When learning to speak Spanish, at what point in your studies should you choose a dialect/accent/region
Hi everyone! I hope that you can understand what I'm asking. If you need me to clarify, please let me know, and I will explain more in the comments. I've been learning Spanish for awhile now but I think I would still consider myself a beginner or lower intermediate. When I say awhile, I mean over a year, maybe closer to two years(?)...I've only taken Spanish classes in school but mostly, I study on my own. Well, I recently read some articles about perfecting your accent and choosing a dialect and I'm not sure if I should have already chosen one? I think my accent is most influenced by the Colombian accent... sometimes Mexican where I tend to pronounce certain words with a b instead of v, but of course I still sound like a "gringa". :/ So, should I have already chosen a "dialect" of Spanish to focus on? Alright, that's my question, thank you so much(: And any advice is appreciated! Have a good day all.
3 Answers
I would definitely say not to worry about it. The important thing is to find a native speaker somewhere and start practicing with them. In the USA, I would say the majority of native speakers hail from Mexico, Puerto Rico, or Cuba. Do you know someone from Columbia?
At any rate, the important thing is practice, not accent. Congratulations on your studies, and I'm sure you will advance in the language!
I think choosing a dialect is a great idea, I did it myself. I went with Mexican Spanish.
I suggest making your choice of dialect based one of two factors:
The people you think you'll be talking to the most.
The dialect you like best.
Now, when I refer to dialect, I'm talking about the words and phrases that people use the most in their country/region, etc. Mexicans have a completely different collection of colloquial words and phrases then Colombians, Cubans, etc. So if you're going to be around a lot of Colombians, focus on their dialect.
Accents, well logic dictates that if you're going to learn a certain dialect, then you also want to learn their accent. But I don't consider this an absolute. You may want to consider keeping a neutral accent as well. I'm really starting to lean toward this option.
Also keep in mind that you can focus on one dialect and still learn others. You can learn multiple accents as well. Plenty of people can do more than one accent.
At the end of the day, it's never too early to focus on one (or more) dialect or accent. In fact, you may already be learning a dialect without realizing it. For example, if the people teaching you Spanish are Spaniards, you could be learning lots of phrases and words that are primarily used in Spain and are unheard of in Central America.
It's all up to you, suerte!
Spanish pronunciation is entirely logical. You need to be sure how to say words and equally where to place the stress. Once you are happy about that then you need to aim to be understood. In Spain in many parts of the country, they say c and z as 'th' If you plan to concentrate on Spain,like their TV,music and books and have friends there then aim to speak that way. I have been to other Spanish speaking countries and found some of the accents difficult eg Cuba and Peru, but had no difficulty with accents in Mexico. I have heard the Colombian accent is easy to understand but Argentina less so. The accents in Andalucia in the South of Spain is similar tomany Latin American countries.
When I was a child we lived in many different parts of the UK and tended to pick up some local expressions and ways of speaking.
Try and be consistant with the way you pronounce 'll' and c and z. In my experience many countries including Spain say all v's as b.
If you are not living in a Spanish speaking country your accentwill be influenced by your teacher, your friends and the media you watch and listen to. Unless you have an excellent ear and are young native speakers will always hear you as an American/Canadian/Brit or whatever speaking Spanish. It is particularly difficult to ignore the natural rhythm of our native tongue and acquire the rhythym of our new tongue.
Learn idiomatic expressions you think you will use I don't always understand expressions used by Americans or they ones I use but it isn't a problem. When learning ignore idiomatic expressions you do not think you will use - there is so much else to learn. If you go to live in a country you will soon pick up local phrases you need. At some stage,you are likely to realise you are interacting mainly with a Mexica,CentralAmerican or elsewhere and willconcentrate on phrases from there.
Just make learning fun and get used to different accents and phrases as variety is good.
