe one of the worse in the hemisphere.
In an ideal situation you should go to where people speak the espa?ol more properly and the cadence of the pronunciation is not so much into the rapid fire fashion of Dominican conversation.
A pretty good friend of mine went to Costa Rica for such a program and I was very impressed with the results.
To give you an idea of what you are in for: military personnel trained and certified by the U.S. Army in Spanish by their Linguistic School have the hardest of time when they get assigned to missions down the Caribbean.
L
Loren
Guest
?Equivocastes!
If you are going to learn spanish, learn the spanish from the place you intend on spending time.
If you want to learn perfect "book" spanish that is fine, but you will have to learn spanish all over again.
I took 4 years of spanish in school but had to learn it all over again when I began to work with Cuban refugees. Of course they could understand me, but I could not understand them, especially when they were not talking directly to me.
9 years later I have no problems communicating with Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Dominicans. I find it harder to understand my central American friends, though they understand me fine. If you are going to be in central America, by all means study in Costa Rica. If you are going to be living in Spain, , study there if you can. If you are going to spend your time in the Dominican Republic it makes no sense to study spanish in Costa Rica when you have the opportunity to study in the DR.
"By the same token" if you want to learn "The queen's English" The USA would be the worst place to study, as we largely disregard british lingual convention. Whether that is right or wrong is a different subject, but it certainly is the reality.
By the way, Colombians and Paname?ans have to my ears, the clearest, most well pronounced spanish, generally speaking. You think?
If you are going to learn spanish, learn the spanish from the place you intend on spending time.
If you want to learn perfect "book" spanish that is fine, but you will have to learn spanish all over again.
I took 4 years of spanish in school but had to learn it all over again when I began to work with Cuban refugees. Of course they could understand me, but I could not understand them, especially when they were not talking directly to me.
9 years later I have no problems communicating with Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Dominicans. I find it harder to understand my central American friends, though they understand me fine. If you are going to be in central America, by all means study in Costa Rica. If you are going to be living in Spain, , study there if you can. If you are going to spend your time in the Dominican Republic it makes no sense to study spanish in Costa Rica when you have the opportunity to study in the DR.
"By the same token" if you want to learn "The queen's English" The USA would be the worst place to study, as we largely disregard british lingual convention. Whether that is right or wrong is a different subject, but it certainly is the reality.
By the way, Colombians and Paname?ans have to my ears, the clearest, most well pronounced spanish, generally speaking. You think?
J
JC
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
>>>If you are going to learn Spanish, learn the Spanish from the place you intend on spending time.>>>
This premise is quite wrong! You should learn the proper way and... then you can learn how to adapt to special accents, slang's, dialects, etc. But the main structure of your language which are grammar and pronunctiation should be as pure and unpolluted as possible. This would allow you to communicate verbally or in writing with people from any walk of life. To try the other way around is an uphill battle.
>>>If you want to learn perfect "book" Spanish that is fine, but you will have to learn Spanish all over again.>>>
This is sort of misleading because it assumes that there two different languages. The bottom line is: you should learn the language just as the EDUCATED native speakers learn it.
In an immersion program the quality of the pronunciation of the general population it matters a lot. Certain countries fares better than other.
>>>I took 4 years of Spanish in school but had to learn it all over again when I began to work with Cuban refugees.>>>
Same thing with people that learn English in Latin American high schools to then get placed in remedial programs when they come to the states.
>>>Of course they could understand me, but I could not understand them, especially when they were not talking directly to me.>>>
Because you were not used to their slang's and the velocity of their phrasing is much faster than that from any American high school teacher.
>>>9 years later I have no problems communicating with Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Dominicans.>>>
It's about time.
>>>I find it harder to understand my central American friends, though they understand me fine. If you are going to be in central America, by all means study in Costa Rica. If you are going to be living in Spain, , study there if you can. If you are going to spend your time in the Dominican Republic it makes no sense to study Spanish in Costa Rica when you have the opportunity to study in the DR.>>>
Maybe Katherine situation is special. However, most people that go through the process of learning a foreign language try to get a skill that would be usable in many different countries. Not just one.
>>>"By the same token" if you want to learn "The queen's English" The USA would be the worst place to study, as we largely disregard British lingual convention. Whether that is right or wrong is a different subject, but it certainly is the reality.>>>
But if you speak the English language properly you should be able to pick up the differences without to much trouble should you decide to travel to the country with the "other" language.
>>>By the way, Colombians and Paname?ans have to my ears, the clearest, most well pronounced spanish, generally speaking. You think?>>>
Colombian yes (unless they are from the interior and use a lot of archaic Spanish such as si i?? (se?or), no i??). Panamanians... well I was in Panam? for 2 months in 1989 and I could not say that they fare much better than the DR.
By the way, my friend (a long island girl) that studied in Costa Rica was a reporter for a major newspaper and her beat was covering the city and the P.D. she never had any problems conversing with Latin people from all kind of nationalities.
>>>If you are going to learn Spanish, learn the Spanish from the place you intend on spending time.>>>
This premise is quite wrong! You should learn the proper way and... then you can learn how to adapt to special accents, slang's, dialects, etc. But the main structure of your language which are grammar and pronunctiation should be as pure and unpolluted as possible. This would allow you to communicate verbally or in writing with people from any walk of life. To try the other way around is an uphill battle.
>>>If you want to learn perfect "book" Spanish that is fine, but you will have to learn Spanish all over again.>>>
This is sort of misleading because it assumes that there two different languages. The bottom line is: you should learn the language just as the EDUCATED native speakers learn it.
In an immersion program the quality of the pronunciation of the general population it matters a lot. Certain countries fares better than other.
>>>I took 4 years of Spanish in school but had to learn it all over again when I began to work with Cuban refugees.>>>
Same thing with people that learn English in Latin American high schools to then get placed in remedial programs when they come to the states.
>>>Of course they could understand me, but I could not understand them, especially when they were not talking directly to me.>>>
Because you were not used to their slang's and the velocity of their phrasing is much faster than that from any American high school teacher.
>>>9 years later I have no problems communicating with Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Dominicans.>>>
It's about time.
>>>I find it harder to understand my central American friends, though they understand me fine. If you are going to be in central America, by all means study in Costa Rica. If you are going to be living in Spain, , study there if you can. If you are going to spend your time in the Dominican Republic it makes no sense to study Spanish in Costa Rica when you have the opportunity to study in the DR.>>>
Maybe Katherine situation is special. However, most people that go through the process of learning a foreign language try to get a skill that would be usable in many different countries. Not just one.
>>>"By the same token" if you want to learn "The queen's English" The USA would be the worst place to study, as we largely disregard British lingual convention. Whether that is right or wrong is a different subject, but it certainly is the reality.>>>
But if you speak the English language properly you should be able to pick up the differences without to much trouble should you decide to travel to the country with the "other" language.
>>>By the way, Colombians and Paname?ans have to my ears, the clearest, most well pronounced spanish, generally speaking. You think?>>>
Colombian yes (unless they are from the interior and use a lot of archaic Spanish such as si i?? (se?or), no i??). Panamanians... well I was in Panam? for 2 months in 1989 and I could not say that they fare much better than the DR.
By the way, my friend (a long island girl) that studied in Costa Rica was a reporter for a major newspaper and her beat was covering the city and the P.D. she never had any problems conversing with Latin people from all kind of nationalities.
L
Loren
Guest
leistes cosas que no hay
I neve said anything about not learning proper spanish. I said It makes sense to learn it where you will be speaking it.
Most differences in language come not from vocabulary but from accent and cadence. Becuase of that, you can learn to speak a language properly but still have trouble understanding people. I am sure that the educated Dominicans still sound like Dominicans. I sometimes have trouble understanding Americans from different areas, regardless of their vocabulary, it is their accent.
In all your pontification you have disregarded this very important factor of speech. If you learn Spanish from Costa Ricans, they will have a Costa Rican accentregardless of how pretty they talk.
Now as for your comment "It's about time" I dont know what you are trying to say by that. Please explain yourself
I neve said anything about not learning proper spanish. I said It makes sense to learn it where you will be speaking it.
Most differences in language come not from vocabulary but from accent and cadence. Becuase of that, you can learn to speak a language properly but still have trouble understanding people. I am sure that the educated Dominicans still sound like Dominicans. I sometimes have trouble understanding Americans from different areas, regardless of their vocabulary, it is their accent.
In all your pontification you have disregarded this very important factor of speech. If you learn Spanish from Costa Ricans, they will have a Costa Rican accentregardless of how pretty they talk.
Now as for your comment "It's about time" I dont know what you are trying to say by that. Please explain yourself
S
scaramooch
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
Dominican are the worst of the worst when it comes to chop up spanish, when a dominincan opens his mouth just by the way he talks, cubans, Puerto Ricans immidiatly knows where his from, just by the way he talks and the slangs he uses.
Dominican are the worst of the worst when it comes to chop up spanish, when a dominincan opens his mouth just by the way he talks, cubans, Puerto Ricans immidiatly knows where his from, just by the way he talks and the slangs he uses.
N
Natasha
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
I would like to know what type of research you did to come up with this conclusion. Any particular accent *CAN* be very distinct. I for exmaple, can tell a Puerto Rican or Cuban by the first sentence that comes out of their mouths too. Having a particular accent does necessarily equal chopping up the language. Come on people...
Natasha
I would like to know what type of research you did to come up with this conclusion. Any particular accent *CAN* be very distinct. I for exmaple, can tell a Puerto Rican or Cuban by the first sentence that comes out of their mouths too. Having a particular accent does necessarily equal chopping up the language. Come on people...
Natasha
A
arcoiris
Guest
Re: leistes cosas que no hay
Senol, I have heard that there is more than one Dominican accent! So which Dominican accent do you recommend if you are going to learn it the way the local people you are going to spend time with speak it? I have heard that Dominican slang is like Black English. And American Blacks have a tough time in school trying to read proper English. I would not recommend that a Frenchman come and learn Black English and then come to Yale. Oh, and that is "equivoca Ud." y "leyo Ud." How does one put an accent mark if the typewriter doesn't have one?
Senol, I have heard that there is more than one Dominican accent! So which Dominican accent do you recommend if you are going to learn it the way the local people you are going to spend time with speak it? I have heard that Dominican slang is like Black English. And American Blacks have a tough time in school trying to read proper English. I would not recommend that a Frenchman come and learn Black English and then come to Yale. Oh, and that is "equivoca Ud." y "leyo Ud." How does one put an accent mark if the typewriter doesn't have one?
S
scaramooch
Guest
Re: leistes cosas que no hay
Arcoiris here is a link that will tell you all the Dominican slang and phrases they use, print it out if you can its about four pages long www.aguaita.com
Arcoiris here is a link that will tell you all the Dominican slang and phrases they use, print it out if you can its about four pages long www.aguaita.com
S
scaramooch
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
Natasha I was not talking about accents I was talking about slang and phrases that nobody elses use, if you want to know where I did my research then check out www.aguaita.com print it out its four pages long.
Natasha I was not talking about accents I was talking about slang and phrases that nobody elses use, if you want to know where I did my research then check out www.aguaita.com print it out its four pages long.
J
Joyce Jimenez
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
JC,
Im curious, how well do you speak spanish?????? and how long did it take you to learn.
JC,
Im curious, how well do you speak spanish?????? and how long did it take you to learn.
J
Joyce Jimenez
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
P.S.
My husband is Dominican "all his life" and he now works with many people from Mexico and there are many times that he does not know what they are talking about.
I learned my spanish in the DR and understand Dominicans perfectly well but when it come to people from Mexico, I have a very difficult time.
Just my thoughts,
P.S.
My husband is Dominican "all his life" and he now works with many people from Mexico and there are many times that he does not know what they are talking about.
I learned my spanish in the DR and understand Dominicans perfectly well but when it come to people from Mexico, I have a very difficult time.
Just my thoughts,
N
Natasha
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
Scaramooch, my point is that *every* country has slang. I can print out a long list of words typical of Pittsburgh for example, but that does not mean that Pittsburghers chop up the English language. Let's not generalize.
Natasha
Scaramooch, my point is that *every* country has slang. I can print out a long list of words typical of Pittsburgh for example, but that does not mean that Pittsburghers chop up the English language. Let's not generalize.
Natasha
A
arcoiris
Guest
J
JC
Guest
Re: ?No lo creo!
Ms Joyce Jimenez asked:
>>>>>>>JC,
Im curious, how well do you speak spanish?????? and how long did it take you to learn.>>>>>>>>
Huummmm! let's see how well...
* Advertising copywriter, several ad agencies, DR
* Free Lance Copy Editor, "El Nuevo Diario", DR
* Journalist, Public Relations Department, Codetel, DR
* Spanish Teacher, Camden School District, NJ
* Teaching Assistant, Spanish courses, Humanities department, University of the Sacred Heart, P.R.
* Teaching Assistant, writing courses, Communications department, University of the Sacred Heart, P.R.
* Internship: Young & Rubicam of Puerto Rico, and Badillo Saatchi & Saatchi Compton
* BA Communications, Cum Laude, University of The Sacred Heart, PR
* Writer for college newspaper "Ecos", University of The Sacred Heart, PR
* Editor & Publisher "La Prensa Latina", Cologne, NJ
* Editor & Publisher "Noticias Latinas", Atlantic City, NJ
* Producer & Host "La Prensa Pregunta..." WREY, Vineland , NJ
* Editorial consultant WTGI, Channel 61 Telemundo, Phila PA
* Commercial announcer and producer, WREY, Vineland, NJ
* Free lance interpreter (English-Spanish) for Paraplus, Inc (Accounts: Municipal, State and Federal Courts plus a bunch of attorneys offices), Barrington, NJ
* Court Interpreter (Spanish-English) for the city of Ventnor, NJ
* Member of National Association of Hispanic Owned Newspapers
* Hispanic Marketing and Communication consultant (Marketmedia International) Marlton, NJ
* Member of Toastmaster International since 1990
This are just some of the most relevant stuff (without any logical sequence, just as they came to my mind).
As far as how long was my study, is hard to say because I think that you are never done with the study of language.
I hope that your curiosity is not so anymore...
Regards,
JC
Ms Joyce Jimenez asked:
>>>>>>>JC,
Im curious, how well do you speak spanish?????? and how long did it take you to learn.>>>>>>>>
Huummmm! let's see how well...
* Advertising copywriter, several ad agencies, DR
* Free Lance Copy Editor, "El Nuevo Diario", DR
* Journalist, Public Relations Department, Codetel, DR
* Spanish Teacher, Camden School District, NJ
* Teaching Assistant, Spanish courses, Humanities department, University of the Sacred Heart, P.R.
* Teaching Assistant, writing courses, Communications department, University of the Sacred Heart, P.R.
* Internship: Young & Rubicam of Puerto Rico, and Badillo Saatchi & Saatchi Compton
* BA Communications, Cum Laude, University of The Sacred Heart, PR
* Writer for college newspaper "Ecos", University of The Sacred Heart, PR
* Editor & Publisher "La Prensa Latina", Cologne, NJ
* Editor & Publisher "Noticias Latinas", Atlantic City, NJ
* Producer & Host "La Prensa Pregunta..." WREY, Vineland , NJ
* Editorial consultant WTGI, Channel 61 Telemundo, Phila PA
* Commercial announcer and producer, WREY, Vineland, NJ
* Free lance interpreter (English-Spanish) for Paraplus, Inc (Accounts: Municipal, State and Federal Courts plus a bunch of attorneys offices), Barrington, NJ
* Court Interpreter (Spanish-English) for the city of Ventnor, NJ
* Member of National Association of Hispanic Owned Newspapers
* Hispanic Marketing and Communication consultant (Marketmedia International) Marlton, NJ
* Member of Toastmaster International since 1990
This are just some of the most relevant stuff (without any logical sequence, just as they came to my mind).
As far as how long was my study, is hard to say because I think that you are never done with the study of language.
I hope that your curiosity is not so anymore...
Regards,
JC
L
Loren
Guest
Re: leistes cosas que no hay
What on earth do you mean by saying blacks have trouble reading proper American English in school? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I am black and I take offense to that. I would match my command of the English language against anyone. What do you think we speak Swahili or something and then learn English as a second Language? I am surprised that such a statement would come from you. What is it then that we read easier than English?
If you want to say indians have trouble doing something, that's fine. I don't know too many indians so I would expect you to be qualified to speak on that. But you are speaking on things you arent qualified to speak on, I dont care how many nice pretty certficates the ivory towers like Yale bestow upon you.
What on earth do you mean by saying blacks have trouble reading proper American English in school? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I am black and I take offense to that. I would match my command of the English language against anyone. What do you think we speak Swahili or something and then learn English as a second Language? I am surprised that such a statement would come from you. What is it then that we read easier than English?
If you want to say indians have trouble doing something, that's fine. I don't know too many indians so I would expect you to be qualified to speak on that. But you are speaking on things you arent qualified to speak on, I dont care how many nice pretty certficates the ivory towers like Yale bestow upon you.
L