Is there a big difference between different kinds of Spanish?

[BicycleRow]

Hey guys,

I enjoy learning new languages, especially those from the Romance group. Currently I speak two: Bulgarian (my native language) and English. I'm also learning a third one - French (I'd say my current level is around A2-B1). But recently I got inspired to learn Spanish, even though I'm currently learning French, I think I can handle it. I was wondering though, If I learn Spanish from Spain for instance, would I be able to fully understand the Spanish from South American countries and Mexico? Is there a really big difference?

[zenmonkey]

There is a significant difference but you will be understood and understand others except for the strongest of accents.

I am fluent from Mexico and struggle with a few accents / vocabulary from Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic and certain areas of Spain. Slang usage is also highly localised: If I use strong slang content from Mexico City people from other countries will struggle to get the full meaning.

Spanish is sufficiently diverse that I can often, upon hearing an accent, identify the person's country of origin and for people from Mexico - probably the region or town and social level, education, etc...

[Ogrim]

Welcome to the forum.

Spanish speakers from Spain and the different Spanish-speaking Latin American countries mostly understand each other without too much problem. However as zenmonkey points out there are differences to a varying degree regarding pronunciation and vocabulary. I would recommend a beginner not to think to much of it and just concentrate on one type of Spanish (the European one may make sense when you are European unless you have a good reason to go for a Latin American variant). At beginner level everything will be more or less the same, and once you get to a more advanced level you will certainly learn about the few differences in grammar etc. and with some practice you should not have much difficulty understanding different pronunciations (or dialects if you like).

In any case, within the same country there are differences as well, people from Madrid speak differently from those from the Canary Islands or Málaga, for example. The European Spanish taught in courses and textbooks will normally correspond to "standard Spanish", as spoken by most people in Madrid and central/northern parts of Spain. Standard Spanish is also what you will hear most of the time on Spanish TV.

[zenmonkey]

I would recommend a beginner not to think to much of it and just concentrate on one type of Spanish (the European one may make sense when you are European unless you have a good reason to go for a Latin American variant).

Exactly. Go with the easiest one based on resources at hard, work hard. Worry later.

[tarvos]

If you can't say a basic "hi, my name is Juanita, I am from Santander and I'm a teacher" in Spanish without blinking, it's too early to worry about accent. As a general rule, if you can't say a more complicated version of that, it's still too early to worry about that. Spanish has various accents and local words, even in the north of Spain where I lived.

[Stealthy Intruder]

As they've said, yes. Fear not, you will understand anyone on a basic and intermediate level, sort of. On an advanced level, with idioms and such, you might have some trouble, as they tend to differ between countries and some might not be understandable to people from other regions. But, you're likely to get the meaning most of the times and when not, well, if you know Spanish you can ask what does it mean!
I'd say there's as much difference as with Brit English and Am English or other languages and their various "flavors"

You will get your meaning across, don't worry about that. I can completely communicate with any native Spanish speaker. If I don't understand a word or idiom I just ask and go on.


It's curious that this question gets asked for Spanish much more often than for any other language. I wonder why that is...

[amadeus1991]

Hey guys,

I enjoy learning new languages, especially those from the Romance group. Currently I speak two: Bulgarian (my native language) and English. I'm also learning a third one - French (I'd say my current level is around A2-B1). But recently I got inspired to learn Spanish, even though I'm currently learning French, I think I can handle it. I was wondering though, If I learn Spanish from Spain for instance, would I be able to fully understand the Spanish from South American countries and Mexico? Is there a really big difference?

Hi, everyone

I am new to the forum. I want to help everyone learning new languages, if you need my opinion or help just let me know. Bicicle, there are a lot of differences in accents and slangs. A person from Mexico doesnt speak spanish just like a Colombian. There are differences even inside every country. People from different countries speak with different slangs and words. You will probably understand some words, but not all of them

[smallwhite]

It's curious that this question gets asked for Spanish much more often than for any other language. I wonder why that is...

Probably because in other languages such differences would've been called dialects, which beginners would find normal not to understand well. In China, they call every minor variation a dialect, such that one would understand several dialects without special training. Whereas with Spanish it's the opposite, all variations are considered Spanish, such that I understand some people 95% and others 5% after all the exposure I must have had using different resources.

[Jar-Ptitsa]

It's curious that this question gets asked for Spanish much more often than for any other language. I wonder why that is...

Because more people learn it

Because many who learn Spanish are monolingual anglophones (so they don't ask about the other languages)

people ask about for example German dialects, but there are many Spanish-speaking countries and a few German ones.

people think that English is pluricentric but refuse to accept that French is pluricentric as well. They don't know if Spanish is as well.

[Cainntear]

Spanish is like some kind of linguistic miracle -- for such a widely spoken language there is an extremely low amount of variation. While there are a few well-known differences, overall, the substance of the language is very, very, very similar across the whole world.