Survival Spanish
I have recently started the academy for a CO. I live in TX so obviously there is a lot of Spanish speaking people around. The prison I work in has a majority of Mexican nationals. The academy does not offer any type of Spanish course. I am taking it upon myself to learn. Given my occupation I need to know which Spanish to learn. From what I've read there is a crap ton of different ways to speak it. I need to know which to learn and if there is an actual course that pertains more toward my occupation rather than every day use? Or is it the same? I want to be able to communicate with these offenders in case they are in trouble or on the flip side planning something. One of the other females in my class is Mexican and said she will help me with proper unnunciation and structure when I need it. But we work a lot of hours so lining up the time isn't always easy. Can anyone on here help? So far this site has been the best I've seen hands down....and believe me I have been researching for a few months now.
4 Answers
I think that most of the people you work with must be of Mexican origin and might speak many slang Mexican words. In your case, I would channel all my efforts with´(into) this kind of Spanish.
Maybe people from Spain or Venezuela or even my own country could have a difficult time to understand( understanding) them especially if they are prisoners. My intuition tells me that. yours is a very special case.
Good luck.
This is a great site for learning Spanish! When you're first learning the basics it doesn't really matter much which dialect of Spanish you're learning because as you advance you will pick up the vocabulary and style of the people around you and it sounds like you have plenty of opportunities to hear Spanish in Texas. It sounds like Mexican street Spanish is what you may hear a lot of but I recommend building up some proficiency with Spanish in general by using SpanishDict lessons and perhaps a language learning app like duolingo or busuu. One thing that you can completely ignore is any verb conjugation for the pronoun "vosotros". It's just not used in Mexican Spanish. There are regional differences in some vocabulary kind of like American English is slightly different from British English but this isn't really something that I think a beginner needs to worry about since the vast majority of the vocabulary is the same. At some point you might try watching movies in Spanish with English subtitles and if you do, I would recommend watching "Sangre por sangre" (Blood in, Blood out) which is about street gangs in Los Angeles. You will hear plenty of street slang from the 80s in that, much of which is still used today. A good place to search Spanish slang and vulgarities is urbandictionary.com though you can also find a lot of it here in the SD translator/dictionary. Good luck and welcome to the forum!
The obvious choice would be Mexican Spanish. "When in Rome, don't do as the Beijingers do." Although the grammar is the same in all Spanish speaking countries, it's the vocabulary that is most important, as Polenta pointed out. Also, the kind of people you're apt to deal with influences the vocabulary. You will most likely hear a lot of words that you won't find in any dictionary, but we are willing to help. Buena suerte!
Hello Blackhawk,
Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum 
Many of the best Spanish language schools which use native speakers, who are also qualified teachers of their own native language, can also be found on the internet and they offer 1:1 (private) Spanish classes via Skype in the comfort of your own home, and they try usually try their best to accomodate to a time that suits the student, and are relatively inexpensive!
I can recommend in particular, two online language schools that I have used for various 1:1 language classes: Verbling and Verbal Planet
You can usually choose a native Spanish speaker from your preferred region, so you could choose a native from Mexico who would therefore understand the regional idioms and slang!
Your teacher might not be familiar with all the prison lingo which is /can be like a language in itself, often designed with the intention of gaining some private space and /or 'pulling a fast one on the guards!
These language schools often offer courses designed for people in specific/ particular occupations... so the vocabulary is likely to be more helpful!
I hope this helps
