Prejudices against the Dominican accent

[malko]

I allready posted this anecdote on dr1 some time ago.
Years ago my parents went to university in geneva to take spanish lessons.
On the first day of the course, the professor, who was of mexican origin, asked each students why they wanted to learn spanish.
My mother tells him its because her son ( me ) is getting married into a dominican family, and she would like to be able to communicate a bit with the inlaws.....
The guys answer : well then you aint in the right place.....:ermm::ermm:

 

[cavok]

I learned Spanish at the university level and, despite the fact that I still have some gringo accent and make grammatical errors, educated Dominicans have no problem understanding me. Some uneducated speakers do have a problem.

I make a concious effort not to immitate uneducated speakers. I want to be understood when I go to Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, etc.. I've never had any problem being understood in any of those countries.

The professor was right though. If you want to learn "barrio Spanish, you will never learn it in a university.

 

[bob saunders]

I remember talking with a woman a few years ago that said she learned her Spanish while doing missionary work in Peru. She said she was talking to an educated man from Ecuador and he gave her a strange look and told her she sounded just like a Peruvian peasant. All through South and Central America with a group of 19 other Dominicans the only place were there were language difficulties were Chile, and that wasn't for all of the Dominicans.

 

[Africaida]

Dominican get a bad rap, unjustified in my opinion.

Understanding a language, or at least be fluent, is understanding all levels. I have no problems understanding most Dominicans at this point. I believe most understand me hopefully (unless they do like AE ).

I know, in my native language, I can speak such a way that a non native doesn't understand me. Someone real fluent will understand me regardless of my switching, it is still French. People who are less educated don't have the "knowledge" to switch, that's all. And that s what happens with some Dominican speakers.

I like the way Dominican & Cuban Spanish sound, I like the musicality, much more than Spaniard . I dislike Portuguese, but I find Brazilian beautiful to the ears.It's all subjective I guess.

Heck, I don't even understand why some people found French to sound romantic, I don't hear it.

 

[pkaide1]

I have interact with many people in the Dominican Republic. Educated ones and not educated ones. If you go to school in the Dominican Republic from first to twelve grade, even a public education, you are taught grammatically “Castellano”. What you are calling street Spanish is not what they learned at school.

I really believe that many of you know plenty “Tigres” in DR and for some reason you think that they speak proper Spanish “or whatever your definition of proper is”

An educated Dominican will never has problem communicating when travelling to any other country where Spanish is the first language. Stop hanging out with hotel “Chopos” and “putas” from the street, Dominican Republic offers way more than that.

If we look at the English language, we find that the English spoken in Australia is different to that of Ireland, which again is different to that of the US, which is again different to that of South Africa or Jamaica. They’re all, however, mutually intelligible. The differences we come across tend to be more a source of novelty or amusement than genuine hindrances to communication.

Similarly, the different types of Spanish are also mutually intelligible. There are, however, some key divergences which are worth exploring and becoming aware of.

For those of you who speak “proper Spanish” and have being all over Spain, could you please let us know about your experiences in difference places of Spain when it comes to the Spanish language? There are even some big differences in Spanish from one part of Spain to another. In Barcelona people don't speak the same way as in Seville and in neither both places people speak like in Santiago de Compostela.

And do not forget about the English spoken in Tennessee especially Gatlinburg area (Smoky mountains), beautiful place which I love.

Sorry about my English, it is my third language out of 4.

 

[Africaida]

I think the blogger needs to be realistic. Saying ‘cómo ‘tu ta’ is not going pass in many places and if that is the basis of her speech in general with like phrases and speech patterns she will continue to feel language discrimination. At the university level in Spanish one is expected to speak and write properly. I remember I used to have a professor who made it clear that that kind of Spanish is for the street.
MP.

No offense but you just illustrated the discrimination she may have been subjected to. We are talking about someone, a Dominican lady, who has studied in Spain, traveled all over the world. How could como tu'ta possibly be the basis of her speech ?

She did say to protest the content of someone’s words, to point out their spelling/grammar, or to want to improve the richness of the expression of your language is an entirely different matter, so it seems solely based on her accent*. What I find interesting and very surprising is that she did experience in Cuba at all the places she visited.

*Again, I hate to dismiss how someone feels, unless I have walked into their shoes, but that s just me.

 

[malko]

Well you all seem to say the same thing : educated dominicans speak " proper" spanish.
Thats where lies the problem.
According to diffrent internet sources a large portion of dominicans do not finish the school cursus.
Out of 100 kids, 75 complete grade 4, 63 grade 6 and 52 the 8 years of primary........ according to the organisation Tailored for education, and wikipidia.
Does that mean half the dr population are "putas" and " chopos " ?...... no, of course not.

Futhermore, the incentive for "lower class" dominicans to emigrate is higher than that of the better educated ones.
So abroad you have a much higher % of coming across dominicans that speak barrio/campo spanish.

 

[Commander Ooh La La USN]

You lived in Miami. How about Liberty City, Overtown, and Miami Gardens for examples?

Miami is a ****hole. I covered that. The only people in Miami who speak correct English work for WLRN.
So what is "ghetto English"? If you dont know just say so.

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[Commander Ooh La La USN]

Dominican get a bad rap, unjustified in my opinion.

Understanding a language, or at least be fluent, is understanding all levels. I have no problems understanding most Dominicans at this point. I believe most understand me hopefully (unless they do like AE ).

I know, in my native language, I can speak such a way that a non native doesn't understand me. Someone real fluent will understand me regardless of my switching, it is still French. People who are less educated don't have the "knowledge" to switch, that's all. And that s what happens with some Dominican speakers.

I like the way Dominican & Cuban Spanish sound, I like the musicality, much more than Spaniard . I dislike Portuguese, but I find Brazilian beautiful to the ears.It's all subjective I guess.

Heck, I don't even understand why some people found French to sound romantic, I don't hear it.

Brazilian music is romantic.

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[GringoRubio]

Dominican spanish just sounds gutter.... or ghetto. It's unfair. People are judgmental. But, even me, I didn't start learning Spanish until late 40's and it just sounds like my alcoholic uncle Lester (yes, that is really his name). There's nothing aspirational about it. Like it actually tries to be at the bottom.

Here in Fort Lauderdale area where I have my second life, society is stratified. Dominicans? Bottom of the pile. They bus dishes, clear construction sites so Haitians can build. They do grunt work.

Funny is that I can actually hear my mother's voice in the background. She was a professor and she'd ride her students to "sound intelligent". She was awful (as in AWFUL!!) and would ride her black students like a banshee from the gates of hell. She was sued twice by black employees.

But, then here are the Dominicans that seem to pride themselves on sounding ghetto by trying to out Dominican each other.

 

[Naked_Snake]

For those of you who speak “proper Spanish” and have being all over Spain, could you please let us know about your experiences in difference places of Spain when it comes to the Spanish language? There are even some big differences in Spanish from one part of Spain to another. In Barcelona people don't speak the same way as in Seville and in neither both places people speak like in Santiago de Compostela.

From my experience studying over there, Madrileños/Castillians are the ones that sound with the typical accent found in their movies, while in Andalucia and Canarias you find HEAVY seseo (the pronouncing of the z like the s you can find in the Hispanic Caribbean countries and upper South America), while in Catalonia and Valencia the Spanish sounds similar to the neutral Latin American one. Galicians sound like a cross between Spanish and Portuguese, which is sort of inevitable seeins as how they are a transition zone between both countries. The ones I am somewhat unfamiliar with are the Basques, since I didn't get to interact with them that much.

 

[Naked_Snake]

What makes me laugh are the gringos that come here and try to learn barrio, street Spanish. They think that this is real, authentic Dominican Spanish. If you go to another Spanish speaking country, they will look at you like you're an idiot.

It's kind of like a foreigner going to the US and learning "ghetto English". They won't impress anybody.

It is the #muhequality ethos of their country in action. Gringos have a hard time getting used to the heavily stratified nature of Latin American societies. British people sort of get it, though, since it is somewhat similar to what they have to deal with back in their turf.

 

[Naked_Snake]

Its Spanish spoken by native Dominicans, if that isn't Dominican Spanish, what exactly is it?

As madame AlterEgo already mentioned, there isn't an uniform way of speaking here, but rather three regionally defined strains: a. Cibaeño (which usually substitutes the r with the i)., b. Sureño (which heavily uses the r)., and c. Easterner/Capitaleño, which share the heavy use of the l that you can find in low class (cafre) Puerto Rican as well.

 

[Naked_Snake]

Argentinos have a very distinct accent. I have a hard time differentiating between accents, but that one stands out almost immediately.

Uruguashos (and some Paraguayans) can have a similar accent to theirs, though.

 

[Naked_Snake]

From my experience studying over there, Madrileños/Castillians are the ones that sound with the typical accent found in their movies, while in Andalucia and Canarias you find HEAVY seseo (the pronouncing of the z like the s you can find in the Hispanic Caribbean countries and upper South America), while in Catalonia and Valencia the Spanish sounds similar to the neutral Latin American one. Galicians sound like a cross between Spanish and Portuguese, which is sort of inevitable seeins as how they are a transition zone between both countries. The ones I am somewhat unfamiliar with are the Basques, since I didn't get to interact with them that much.

seeing*

 

[Naked_Snake]

I dislike Portuguese, but I find Brazilian beautiful to the ears.It's all subjective I guess.

Totally agree with you there, Portuguese can sound sort of dry, while Brazilian has a cadence to it.

 

[cavok]

Miami is a ****hole. I covered that. The only people in Miami who speak correct English work for WLRN.
So what is "ghetto English"? If you dont know just say so.

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Yes, in that post it was obvious you didn't know much about Miami or the Cubans and your predjudice against them was evident.

WLRN? Didn't you ever listen to the Miami, NBC, CBS, and ABC channels? They all speak perfect, network announcer neutral, English.

You know very well what ghetto English, but here's a couple examples:

She BIN had dat han'-made dress" (She's had that hand-made dress for a long time, and still does.)

Befo' you know it, he be done aced de tesses." Before you know it, he will have already aced the tests.

Is this what they teach in the schools in the ghettos? As a second language maybe? Or, yo, iz dat be what de learned in da hood?

 

[Commander Ooh La La USN]

Yes, in that post it was obvious you didn't know much about Miami or the Cubans and your predjudice against them was evident.

WLRN? Didn't you ever listen to the Miami, NBC, CBS, and ABC channels? They all speak perfect, network announcer neutral, English.

You know very well what ghetto English, but here's a couple examples:

She BIN had dat han'-made dress" (She's had that hand-made dress for a long time, and still does.)

Befo' you know it, he be done aced de tesses." Before you know it, he will have already aced the tests.

Is this what they teach in the schools in the ghettos? As a second language maybe? Or, yo, iz dat be what de learned in da hood?

I have never heard that language. Your people sound stupid. You might want to get a handle on that.

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[NALs]

From my experience studying over there, Madrileños/Castillians are the ones that sound with the typical accent found in their movies, while in Andalucia and Canarias you find HEAVY seseo (the pronouncing of the z like the s you can find in the Hispanic Caribbean countries and upper South America), while in Catalonia and Valencia the Spanish sounds similar to the neutral Latin American one. Galicians sound like a cross between Spanish and Portuguese, which is sort of inevitable seeins as how they are a transition zone between both countries. The ones I am somewhat unfamiliar with are the Basques, since I didn't get to interact with them that much.

In the Canaries many tend to eat the ‘S’ at the end of many words, para often becomes pa´, and that´s the only place outside the Spanish Caribbean where buses are called guaguas too.

A few months ago a watched a testimony of a young Mormon missionary where he clearly mentions the DR as a place where the Spanish spoken most resembles Canarian Spanish. I´ll see if I can find the video.

 

[NALs]

Wow, I found this one rather quickly. Lol. The Mormon guy I mentioned in my previous post. He spent time as a missionary in Madrid and in the Canary Islands. I assume he also must had spent some time in the DR, considering how he mention the country as a place where the Spanish language resembles the variant spoken in the Canary Islands, which is the most southern part of Spain and one of the main place of origin of the Dominican population (well, of the Spanish ancestry in the typical mixed Dominican and a large percentage of white Dominicans too.)

[video=youtube;tWvhgIdKXDY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWvhgIdKXDY[/video]