DukeEngage See all items with this value

English See all items with this value

12/05/19 See all items with this value

Jose San Martin See all items with this value

The Accents of the Spanish-speaking World See all items with this value

There aren’t many people from Mexico in Miami, but when there is one, I find that it is very easy to point them out. It figures, since I was born in Mexico, and my entire world in North Carolina outside of school consist of relatives from Mexico. Mexicans speak mildly fast or very fast, depending on the state they’re from. For example, I speak very fast, and a staple of my type of Spanish speaking is the minimization of the pronunciation of vowels. For example, the phrase “Comó se llama”, I would pronounce “Como s llamaaa”. Spanish from Central America is very similar to Mexican Spanish, so I usually am not able to tell them apart. For example, Spanish dialect from Honduras sounds eerily similar to mine. Cuban Spanish is a little tricky to pick out, but one thing I’ve noticed after talking to countless Cuban Americans is the subtle pronunciation of “s” as “h” in some words. For example, they would pronounce “nosotros” as “nohotros”. It seems that most Spanish speaking countries from North America have similar Spanish dialects, or at least the differences aren’t as drastic as from countries like Spain or Argentina. Now, Spanish Dialects in South America are what I find super interesting. Interesting because I find it so amazing that these countries all speak the same language, but drifted apart in the ways that they pronounce words. The Colombian accent is easy, in my opinion, to point out. I talked to a couple individuals from Colombia, and I could tell they were Colombian from the way they pronounced “s” as “shh”. They would pronounce words such as “Como estas”, as “Como eshtas”. My roommate freshman year was from Colombia, so I became very well accustomed to being able to pick out this accent. I have not met any Peruvians while here, but my best friend from High School was from Peru, so I would be able to pick it out if I were to meet one. Peruvian dialect differs within the country, but the main give away is the rhythm of how they speak. The Uruguayan and Argentinian dialect are both very clear to point out as well. We talked to one lady from Uruguay, and when she pronounced “Calles” as “Cajes”, I knew she was either from Argentina or Uruguay. Also, they speak fairly slowly, or at least compared to the Mexican or Puerto Rican dialect. The “iconic” Spain accent is probably the easiest of all to point out. The main feature is the pronunciation of the “s” sound as “th”, so a phrase like “como esta” would be pronounced “como ethta”. See all items with this value