How can I be sure that what I am learning is Mexican Spanish

Question

There are many dialogs of Spanish, I would like to learn the Mexican Spanish version! How do I insure myself that I am learning the right one?

Frank

*dialects* of Spanish - webdunce, Dec 25, 2009

Answer 1

They do use different words sometimes to identify things. Inodoro is toilet in Spain and escusado is toilet in Mexico but I'd say they are pretty similar aside from the small differences. Your best bet is to get a Mexican friend and go over your word lists. That's what I do.

Answer 2

Honestly, anything you're teaching yourself in an acedemic fasion like this will be the formal/proper version of the language. For the most part, the formal version of the language will be understood by any Spanish speaker. The great variations start coming up in slang and more casual forms of the language... but to learn these things you just have to be in a place long enough to start picking them up.

Answer 3

"Hello, my name is George and I'm pleased to meet you. I'm glad to have this opportunity to talk with someone from your country."

How would you characterize the above: American/English/Scottish/Irish/Australian/Canadian dialect? The simple answer is you can't; it could be reasonably said by any English speaker (though with some differences in pronunciation).

A great deal of what is said by Mexicans/Colombians/Argentinians/Andalusians/Manchegos/Madridleños/etc. is simply Spanish (especially among the educated). They have their regionalisms, of course, but it would be a mistake to think that any Mexican who utters three words will be instantly identified as being Mexican. The differences are more subtle than that.

I was in a Mexican bar in LA and a Cuban who had been living here for over 30 years came in and had said only 3 words before someone asked if he was from Cuba. - lorenzo9, Dec 26, 2009

Answer 4

This is not based on any experience of any kind, but, as an American, I think I would eventually adjust to the different vocabulary and spelling (and, to a lesser extent, the different pronunciation) if I were to move to Britain or Australia.

For those of us for whom Spanish is a second language, this adjustment should be even easier as we do not have a lifetime of experience saying things a certain way. So, I say, learn any Spanish you can, any way you can, anywhere you can. Then, if you should move to Mexico, trust that you could quickly adjust to the peculiarities of Mexican Spanish -- that is, to the extent that you can as no matter where you go you will likely have a slight American¹ accent.

¹ By "American," I mean "native of the USA." I know that Mexicans, Canadians, Chileans, and so forth are all Americans as well, but, unfortunately, so far as I know, in English the word American refers to natives of the USA and I can't think of any other word that does that.

Answer 5

One learning method I use is to watch movies on DVDs with the Spanish language track activated. Generally, for movies sold in the USA, the Spanish language track is usually some form of Latin American Spanish (español latino). So, while it would not necessarily be Mexican Spanish, it would be closer to Mexican Spanish than Castilian Spanish would be. (I have seen Castilian Spanish referred to as español castellano, español de España, or simply castellano.)

I imagine the reason is because, regionally, we are next to the Latin American countries. I imagine that is also why many DVDs sold in the USA have a French track (Quebec) and, to a lesser extent, a Portuguese track (Brazil).