How to Speak Spanish like a Spaniard

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By Lacey2shoes
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Bienvenido

So you want to speak Spanish like a Spaniard? Since Spanish is one of the world's most spoken languages, it's easy to understand how people, distance and years have altered the language. Depending on the country, and even the region of each country, the language varies slightly in grammar, in the accent, and very much in vocabulary. If you have learned Spanish in the United States, you have most likely learned a Latin or South American Spanish, but with a few alterations you can fit in at any bar in Madrid.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Notice grammatical differences. Spanish from Spain varies grammatically mostly in the use of the second person plural, or vosotros, form. If you are familiar with the other conjugations of Spanish verbs, take a moment to look at the patterns of the second person plural and start practicing them. They consistently follow the conjugation patterns of the other persons in every tense. It's won't be hard to pick it up.
Step 2

Listen to the accent. Spaniards also vary greatly in their tone and accent from American forms of Spanish. The tone of voice is generally regarded as being harsh and more abrupt than other Spanish accents. Also try the famous accent. Every "z" and soft "c" in the language is pronounced as the "th" sound in English. For example, the word for sugar, azucar, is pronounced "athucar" and the "c" in cuidad, is also pronounced as "th".
Step 3

Adopt speech patterns and mannerisms. Spanish from Spain is also regarded as being much less polite. Spaniards have all but reduced the use of the formal "usted" to the elderly. They are also shockingly prone to swear words, even among children, and a way of speaking that comes across as very demanding. They also use "thank you" sparingly, and hardly ever "please".
Step 4

Immerse Yourself. If possible, travel to Spain to learn from the Spaniards themselves. It is said that the cities of Valladolid and Salamanca speak the most correct form of Castellano, but it isn't necessary to go specifically here to learn from native speakers. Try to avoid regions with their own languages, however, such as Catalonia (where Barcelona is located) and the Basque Region. Less important, but something to consider, is that if you go to Andalucia, in the south of Spain with such cities as Seville and Granada, they speak with a very strong southern accent. This accent is considered in the rest of Spain as being somewhat uneducated and is difficult to understand at first.
Step 5

Surround yourself with the sound. If living in Spain is impossible, try the next best thing. Surround yourself with the Spanish language, specifically making an effort to listen to Spanish from Spain. You can listen and watch news broadcasts online from the National Spanish Network or listen to music from Spain. Another great way is to watch films, many of which are readily available in the United States, such as Almodovar films.

Comments

dtwelloh said

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on 2/5/2009 Good advice and well written article. Hope I can put it to good use. At my age it's hard to learn anything new or at least it seems that way. I give it 5 stars as well as a recommendation.

lwitkop said

on 1/13/2009 Thanks for the tips. My high school instruction was fairly focused on Spanish as spoken in the Americas, so at first it was difficult to understand my Spanish professors who were actually from Spain.