Different Spanish Accents

[NomadInBA]

*fingernails scraping chalkboard*

Much like the American accent then

 

[Crema Americana]

The only thing I don't like about the porteño accent is the way in which women talk. The men I don't mind, but certain women have very high pitched and whiny way of speaking - very exaggerated and annoying. I can't watch any show where there's a panel of Argentine women talking. (Some may say this is an international thing... but I don't think so.)

The other pet peeve is the use of English words... especially when those English words or phrases mean something completely different.

Where did they get "touch and go" from? Do they say that in the UK in reference to sex? Because in the US it just means something is unstable... in the sense it could fail at any time, not a one night stand. And open mind... haha Open mind does not equal open relationship! Apparently here yes.
Or calling a rec room a playroom... or saying "performance" instead of actuacion? There are words in Spanish to say the same thing or they could even invent new Spanish words, but why invent English phrases? And I never know how to say gmail... I tried saying it in Spanish (je mail) and they didn't understand me. I also don't know how Spanish has turned Nike into something that sorta rhymes with Mike when the Spanish pronunciation would have been closer.

I had to relearn English!

 

[scottlyon]

Hey Eclair, I'm not sure about the sexual relations part but rec room is short for recreational room; a playroom and no-one has pronounced Nike correctly since the fall of Ancient Greece.

In Britain Nike is pronounced the way that Mike and bike are pronounced - by a great many people.

You are correct though that a few things have migrated across the culture divide and taken on a meaning of their own.

 

[YanquiGallego]

I am Spanish, and my accent seems to fascinate many Argentines, where I am from being the first thing asked upon meeting me. When I first moved to Argentina, I found great humour in the very exagerated, dramatic choice of words that they use in Argentina Spanish, that we would never use in the same context as freely in Spain for example:

OBVIO: Here everything is so obvio to everyone.

Also, I would agree with the comment about the women speaking in very whiney, exaggerated tones and putting in MI AMOR in each sentence even if they are speaking about something that they dont like, Graciela Alfano and Susana Gimenez are good examples of this.

 

[trennod]

As a whole, I really like the Argentina accent, but agree its significantly different to other provincias. My girlfriend is Tucumana and its amazing the difference - I really enjoy the Tucumana accent except for the double r which is closer to a shh rather than the rolling of the r.

But it is really fascinating the significant difference between the provincias.

 

[nuria9486]

My personal favorite is Andalucian Spanish. If you can understand that you can understand pretty much anything.

you are completely right!! im andalusian and being in argentina is difficult for argentinian to understand me!!!

 

[fifs2]

you are completely right!! im andalusian and being in argentina is difficult for argentinian to understand me!!!

Oh you Andalusians..with all the !que mono! and Mussschhhaaaa Lessschhe" here (Jerez) I'm LOVIN' and MISSIN' the Bsas accent...except I concur with the previous post re all "mi amor", and "Que lindo" falseness that has everything to do with fake people and nothing to do with a beautiful langauge that is so wondrous anywhere it's spoken...FYI My best friends here and Bsas are Mexican..love the way they speak and eat...think I was Mexican in a former life...

 

[jimdepalermo]

When I first moved to Argentina, I found great humour in the very exagerated, dramatic choice of words that they use in Argentina Spanish, that we would never use in the same context

Over dinner last week, some friends visiting from Barcelona were talking about trips they want to take to the interior and the problems they were having booking flights. One of them then said,

"Podríamos coger un colectivo."
​

To which I responded that they might get into a lot of trouble doing that in Argentina.

After growing up in Virginia, I spent many years in New York. As ugly as the English is there, you goddah luv it for its color and the way it reflects the immigrant populations that made and make that city great.

The same is true for me here. Porteño spanish seems to involve about as much neopolitan Italian as castellano.. Certainly the culture, the spirit, the animation of the city seem more Italian than Spanish. Which is to be expected, since 100 years ago Italian immigrants and their first-generation offspring made up 55% of the population of the city and its surrounding areas. That was never the case in the interior of Argentina, where they don't speak the way we do any more than Virginians speak like New Yawkas.

When I first arrived here speaking virtually no castellano, I thought about trying to learn a more standard version of the language. But it was so much easier just listening to people and imitating them that I decided to go whole-hog, as we say in Virginia, for rioplatense castellano. A side benefit is the looks I get on the Iberian peninsula when I show up, obvious gringo that I am, saying "vos" in my miserable yanqui accent. It's a great ice-breaker.

 

[RachinBA]

ha I totally agree with Eclair. I came to Argentina knowing a few words of basic spanish. I guess I am biased because I have only learned buenos aires spanish. I hate the sound of spain spanish, it's like Jonathan Woss on a particularly bad night for me and sets my teeth on edge. At the same time I hate the compulsive dropping of s and viste viste viste, mira, boludo, lo que pasa es...blaaaaa. The repetition annoys me. As someone stated above, very much depends where in Argentina you are from. Porteño is a world of its own. But I'm from Belfast so I relate