LATIN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN SPANISH:
*SOME DIFFERENCES*
Written by: Monica
Teaching has always been my passion and not my job. Over the last 16 years, I have taught a wide variety of age -groups, and levels, but my commitment has been always aimed at maximizing every student’s performance and making the learning process less challenging and more enjoyable.
Therefore, my students learn how to perform in the four skills through a wide range of dynamic activities related to everyday situations and not through infinite doses of theory and memorization. I strongly believe in teaching as a tool to create and innovate, being my main goal, to offer a meaningful experience over the journey in which learning happens inadvertently.
Spanish and its nuances
Spanish is a fascinating language and its variety of linguistic and cultural forms are an important part of what we must know to adapt its use and make ourselves understood.
This blog post is about the pronunciation, localism, and accent differences between Latin American and European Spanish, specifically when it comes to Venezuela and Spain.
Have you ever seen a Spanish or Latin American TV series? If you have so, then you will have noticed that they speak differently.
What do I mean? Let’s look at three specific differences to look out for.
1. ACCENT:
In Latin America, the letter “C” before “E” or “I” is pronounced as if it were an “S”. The “z” is also pronounced as “S”. For example,
- Zero – Cero – sero
- City- Ciudad – siudad
- Happy (plural) – Felices – felises
In Spain, the “C” and the “Z” have a more marked and differentiating pronunciation than the “S”. They are pronounced as if they were “Z”
- Zero – Cero -Zero
- City- Ciudad – ziudad
- Happy (plural) – Felices – felizes
2. GRAMMAR:
In some Latin American countries, speakers use the simple past and present tense to talk about situations that have already ended or that are occurring at the present time. This rule is the same one used in English:
I ate a lot. (SIMPLE PAST)
I always eat a lot. (PRESENT HABIT)
In Spain, the present perfect is generally used in 90% of oral and written communication, which is why “I ate a lot” becomes “I have eaten a lot”.
Other examples:
- “I spoke to Ana”- becomes “I have spoken to Ana”
- “I watched a TV series” becomes “I have watched a TV series”
3. VOCABULARY:
Vocabulary is one of the biggest differences between European and Latin American Spanish.
Here are a few differences between Venezuela and Spain, just to name a few.
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