Panama and Spanish
I plan on studying abroad to Panama this summer, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there a grave difference in the spanish that is spoken there'
5 Answers
I learned Mexican Spanish in high school, lived in Venezuela for 2 years (very different dialect) and traveled to Panama. I didn't have any problems in Panama. It was closer to Mexican Spanish than Venezuelan Spanish, which is akin to Cuban and Puerto Rican - very fast and sloppy about word endings and the letter 's'.
Slang and swear words will vary from locale to locale.
Mexico has its own dialect. Panama's dialect is Caribbean dialect which is spoken in Panama, northern coastal areas of Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. And within each country there are subdialects. Caribbean dialect drops the final s on a word and also final letters on words. Ss are aspirated, that is, they sound like the English h.
Examples - cuadros becomes cuadroh, dos becomes doh
pelado becomes pelao, agringado becomes agringao.
Español becomes ehpañol.
Mexico has its own dialect. Panama's dialect is Caribbean dialect which is spoken in Panama, northern coastal areas of Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. And within each country there are subdialects. Caribbean dialect drops the final s on a word and also final letters on words. Ss are aspirated, that is, they sound like the English h.
Examples - cuadros becomes cuadroh, dos becomes doh
pelado becomes pelao, agringado becomes agringao.
Español becomes ehpañol.
The main difference between the Spanish in Panama and that of Mexico, for example, is that the Panamanians drop their Ss. So if they say to you, ¿Cómo esta?" they could be saying either, ¿Cómo esta usted?" or ¿Cómo estas tú?" This is very common in most Carribean counrties. And then, of course, there is the accent.
I'm not aware of any drastic difference. Are you more familiar with the Spanish spoken in another country? At any rate, you shouldn't have any problems if you have the basics down.
