Informal Poll: Best/Worst Sounding Spanish

[Chip00]

I was wondereing if anybody had opinions about the spoken Spanish and which are the prettiest and ugliest. Here's my list:

Prettiest:


1. "Normal" Dominican (without pretension - this excluded Leonel and like accordingly) they speak with no accent darnet!
2. Interior of frontier along Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.
3. Castillano (as long as it's from a real person and not spoken in the movies)

Worst:

1. Venezuelan (las novelas no las soporto, cono)
2. Mexican (igual que mala)
3. Puerto Rican (cut words worse mas que el diache and always sound like a ballon is letting it's air out)

 

[Squat]

Best spanish : Jorge Ramos, noticiero Univision !!!

 

[Rocky]

I was wondereing if anybody had opinions about the spoken Spanish and which are the prettiest and ugliest. Here's my list:

Prettiest:


1. "Normal" Dominican (without pretension - this excluded Leonel and like accordingly) they speak with no accent darnet!
2. Interior of frontier along Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.
3. Castillano (as long as it's from a real person and not spoken in the movies)

Worst:

1. Venezuelan (las novelas no las soporto, cono)
2. Mexican (igual que mala)
3. Puerto Rican (cut words worse mas que el diache and always sound like a ballon is letting it's air out)

Castillano?
I don't think so.
With that stupid lisp they put on the "S".
It doesn't sound that bad coming from a woman, but the guys sound like little fairies. When you see a big burly 6 foot, 200 pound man, talking with a lisp.... well, it's ugly, just plain ugly.

And the worst?
Chileno. It's the only Spanish I know, that I can't understand a single word they are saying.
I have an easier time understanding Portuguese or Italian, than Chilean Spanish.

 

[2LeftFeet]

Argentine and Castillian sound pretty to me. I'm learning Spanish so they speak much slower.

Dominican is difficult for me. They cut off endings and to me always sound like they are angry or fighting.

 

[Rocky]

Argentine and Castillian sound pretty to me. I'm learning Spanish so they speak much slower.

Dominican is difficult for me. They cut off endings and to me always sound like they are angry or fighting.

That's only the lesser educated Dominicans who do that.
The educated Dominican Spanish is, IMHO, one of the most pleasant to the ear.

 

[Robert]

Colombians, I find their Spanish very easy on the ears.

 

[Squat]

I would say one of the worst is "gallego", the spanish accent from Galicia in Spain... But most regionalism sound really ugly in Spain.

Speaking with the zeta, lot of vulgarity... I dislike Spanish from Spain...

I realize it also whenever I watch a movie translated in castellano, versus a movie translated in latam Spanish...

 

[qgrande]

Double post, quick reply playing up

 

[qgrande]

Gallego is not an accent, it's a separate language, more like Portuguese (isto nom ? Espanha, Galiza ceibe!). But I agree that when Galicians speak Spanish their accent isnt the prettiest around. But clean Castillian Spanish can be nice, maybe it's what you're used to and whether your first contact with Spanish was in Latin America or Spain.
It depends on the people speaking t of course. On Chilean Spanish, the Spanish from the Chileans I know is not particularly unpleasant, and certainly easier to understand than the average Dominican.

I've always heard Colombians have the clearest Spanish.

I agree Mexican Spanish isn't very pretty.

 

[Don Juan]

Here in Silver Spring, MD.......

I get to meet many Latinos from many nations. The very worse Spanish is spoken by the Dominicans that gather at Manna's restaurant. second worse are Salvadoreans and Mexicans. It is almost incomprehensible to the untrained ear.

Without a doubt, by far, the prettiest/best pronounced is Colombian.

 

[Chip00]

I get to meet many Latinos from many nations. The very worse Spanish is spoken by the Dominicans that gather at Manna's restaurant. second worse are Salvadoreans and Mexicans. It is almost incomprehensible to the untrained ear.

Without a doubt, by far, the prettiest/best pronounced is Colombian.

I agree that the "Americanized" version of Dominican Spanish is ugly, it is very similar to the Puerto Rican Spanish of which I am so familiar and is usually sprinkled with a heavy "garnish" of English words, unfortunately a lot of times being the F-bomb.

 

[Chip00]

Castillano?
I don't think so.
With that stupid lisp they put on the "S".
It doesn't sound that bad coming from a woman, but the guys sound like little fairies. When you see a big burly 6 foot, 200 pound man, talking with a lisp.... well, it's ugly, just plain ugly.

And the worst?
Chileno. It's the only Spanish I know, that I can't understand a single word they are saying.
I have an easier time understanding Portuguese or Italian, than Chilean Spanish.

I agree that the European Spanish heard on TV can be as ugly as the other "cinematized" versions but I was basing my experience after talking with some "real" people and was really impressed with their Spanish's clarity and lack of pretext (ie vanity). As far as the use of the "th" it's use in Spain is not universal.

 

[Chip00]

By the way, there are some very distinct Spanish accents in Columbia that are noticebly different. From my understanding and experience, the closer one gets to the Caribbean the more the Spanish becomes "modernizied" and thus "bastardizied.The interior is the older "colonial" Spanish which matches well with the Cibaeno Spanish (spoken well of course) that I like so much.

 

[rolfdog]

Honduras

Some Hondurans I've met speak beautifully and clearly. At least I readily understand them. They really pride themselves on their Spanish. They also use vos for tu. Again, they're educated. But I've has some Honduran laborers help repair my house after a hurricane and their spanish was pretty foreign to my ear. I think they were campesinos and there was a lot of native Indian, maya influence.

Steve

 

[Don Juan]

Right you are.

By the way, there are some very distinct Spanish accents in Columbia that are noticebly different. From my understanding and experience, the closer one gets to the Caribbean the more the Spanish becomes "modernizied" and thus "bastardizied.The interior is the older "colonial" Spanish which matches well with the Cibaeno Spanish (spoken well of course) that I like so much.

As it is in many nations, the official language takes on a life of it's own depending on the region in question. You can pretty much discern a person's origins by its spoken peculiarities. It's just as true in DR as it is in Colombia.

My wife's relatives and most friends come from Bogot?. They all speak with the same tone and way with words. I'm impressed by the care they take in exacting the meaning of the topic at hand.
No doubt that other regions in Colombia would have their own distinct articulations. So, yes, we can't judge for the entire population base solely on a few of its' citizens. Still, It's hard to find a Dominican with a good command of our language.... Except on TV.

 

[Ivanita]

Best :

Dominicans. It's very sing song and the accent is so nice. Once you've been exposed to it enough, it isn't even difficult to understand.

Coastal Colombians. Their accent is mellower & easier to understand than those in the Interior. I can't follow the Bogota accent for anything.

Cubans. Maybe i'm crazy, I know they speak fast and they aspirate like crazy, but they're very communicative & articulate, making sure you (especially if your a gringa) understand. And its very distinctive.

Worst:

Spain, by far. And all their BS about speaking perfect, formal Spanish like Nebrija intended is so annoying. The lisp is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Argentina. The LL and Y kill me. It sounds very ugly to me.

Peru. Impossible for me to understand, and not especially nice on the ears.

 

[Don Juan]

Welcome to DR1, Ivanita!

Si me permites unas cuantas preguntas?
Originalmente, de donde eres?
En que pais vives?
As viajado a Colombia? A Espa?a?
Como encontraste este sitio?

Vienvenida a nuestro peque?o mundo de DR1. Espero que pueda seguir compartiendo sus opiniones con todos nosotros. Gracias!

 

[Chirimoya]

Welcome to DR1, Ivanita.

I'm sure it's a lot to do with what you're used to. I also find that Spanish from Spain grates on me now, after years of living here. Apart from Argentinian, I love most Latin American accents, especially when spoken by an educated person.

The Mexican sing-song intonation is annoying, but infectious. I don't think I've ever caught myself imitating another accent unconsciously the way I did last time I was in Mexico.

 

[George Holmes]

Cantabru, from the north of of Spain is rather nice, and linguists inform me that is a very "pure" accent that has changed very little. I find Argentinian accents rather sexy.

If you want to hear clear and easy to understand spanish, go to Bolivia. As there are three official languages, plus many more unofficial indigenous languages, everyone speaks so the other can understand.

I hate (with a passion) Andaluz accents (do you have one Chiri?), especially from Granada. I also have an urge to kill mexicans when they open their mouths. They are like the Brummies of the Spanish world.

 

[Chip00]

Si me permites unas cuantas preguntas?
Originalmente, de donde eres?
En que pais vives?
As viajado a Colombia? A Espa?a?
Como encontraste este sitio?

Vienvenida a nuestro peque?o mundo de DR1. Espero que pueda seguir compartiendo sus opiniones con todos nosotros. Gracias!

Correction:

"As viajado" es incorrecto - es "has viajado"