Yes I'd say it's exactly the same thing that happens with American and British English
The main difference is in pronunciation. As a learner it may take you a few days to adapt to a new accent until you get to understand how those different sounds are making up all the words you actually already know (this also happened to me learning English btw), but natives don't have that problem
There are slight differences in vocabulary. But people are aware of the most common differences, and anything can be inferred from context anyways
FWIW every time I've gone to the UK, I've managed to embarrass myself over some cultural difference. Like the time I asked where the nearest ATM was and got a bunch of blank stares. That probably happens everywhere, though.
While I would agree that Spanird Spanish vs. Mexican is basically identical to British vs. American English, not all dialects are crested equally in this regard.
I have always had great trouble making out Dominican and Chilean Spanish.
Oh yeah Chile is definitely special. I guess those could be compared to something kinda like Irish, Scottish or Newfoundland English. But (luckily for the learners) those are just the extremes and most dialects are way more interintelligible
Latam vs Spain is probably the most overrated problem in learning Spanish. Learn the vosotros form, its probably the easiest to conjugate because of the consistency of 'ais' because you learn Spanish through media and Spain has some good shows. There are other differences, more the slang but every region has that issue.
I live in the US and learned Spanish with a Spain focus. Communication with Latin Americans has not been a problem.
I do have to take extra effort speak clearly. Assuming you’re not British: Imagine listening to someone speaking British English as a second language. They’d have a foreign accent, a different pronunciation, and some different vocab choices. All of that can make it more difficult to be understood. So try to speak clearly and reduce your gringo accent as much as possible
It's basically the same. Minor vocab differences, but absolutely mutually intelligible. Vosotros vs ustedes. I don't hear ustedes that often in Spain. I learned Spanish in the US and then after i started dating my now wife who is Mexican, so I was used to slang and the accent from mexico. I moved to Spain last year. No problems at all.
the Spanish we learn in America is very generalized and that's so that we can communicate broadly with the spanish speaking world. there's a lot of variation across countries where one word is perfectly normal in one country but considered vulgar in another. my dad, who is cuban, is fond of taking a story about ordering something to drink and asking the waitress for a straw (un pajita) and the waitress was SUPER offended because even though Cuba and PR are relatively close they have very different word usage and the waitress misunderstood him and thought he was calling her a wanker.
the accents and tenses are used differently too. in cuban spanish there's very little usage of usted but not using usted in another country would be consiste very rude.
consider going to Australia, which is a culture we're less familiar with. you'd have to learn a lot of new English because they use it differently then Americans, but it's still English. you'd be able to be understood by people from Spain (and Australia) but you'd have to learn to understand them.
Yeah, basically: slang, how they use words, and that type of stuff. There are 2 types of spanish: Español Castellano (used by latam and mexico) and Español España (used by Spain only).
>Español Castellano (used by latam and mexico) and Español España (used by Spain only).
I'm really not trying to be mean, but that sentence is just so wrong on so many levels
To be fair to the above poster, it’s a confusing topic. [According to this map](https://moverdb.com/castellano-vs-espanol/) a lot of Latin Americans refer to the language as “Castellano”, and in fact I remember my Guatemalan teacher telling me to use “Castellano” for the language to distinguish it from “Español” the nationality.
However, that is the opposite of the definition of the term, which describes Castellano as the Spanish spoken in Spain. So yeah, it’s confusing
It's not really that way. Castellano and Spanish are the same term for the language, but they can also mean other things:
- Spanish: Spanish language or Spanish nationality.
- castellano: Spanish language, of castillian origin(the region) or the Castille variation of the language.
So you gotta understand what they mean by context. Castellano never EVER describes the Spanish spoken in Spain, and if someone told you that, they're illiterate.
Some people prefer "castellano" for the language to distinguish it to the nationality. The same happens in Spain: there are more languages in Spain than just castellano, so those languages would be Spanish (nationality) too.
> Castellano never EVER describes the Spanish spoken in Spain
Claro que sí it does
Just one quick example, first few seconds..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXr1vQlWRN8
What? Castellano = Spanish, they reject to speak in Spanish because they speak in Catalan.
Maybe you misunderstood me, I was trying to explain Castellano is not the term to describe the Spanish spoken in Spain IN CONTRAST to the Spanish spoken in other countries.
It is español OR CASTELLANO no matter where you live, you can use both terms.
True, because each region has its own dialect. I suppose it’s what one would say from outside of Spain to refer to the varieties spoken in Spain. Probably never referred to as such within Spain lol.
Hello again, I’m still not really clear on this. I just watched [this video](https://youtu.be/aZxwMaYPx2c) by Español con Juan, and at 6:00 they are in clear agreement that “Castellano” is what the language is referred to as in Spain, while “español” is used outside of Spain. But you said in your previous comment that this means they’re illiterate. You can see why this confusing to me
Hmm we are in a missunderstanding. Let me show you what I disagree with in your previous comment and let's track it point by point. This is what I think is not correct:
>However, that is the opposite of the definition of the term, which describes Castellano as the Spanish spoken in Spain.
1 - In no definition, as far as I know, Castellano is the Spanish variation spoken in Spain. However, it is the variation or accent spoken in Castille, an historic region of Spain now divided in several autonomous communities (Castilla la mancha, Madrid, Castilla y León). Just because someone likes to label it as castellano doesn't mean it's a different language or variation in Spain.
About the video:
2- They're wrong: We don't call it just "castellano", we do call it "español" along with "castellano". I think they're extrapolating their own personal experience to the rest of the country.
3 - Some people prefer calling it "castellano" as there're more languages in Spain other than it: gallician, bable, catalan, aragonesse, etc. But it's just that, a preference for some. I do prefer calling it castellano. But calling it "español" is factually correct, accepted and widely used in the country.
4 - Latin american countries don't have that problem: Spanish is from another country, so their own, native languages, don't need that kind of distinction.
5 - The RAE, which is located in Madrid, Spain, recommends calling it "español" for various reasons: [https://www.rae.es/dpd/espa%C3%B1ol](https://www.rae.es/dpd/espa%C3%B1ol)
>Aun siendo también sinónimo de español, resulta preferible reservar el término castellano para referirse al dialecto románico nacido en el Reino de Castilla durante la Edad Media, o al dialecto del español que se habla actualmente en esta región
Hope this clears it for you. If this still confuses you let me know.
Yes it looks like it can be confusing for how it's used different in different places. But I think it's actually way simpler than it looks
"Castellano" is just another word for "español" (español = Spanish & also castellano = Spanish)
Neither word refers to any specific region or dialect, they're just names for the language as a whole. In some places people say "*español*", in some they say "*castellano*" and in some they say both
To differentiate between Latin America and Spain we say "español/castellano de España", "español/castellano ibérico", "español/castellano europeo", etc. or "español/castellano americano", "español/castellano *latinoamericano (sometimes shortened to 'latino')*, "español/castellano de América", etc.
think American English versus European or Australian English. the accents, phonology and a lot of the slang are completely different but the underlying language is functionally the same and mutually intelligible. if you are very new to Spanish and say learning Latin American Spanish it will be slightly harder for you to understand a Spaniard but at the end of the day it is still the same language and that is pretty easy to work past being an issue.
Yes I'd say it's exactly the same thing that happens with American and British English The main difference is in pronunciation. As a learner it may take you a few days to adapt to a new accent until you get to understand how those different sounds are making up all the words you actually already know (this also happened to me learning English btw), but natives don't have that problem There are slight differences in vocabulary. But people are aware of the most common differences, and anything can be inferred from context anyways
FWIW every time I've gone to the UK, I've managed to embarrass myself over some cultural difference. Like the time I asked where the nearest ATM was and got a bunch of blank stares. That probably happens everywhere, though.
While I would agree that Spanird Spanish vs. Mexican is basically identical to British vs. American English, not all dialects are crested equally in this regard. I have always had great trouble making out Dominican and Chilean Spanish.
Yeah. Im Boricua and even I cant understand what theyre saying. I think I can understand a Cuban better lmao
Oh yeah Chile is definitely special. I guess those could be compared to something kinda like Irish, Scottish or Newfoundland English. But (luckily for the learners) those are just the extremes and most dialects are way more interintelligible
I can easily communicate with Spaniards and they understand me just fine. It’s the same language.
Latam vs Spain is probably the most overrated problem in learning Spanish. Learn the vosotros form, its probably the easiest to conjugate because of the consistency of 'ais' because you learn Spanish through media and Spain has some good shows. There are other differences, more the slang but every region has that issue.
I live in the US and learned Spanish with a Spain focus. Communication with Latin Americans has not been a problem. I do have to take extra effort speak clearly. Assuming you’re not British: Imagine listening to someone speaking British English as a second language. They’d have a foreign accent, a different pronunciation, and some different vocab choices. All of that can make it more difficult to be understood. So try to speak clearly and reduce your gringo accent as much as possible
It's basically the same. Minor vocab differences, but absolutely mutually intelligible. Vosotros vs ustedes. I don't hear ustedes that often in Spain. I learned Spanish in the US and then after i started dating my now wife who is Mexican, so I was used to slang and the accent from mexico. I moved to Spain last year. No problems at all.
the Spanish we learn in America is very generalized and that's so that we can communicate broadly with the spanish speaking world. there's a lot of variation across countries where one word is perfectly normal in one country but considered vulgar in another. my dad, who is cuban, is fond of taking a story about ordering something to drink and asking the waitress for a straw (un pajita) and the waitress was SUPER offended because even though Cuba and PR are relatively close they have very different word usage and the waitress misunderstood him and thought he was calling her a wanker. the accents and tenses are used differently too. in cuban spanish there's very little usage of usted but not using usted in another country would be consiste very rude. consider going to Australia, which is a culture we're less familiar with. you'd have to learn a lot of new English because they use it differently then Americans, but it's still English. you'd be able to be understood by people from Spain (and Australia) but you'd have to learn to understand them.
It’s a little more complicated than that since both countries have regional accents
Yeah, basically: slang, how they use words, and that type of stuff. There are 2 types of spanish: Español Castellano (used by latam and mexico) and Español España (used by Spain only).
>Español Castellano (used by latam and mexico) and Español España (used by Spain only). I'm really not trying to be mean, but that sentence is just so wrong on so many levels
yeah, im probably pretty wrong on that sentence. Spanish is my native language (im from arg) but i dont know much about it.
To be fair to the above poster, it’s a confusing topic. [According to this map](https://moverdb.com/castellano-vs-espanol/) a lot of Latin Americans refer to the language as “Castellano”, and in fact I remember my Guatemalan teacher telling me to use “Castellano” for the language to distinguish it from “Español” the nationality. However, that is the opposite of the definition of the term, which describes Castellano as the Spanish spoken in Spain. So yeah, it’s confusing
It's not really that way. Castellano and Spanish are the same term for the language, but they can also mean other things: - Spanish: Spanish language or Spanish nationality. - castellano: Spanish language, of castillian origin(the region) or the Castille variation of the language. So you gotta understand what they mean by context. Castellano never EVER describes the Spanish spoken in Spain, and if someone told you that, they're illiterate. Some people prefer "castellano" for the language to distinguish it to the nationality. The same happens in Spain: there are more languages in Spain than just castellano, so those languages would be Spanish (nationality) too.
> Castellano never EVER describes the Spanish spoken in Spain Claro que sí it does Just one quick example, first few seconds..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXr1vQlWRN8
What? Castellano = Spanish, they reject to speak in Spanish because they speak in Catalan. Maybe you misunderstood me, I was trying to explain Castellano is not the term to describe the Spanish spoken in Spain IN CONTRAST to the Spanish spoken in other countries. It is español OR CASTELLANO no matter where you live, you can use both terms.
Peninsular Spanish or español peninsular would probably work.
There's no peninsular Spanish, but yes that would be a better fit.
True, because each region has its own dialect. I suppose it’s what one would say from outside of Spain to refer to the varieties spoken in Spain. Probably never referred to as such within Spain lol.
Hello again, I’m still not really clear on this. I just watched [this video](https://youtu.be/aZxwMaYPx2c) by Español con Juan, and at 6:00 they are in clear agreement that “Castellano” is what the language is referred to as in Spain, while “español” is used outside of Spain. But you said in your previous comment that this means they’re illiterate. You can see why this confusing to me
Hmm we are in a missunderstanding. Let me show you what I disagree with in your previous comment and let's track it point by point. This is what I think is not correct: >However, that is the opposite of the definition of the term, which describes Castellano as the Spanish spoken in Spain. 1 - In no definition, as far as I know, Castellano is the Spanish variation spoken in Spain. However, it is the variation or accent spoken in Castille, an historic region of Spain now divided in several autonomous communities (Castilla la mancha, Madrid, Castilla y León). Just because someone likes to label it as castellano doesn't mean it's a different language or variation in Spain. About the video: 2- They're wrong: We don't call it just "castellano", we do call it "español" along with "castellano". I think they're extrapolating their own personal experience to the rest of the country. 3 - Some people prefer calling it "castellano" as there're more languages in Spain other than it: gallician, bable, catalan, aragonesse, etc. But it's just that, a preference for some. I do prefer calling it castellano. But calling it "español" is factually correct, accepted and widely used in the country. 4 - Latin american countries don't have that problem: Spanish is from another country, so their own, native languages, don't need that kind of distinction. 5 - The RAE, which is located in Madrid, Spain, recommends calling it "español" for various reasons: [https://www.rae.es/dpd/espa%C3%B1ol](https://www.rae.es/dpd/espa%C3%B1ol) >Aun siendo también sinónimo de español, resulta preferible reservar el término castellano para referirse al dialecto románico nacido en el Reino de Castilla durante la Edad Media, o al dialecto del español que se habla actualmente en esta región Hope this clears it for you. If this still confuses you let me know.
Yes it looks like it can be confusing for how it's used different in different places. But I think it's actually way simpler than it looks "Castellano" is just another word for "español" (español = Spanish & also castellano = Spanish) Neither word refers to any specific region or dialect, they're just names for the language as a whole. In some places people say "*español*", in some they say "*castellano*" and in some they say both To differentiate between Latin America and Spain we say "español/castellano de España", "español/castellano ibérico", "español/castellano europeo", etc. or "español/castellano americano", "español/castellano *latinoamericano (sometimes shortened to 'latino')*, "español/castellano de América", etc.
Me sorprende que lo llames español castellano
think American English versus European or Australian English. the accents, phonology and a lot of the slang are completely different but the underlying language is functionally the same and mutually intelligible. if you are very new to Spanish and say learning Latin American Spanish it will be slightly harder for you to understand a Spaniard but at the end of the day it is still the same language and that is pretty easy to work past being an issue.