Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's no such thing as Castilian Spanish, Castilian and Spanish are synonimous anywhere in the world except in some regions of Spain that speak a different language (Catalan, Basque, Galician, etc).
Correct Spanish is the same in all Spanish speaking countries, and the language is regulated by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española that has a chapter in every Spanish peaking contry.
In Spain there are 20 or 30 dialects and in Latin America and Asia there are also many Spanish dialects, but dialects are not correct Spanish.
The language taught at language academies is always the same standard Spanish.
Also worth adding, is the fact that Spanish speakers are much, much more careful about correct grammar, and incorrect grammar is never heard, even among poor and uneducated people. In Spanish, you can't get away with the kinds of grammatical massacres that are heard every day by English speakers. It is unimaginable for even the simplest Spanish street urchin to say the equivalent of "If I was you, I would of took that anyways."
I don't quite agree with you on this one. Incorrect grammar is heard as much in Spanish as in any other language. (Then, what exactly is incorrect grammar should be discussed in another thread, of course).
Grammar that deviates from the standard is common. A very simple example would be the Simple Past form for the second person singular of any verb, in which many people add an extra 's' where it shouldn't be.
For example, "hablastes" instead of the correct "hablaste". And there are a lot more examples, so basically I don't agree.
Why do you think Spanish from Spain is obsolete? : Confused:
"Obsolescent" would probably be a better word. Spanish is a living language, subject to the morphology of a dynamic system. Less then 10% of the people in the world who speak Spanish live in Spain, so they have little power to resist the evolution of the language against the winds coming from the rest of the world's Hispanophones.
Mexico and Argentina are producing the majority of the Spanish language literature and film and TV art, in their own regional vernacular, which is quite naturally going to become the world standard and reduce the dialect of Iberia to a quaint anachronism.
Just as American English is dominating global culture, not British English, and I can assure you that the automakers in emerging nations do not talk about tyres and kerbs and bonnets and boots.
I don't quite agree with you on this one. Incorrect grammar is heard as much in Spanish as in any other language. (Then, what exactly is incorrect grammar should be discussed in another thread, of course).
Grammar that deviates from the standard is common. A very simple example would be the Simple Past form for the second person singular of any verb, in which many people add an extra 's' where it shouldn't be.
For example, "hablastes" instead of the correct "hablaste". And there are a lot more examples, so basically I don't agree.
But you are not speaking of "grammatical error", but rather a newly evolving form of a correct conjugation. They all know to use the grammatically correct second person singular, and they diligently conform to the grammar, but there is a shift taking place in the form of the inflection, which is something that is constantly occurring in all languages.
Tv art? Are you referring to Culebrones- Novelas - Soapboxes?
What movies? Most Latin American movies are paid by Spanish TV and public Spanish money and passed at the wee hours of the night. They generate even less interest than Spanish movies.
And even considering that Spain is in dire economic conditions, the GNP generated by Spain and their investments in Latin American suspasses many times Latin American GNP.
I don't see Spanish spoken in Spain being influenced by the language of "culebrones", but the influence of Spanish TV stations in Latin America is tremendous to the point they know all our slang.
I'm no defender of Spanish since I'm Catalan, but to say that Spanish spoken by Castilians (and also Catalans because we have no remedy) is obsolete amounts to say that English spoken in England is obsolete because in India there are 500 people that speak English with a particular accent.
Another point, there's no Latin American or European Spanish, that's one of those idiotic American inventions. You have correct Spanish according to the Real Academia (one chapter in every Spanish speaking country).
Tv art? Are you referring to Culebrones- Novelas - Soapboxes?
What movies? Most Latin American movies are paid by Spanish TV and public Spanish money and passed at the wee hours of the night. They generate even less interest than Spanish movies..
You haven't been paying attention. Since 2000, there have been nine Spanish language films nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign film. Six have been from Mexico, two from Argentina, one from Peru and only one from Spain.
Yes, "Spanish money" (which is really German Euros) has the economic power to fund the production and distribution of Latin American films, but they are still indisputably Latin American films, and 90% of their viewers will be in Latin American audiences. And the dialog in the films will continue to intensify the influence of Latin American Spanish on the global Hispanophone culture, whether the Real Academia likes it or not.
And yes, soap operas do constitute "art", whether you are personally an aficionado of that art form or not. It serves as an influential art form by the half a billion people who speak Spanish, as much so as any Buñuel film. Just as the future of the English language will continue to be laid by rock lyrics and sit-coms.
Those Latin American movies nominated by the Academy Award (and paid with Spanish money) have no cultural impact on the populace at all. They might appear in some Film Festival paid by Chavez in Guajaibón and receive good critics in some online pamphlets, but that's about it.
As to soap operas, we have our soap operas that are broadcasted in the American Continent, Spanish Televisions are very popular in Latin America and occupy an important niche market, more than Telesur.
Why do you think Spanish from Spain is obsolete? : Confused:
Not completely obsolete, but how many people from Spain really live here in the USA? How often are you going to be in a place that speaks the Spanish from Spain and not Latin American?
If the OP was moving to UK and wanted to learn Spanish also, I would suggest he learn the Spanish from Spain.
Those Latin American movies nominated by the Academy Award (and paid with Spanish money) have no cultural impact on the populace at all. They might appear in some Film Festival paid by Chavez in Guajaibón and receive good critics in some online pamphlets, but that's about it.
As to soap operas, we have our soap operas that are broadcasted in the American Continent, Spanish Televisions are very popular in Latin America and occupy an important niche market, more than Telesur.
What, the Acaedemy Awards is "some online pamphlet"?
Here where I live, in south Texas, my cable company provides 32 Spanish language channels. Only one of them, Canal Sur, originates in Spain. How is it that the Spanish speakers here are going to get their exposure to continental Spanish influence? The same way the rest of us are learning British English through one channel of BBC-America?
You haven't been paying attention. Since 2000, there have been nine Spanish language films nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign film. Six have been from Mexico, two from Argentina, one from Peru and only one from Spain.
Yes, "Spanish money" (which is really German Euros) has the economic power to fund the production and distribution of Latin American films, but they are still indisputably Latin American films, and 90% of their viewers will be in Latin American audiences. And the dialog in the films will continue to intensify the influence of Latin American Spanish on the global Hispanophone culture, whether the Real Academia likes it or not.
And yes, soap operas do constitute "art", whether you are personally an aficionado of that art form or not. It serves as an influential art form by the half a billion people who speak Spanish, as much so as any Buñuel film. Just as the future of the English language will continue to be laid by rock lyrics and sit-coms.
Mmmm that´s a stupid point of view. I understand why americans learn latin american spanish, but ¿What do you know about the language in Spain to say that? Language evolves in Spain as well as in other Latin American country. We don´t talk like in the tenth century, you know... As far as i know, there is no a "Latin american accent". On the other hand, you name the oscars, Spain has had more nominations than any Latin American country. Finally, i don´t think the "soap operas" constitute an art. Each country has its history and the in the art world, Spain has had much impact. And in Spain, we don´t learn the american accent in the school, but the british accent. Question of closeness.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
