Blogs about Spanish

[Chirimoya]

Más vale tarde que nunca- ley principal de la vida. Así que no te preocupes.


Good articles and good comparisons. I read the Spanish one first because I would be lost in English when it comes to naming foods. I know the original names and tend describe it when people ask what it is called in English.


I also say one can identify with or see a similarity between the two islands although the preparation is different.

Arroz moro para los cubanos es lo máximo. De hecho, arroz moro con pollo asado.


One dish I am surprised you did not include is el ajiaco cubano. When talking about Cuban food it is must. Also el lechón asado. A typical Cuban dish and you have to wait hours for it.


As well, the list of names of food DR vs Cuba is good to know. It reaffirms what I was always say you have to know the differences for even something simple.


Bueno, a comer.


-MP.

Thanks!
I've heard of ajiaco but didn't come across it in restaurants or people's homes as far as I can remember. I definitely remember lechón asado because it's one of the dishes both countries have in common both as a favourite and with the same name. It should have been mentioned in the article in that context.

 

[Chirimoya]

Here is a simple comparison:

yautía vs malanga. I know both words. In a conversation with a Panamanian friend of mine I used malanga when talking about cooking certain foods. She had no clue what I was talking about. I think yautía is more generic.



-MP.

Víveres are a minefield when it comes to terminology across countries in the region. We tried to make sense of it but it's still so confusing.

https://www.dominicancooking.com/15640-getting-root-guide-dominican-tubers.html
https://www.cocinadominicana.com/9335/raiz-asunto-guia-tuberculos-dominicanos.html

 

[Marianopolita]

Have you been to Miami yet?

If you ever go you will be totally in the know when it comes to Cuban food.

No tienes que estar en Cuba para comer la comida típica cubana. Hay de todo en Miami.


What about a Cuban sandwich?

Delicious.




-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Víveres are a minefield when it comes to terminology across countries in the region. We tried to make sense of it but it's still so confusing.

https://www.dominicancooking.com/15640-getting-root-guide-dominican-tubers.html
https://www.cocinadominicana.com/9335/raiz-asunto-guia-tuberculos-dominicanos.html

Yes, I agree. However, when I was talking to my Panamanian friend I was testing the waters. I wasn’t surprised that she was not familiar with the word.



-MP.

 

[Chirimoya]

Have you been to Miami yet?

If you ever go you will be totally in the know when it comes to Cuban food.

No tienes que estar en Cuba para comer la comida típica cubana. Hay de todo en Miami.


What about a Cuban sandwich?

Delicious.




-MP.

Only to the airport several times but I got a taste of the Cuban influence there in the cafeterias and with everyone speaking to me in Spanish. I also have some Cuban-American friends from Miami. I'm aware of the sandwich cubano because it's popular in the DR and known by that same name, so maybe it merited a mention too.

 

[Marianopolita]

Miami is Cuba and it is an ultra Latin city in the US from a Spanish-speaking perspective. Although other US cities have more Spanish speakers number wise they do not compare to the usage of the language like Miami. If you don’t speak it could be a challenge in many areas.

If you ever go eat un sándwich cubano. Súper!



-MP.

 

[Chirimoya]

If you ever go eat un sándwich cubano. Súper!

I doubt they have a meat-free version!

 

[Marianopolita]

I doubt they have a meat-free version!

True... maybe you can invent a variation...

 

[Marianopolita]

I listened to the Podcast interview for Puerto Rico, Colombia and Venezuela as mentioned above and Costa Rica. They are all good. The accents of the speakers for PR, Colombia and Venezuela are all typical or one of the many you will hear from those countries. I don’t have enough exposure to the Costa Rican accent to comment except that the interviewee was very clear and sounds as neutral as you can get in Spanish.

All gave good insight about the culture, food, typical characteristics of their people and most of all language. I enjoyed the commentary on pronoun usage in all the podcasts. In fact it is one of the questions as well as what are the most common diminutive forms used. Once again I recommend these podcasts especially if you want to hear the variety of accents in Spanish.

Up next: Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.


-MP.

I finally had chance to listen to the podcasts and I must say this was the most intriguing in terms of not knowing what to expect. Central American countries often get lumped together for everything. For example, food, language and culture when in fact they have noticeable differences.

I think listening to the podcast of each country made the differences more noticeable. Each country’s accent is distinct. I recognize the Salvadorian accent to a certain degree especially the phrases by the speaker. Nicaragua was interesting in the sense that the speaker sounded very local. Honduras was the one I was the least familiar with and there was a lot of repetition by the speaker. One aspect all have in common is clarity when speaking. In general, they all have very clear speech.


Up next: Ecuador, Peru and Chile



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

A blogger’s commentary on his stop ‘vuelta al mundo’ in República Dominicana.


https://www.21wonders.es/america/ce...xpresiones-dominicanas-que-necesitas-conocer/


I liked his commentary.


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Feliz lunes a todos....


Here is a nice blog about common Venezuelan words and expressions. It is unfortunate that it is so brief. Although I have worked and currently work with a lot of Venezuelans and I never had a problem understanding their expressions because they are used in context. However, it’s just nice to read something written on the topic. In this blog most of the expressions are new to me: 2,3,4,5,8 and 9 and I interact with Venezuelans on a regular basis. Caramba....

Since Venezuela is no longer the beautiful country it used to be millions have left in recent years and in general over the last 20 years. If you go to Miami, Doral specifically has a large Venezuelan community and so does Colombia and Panama.







Here is the blog.


Que viva Venezuela.

This is another Spanish-speaking country with a lot of variety and distinct linguistic zones. In my experience, the accent from Caracas and Valencia are unique. I recognize them easily but also get fooled many times mistaking the Caracas speaker for a Colombian at first but never the other way around. The accents are very similar (not similar to Medellin though).

https://albaluna.es/en/idioms-venezuelans-will-understand/



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

There are some posts about food #18-#26. I found this poster on the web about Sancocho that I thought was interesting. It is definitely a common dish in many Latin American countries



Click on it to see the full version.


-MP.

 

[Fulano2]

I appreciate the poster, but how could you say that el sancocho es de Las Canarias if the only vivere used in the sancoche that grows in the Canary Islands is the potato. Not even platanos grow there. I know Tenerife a bit and there are only three kinds of guineos there, the curare, dwarf and the manzano. I don’t eat bananas but my wife likes them. So it would mean that the original would be meat with patatos....
Of course this is from the DR point of view, I don’t know other sancochos.

 

[Marianopolita]

I appreciate the poster, but how could you say that el sancocho es de Las Canarias if the only vivere used in the sancoche that grows in the Canary Islands is the potato. Not even platanos grow there. I know Tenerife a bit and there are only three kinds of guineos there, the curare, dwarf and the manzano. I don’t eat bananas but my wife likes them. So it would mean that the original would be meat with patatos....
Of course this is from the DR point of view, I don’t know other sancochos.

You mean how can ‘one say that’ el sancocho es de Las Canarias.... I just want clarify that because I did not say anything. That is a poster (picture) from a DR website. However, it is consistent with what I have read.

El Sancocho was brought to Latin America from the Canary Islands and each country added their own ingredients to it. For example, Dominican Sancocho, Colombian Sancocho etc. I have had sancochos from different countries.


-MP.

 

[Fulano2]

Hi. Yes I know it wasn’t you. I meant what was written on the poster of course. Sorry I wasn’t clear. What I mean to say that it is somewhat exaggerated to state it is from the islands when the majority of the ingredients didn’t even exist there. That’s all. It is just an opinion.

 

[Marianopolita]

I finally had chance to listen to the podcasts and I must say this was the most intriguing in terms of not knowing what to expect. Central American countries often get lumped together for everything. For example, food, language and culture when in fact they have noticeable differences.

I think listening to the podcast of each country made the differences more noticeable. Each country’s accent is distinct. I recognize the Salvadorian accent to a certain degree especially the phrases by the speaker. Nicaragua was interesting in the sense that the speaker sounded very local. Honduras was the one I was the least familiar with and there was a lot of repetition by the speaker. One aspect all have in common is clarity when speaking. In general, they all have very clear speech.


Up next: Ecuador, Peru and Chile



-MP.

I listened to the podcasts this week from Ecuador, Peru and Chile.


In summary, all three are entertaining and informative.

All speakers sound quite neutral but South American meaning no distinct linguistic trait when speaking.The Chilean speaker gave quite a few examples of peculiarities about Chilean Spanish that I learned from other internet videos but other than that it would be hard to guess where they are from unless they use an expression or speech pattern that is distinct. Not like the Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican, and Cuban accents. Those you hear and recognize instantly.

Up next: Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico


-MP.

 

[Fulano2]

As I am always interested in the Canarian Islands I would like to share this short
video. This accent is as close as it can get to the DR. It’s from La Gomera, a very small Island which you can see from Tenerife:

 

[Marianopolita]

@Fulano2

The Spanish of the Canary Islands and Andalucía is what was brought to the New World however, this is the first video that I have heard that I can actually hear the similarity. In the recent past a few videos were posted in the Spanish forum to show the connection but in my opinion I could still hear clearly the classic accent from Spain.

I am not surprised though because I have heard that the accent from La Gomera is similar to the accents of the Caribbean. Actually, in the video the speaker really reminds me of the Cuban accent. It is similar to the speech of certain parts of Cuba. The history of Spanish in Cuba is the same as all of the the Antilles. All the accents sound very similar. Sometimes DR and Cuba sometimes DR and PR. It depends on the movement of the people and the mixtures with other ethnicities.

 

[Chirimoya]

@Fulano2

The Spanish of the Canary Islands and Andalucía is what was brought to the New World however, this is the first video that I have heard that I can actually hear the similarity. In the recent past a few videos were posted in the Spanish forum to show the connection but in my opinion I could still hear clearly the classic accent from Spain.

I am not surprised though because I have heard that the accent from La Gomera is similar to the accents of the Caribbean. Actually, in the video the speaker really reminds me of the Cuban accent. It is similar to the speech of certain parts of Cuba. The history of Spanish in Cuba is the same as all of the Antilles. All the accents sound very similar. Sometimes DR and Cuba sometimes DR and PR. It depends on the movement of the people and the mixtures with other ethnicities.

Agree, closer to Cuban than Dominican.

 

[Fulano2]

Yes of course, thank you. But I wrote “as close as it gets to the DR’s”. refering to the similarity of the accents of the new and old world. I wasn’t clear about that, sorry,