Is there a lot of differences between latin american spanish and cistillian spanish? Which one is more useful?

Question

or widely spoken in the USA?

I want to learn the most common form of spanish as a second language.

Answer 1

Castillian Spanish is to American Spanish as British English is to American English.

Unless you want to live in Spain learn Mexican Spanish, and latter adequate to the accents (in listening) of Argentinians, Colombians and Spaniards.

Answer 2

Castillian is the pure Spanish which is taught in school.

Every country that speaks Spanish may have their own dialect, but with any education, will understand Castillian, even though they may not commonly speak it in their area.

If you were to learn one dialect, it would be of little use in Spain, as an example.

I studied pure Italian, Tuscan. When I visited my cousins in Italy, I thought I had not learned a damn thing. They spoke their own dialect. They understood me, but I couldn't understand them. Fortunately, one cousin lived in Rome, and she translated for me. She also spoke Romanesque, another dialect.

I tried to order chicken in Naples with "pollo". They had no idea what the hell I was talking about. My cousin translated.

In most places, especially Florence, we understood each other perfectly.