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As far as foreigner go, i love brazilians speaking spanish, most amazing accent ever.
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It's interesting that you mention Brazilians who speak Spanish. This is a phenomenon I have been observing recently via sports (soccer) and I am always impressed with the way most of them speak Spanish. The vast majority (notably they all speak with different accents from Spain) have impressive grammar control and fluency.
I am not one who believes that just because they speak Portuguese they will be able to speak Spanish fluently. There are many that can't make the transition. One player in particular, Daniel Alves, really has a fantastic command of Spanish for a Brazilian not to mention he's also a great soccer player for FC Barcelona.
It's sometimes a real puzzle to find out what they are trying to say. Just now I read this on facebook: yamame q te nemos q a vla.
I think that's just sad....
I agree for one to have such poor writing ability in one's own language is really depressing. These people are functional illiterates.
I notice many dominicans write as they speak, at least I've noticed from my dominican friends on facebook, and these are educated folk that I have met on business travel. Stuff like "done ta mi mujel" or "que bueno toma brugar". I have also seen posts like "que dio vendiga mi familia" "espero que haiga yegado bien"... etc etc.... :cheeky:
Cada pa?s tiene sus errores....
Totally true colombianLisa and there are so many more examples of these speech flaws made by Dominicans specifically but some of these are also heard by other Spanish speakers. Some of the errors are regional, all have to do with education (in my opinion) and many cross all class lines although I know some people are quick to separate the 'upper class' while their Spanish has some of the same flaws as speakers of the middle class and poorer echelons of society.
Haiga is a classic example, and I wish I could say it's only heard in the Caribbean but it's not true. Speakers of rural areas of Latin countries for example, in Central America make this error as well. It's considered a huge
faux pas of Spanish speech patterns and in my opinion it also reflects a person's education related to speech. Surprisingly though I know quite a few Spanish speakers who have not had the opportunity to pursue education at all or just the very basic due to their life circumstances and they don't say
haiga.
In my opinion, spelling is a challenge for the vast majority of Dominicans- b/v, c/s, c/z differentiations present the most difficulty. As well as not writing the 'h' in most words that have h (although phonetically silent). Since the majority drop the /s/ when speaking the same holds true when writing. I have received emails from teachers with the aforementioned errors which makes me really wonder what the students are learning.
The r/ l reversal is another example of uneducated speech and to a large degree it's a socioethnic speech phenomenon. I do believe it's most prominent in the Puerto Rican vernacular, then Dominican and then Cuban- specifically in that order. Among Cubans I would even narrow it down to a certain part of the island but I don't think you will hear the average Cuban say
amol, empezal, polque, hablal etc. However, once again look at the social class and level of education if you do hear it from Cubans. The linguistic drift, in my opinion, regarding this concept is definitely from east to west meaning from Puerto Rico to Cuba and is also an example of the unity of linguistic elements across the three islands.
In my opinion, regional speech patterns, a very deficient and defective education system and the lack of voluntary reading account for the vast majority of errors/ flaws in Dominican speech. The notion of labelling speakers
'priv?n' when they speak proper Spanish is based on ignorance. Among fellow Dominicans, Cubans, Colombians, Peruvians etc whatever the social group may be, I do believe it's instinctive to speak in a familiar way but that speech has its place.
What mfebs stated is true that people ridicule those who speak well and not the 'typical' way that's associated with the vast majority of Dominicans. I say speak the way you choose to even it does not fit the stereotype. Speech is a reflection of your character. You know who you are, how you want to carry yourself and how you want to be viewed.
----MP.
