Regional Spanish Slang

Question

What is a good way to learn Spanish slang or regional dialects before traveling to that place?

Answer 1

Well, do you know anyone of the regions you'll be travelling to? If so, try talking in spanish with them because more than likely, they still use their regional slang in their speaking. If not, here is definently a good place to learn it, but due to the "everybody-friendly" forum enviroment noone will post the slang here, so my reccomendation would be to find out, who is from where and and ask them to chat in PMs so can learn the slang, both positive and some negative, this way you're prepared for all situations. That's all that comes to my mind off top, but if I think of more, I will post. I can help you with Puerto Rican and Mexican slang if you'd like, so feel free to shoot me a PM sometime with any questions you may have. Keep in mind though, it's called regional for a reason, only those speakers in that area use it normally.

Answer 2

Keep in mind though, it's called regional for a reason ...

Just to emphasize DJ's point; to do justice to the regions, you'd probably need about 300-400 regions. You could almost double that number if you wanted to distinguish between the slang of teenagers and more mature adults; you would need another multiplier (probably less that 2) for differences in slang used by males vs females, double it again for urban vs rural. All told, perhaps several thousand categories of slang.

Answer 3

Güey Spanish is good for learning Mexican slang. Porteño Spanish and Voseo Spanish are good for Argentine/Uruguayan slang.

Answer 4

The Wikipedia, surprisngly, has some pretty good lists.

Venezuelan Spanish

Mexican Spanish

Spanish Profanity