different dialects for spanish?

Question

how come some people say that are are no diffeneces in the way people speak spanish like for instance a puerto rican can say something and it mean one thing but in mexico it means another thing or a bad word? or why can one person speak spanish from cuba dominian rep. or somewhere else and another spanish speaking person not understand? why do people say there is no difference but yet there really is?

Answer 1

Take it from me, a former English as a Second Language teacher who has dated Brazilians, a Colombian, Peruvian, El Salvadorian/Italian, and Polark- I speak 7 languages and can tell you with 100% certainty there are differences. In Spain they have like a lisp (listen closely to Enrique Iglesias) and have a whole aditional tense in their language ( a ploural informal- vosotros). In Puerto Rico they speak completely different in some parts. Argentinians say double L almost like a G and colombians sound like they are singing when they talk sometimes. I love all of them but they are all different. They will understand one another, yes, but some things will be different and some words that have double meanings may be misunderstood. I am from Boston- they'll laugh at me if I go to Texas and say the Alamo is "Wicked Cool".... same thing

Answer 2

They shouldn't say that. Spanish is spoken in many different areas of the world and everyone of those areas have their own slang and own accent. Think of it like how everyone in the U.S. speaks English but someone from Texas speaks with a different accent from a person from New York. Now if you ever spoken to someone from England, they have a very different way of speaking and different words for some things. And when you think of a Jamaican speaking English, that is what is equivalent to Spanish not being able to be understood by another Spanish speaker. You get bits and pieces of it and piece it all together as best you can. Not only that but the English from the "hills" like I can't think of anything but the guy from "Billy Madison" LOL. That difference is from the lack of education for some people from the same areas.

Answer 3

Spanish is my mother tongue. The differences between regions and countries are only in pronounciation, inflexion and usage of words, but the grammatical structure is intact and is the same everywhere. Spanish has a central authority that regulates the correct spanish to be spoken, is the "Real Academia de la lengua Española" and it is in Spain. because of this, even though the accents may vary greatly, giving the impression that they might be different dialects, spanish conserves an incredible consistency, cohesion and uniformity throughout the areas where it is spoken. There are no recognizable dialects within spanish, as a separate lingusitic unit within itself.

But if you refer to the different peninsular (In Spain) dialects, then you have Galician, catalonian, Andalucian, Asturian and so forth. these are actually grammatically different from Castilian (spanish) but similar enough to bhe considered dialects related to one another.

Answer 4

Unlike other languages, Spanish is fortunate to have only one official authority for it's usage, that is the Spanish Royal Academy in Spain.Any variation from the standards set by the Academy fall under the classification of dialect, regionalism,colloquialism or slang.
You have to remember that probably no one person in the world speaks "perfect anything", and doing so, would not make them the best communicator in that language. Communication requires knowing the slang, the regional usage, and the preference of intonation and pronunciation of speech of different people. A few examples are, Andalusian, Catalan,Argot and Pidgin-English, from a vast array of variations and usages of all kinds of languages.
The problem of standardization is universal,we try to have uniform languages, laws, and inter-phasing, but because regions of the world were isolated , it is only now that we are beginning to feel the need to standardize and implement uniform language,customs,commerce,etc.

Answer 5

Spanish is my native language and I am often asked this question. I explain it like this...English is spoken in the USA, England, Austrailia, New Zeland, Ireland, Scotland and many African countries. However if a person from England tells you, "I was in my flat when I realized I left something in my boot so I took the lift down to go the garage." In the USA we would say, "I was in my apartment when I realized I left something in my trunk so I took the elevator to the garage."

Answer 6

of course there is - but it is still spanish, just like people from different parts of the US all speak english but there are words in one area that may be unknown or have fifferent meaning in another.

Answer 7

because the differences you are talking about are only for slang and accents. but the official language for all of them is spanish and if they speak without slang words then everybody would understand.

Answer 8

Whoever said there is no diffence lied.. There obviously is a diffrence w/ the way each hispanic nationlity speaks... Just like we don't speak the same english as those in england, or australia...