Question for Spanish speakers

[Tordok]

Great question. I'm fluent in Dominican Spanish but my Spanish in the U.S. or Europe drifts to a more standard diction, neutral accent, and the use of a more formal syntax. Its an unconscious, yet automatic twitch, somewhere in the brain cortex. Language is such a wonderful tool that I enjoy borrowing words or phrases from other Spanish dialects, and even other languages, not just English. I grew up in a multillingual Caribbean family, so I may be more inclined to become a verbal chamaleon and be comfortable with transnationalisms. I think that colloquial Dominican Spanish is delightfully vibrant but many Spanish speakers from other lands often find it difficult to decipher.

-Tordok

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

[Chirimoya]

Chiri, first of all, hi. Second of all, do you mean to visit ( as in vacation ) or to live in another country?.

Depends really - a short visit might not be enough for you to interact with people to the extent that you pick up the local variations. An extended stay, I would say.

Visiting different Spanish speaking countries requires a lot of concentration on how you use the vocabulary. Completely innocent words in one country are shockingly taboo in others. Learned some of those the hard way.

Chiri

[Lesley D]

Chirimoya,

I personally speak the same way regardless where I go. Of course you immediately notice different accents within the same country and from country to country but personally I think it's funny if someone spends a week or two outside their homeland and when they return they immediately try to speak like the locals where they where visiting. I don't see how one can make the permanent change over anyway in such a short space of time. I think eventually one would stop using the expressions once out the environment. I think the beauty about Spanish is the lexical varieties however you have to know when to use them. If anything try and be as standard as possible that way you will be understood by 98% of the time and I say 98% because there are always some words that you use that may indicate to the locals that you are not a local. "En pocas palabras- no cambies tu espanol". The only advise I have are with two words (for example there are more) which tend to be dangerous. The word "straw" which is virtually different in every Latin country and in some cases vulgar. So be careful and of course "fruits". Ask the locals how they say their fruits to play it safe.

here are some straw variations "straw" variations:

calimete= DR
pitillo= Colo,Vene
paja, pajita= most standard word/ used mostly in Central America
popote= Mex.
sorbete= El Salvador
sorbeto= Pto.Rico

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

If you are Dominican, or learned your Spanish in the DR, what do you do when you go to another Spanish speaking country? If you learned your Spanish elsewhere or are a native of another Spanish speaking country, what do you do? To what extent do you modify grammar and vocabulary (pronunciation even) in order to fit in?

I have always tended to follow the chamaleonic model and try to adapt, Zelig-like, to the local Spanish in most places. My husband, OTOH, stuck to Dominican Spanish when he lived in Central America, and never adopted the local grammatical quirks like 'vos' (as mentioned by MaineGirl in a separate thread). He did assimilate some regional slang though.

Chiri

[jorge_33]

Mkohn – You consider yourself a language mutt??? I am a mutt 100% for many reasons…

My Grandparents (father side) are Brazilian and American, moved to Uruguay and my father was born and raised in Uruguay. My grandparents (mother side) are Bolivian and Spaniard, and my mother was born in Bolivia.

For different reasons in life, mom & dad met in Punta del Este (Uruguay)….I was born in Uruguay, raised in Bolivia and Brazil until the age of 14 when I moved to the US.
From the day I can remember it’s been very easy for me to catch up with any accent, I learned my first words in Uruguay (similar to the Argentinean accent) then changed to the Easter Bolivian accent (different from la Capital) then I moved to Brazil with my abuelos when my parents came to the US in the late 70’s. Gees what??? I learned Portuguese….

When I moved to Miami, (still in my teens) I met people form all over Latin America… go figure, I didn’t only have to learn English, but also try to catch up with my “new” Spanish. First was the Cuban, then Puerto Rican, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Dominican and some others. With the time I found out that the best way to learn the culture and modismos de otro pais was with a girlfriend…. Ohhh boy I did… hehehe….But at the end, I do speak a neutral Spanish accent that almost nobody can guess I’m from, and when I visit some Latin American countries I speak the way I normally do now, but I have no problem using local terminology or modismo in a neutral Spanish accent…. sometimes sounds weird, but people like it.

Regards,

Jorge

[Forbeca]

I personally speak the same way regardless where I go. Of course you immediately notice different accents within the same country and from country to country but personally I think it's funny if someone spends a week or two outside their homeland and when they return they immediately try to speak like the locals where they where visiting. I don't see how one can make the permanent change over anyway in such a short space of time.




No, you don't return speaking differently, you leave that behind. It is just fun to do while visiting. Some people are just great imitators. I can pick up an accent real quick and don't hesitate to use it. My husband, on the other hand, is older than I, more set in his ways, and truth be told, a complete snob, he finds it annoying. I think it's fun.

[Chirimoya]

mkohn and jorge_33, I like the term 'language mutt' - it fits me like a glove. What's your Dominican connection though, Jorge?!

Forbeca, I also think some people are more observant about language and enjoy the differences. I was inspired to write about this because I recently met a Spanish woman who has lived in Santo Domingo for several years yet sticks to using 'vosotros' and words that are fine for polite Iberian Spanish conversation like 'culo' but not the case in the DR where 'nalga' is the usual term. Not sure if she does it deliberately or innocently. I found myself judging her with disapproval but then wondered whether I was wrong. I think that because Spanish is not quite my first language it is more malleable. With English, I don't think I would change my accent if I lived in the US or Canada, but I would use the words that are more common there so as to avoid confusion - unless I was being intentionally obtuse.

Chiri

[Talldrink]

Chiri, it sounds like you are being "intentionally obtuse" like you said. You wont do with the Spanish language, but you will with the English?

She may have been doing it unintenionally. Do you know how long she's been in DR?

I dont think is that easy to change your accent on the fly like that. Unless you are constantly thinking how you are going to sound when you are talking and that would make it worse. When I was learning English, thinking too much made me say words incorrectly (i.e. Beach and B*tch, aunt and ant, etc).

[NY1]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

Chirimoya,

here are some straw variations "straw" variations:

calimete= DR
pitillo= Colo,Vene
paja, pajita= most standard word/ used mostly in Central America
popote= Mex.
sorbete= El Salvador
sorbeto= Pto.Rico

Yeah I would imagine you would catch a hell of a beating in DR if you asked a waitress, "Que te de una pajita."

[Talldrink]

Originally Posted by NY1

Yeah I would imagine you would catch a hell of a beating in DR if you asked a waitress, "Que te de una pajita."

LOL, imagine this scenario:
This macho Dominican man, clapping to the waitress "que venga rapido!" and when she comes he tells her, "Yo no te pedi una paja hace mucho? Dame una pajita por favor!!"

[Chirimoya]

Maybe I didn't express it well: I meant my Spanish is more changeable because it isn't my first language. With Spanish my accent, vocabulary and grammar will change to fit in with the variety spoken where I am. With English, it is more rooted because it is my first language. If I lived in another part of the English-speaking world I would make some adjustments to vocabulary, and possibly to the grammar, but it would take a good few years for my accent to change. Does this make sense now?

The Spanish woman has been here for a good few years, can't remember exactly how many.

Chiri