Dominican vs Peruvian Spanish

[jabuti]

Which would you recommend to a Spanish Education major who has 6 weeks to do a language immersion/study and already speaks advanced Spanish:

Cusco, Peru or Santiago, DR?

My impression is (based on some of your comments) that while Dominican Spanish is lovely to my ears, it is "really different" than what you study in school (yikes); that Peruvian is has higher prestiege, all around easier to understand, better for job market, etc etc.

(I would spend longer somewhere else later. I just wanna loosen my tongue.)

Thanks again...

jabuti

 

[jabuti]

Or Guanajuato, MX ?

 

[La Rubia]

Consider Culture

I'll not speak to the "best" Spanish as all my diverse educator friends are convinced their Spanish is the closest to the most correct.

I'd actually suggest that the cultural experience in terms of indigenous people might be stronger in Peru. While I love the DR and it's history is rich, the cultures of Central/South America are more typical of what you'll teach.
(I'm making some assumptions of course.)

If you're in the US, what state/area would you most end up teaching in? If you have other plans, like graduate work, a six week visit isn't going to sway a program either way. But if you're in Florida, I'd go to the DR.

Having learned Spanish in the campo of the DR, I had to unlearn some bad habits. Every now and again something will slip out that based on my students reaction is undoubtedly a Dominicanism. With the level of Spanish you already have, you'll be able to sort this out for yourself quicker than I ever have. By being in an Academic Program, you'll also be less likely to be corrupted by slang.

While I'm grateful for having been in the DR, time spent in Guatemala has allowed me to understand my Tex/Mex and Mexican students better than if I had only been in the DR. Part of teaching the language is understanding and teaching the culture.

So I'd suggest that you look for the cultural experience that might round out your experience.

Others more qualified will comment on the programs in Santiago.

Good luck to you!

 

[La Rubia]

Mi hijo!

Or Guanajuato, MX ?

Probably a great program, but why put your mother through the agony of worrying about you? It's a little to close to San Luis Potosi for my liking, and there are probably safer choices, even in Mexico.

Anything in Costa Rica?

 

[jabuti]

There are, but they offer classes I have taken, or they are more of a Kinder para gringos. "let's to go see a waterfall - let's learn to dance - let's make a mask". Oh dear.

I have a feeling there would be less gringos in the DR, and that program is at PUCMM (Santiago) versus someone's random language center.

I'd be doing the teaching theoretically in the Carolinas.

One program I considered first was Merida, MX. It literally took them 3 weeks to answer my question about courses, so that worried me a bit on the organizational front. Plus while Santiago seems toasty, the Yucatan in June seems roasting! :dead:

My gut says to go DR.

 

[Kipling333]

Coming to the DR for advanced spanish ,,you must be joking ,,,very few people here can use the subjunctive correctly or even the tenses except for the simple ones ,,and they can not pronounce the words correctly ..But come to DR if you want to speak in spanglish

 

[xamaicano]

Depends on your goal. In my experience, Peruvians speaker slower than Dominicans and tend to code-switch to accommodate non-native speakers so communicating will be easier outside of the classroom. Speaking with ordinary Dominicans enhanced my comprehension skills because of the speed and the use of colloquial speech but with Peruvians I tend to use more of my vocabulary. Having never taken an class in either country I am guessing the classroom instruction would be similar. Educated speakers in any country are easier to understand.

 

[samanasuenos]

I speak both types. I liked my trips to the DR, and enjoyed learning new words, like GUA-GUA, for example.

But, the Peruvian kind is the kind that gets a job in most of the international places state-side, in my experience.

That said, if you want to work with a non-profit or a Canadian mining company with sites in the DR, maybe Dominican Spanish is helpful?

I would recommend getting your Spanish tweaked in Peru as an investment in your future career.

Once you have that job, then spend some fun in the sun time in the DR and marvel at the kind of Spanish spoken in Quisqueya. It is fascinating!

Enjoy!

 

[samanasuenos]

OOPS! BIG oops. If you are teaching Spanish, you should go to Peru for work-related Spanish and get that accent. First.
Most North Americans can't hear the difference, but Hispanics will.

Dominican Spanish "eats" a lot of sounds and letters, so if you teach it, it's like teaching some Cockney English.

Teach a boring Peruvian version, and have fun on vacation in the DR. You will love the language here, with all it's influences. BUT, I can't imagine teaching it outside the DR. And making money.


Sorry for any hurt feelings, I do not intend to offend.

I didn't say one was better, but one is definitely more of an investment in your job than the other.

Dominicans will understand Peruvians, I hear - but can Peruvians understand Dominicans? Sometimes.

 

[bob saunders]

OOPS! BIG oops. If you are teaching Spanish, you should go to Peru for work-related Spanish and get that accent. First.
Most North Americans can't hear the difference, but Hispanics will.

Dominican Spanish "eats" a lot of sounds and letters, so if you teach it, it's like teaching some Cockney English.

Teach a boring Peruvian version, and have fun on vacation in the DR. You will love the language here, with all it's influences. BUT, I can't imagine teaching it outside the DR. And making money.


Sorry for any hurt feelings, I do not intend to offend.

I didn't say one was better, but one is definitely more of an investment in your job than the other.

Dominicans will understand Peruvians, I hear - but can Peruvians understand Dominicans? Sometimes.

Uneducated Dominicans speak poor Spanish. Educated ones can speak proper Spanish. Why not go to : http://www.humanas.unal.edu.co/home. They have an 80 hour program that is 80 hours of teaching. It is also considered to be a top class University.
http://www.humanas.unal.edu.co/espanol/versiones/en/types/

 

[Chip]

Coming to the DR for advanced spanish ,,you must be joking ,,,very few people here can use the subjunctive correctly or even the tenses except for the simple ones ,,and they can not pronounce the words correctly ..But come to DR if you want to speak in spanglish

I'm sure this has been the case of your personal experience but I can assure you there are plenty of Dominicans that can and do speak correctly. Unless you are fairly fluent you probably wouldn't know the difference.

 

[Chip]

To the OP, there is a program at PUCMM here in Santiago. You can contact Lynne Guitar for more info. lynneguitar@yahoo.com

 

[rolfdog]

Peru at altitude is cold, but the chance to see Machu Picchu is priceless!

 

[Chip]

I can understand how some people may come to the DR infrequently or maybe never really leave the resorts and then believe all Dominicans speak Spanish poorly as I used to think this too generally. In the beginning I had formulated a lot of opinions about the DR but over time many have changed. Such is the case with the Spanish spoken here. I can say now after living here 6 years and interacting with numerous people I have met many Dominicans that speak well. Nonetheless, they are a minority and generally limited to professionals such as professors, doctors and engineers from what I've seen.

 

[Marianopolita]

Jabuti- have you decided yet?

The language immersion courses are meant to be fun and educational at the same time. While what the posters have stated in this thread is true, I don't believe six weeks in the Dominican Republic can negatively impact your Spanish to any significant degree. If anything it will enlighten you to the many varieties of the spoken language that Spanish has. You will surely learn new words, expressions, improve your fluency and that's what immersion study programs are supposed to do. Now if you were going for a longer stay for maybe six months to a year then I think some of the advice in the thread would apply.

In short, any Spanish-speaking country that you go to will offer you insight about the language, culture and broaden your horizons. However, if it's quality in the program and a specific regional variety of Spanish you are seeking then you have to weigh the pros and cons more carefully with the choices you have. In my opinion, a choice between Santiago, DR and Cusco, Peru is not much of a choice but really and truly speaking at this point in time in my life if given the choice just between those two places it would most likely be Cusco.


-M@rianoP.

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Hi Jabuti,

I guess the answer to your question is, not surprisingly, it depends. Many of the answers here are just spewed out based on some availability heuristics, but I can tell you tell that uneducated people speak any and every language poorly. That's just a fact.

Some things to consider:

I guess you're going to Cusco over "our Summer," which is "their Winter." It can get pretty chilly there - more so at night. Also, a significant percentage of their population speaks Quechua and other native languages which may confuse you a bit if you're seeking a pure Spanish learning experience. By way of reference, I spent my whole Summer of last year down in South America and it took me a while to get adjusted to the regional differences in the way Spanish is spoken. For the most part, it took me a bit to understand other people when they were talking among themselves. And I'm a native Spanish speaker!

On the other hand, Cusco is out of this world beautiful! A small town with the nicest people I've come across (tied with or a close second to Thai people) and the food is delicious, in my opinion.

Santiago is similar to Cusco in that it's the second biggest city in the country, but it's probably three times more densely populated. It has more of "city feel" to it. I've heard great things about the immersion program at PUCMM and it was a popular choice for some of my friends in Undergrad. I was always very impressed with how much they learned in a very short period of time. Further, the Spanish spoken is very neutral and transferable to any setting for sure.

I would venture to guess that the main concern is that you'll get some of the Cibao "i" for "r" substitution handicap, but I don't think that's a valid concern. At your level, you will be acquiring some vocabulary and grammar and will work on accent as you become more fluent. In essence, the environment where you practice your Spanish after the program will be more of a strong determinant of your accent than where you go for an initial introduction to the language.

Hope that helps,

Cris

 

[PICHARDO]

Which would you recommend to a Spanish Education major who has 6 weeks to do a language immersion/study and already speaks advanced Spanish:

Cusco, Peru or Santiago, DR?

My impression is (based on some of your comments) that while Dominican Spanish is lovely to my ears, it is "really different" than what you study in school (yikes); that Peruvian is has higher prestiege, all around easier to understand, better for job market, etc etc.

(I would spend longer somewhere else later. I just wanna loosen my tongue.)

Thanks again...

jabuti

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[PICHARDO]

The times and places in LA where I get flattery for my Dominican accent are too many to count. Dominican accent is LOOOOOVED by Colombians and Venezuelans alike. In Peru we're the only Latino parlantes that can virtually be understood by the majority of the Spanish speaking population there, unlike 95% from other Spanish speaking nationals.

The DR Spanish is very neutral when spoken properly (read not with slangs, as the low strata uses to most of the time here). Dominicans adopted the gypsies talk from the Spanish settlers, themselves looking for better places to live with freedom and no taxes. Gypsies had to deal with a myriad of accents and colloquial mannerisms in Spain, as well as communicate efficiently with non native Spanish speakers, as their livelihood depended on that. Reason why the resonance of the Z became no more than a written formality in their talk. They dropped many formalities used by Spaniards like the Vos, Vosotros, and such.

Part of why the Dominican Republic's music is so popular in other parts of LA and the world in General, has much to do with how easy it's to understand the words behind the music.

A person that learns to speak Spanish in the DR properly, can and will be able to be understood in 100% of places where Spanish is spoken. But for the same token understanding 100% of what people say in those Spanish speaking places, will be relevant to how familiar the speaker is to the local Spanish spoken.

Spanish immersion classes in the DR are by far the most recommended by most US colleges and many of Europe's higher education institutions in the last years.

Just think that Brazil, hired a lot of Dominican language teachers to assist in preparing the local high school graduates to speak Spanish, even when it's surrounded by Spanish speaking countries itself. A pilot program they carried out with teachers from several of those same nations, proved that there was a significant language barrier, when the students faced talking with other speakers from a different nationality of that of their instructor. The pilot was expanded with Dominican teachers and the results changed dramatically, in all the cases the Brazilian students were able to get their point across and properly, the percentage of understanding from the speakers back to the students didn't change much.

 

[Norma Rosa]

Very interesting, Pichardo. I know those are true statements. Thanks. (Hope others are reading.)

 

[jabuti]

Thanks to all for your great feedback. I ended up choosing PUCMM in the end.

From the US end, it is really REALLY organized. I have been reading people's blogs that are on the semester long PUCMM program. Everyone seems happy and adores their host family.

I appreciate all of your comments!

jabuti