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This is a question directed at any bilingual person who lives/has lived in Puerto Rico. I am going to San German to get a Master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language, but I'm hoping to also become very proficient in the Spanish language (it obviously will have its benefits). I am curious to know whether or not the Spanish spoken in Puerto Rico is so different that it will negatively affect the way I learn/communicate if I were to then move to say, Texas or California. I understand that Caribbean Spanish drops a lot of letters and has its own slang, but it's not a totally different animal is it? I was blown away at how san juaneros talked, I couldn't understand them. I didn't feel as initimidated in the countryside, people seemed to speak more clearly and slowly. Let me know of some of the linguistic differences in P.R.
I have lived in Puerto Rico all my life, and during my high school spanish class, I learned to differentiate the Spanish that most Puerto Ricans talk and the way Spanish is taught (there really is no correct way to talk Spanish, it's just the way the books teach it). I do speak it the "correct" way but I myself am a very different person than most Puerto Ricans, even though I was born and raised here, I went to a private school, a privilege my parents fought for me to have that most PRicans don't have.
What I would recommend, get a good Spanish teacher. All I know is my Spanish teacher spoke Spanish like a god, almost perfect in every way.
And remember, there is no correct Spanish just as there is no correct English. We should all respect each others variations. Countries like England and Spain are supposed to have spawned English and Spanish respectively and they can't agree on how to pronounce words in their own countries.
For instance, I know in some parts of Spain (I think Andalusia), our slang is their normal...
It can get really complicated but you see my point, right?
Get some Rosetta Stone if you want to hit the books! :P
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I don't think it's a totally different animal but words like bag...
Bag in Spanish is bolsa in Puerto Rico. Some would argue that bolsa is a bad word in Mexican Spanish, and that we should instead use the word funda. Notwithstanding, bolsa is accepted more than funda in the Real Academia Española, Spanish's authority on the language.
Another interesting word is orange. In some parts of the Caribbean people say china. It is rumored people say this because a package of the fruit was brought from China, lol! The more accepted word however, is naranja.
That sounds reassuring.. yeah I didn't know the origins of the china thing, but I knew to ask for jugo de china when I went to RD and PR. Thats really funny, kinda like how they think zafacon came from the word "safety can" on the front. Well its good to hear that it's just some regional variations, I had a girl from Colombia in my ear telling me the Spanish in Puerto Rico is so "bad", but honestly the same could probably be said for American English if you talk to a Brit. Thanks for the help! I will be in San German by November, I can't wait to spend two years on that gorgeous little island.
Congrats on your getting a degree to teach ESL! And for your decicion to also learn spanish. It will be the ideal set-up for you to learn, while studying for your Masters in the island.
I wouldn't worry too much about what somebody told you about the spanish that you would learn in Puerto Rico. It is like learning the English language in the US and then going to study in London.
There are going to be some differences in some words and the meaning, but it is still a language that you would understand.
I have been a Spanish professor in college in the United States, and I did learn the language in Puerto Rico as my first language.
Wish you the best of luck!!
San German is a very nice town, you will like it there!
Well, had to start somewhere. Many more to come...
These are photos I took myself. I invested my time, money and creativity. Please offer proper credit and notify me if you use these photos in the public domain
Here's a picture I took in San German in June 2009.
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