Blogs about Spanish

[gladlola]

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.

as far as I know are kind of same thing, are´nt they?

 

[Marianopolita]

as far as I know are kind of same thing, are´nt they?

Yes, or there is an expression I believe yautía, prima de la malanga. Malanga is used in Cuba for sure.

 

[Chirimoya]

We tried to catalogue all the different names for tubers in this article: https://www.dominicancooking.com/15640-getting-root-guide-dominican-tubers.html

 

[Marianopolita]

I saw the article on the web. Why do you say there is no equivalent English word for batata?

 

[Chirimoya]

To differentiate it from the orange-fleshed variety, which is what is known as a sweet potato in English-speaking countries, we specify that the white-fleshed Dominican variety of sweet potato is called 'oriental sweet potato' or 'Japanese yam'. Informally it is fine to refer to it as just 'sweet potato.'

So, batata/boniato/camote (with orange flesh) is sweet potato, and the batata with white flesh is oriental sweet potato or Japanese yam. I've also seen 'white sweet potato.' They both have the same scientific name, Ipomoea batatas.

 

[Marianopolita]

Well, I think many will accept batata as a sweet potato or identify with that name. Not even in the market will you see such a distinction in my experience. I know I rely on the signs a lot. Those tubers have too many names.

 

[Marianopolita]

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.

I just finished listening to the podcasts about Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico. All I can say is all three are fantastic. Good articulation, great pronunciation and the interviewee from Mexico sounds very local. He is from Guadalajara.

I have listened to quite a few of these podcasts and I highly recommend them for listening practice and to hear a good variety of accents in Latin America.

 

[Marianopolita]

Here is a short blog about Colombian words and phrases by a foreigner who visited Colombia.

The definitions are totally correct. I wish there were more to read. If you are familiar with Colombian regionalisms and expressions this is a fun read.

Words I wish I knew before coming to Colombia

No matter how much you study Spanish, there will always be an endless amount of colloquial and regional words that will stump you whenever you travel to a Spanish speaking country. In Colombia, the…

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