How Dominican is your Spanish?

[Naked_Snake]

Dominican accent is the ugliest among Spanish speaking countries, I coudl fake any accent depend what country I happen to be at but for the most part Spanglish accent I tend to go by default is either Panamanian or Boricua at times.

Have you ever heard Chilean by chance? I assure you that your opinion will do a 180 once you do it. Got it, flaite?

 

[Marianopolita]

Have you ever heard Chilean by chance? I assure you that your opinion will do a 180 once you do it. Got it, flaite?

Tranquilo. No va a poder contestarte por 30 días. Mira su estatus.

Como decimos en español-Para gustos se hicieron los colores. 

Si no le gusta el acento dominicano está bien. A cada cual lo suyo pero como le dije me parece extraño porque dice que imita el acento boricua el cual es muy parecido al acento dominicano.


En general, hay una gran variedad en Suramérica. No solamente el estilo de hablar sino los acentos. En mi opinión, Chile es el huérfano del grupo porque es el único país que no se compara con otro.



 -MP.

 

[Ezequiel]

One DR friend in the barrio--who possesses horrible diction and style--often asks me to rephrase what I say due to my word choice.

  If your friend didn't understand you, was, because what you said was not understandable to anyone.  He politely let you know that by asking your to rephrase what you said.  

People on the DR are exposed to others Spanish speaking countries lingo, since all the popular "Telenovelas", movies and shows from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and even as far south as Argentina are aired in the DR and have become very popular.

You can ask any Dominican in the DR about a popular show, movies or Telenovelas in Mexico or Colombia and more than likely that person watch that show too.

Once, I had a Cuban translate my Spanish for someone in Guatemala. The Guatemalan thought that I was from Brazil.

 Here you are contradicting yourself!  You said that you learned proper, precise Spanish in high school and in college and now you are saying that a Cuban had to explained a Guatemalan what you were saying!!!!!!   As I live here in the U.S. I see this everyday.   English Speakers think because they had taken Spanish classes in high school and in college they are fluent in Spanish, but the reality is they are not fluent at all.   

I haven't met an American that can speak Spanish because he learned it in the American public school system or in an American college.   Only those that spent years studying Spanish in a Spanish speaking country are fluent in Spanish, and don't have problem understanding any accent in Spanish.  The American I know that are fluent in Spanish had studied either in Spain or Chile.

 

[Ezequiel]

You are most correct. Once, in Spain, I used an informal term when asking a question in the street, and the gentleman in Sevilla corrected and admonished me in English, after giving a look of disdain. He said that I appeared to be an educated man, and should not use the word that a friend in a particular ethnic group used. He then explained the distinction. I have used proper Spanish at all times since that day. I have been corrected in Peru as well.

You probably offended that gentleman by using informal speech when addressing him, when you didn't know him.   If I don't know you and you addressed me as "Tú" I will get mad too because you are disrespecting me by not addressing me as "Usted".

When you don't know somebody the communication has to be formal all the time.  With old people the communication has to be formal all the time.  I can't address my Parents, aunts, uncles as "Tú" because they will put me in my place for disrespecting them.

 

[Dr_Taylor]

  If your friend didn't understand you, was, because what you said was not understandable to anyone.  He politely let you know that by asking your to rephrase what you said.  

People on the DR are exposed to others Spanish speaking countries lingo, since all the popular "Telenovelas", movies and shows from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and even as far south as Argentina are aired in the DR and have become very popular.

You can ask any Dominican in the DR about a popular show, movies or Telenovelas in Mexico or Colombia and more than likely that person watch that show too.

No, my friend did not understand my word choice, as she lacks a solid educational foundation. I do not blame her for this, many U.S. citizens have a poor English background. As I stated, her university-educated relatives did understand me. As I learned in university and while speaking in the course of my employment, changing one's word choice generally solves such difficulties.

 

Here you are contradicting yourself!  You said that you learned proper, precise Spanish in high school and in college and now you are saying that a Cuban had to explained a Guatemalan what you were saying!!!!!!   As I live here in the U.S. I see this everyday.   English Speakers think because they had taken Spanish classes in high school and in college they are fluent in Spanish, but the reality is they are not fluent at all.

No, I mentioned that I speak Portuguese as well, and do occasionally speak Spanish with a Portuguese accent. The fact that the Cuban got it says something. If you travel to a border area in Brazil, you will find many whose Spanish and Portuguese bleed into the other language.

 

I haven't met an American that can speak Spanish because he learned it in the American public school system or in an American college.   Only those that spent years studying Spanish in a Spanish speaking country are fluent in Spanish, and don't have problem understanding any accent in Spanish.  The American I know that are fluent in Spanish had studied either in Spain or Chile.

I do not use the term "American" to describe myself, as it is arrogant. My cedula properly lists me as North American. Also, I attended competitive public schools and universities. I am fluent based upon studying from sixth grade through university, obtaining membership in a Spanish honor society, and speaking the language without difficulty in several Spanish-speaking nations. Moreover, I took and passed a government test for government employment, and translated when in government employment.

 

[Dr_Taylor]

You probably offended that gentleman by using informal speech when addressing him, when you didn't know him.   If I don't know you and you addressed me as "Tú" I will get mad too because you are disrespecting me by not addressing me as "Usted".

When you don't know somebody the communication has to be formal all the time.  With old people the communication has to be formal all the time.  I can't address my Parents, aunts, uncles as "Tú" because they will put me in my place for disrespecting them.

Actually, you got it wrong here. I did not address the man using the familiar form of you. I rarely use the second person at all, even when speaking with my friend's children. I used a slang term for car, and the man did not think that I should be using slang at all when speaking Spanish. I agree with him. Also, you should not get "mad" as you may get committed; however, getting angry is acceptable. You are drawing conclusions based upon facts not in evidence.

 

[Lucifer]

How Dominican is your Spanish?

Oye, mi loco, no quiero cotorra. Págame mi cualto, manín.

 

[Auryn]

What is the difficulty you are having with Spanish verbs? There are 13 tenses that are used in everyday speech. If you master those then you will be on a strong path to communication. You can acquire vocabulary daily either by studying, observation of signs, interaction with people etc. but verbs you need to master because you need to express your actions in the present, past, future and conditional etc. As well, you need to understand the indicative mood vs the subjunctive mood and there are quite a few irregular verb forms. Many people who are learning Spanish think they can get around it, skip it, ignore it etc. It is not possible. It is a vital part of the language whereas in English, it is still used selectively and almost obsolete. You will see in grammar books now it is referred to as formal speech (whatever). Example, espero que vengas. Modo subjuntivo- presente.


Dominican Spanish may be faster then Spanish spoken in other countries but the truth is Spanish in general is spoken fast. The flow of the language allows it to be faster than English. I think it's the regional speech that may be the issue.

Certainly the ceceo speech of Spain is not for everyone and you will not meet too many Latin American Spanish speakers saying that they like the sound of the lisp.



-MP.

And that is the truth and where I most need to practice. I am stuck in the present tense, for the most part. It is crippling.

 

[Marianopolita]

Actually, you got it wrong here. I did not address the man using the familiar form of you. I rarely use the second person at all, even when speaking with my friend's children. I used a slang term for car, and the man did not think that I should be using slang at all when speaking Spanish. I agree with him. Also, you should not get "mad" as you may get committed; however, getting angry is acceptable. You are drawing conclusions based upon facts not in evidence.

I am glad you responded to this. I had to resist temptation because I was confident you being corrected in Spain had nothing to do with forms of address as assumed. That is a whole different kettle of fish. As well, educated people know exactly how to address the tuteo, tratar de usted issue with people and it is very different for someone who is learning the language, or does not get the opportunity to speak often vs the cultural factor that is a huge component of this. 

The irony of the post is in general the DR is known to be tuteo country. Yes, usted is used when addressing elders, strangers, people of certain professions etc. and the social and cultural norms dictate what is appropriate. The foreigner has to learn this by observation. For English speakers it’s one more trick in the bag that must be learned from a cultural and linguistic point of view. A saving grace could be other languages with the same convention like French- tutoyer and vouvoyer.


In the Spanish-speaking world, as you know the English forms of You can be, Tú, Usted, Vosotros, Ustedes or vos (which is voseo usage only in certain countries or regions of Latin America). Your choice to only be formal meaning use Usted all the time is a safe approach but has its nuances too but it depends on what country you are in and what is considered the norm there. For example, Colombia, demasiado usted en mi opinión. Even among close friends.


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

How Dominican is your Spanish?

Oye, mi loco, no quiero cotorra. Págame mi cualto, manín.

Muy bien Lucifer. Lenguaje de la calle 100%.

Now with a notable amount of Venezuelans in DR you will have to learn some Venezuelan slang and colloquialisms. Right chamo?


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

And that is the truth and where I most need to practice. I am stuck in the present tense, for the most part. It is crippling.

You have options. There are really good verb books on the market. I recommend Practice Makes Perfect. It’s a book that focuses on the study verbs with plenty of practice exercises. You will definitely improve if you use this resource.

As well, you can focus on learning 25 common Spanish verbs. Your choice of which ones you want to study first. For example, ser, estar, hacer, ir, ver, decir, comer, venir etc. Learn them in all the required tenses. Once mastered move on to another 25. 

There are so many resources available on the web and with your background being an English teacher you should have no problems understanding the grammar concepts. It seems like you are interested in moving forward so I encourage you by studying one verb at a time, one tense at a time or you can also study by learning the verb groups separately which you may find easier- the AR group, then the ER group, then the IR group.


-MP.

 

[Auryn]

I will definitely look for Practice Make Perfect. I need to practice more than I do, but just when I think I've got it, something throws me for a loop. I am sure English is much harder for a second language learner, and I teach Lit not ESL which makes a difference somewhat. For example, Hacer- hice, Comer- come, correr- corre, makes sense. Poner- puse. What?

Thank you for your reply, I am going to start with hacer and try to learn it thoroughly, and then move on to others.

 

[Marianopolita]

I will definitely look for Practice Make Perfect. I need to practice more than I do, but just when I think I've got it, something throws me for a loop. I am sure English is much harder for a second language learner, and I teach Lit not ESL which makes a difference somewhat. For example, Hacer- hice, Comer- come, correr- corre, makes sense. Poner- puse. What?

Thank you for your reply, I am going to start with hacer and try to learn it thoroughly, and then move on to others.

Actually, it is recommended to start with a verb that has regular forms meaning it follows the rules of conjugation. An example is hablar. The conjugations in all tenses follow the rules of the AR verb group. Get comfortable with a verb like that before you study hacer which has many irregular forms in the different tenses. 


English verb conjugation is easier compared to Spanish. It is no where near the level of complexity of Spanish. People just want to learn overnight.


-MP.