Blogs about Spanish

[Marianopolita]

Spanish is a language with a lot of diversity. However, it is interesting to read about the thoughts and observations of speakers who visit Spanish-speaking countries and subsequently are surprised by the differences in vocabulary, expressions and grammar usage from country to country.

While browsing the web, I have come across many blogs about Spanish spoken in different countries and I find it interesting to read about people’s experiences and observations from a linguistic perspective.

In this blog, it is a Spaniard’s observations about Spanish spoken in Panama. After reading it her summary is accurate about the words used and their origin. I recognize her examples and I also like to compare them to other Spanish-speaking countries. She gave the equivalent of what is used in Spain. That was interesting for me since I was unfamiliar with the words she mentioned. Good to know.

I have come across good observations that bloggers wrote about Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Spanish which were a delight to read. If I find more good ones I will add them here but for now que viva Panama.


Some of the examples given:

Compare:

Policía muerto vs Policía acostado (acostao)
Tranque vs tapón
Bochinche (same meaning in the Caribbean)
Abarrotaría vs colmado

There are many examples that you can compare to DR, Cuba and PR.


Blog link:

https://martaspanishclass.com/el-espanol-de-panama/


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Cuba- Cubita la bella

Here is a blog/magazine about Cuban Spanish. It is brief but well written. It gives interesting facts about Spanish spoken in Cuba and some of the regional differences. As well, it has examples of words, phrases and expressions that are ultra Cuban meaning that you will hear only in Cuba or when Cubans speak in general. Some were recognizable others I think you need to live in Cuba especially slang. New words surface all the time.


The linguistic aspect is so interesting. I will come back and add a few words to my post from the blog. In the meantime here is the link. An enjoyable read.


https://www.barcelo.com/pinandtravel/es/palabras-cubanas-diccionario-cubano/


The DR is up next.


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here a few typical words and expressions from the blog:

Asere
Qué bolá
Chamaco
Amanecer con el moño virado
Tirar un cabo

Cuban Spanish is very rich in vocabulary and expressions. Whether you are in Cuba or talking to Cubans living elsewhere that is one aspect you will notice. Some words and expressions are typically Cuban and others are popular in Caribbean Spanish.

Other common words that come to mind are:

Fula = money (US dollar)
La Yuma= USA
Estar en la fuácata=to be broke



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here are some blogs about Spanish in the DR to start. I am still looking for some that compare to what I posted for Panama and Cuba.


http://misterprofesor.blogspot.com/2013/04/variantes-del-espanol-dominicano.html


This website is good for all things Spanish and it has a nice write up about the DR.


https://www.thoughtco.com/dominican-republic-facts-3079018


Certain words and phrases are typical of DR Spanish. When you think about Spanish spoken in the DR what words, expressions and speech patterns come to mind? The blog discusses these aspects.


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

This is a well-written and well-researched summary about Spanish in general and the variations across the Spanish-speaking world.




https://www.infoplease.com/why-spanish-accents-can-be-so-different



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here is a good commentary on Spanish in the DR written by a Dominican posted in Prensa Política which is still quite a recent article.




https://prensapolitica.com.do/cultura/el-espanol-en-republica-dominicana


Topics in the article:

1) three linguistic zones in DR

2) vocabulary- origin of words

3) the continuous changes in the Dominican vernacular



-MP.

 

[Chirimoya]

Thanks for sharing these links. I'm writing an article about Cuban food and food names at this very moment.

 

[Marianopolita]

You are welcome.


That sounds like fun.

If you want to share some of the names of the food please go ahead.

The names of food give insight to its origin and it is interesting to compare the names of the same food across the Spanish Caribbean.


Arroz moro - a staple for me or aka Arroz congrí. Very good!

Pollo asado- muy rico

Fufú de plátano- aka plátano majado - I never was a fan of plátano. The equivalent of Dominican Mangú but a lot of people like it.

Ropa vieja- shredded beef. A common Cuban dish

Frijoles negros a la cubana- very common



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

I finally found a blog on el cibaeño. Clearly the blogger did the required research and his commentary/ opinion is valuable as a result (but please pardon his writing though...).



The linguistic info is very informative. If you are curious about el cibaeño and can read Spanish it’s worth the read.

http://kandongo.blogspot.com/2013/03/jablamo-maii-en-ei-cibao-oh-hablan-mal.html



-MP.

 

[Chirimoya]

You are welcome.


That sounds like fun.

If you want to share some of the names of the food please go ahead.

Thanks, I'll post a link when it's up. The gist of it is that DR and Cuba have a lot of foods in common, but many of the names we use are different.

 

[Fulano2]

Many islands in the Carribean have similar food. The creole kitchen is even be found in Suriname. I have a good friend from Suriname and he recognised Dominican food from his childhood.

 

[Marianopolita]

Yes and those similarities are also tied to the history of the people who were brought to the islands in the Caribbean and countries like Suriname. Similar food but not always the same taste. Different spices and food preparation account for the differences but in general you will find a lot of similarities.



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

¿Mi gente de DR1 cómo amanecen? Espero que estén bien. Es otro amanecer, otro día y estamos vivos. Hay que ser agradecidos.

Bueno sigo encontrando blogs y enlances sobre el español hablado en diferentes países. Hoy le toca a Colombia. ¿Qué les parece un poco de sabor colombiano?





I stumbled across this link a few days ago and thought it is perfect for this thread. Vocabulary in Spanish varies so much and regionalisms definitely can identify where a speaker is from or where a person may have lived for a while. The vocabulary and expressions a person uses in addition to a person’s accent give you clues. You may say to yourself ¿De dónde es xxx persona? Sometimes one word or phrase is a give away.

From this list, I knew quite a few of the expressions and interesting enough the first word I learned recently when listening to a radio show. The person was asked ¿qué significa Amañado? Many of the expressions you can understand just by reading the example.


https://www.colombia.co/cultura-de-...0-palabras-que-solo-se-entienden-en-colombia/


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here is a brief article on Spanish in the Dominican Republic......pero me gustó.


Article in English

https://www.justlanded.com/english/...uide/Language/Languages-in-Dominican-Republic



-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here is a podcast about the Dominican Republic. It is about 40 minutes. The conversation is about the food, language, culture, economy etc. The purpose is to let students hear different accents and ways of speaking in the Spanish-speaking world. The interviewer is from Spain and the person being interviewed is Dominican from Santo Domingo.


I think the interview was very informative and he gave a lot of examples of Dominican Spanish and one aspect that is key that he mentioned was rural speech in the DR. Great podcast! I will listen to interviews of speakers from other countries bit by bit.

https://www.lengalia.com/en/learn-spanish-for-free/podcasts/latin-america/dominican-republic.html


-MP.

 

[Marianopolita]

These podcasts are just wonderful. It is an opportunity to hear different accents in Latin America and there are many. You may have exposure to some but if you don’t for whatever reason these podcasts will introduce you to how Spanish is spoken in Latin America.

I listened to two this morning:

1) Cuba- the podcast is 30 minutes. The interviewee is from Santiago de Cuba which is a large city comparable to Havana. I was surprised how non typical she sounds accent wise. She uses local vocabulary and gives examples of classic Caribbean speech patterns used in Cuba but she did not sound typically Cuban in my opinion.

2) Panama- awesome podcast. It is 22 minutes. The interviewee is an older gentlemen and I think he sounds like the typical accent you will hear in Panama (at least la ciudad de Panamá) No question about it. He is Panamanian. He talks about the strong influence of English in Panamanian speech but it is not necessarily Spanglish because many of the words are hispanicized. There is significant influence the from English-speaking Caribbean population. This aspect is unique to Panama for the most part. Listening to this podcast made me feel like I am in Panama.

My general observation so far after listening to three podcasts- DR, Cuba, Panama all have the same characteristics of Caribbean Spanish (not the accent) the s is dropped, the d is suppressed, in parts of DR and Cuba R to L change and note that change does not happen in Panamanian Spanish.



I will continue my journey around the Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries before I listen to others.

The three I will listen to next are:

Puerto Rico
Colombia
Venezuela


-MP.

 

[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.

 

[Chirimoya]

¡Mejor tarde que nunca! Here's my article about Cuban and Dominican foods and what we call them.

In English: https://www.dominicancooking.com/25790-cuban-vs-dominican-cooking.html

In Spanish:https://www.cocinadominicana.com/25675/cocina-cubana-vs-dominicana.html

The food photos are by Aunt Clara. The Havana street vendor photos were taken by my son: https://www.instagram.com/pix_lg/

 

[Marianopolita]

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.

 

[Marianopolita]

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.