Should I Learn Latin American Spanish Or Spain Spanish

Castilian is the official language in 21 countries, making it a very popular pick for travellers to acquire!

If you're planning a trip to a Spanish speaking country, the first thing you lot need to know is that Spanish isn't the same worldwide. The emphasis, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary varies from one land to another.

And so is Latin American Spanish different from the Spanish spoken in Spain?

Yes! And there's not only one version of Spanish in Spain, and another 1 in Latin America.

Every region of every Castilian speaking land has its own accent and regional slang.

So, would a Mexican be understood in Spain or Argentina?

Absolutely. Although the Spanish language varies merely like English language varies slightly from England to the United states, and from Republic of ireland to Commonwealth of australia.

For case, depending on where they're from, Spanish speakers may have different words for beer. Depending on where you lot are in the world, beer can be caña, cerveza, chela, largato or birra. But at the finish of the mean solar day, no affair where they come up from, Spanish speakers will understand each other perfectly as they chat over pint!

Now, let's have a look at the major pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary differences between Latin American Spanish and Spanish spoken in Spain.

iii central differences betwixt Latin American Castilian and the Spanish you'll hear in Spain

1. Spanish in Latin America vs Espana: accent and pronunciation differences

There are many emphasis variations in the Castilian speaking world. Fifty-fifty within the aforementioned land, the pronunciation of certain letters tin can be very different.

Z and C

In almost of Spain, z and a c before due east and i are pronounced similar the English 'th' sound. Simply in Latin America, the Canary Islands and some parts of southern Spain, both letters are pronounced similar an 's'.

In Republic of chile or southern Kingdom of spain, the letter due south is non e'er pronounced. Instead, information technology is a rather soft, almost inaudible, grasping sound.

For case: you lot might hear "¡graciah!" instead of ¡gracias!

LL and Y

In Argentina and Uruguay, the letters ll andy are pronounced similar the English language sound 'sh'. While in other countries, it generally sounds like the English 'y'.

For example: when pronounced by an Argentinian or an Uruguayan, me llamo (my name is) would become "me shamo" and yo (I) sounds like "sho".

Start working on your Spanish accent today

Busuu's online Spanish course can teach yous everything from the basics to conversational fluency.

2. Castilian in Latin America vs Spain: grammar differences

Vosotros vs ustedes

One of the major differences betwixt Latin American Spanish and Spain Spanish is vosotros.

Vosotros is a way to say "you all", but it'due south exclusively used in Spain.

All across Latin America, people use ustedes instead. And keep in mind, the form of the verb changes, too. Let's have a expect at some examples:

Someone from Espana: "¿Vosotros sois amigos? ¿Dónde os conocisteis?"
Someone from Bolivia: "¿Ustedes son amigos? ¿Dónde se conocieron?"

Both sentences hateful, "Are y'all all friends? Where did you meet?", simply, as yous tin can see, the verb form changes with each pronoun.

Ustedes is used in Kingdom of spain besides, only it is reserved for formal situations. If you're with clients at piece of work, for example, you would say:

¿Quieren [ustedes] algo de comer?

Do you lot all desire something to eat?

Tú / usted / vos

In Spanish, there are three singular forms of "you" — tú, vos and usted.

Usted is only used in very formal situations in Kingdom of spain. But in Latin America, usted is much more commonly heard. And there are some countries like Colombia, where usted is used instead of tú.
In Spain, tú has become more than and more than common and information technology is adequate in most conversations. In Latin America, tú is mainly used in breezy situations.
Vos is mainly used in Argentine republic, Uruguay and some parts in Central America.

Past tenses

In Latin America and in some areas of northern Spain, the preterite is normally used to talk most past events, whether information technology happened today or yesterday, much like the Elementary Past in English language, to talk about past events.

For example:

Hoy salí pronto de casa. / Ayer salí pronto de casa.

Today I left my house early. / Yesterday I left my house early.

Simply in nigh of Spain, if something happened today, you lot employ the present perfect (pretérito perfecto). Yous simply use the preterite if something happened earlier the present mean solar day.

For example :

Hoy he trabajado mucho. / Ayer trabajé mucho.

I take worked a lot today. / I worked a lot yesterday.

3. Espana vs Latin America: vocabulary variations

Variations in vocabulary provide countless amusement!

Merely like how Americans say flip-flops, Australians say thongs and New Zealanders say jandals, these small differences are the fun parts of learning about different cultures.

Let'south take the word for "car" in Spanish as an example:

In Kingdom of spain, you would say coche.
In Latin American, you would say carro or auto.

While nosotros're here, let'south look at the Spanish for "motorcoach":

In almost countries, y'all would say autobús.
In Argentina, yous would say colectivo.
In Republic of cuba, Dominican Republic or Canary Islands you lot call it a guagua.
In Mexico, it'south chosen a camión (Only everywhere else, called camión means "truck").

Confused still?! We're not surprised.

Permit's power through with the word "computer":

In Spain, it'due south an ordenador.
In Latin American Spanish, it'due south chosen a computador/computadora.

Next upward, the word for "murphy":

In Kingdom of spain, it'southward patata.
In Latin American Spanish, it'due south papa.

We're virtually in that location! Permit'southward look at "spectacles":

In Spain, they're called gafas.
In Latin American Spanish, they're anteojos or lentes.

And we've saved the most important one for last, "beer":

In Spain and Cuba, you say cerveza.
In Argentine republic and Venezuela, yous say birra.
In Peru, Mexico and Chile, you say chela.
In Colombia, you say pola.

Spanish Latin America vs Spain: which should you learn?

So, which Spanish should y'all acquire?

We recommend focusing on the country you are most interested in, the variety of Spanish spoken by your friends, or the region you lot programme on visiting. Sticking with one variety will help yous avoid any defoliation!

But 1 matter is for certain – whatsoever variety of Spanish you acquire, you volition be understood all over the Spanish speaking earth.

And don't be discouraged if yous're having trouble understanding an accent at the beginning. Even native speakers from dissimilar parts of the aforementioned country tin find it difficult to understand each other.

Here at Busuu, the laurels-winning language-learning app, we teach the Spanish spoken in Spain – merely yous can practice any version of Spanish with our customs of native Spanish speakers from around the earth.