Which Spanish is easiest for you?
I understand Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican Spanish the best. I have a hard time understanding other countries Spanish.
9 Answers
Actually, I would say that those countries do not have a clear, well pronounced Spanish. Colombia, Perú, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, amongst others have a more clear Spanish in my opinion!
In my opinion, there is no ironclad answer to your question. Any language spoken by someone who is educated, instructed, and who is blessed by good diction and enunciation, will be more easily understood than the opposite.
I have encountered people from every Spanish-speaking country, whose language skills are so high that they would be easily understood by anybody. I have also found people from all countries, whom, despite my being a native Spanish speaker, have had a lot of trouble understanding.
Every person is different but for me, in general, the people of Mexico City are easiest to understand and those of Baja California Sur are the hardest.
I was once told by a Mexican from Guadalajara who moved to La Paz, that understanding the people of La Paz was like learning a new language.
In my opinion, it depends on the speed of the speaking. There are different dialects, and you can notice it, but as long as the person slows it down a tad bit, it's never usually too difficult to understand (and I'm speaking as an English native learning Spanish). The one dialect that was most troubling for me was from the Dominican Republic.... it was just naturally too staccato for me (at that point)... and my earphones are kinda broken right now, lol.
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, México, Venezuela, Perú etc....
Even Argentina and Spain.... if the person isn't trying to blitz your English speaking mind with free fire Spanish... it's not so difficult to adapt and catch on (barring colloquialisms and slangs)
Personally I'm looking forward to visiting Peru, after seeing a delightful film called Contracorriente. Clearly all fishermen in tiny Peruvian villages speak beautiful, clear Spanish, I cannot doubt it. ( The actors were never from another part, were they?)
I also like what little I've heard of Puerto Rican Spanish. ( one excerpt from a book, nada más) It was beautifully Spanglified and understandable. The place to avoid is Andalucía.. Pity it's so beautiful and that I've fallen in love with it. ¡ Que lástima!
Basically, I agree with Franco, wherever you go, from rural Devon to Sweden, to Spain, you will find that there are people who speak well and clearly, and the odd local who does not. But, given time, even the local version becomes understandable. Having said that, I occassionally struggle with old Devon farmers, I've only been in England for 36 years, after all...
Pronunciation is most important an any dialect. However the slower it is spoken, the easier it is for me to understand ..".porque mi mente es lento para traducir!"
It seems to me it's more a matter of familiarity. If you are used to hearing the Spanish of northern Mexico, that will sound "normal". If you live in Argentina, Mexican Spanish will sound a little foreign.
Personally, the people I associate with are from either Mexico or Perú, and that is my "normal". It is not a judgement, just an accident of association.
Interesting. In my limited experience so far, I feel pretty much the opposite. I've had some trouble following some Cubans and Puertoricans, as they seem to play a bit fast and loose with letting some sounds just drop away (such as Ss at the end of syllables).
But barring especially heavy slang or regional dialects, for me as a beginner, the speed of the individual speaker plays a much bigger role than the region or origin.
With me, take it slow baby.
Farallon7:
I agree with you generally, but there are many accents in Colombia... and generally I have an issue with the comment of "well pronounced Spanish." Different Spanish speakers speak with different levels of clarity (including in the same departments, cities). Moving away from Latin America, and to the US, people have different ways of speaking... and speaking out every letter... or over-enunciating... is NOT always gonna be deemed "well pronounced" ..but often enough rather odd.
The posters comment wasn't anything to be disagreed with. He gave his opinion on which DIALECTS are most easy for him to understand (before asking which dialects are easier for others to understand), that has nothing to do with any opinion on what is "well pronounced" or not.
Dialects in Spain use ceceo.... and vosotros.... so I'm sure they could consider THEIR Spanish the most "well-pronounced," but that's neither here nor there.
I asked someone from/in Colombia about the accents of Colombia....
The response was that, costeños speak really fast and that paisas tend to eat letters.
Long story short... upon writing "actually," a big error was committed... because the entire point of this thread was altered. (And Chileans have lots of aspirations in their speech)
