How mutually intelligible is the Spanish spoken in Spain with that spoken in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, etc.?
Item
issuer
Quora
Language
English
Date Accepted
11/30/19
Title
How mutually intelligible is the Spanish spoken in Spain with that spoken in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, etc.?
list of contributors
Juan Sarmiento
content
We understand each other perfectly as long as we stay away from regionalisms and slang from our respective countries. Some accents are more tricky to non-native ears such as the Chilean one which Carlos Griell Ventosa showed some clips for, as well as accents from Caribbean regions (Dom. Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Northern Colombia, Venezuela).
The most difficult accents for me are always the ones from Spain. They usually seem to speak a mile-a-minute and when they talk among each other, I can have a really hard time trying to understand what they're saying. Sometimes I have difficulty keeping up with their television shows as well, especially when they engage in the use of their local slang while they're speaking a mile-a-minute. News are perfectly understandable for me. It might be a matter of not being used to their accent plus being completely unfamiliar with Spanish jargon. I can compare it to an American not used to hearing English, Irish or Australian accents. They would most likely encounter the same difficulty in comprehension whereas if these nationalities "standardize" their speech they can make themselves understood perfectly.
The most difficult accents for me are always the ones from Spain. They usually seem to speak a mile-a-minute and when they talk among each other, I can have a really hard time trying to understand what they're saying. Sometimes I have difficulty keeping up with their television shows as well, especially when they engage in the use of their local slang while they're speaking a mile-a-minute. News are perfectly understandable for me. It might be a matter of not being used to their accent plus being completely unfamiliar with Spanish jargon. I can compare it to an American not used to hearing English, Irish or Australian accents. They would most likely encounter the same difficulty in comprehension whereas if these nationalities "standardize" their speech they can make themselves understood perfectly.