Question for Spanish speakers

it depends how long the visit....

Chirimoya said:

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

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if more than two weeks, I definitely incorporate the local slang when addressing the locals. I can go up or down with my Spanish, it drives my husband nuts. What fun!

Chirimoya said:

Forbeca, when I do that, it has the exact same effect on my mother!
But how far would you take it? Would you adopt the Argentinian 'zh' sound in Argentina?

Chiri

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yes, I take it all the way. The instant I get the gist of a new phrase, and the right accent, I'm a transformed tourist.

If you speak slowly and clearly as possible everyone understands each other.

I have have picked-up some slang or local habits and tend to incorporate some of them into daily life.. it is funny to do.

I say checa or to checar s they do in Mexico. instead of the Dominican chequear.

I say "upa" before entering a home as in Nicargua..lol

Call people "mae" (CR) or "guey" (Mex) or my house "choza"

Swear words are the best though.."chucha" (Panama), "despiche" (C.R.) and a million others are a colorful way to enhance your vocabulary...lol :smoke:

Go as?

Chirimoya said:

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

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Chiri, first of all, hi. Second of all, do you mean to visit ( as in vacation ) or to live in another country?.

Chiri, this is cool if the people listening to you are not from your native country. Example, If I came home with a Puerto Rican or Argentinan saying, my family and friends would have a fit.

When I first came to the US I was in ESL classes, it was like a mini-United Nations there. MY best best friend was Uruguayan, the first day I said vos at home, I almost caught a beating!!

On another note, now what I do is that I dont speak as fast to my International friends and omit many of the Dominican-only phrases I use with other Doms.

I tend to fall into the local accent. I do that anyway. Even in English.

I learned Spanish in Venezuela and many people thought I was a native since I used slang and local pronunciation...what else do you do when you learn something by ear?

The worst is when I am talking to someone who is not a native speaker of the language...then my own language goes all to hell. Mimicry has its pitfalls.

Most American people who meet me say, "You don't have a Maine accent." Then I put it on for them. I once put an English announcement on a message service as a joke at my old job. Everyone was asking who the person was! They liked it so much they left it for months. I guess it sounded sophisticated. In the South I fell easy into the drawl...In the DR, I could mimic the maid or the preacher. The key is exposure.

My guess is those of us who are language-oriented can switch easily.

Another note: we had International Day at school once and did readings in different languages. No one could read Swedish. I volunteered and did a very hokey accent. People still rave about my ability to speak Swedish!

One thing I have noticed.....I have yet to meet a Swiss German-speaker who does not sound like he is speaking with marbles in his mouth when attempting Spanish. And I have met a few.

I learned Spanish in the DR. In the DR, folks guessed I might be from Venezuela, but really, I am a language mutt, because I have learned vocabulary and accents from all over the place.
I also have a very hard time NOT picking up on another accent - no matter if it's an English speaking country, southern US, or Puerto Rico. I just hope that when I do it, the listener understands that I'm matching their vibration, not making fun of it. It's just as easy to stay with proper Spanish when appropriate.
Fitting in is in some ways respecting the people around you. Having fair hair and skin already makes me stand out. I know how my ears hurt sometimes when people say things incorrectly. Speaking like everybody else, to me, kind of puts the listener at ease.
Dominican Spanish, like Dominicans, is very colorful, and full of life.
mk

Ok!!

Chirimoya said:

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

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I am a true believer that if one is going to live in a country that it not your country of origin, one must try learn the host country's language and culture. Sometime the host country's language will rub on you after you hang around with the locals (as in Madonna that now has a British accent because she lives in England and her husband is English, gimme a break). I guess that it has to do with the person's age. It would be easier for a youngster to start talking like the locals, than it is for a older person.
My ex was from Nicaragua and used "vos" all the time and I never used "vos" in the 8 years that we were together. I have been to Mexico at least 15 times and I have many Mexican friends over there and I never talk the way they talk. Some old friends of mine are from Haiti and I never use " masisi " in my vocabulary. In the other hand, by brother lives in Puerto Rico and when he talks, you think that you are talking to a pure Puerto Rican. If I ever go to live in Spain, I think that I am way too old to start speaking Spaniard spanish, I guess. Then again, I can start speaking Spain's spanish ( as Angela Carrasco and Julio Savala do because the lived in Spain).
Maybe when I move to the DR I will start speaking like a Dominican.

Great question. I'm fluent in Dominican Spanish but my Spanish in the U.S. or Europe drifts to a more standard diction, neutral accent, and the use of a more formal syntax. Its an unconscious, yet automatic twitch, somewhere in the brain cortex. Language is such a wonderful tool that I enjoy borrowing words or phrases from other Spanish dialects, and even other languages, not just English. I grew up in a multillingual Caribbean family, so I may be more inclined to become a verbal chamaleon and be comfortable with transnationalisms. I think that colloquial Dominican Spanish is delightfully vibrant but many Spanish speakers from other lands often find it difficult to decipher.

-Tordok

Chirimoya said:

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

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Spanish (in 19 countries)

Chirimoya,

I personally speak the same way regardless where I go. Of course you immediately notice different accents within the same country and from country to country but personally I think it's funny if someone spends a week or two outside their homeland and when they return they immediately try to speak like the locals where they where visiting. I don't see how one can make the permanent change over anyway in such a short space of time. I think eventually one would stop using the expressions once out the environment. I think the beauty about Spanish is the lexical varieties however you have to know when to use them. If anything try and be as standard as possible that way you will be understood by 98% of the time and I say 98% because there are always some words that you use that may indicate to the locals that you are not a local. "En pocas palabras- no cambies tu espanol". The only advise I have are with two words (for example there are more) which tend to be dangerous. The word "straw" which is virtually different in every Latin country and in some cases vulgar. So be careful and of course "fruits". Ask the locals how they say their fruits to play it safe.

here are some straw variations "straw" variations:

calimete= DR
pitillo= Colo,Vene
paja, pajita= most standard word/ used mostly in Central America
popote= Mex.
sorbete= El Salvador
sorbeto= Pto.Rico

Chirimoya said:

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

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Mkohn ? You consider yourself a language mutt??? I am a mutt 100% for many reasons?

My Grandparents (father side) are Brazilian and American, moved to Uruguay and my father was born and raised in Uruguay. My grandparents (mother side) are Bolivian and Spaniard, and my mother was born in Bolivia.

For different reasons in life, mom & dad met in Punta del Este (Uruguay)?.I was born in Uruguay, raised in Bolivia and Brazil until the age of 14 when I moved to the US.
From the day I can remember it?s been very easy for me to catch up with any accent, I learned my first words in Uruguay (similar to the Argentinean accent) then changed to the Easter Bolivian accent (different from la Capital) then I moved to Brazil with my abuelos when my parents came to the US in the late 70?s. Gees what??? I learned Portuguese?.

When I moved to Miami, (still in my teens) I met people form all over Latin America? go figure, I didn?t only have to learn English, but also try to catch up with my ?new? Spanish. First was the Cuban, then Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Dominican and some others. With the time I found out that the best way to learn the culture and modismos de otro pais was with a girlfriend?. Ohhh boy I did? hehehe?.But at the end, I do speak a neutral Spanish accent that almost nobody can guess I?m from, and when I visit some Latin American countries I speak the way I normally do now, but I have no problem using local terminology or modismo in a neutral Spanish accent?. sometimes sounds weird, but people like it.

Regards,

Jorge

I personally speak the same way regardless where I go. Of course you immediately notice different accents within the same country and from country to country but personally I think it's funny if someone spends a week or two outside their homeland and when they return they immediately try to speak like the locals where they where visiting. I don't see how one can make the permanent change over anyway in such a short space of time.




No, you don't return speaking differently, you leave that behind. It is just fun to do while visiting. Some people are just great imitators. I can pick up an accent real quick and don't hesitate to use it. My husband, on the other hand, is older than I, more set in his ways, and truth be told, a complete snob, he finds it annoying. I think it's fun.

Chiri, it sounds like you are being "intentionally obtuse" like you said. You wont do with the Spanish language, but you will with the English?

She may have been doing it unintenionally. Do you know how long she's been in DR?

I dont think is that easy to change your accent on the fly like that. Unless you are constantly thinking how you are going to sound when you are talking and that would make it worse. When I was learning English, thinking too much made me say words incorrectly (i.e. Beach and B*tch, aunt and ant, etc).

Lesley D said:

Chirimoya,

here are some straw variations "straw" variations:

calimete= DR
pitillo= Colo,Vene
paja, pajita= most standard word/ used mostly in Central America
popote= Mex.
sorbete= El Salvador
sorbeto= Pto.Rico

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Yeah I would imagine you would catch a hell of a beating in DR if you asked a waitress, "Que te de una pajita."

NY1 said:

Yeah I would imagine you would catch a hell of a beating in DR if you asked a waitress, "Que te de una pajita."

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LOL, imagine this scenario:
This macho Dominican man, clapping to the waitress "que venga rapido!" and when she comes he tells her, "Yo no te pedi una paja hace mucho? Dame una pajita por favor!!"