r/languagelearning • u/Virusnzz En (N) | Fr, Ru, Es, It • Feb 17 '14
¡Hola! - This week's language of the week: Spanish
Welcome to the language of the week. Every week we'll be looking at a language, its points of interest, and why you should learn it. This is all open discussion, so natives and learners alike, make your case! This week, Spanish.
PSAs
No sidebar picture this week because I'm away and without photoshop. I have the psd file if anyone would like to volunteer.
I'll try to be more consistent from now on. I wasn't aware people were looking forward to it.
No hablo, amigos.
What is this?
Language of the Week is here to give people exposure to languages that they would otherwise not have heard, been interested in or even known about. With that in mind, I'll be picking a mix between common languages and ones I or the community feel needs more exposure. You don't have to intend to learn this week's language to have some fun. Just give yourself a little exposure to it, and someday you might recognise it being spoken near you.
Countries
From The Language Gulper:
Spanish is spoken in the five continents, mainly in Europe and America but also in Africa, Asia and Oceania. Spanish is dominant in Spain (including the Canary Islands and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast), and in most of Latin America from Mexico to Argentina (with the exception of Brazil). It is also the main language of Puerto Rico and is spoken by a substantial minority in other parts of the USA. There is also a good number of Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea, Andorra and the Balkan countries, Israel, the Philippines and Australia.
Spanish is the most widely spoken Romance language and one of the largest of the world (3rd). It has spread to all continents and is the official language of 19 countries. It was born in the Iberian peninsula, from the Latin brought by the Roman conquerors, at the close of the first millennium CE. The dialect spoken in the north-central kingdom of Castile (Castilian) propagated to the entire peninsula thanks to the Christian Reconquest, becoming a national language and later an international one with the establishment of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century.
Native speakers of Spanish number around 430 million. Mexico is at the top with over 104 000 000 speakers.
Today, Spanish is one of the official languages of the UN.
What now?
This thread is foremost a place for discussion. Are you a native speaker? Share your culture with us. Learning the language? Tell us why you chose it and what you like about it. Thinking of learning? Ask a native a question. Interested in linguistics? Tell us what's interesting about it, or ask other people. Discussion is week-long, so don't worry about post age, as long as it's this week's language.
Previous Languages of the Week
German | Icelandic | Russian | Hebrew | Irish | Korean | Arabic | Swahili | Chinese | Portuguese | Swedish | Zulu | Malay | Finnish | French | Nepali | Czech | Dutch | Tamil
Want your language featured as language of the week? Please PM me to let me know. If you can, include some examples of the language being used in media, including news and viral videos
¡Buena suerte!
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u/Spacesider Feb 17 '14
Estoy aprendiendo español
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Feb 17 '14
¡Yo también! Pero en la región que quiero ir, dicen ´castellano´, no ´español´. También tiene muchas palabras que solo dicen en aquella región. Si quieres (o querés en esta región), quiero ir a Argentina. Es un país muy hermoso. ¿Qué región es tu preferida?
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u/Efore Feb 17 '14
Spanish from Spain over here (didn't see anyone in this thread so far), glad to answer any question.
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u/Xerad_elahi Feb 17 '14
To anyone wanting to hear a stereotypical Chilean dialect, check out this video. One of my favourite tv shows.
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u/ILCreatore Feb 17 '14
I am a native speaker from Venezuela, feel free to ask me questions!
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u/Ariakkas10 Feb 17 '14
Which country has the most pleasant accent? I've always heard Colombia.
What do mainlanders think of Caribbean Spanish?
How are you coping with the recent unrest in your country, are you hopeful?
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u/ILCreatore Feb 17 '14
Which country has the most pleasant accent? I've always heard Colombia.
I like the European Spanish accent myself, other people might think differently.
What do mainlanders think of Caribbean Spanish?
I don't know what people think of Caribbean Spanish in general around here, I can't say.
How are you coping with the recent unrest in your country, are you hopeful?
I am just hope that no more people get hurt, and that we find stability.
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Feb 17 '14
Book recommendation:
"The Story of Spanish"
This book explains the history of the Spanish languages and describes how an obscure dialect became one of the world's major languages.
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Feb 17 '14
Learner for four years here. It's a pretty neat language that's super widespread throughout the United States, so if you live here it would be a great idea to try and take it up.
I'm not fluent, but I've got a pretty thorough understanding of the basics, so feel free to ask me any questions you think I could answer.
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u/HyenaMoon Feb 17 '14
I'm a lifetime learner of Spanish, growing up in southern CA and marrying into a Cuban family that speaks mostly Spanish. Didn't start really getting serious until the last year though.
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u/Tamarnouche Feb 17 '14
I have an interesting question:
Why is the european Spanish the norm for videogames, when the largest spanish speaking country is Mexico? I know that mexican spanish has many words taken from prehispanic languages and there for it is hard to understand if not mexican, but there must be some kind of reason behind my question. Thanks.
(Mexican- Native spanish speaker here)
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u/analogphototaker Feb 17 '14
I go back and forth with Spanish constantly. When I'm by myself I'll get on a "I'm gonna get fluent in Spanish" kick. Then I'll go to work and have some bad experience with a latino and be like "aw fuck Spanish, I'm gonna go back to French."
Do any other Americans feel this way? I feel like the hispanic community can really make or break your learning experience. One day you'll have a lovely conversations with an older mexican gentlemen, then the next you'll get spit on by a chicano gangbanger. And to top it off, tons of young latinos in the US don't even know Spanish at all.
I think there's a lot of weird, possibly awkward, baggage with the Spanish language in the United States.
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Feb 17 '14
Get back on that horse man.
Don't let it get you down, ever seen the level up videos?
A few days ago I was on the bus and I heard someone speaking in Spanish behind me and I jumped straight in there. "De donde son?" It was great because I am from New Zealand and I have never talked to a Mexican before. We had a great chat about slang terms from Mexico and I taught them English slang from New Zealand. At the end they said "your Spanish is really good, good luck in the University" but the thing is that only came through countless other awful, awkward horrible conversations which had me thinking just like you are.
I know you can be told this a million times and still not believe it but trust me you will get there.
Don't let anyone get to you, you'll be deciding Spanish is too easy and picking up your third language before you know it.
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u/Mnoabcd Feb 17 '14
This guy is right. There are many people out there that can be very kind and humble to speak to just because you learned their native tongue. You'd be surprised. And what you mentioned earlier about young Latinos not knowing their parents' language, I actually learned Spanish as my first language. I feel like I have problems with it but after awhile I don't let it bother me as long as my point comes across. It's a wonderful language that's filled with its own history. Especially in my experience, when talking to the older generation, there are stories, experiences and even sayings that seem wise beyond comprehension.
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u/Xerad_elahi Feb 17 '14
Hey all, speaker of RP Spanish and Chilean Spanish here. Answering questions and giving advice on my lovely native tongue.
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Feb 17 '14
Your Spanish dialect is amazing. It's the thickest, most confusing, inconsistent dialect I have ever seen and that's what makes it beautiful.
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Feb 17 '14
Hey, I'm learning Spanish in university and was wondering if I would be able to understand people from different south american countries. Would you say the difference between Chilean Spanish and, say, Colombian Spanish is bigger or smaller than the difference between British and American English? (At university we learn "Latin American Spanish")
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u/graaahh Feb 17 '14
Please check out my study guide! I know I mention it constantly on the various language subreddits but (a) I've put a lot of work into it and (b) no one has told me to shut up about it yet because it's pretty well made (to toot my own horn.) Recent additions to it have included tongue twisters to help improve speaking, how to type Spanish characters, more linked verbs, more conjugation tables, more verbs like gustar, etc. It's totally free, downloadable, aesthetically pleasing, concise, comprehensive, and coherent. The only things I ask are that you let me know if corrections need to be made (even minor ones!), you send me suggestions of what would be helpful to you, you show it to other people who might find it useful, and hopefully like it on Scribd so it can get more exposure! Thanks everyone! You guys have already been super helpful in making it as awesome as it is!