dominican spanish compared to other spanish speaking countries...differences?

ms.mathilda

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May 5, 2002
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ok after studying spanish on my own with various books and tapes i think i have found some differences but correct me if I'm wrong.
Do Dominicans frequently delete the "s" from the ending of words such as "adios" and "seis"
If so are there any other Dominican spanish rules I should know about before i thoroughly confuse myself even more?
any help greatly appreciated!
thanks
Mattie
 

pascal

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Jan 14, 2002
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I am not an expert in language but it occurs to me that there are many hispanic countries in the world and they must have their own peculiarities. My dominican wife doesn' t always understand the Castellano spoken in Spain, equally after a number of years travelling to DR , I thought I could handle Spanish basically anywhere until I was assigned to work in Spain and found out I just had to learn another language. I however believe that with a good basis in Castellano you have a good chance to communicate properly. The dominicans tend to speak rather slowly as opposed to some other hispanic countries.
Differences ! thousands ! impossible to list them all. some of them however may lead to great confusion and misunderstanding. Just an example ' guapo ' in Dominican spanish means ' upset ' while in Castellano it means ' handsome '.

But don't worry too much you will manage !
 

mainer

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Another Spanish Question.

Is the letter V pronounced like the English V or the English B in the DR. We are also studying on our own, and each program gives a different pronunciation. Also, the color orange has two very different pronunciations in Spanish.

Thanks,
Mainer
 

ms.mathilda

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i was told that

it is more of a "b" sound but most english speakers cannot pronounce it the correct way. So i heard it is much better to stick with a light v sound. this was told to me from a friend who just completed a spanish class passed on from the instructor,
good luck i understand the frustrations!

Oh my gosh Pascal- i am so glad you told me that before i go considering that word might come up in conversation at some point! thank you
 
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Snuffy

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yes...they drop the s.......

this was my problem when I first arrived. I could not understand some words until i figured out the dropping of the s sound.
 

MommC

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Yes they drop the "s" -sometimes but not always.

Also the "v" is pronounced as "b" - sometimes but not always.......
It depends on who you are talking to, about what and where.
The best thing to do is go with the Spanish that you feel more comfortable with and talk to the people there. You'll soon figure out the nuances.
There is quite a difference in the Dominican Spanish and the "Castillian" Spanish however it is not that different from the Mexican Spanish or the Argentinian Spanish. I was familiar with both the Argeninian and the Mexican and they are both differnt from each other and from Dominican Spanish.
Kinda like Italian....when in Rome the Romans speak a different Italian than the people from Calabria (altho it is close to the Italian spoken by people from the north like Milan and Modena). However go to Milan or Modena and their Italian is different from each others......in other words each area had it's own "Dialect" and the only way to become familiar with it is to go to the place and talk!!
Have fun and don't sweat the small stuff......you'll "GET" it very quickly!;)
 

Marilyn

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May 7, 2002
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Mommc is right...

We drop the S sometimes, not always, and also some people will add an S where it doesn't belong, or in the north (el Cibao) the R's and L's will be dropped to be replaced by "i", like "comer" (to eat) will be pronounced "comei", but most people will try to talk to tourists very slowly and try to pronounce the words more clearly.

The V should be spoken with a soft v sound, but most people pronounce it with a hard B sound, vaca (cow) will be pronounced "baca", etc.
 

Hillbilly

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The {b} sound and the {v} sound

These are labial fricatives in ling?istics.

You just barely touch you lips together, and you do make noise with your throat. It is not explosive like "boat" nor is it labio-dental like "vote" , but that same sound you get when you start to say "vote" is made with just the lips lightly together.


Profesor HB
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Bugsey34

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Feb 15, 2002
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You will undoubtedly hear things in the DR that you will not hear other places and that you did not learn in any book or class. But, as with most idioms, they will be most often related to every day words. Things like 'pasola', 'motoconcho', and 'guinea'. But all grammar for all Spanish speakers comes straight from the Real Academia in Madrid, so it should be all the same, though some people's grammar is better than others, obviously, depending on the person.

Accents are accents, and everyone has a different one. If English was your second language you would probably have problems understanding a southern accent if you learned in New York or something. Once you get used to the Dominican accent you will be fine if you have a basic grasp of Spanish as it is.

I disagree that Castellano Madrile?o is very different from Latin American spanish. It is similar to the differences between British English and American English is my point of view. There are different terms for some things, and a very different accent, but you can understand each other. I have been taught by Latin American teachers in all my school years, but have had no problems in Madrid, besides noting the difference. I came to Madrid with a complete Dominican accent and was always understood. That is the beauty of Spanish... although Spanish was brought to the colonies hundreds of years ago, the language has been kept alive and all countries can understand each other!!

P.S. mommC: Italian is a horse of a different color. Italian chaos!! Provinical dialects are completely, and I mean completely, different from Classic Italian. Those that speak them are considered bilingual because in order for them to understand Italians from other provinces they have to switch completely to Classic Italian, the common language in the country.
 

trina

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A word very commonly used is "chin". It means "a little bit"...however, you will never find that word in a dictionary, and if you spoke to anyone in a Spanish-speaking country other than the Dominican, they wouldn't have a clue what you are talking about.
 

MommC

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You're right on about the Italian Bugsy....

and Trina nailed the "chin"! Our Argentinian cousins just looked at me funny whenever I said "un chin"!!! I found their Spanish very easy to understand moreso than the "Classical Castelliano" even tho' the two years of Spanish I'd had in high school was the classic variety (of course it was also many,many years ago).
I had a more difficult time when we first started visiting the DR. until I realized that the Dominican spanish was very similar to the Italian Calabrese. Now I can even understand one brother-n-law long distance telephone. He speaks to me in Calabrese and I answer in DR spanish - hehe! Works for both of us!!
 

pascal

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Equally the people from the sudden part of Spain do miss the S ; they express their difference through a more meridional language.

Isn't this making the whole thing interesting after all ? I used to prepare training for most countries in Europe and the Belgian French speaking claimed they had their own language while the flemish claimed they couldn' t speak dutch as dutch belongs to the netherlands only . What about switzerland ? worse if you walk into a GM office you'll be hearing 5 languages spoken at the distribution dept in charge of local dealers about 150.
back to french with our canadians cousins , they are great in the sense they make a real effort to preserve the language.
What about Hungarian which sounds like Finnish but is different!
And Spain where spanish died with the vasquo and catalunya languages ! castellano is the replacement now
Yes guys it took me 25 years to speak english , german and spanish while I was loosing my mother tongue French .
All this is just reflecting culture and without a culture a language is nothing no more than a sharp C++ or java programming language hence just a code . I appraise those guys willing to sense and feel the peculiarities of a language this is only way we will able able to communicate after all.
And to make a story short what about this book I read the other day ' love story between english and french ' and you'll be surprise to see that english here includes german as well introduced by the engels
Haitians speak criollo basicaly with the same root language spoken in Guadalupe , martiniques and in other island of el caribe.
They do not speak french as a first language just as it was simply said on the other thread , They speak an african dialect

This long stuff suggests that at the end we all come from the same place !

Do you agree ? the questions applies to people speaking at least one foreign language fluently
 

ms.mathilda

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wow so many great replies!

thank you everyone for replying. It will certainly help me.
While were on the topic, can anyone recommend a good book that will help me learn Spanish. I have some text books friends have passed on to me but i find them difficult to use without being in a class and the tapes i found at the library are old and i find them confusing!I know the best way to go is to take a class but since i just finished grad school I really need a break from school.
thanks again
Mattie
 

m65swede

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Re: Mommc is right...

Marilyn said:
We drop the S sometimes, not always, and also some people will add an S where it doesn't belong, or in the north (el Cibao) the R's and L's will be dropped to be replaced by "i", like "comer" (to eat) will be pronounced "comei

Yup, plus it is common in the southwest DR (San Juan de la Maguana, for example) to add an "e" after the final "s" in a plural word.

Example: Most of our ranch workers referred to the cows as "las vacase" (or more typically "la b?case"); fighting cocks as "los gallose". The "e" sound is very short. Sorta reminds me of the Canadian habit of adding the "eh?" to the end of sentences! Or the New Yorkers' "Ya know?".

I'm also gonna guess that there is a much wider use of Spanglish in the DR than in most other Spanish-speaking countries.

Swede
 
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Diana

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Jan 1, 2002
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Re: wow so many great replies!

ms.mathilda said:
thank you everyone for replying. It will certainly help me.
While were on the topic, can anyone recommend a good book that will help me learn Spanish. I have some text books friends have passed on to me but i find them difficult to use without being in a class and the tapes i found at the library are old and i find them confusing!I know the best way to go is to take a class but since i just finished grad school I really need a break from school.
thanks again
Mattie

I actually started with some beginner books I bought at chapters. One was spanish for gringos and the other was learn spanish 10 minutes a day. That one was good since it taught you how to pronounce every word. Then I took a beginner spanish course in the evenings at a local college, and that's when I realized I knew more than I thought. My teacher recommened I skip level 2 so I learned that part on my own since I had the text book and after missing a year of classroom training, I just enrolled in the level 3 course and I love it. It's makes so much more difference when the teacher is from a spanish speaking country, my first one was from Cuba and this one is from Peru. ;)
 

ms.mathilda

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diana

i actually have spanish in 10 minutes a day and really like it. Do you know if there is a level 2 to that book? if not there should be. i have to agree with you that book really helps with pronunciation of words as others do not.
 

Diana

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ms. mathilda

Not sure if there is a level 2 in that book, but once you have mastered that, I would recommend you take a book out of the library. When I went into my level one course, I knew alot of the vocabulary words, and couldn't believe how much I understood my teacher when she spoke in spanish (must be all the trips to the DR), but I must say the course really helped with learning the verb conjugations. So if you could find a library book more to do with conguating verbs, that could be another idea. I am in my course and I still take out another book just to get more practice and different exercises. Have you seen this website, it's excellent: www.studyspanish.com
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Getting an ear

One of the best ways to get an ear for a language is to watch and listen. Watch a ball game on TBS and get the spanish language version. You won't notice that they suck as baseball announcers but you will surely get a feel and an ear for the language.

Galavision also has bilingual soaps.

With world cup football on TV you just have to listen to it in Spanish....

Great way to learn....

HB
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ms.mathilda

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hillbilly

i tried watching the spanish channel that i get on cable but found it very frustrating as i didn't understand much because they talk too fast. i don't know if i should sit for hours in front of a spanish speaking soap or just study with books on my own. i feel that it would take hours of watching this channel just to pick up a few words.
anyone have any luck with this method?
mattie