How Did You Learn Spanish?

[Yogur griego]

I dont think its any easier for English speakers to get rid of theirs..

The problem of speaking a highly similar language is that you may be more oblivious to false friends and become too lazy for careful learning in general. I don't want to offend anyone, but 98% of French people I met in Argentina (and I met a LOT of them) were almost simply speaking their own langue with the occasional Spanish word mixed in there.

 

[Yogur griego]

Ive been able to fool quite a lot of people with my accent, although ive left quite a while ago so i dont know what it would be like now. The accent is still there for sure, but im not sure if its as fluent

My castezjano has seen better days..... nobody can resist the influence of local dialects and my Spanish is slowly starting to become very Iberian, a harsh reality I have to accept. I spoke with a thick Peruvian accent for many years... I wonder what's next?

 

[French jurist]

But getting rid of the heavy accent may be a worse task.

Especially the RRRRRrrrrrééééé

Small gossip from 5 years ago: I go to buy styrofoam in a specialized store on Cordoba. I ask for the price to the two guys who were attending (old + young) and after they reply I say "Vendido!" (like "Sold!").
They both look at me in a very unfriendly way and say nothing. So I repeat "Vendido!". Again, they look at each other & look at me like if I had done something really wrong.

Finally, I understood that they had heard "Bandido!", pffff. Good laugh

 

[Lamb]

My castezjano has seen better days..... nobody can resist the influence of local dialects and my Spanish is slowly starting to become very Iberian, a harsh reality I have to accept. I spoke with a thick Peruvian accent for many years... I wonder what's next?

Living with a Spaniard, im trying to resist it haha. Its working until now, mostly cause we speak English to eachother most of the time (he had to improve, im lazy). As Spanish is my university major, and i do speak it, it doesnt make much sense but i suppose its true what they say about the first language a couple speak, is usually the one theyll keep speaking. He mixes it though, and i got used to his accent which i now dont find to sound so bad anymore and actually like on him. Love is blind, or deaf, in this case.

 

[French jurist]

Another tricky thing: I used to live on Billinghurst & at first, when taking a cab, I was pronouncing "Billignhurst" rather the English way (Billingheurst), than the Spanish way (Billinghourst). Many cab drivers couldn't understand.

 

[Yogur griego]

Especially the RRRRRrrrrrééééé

Small gossip from 5 years ago: I go to buy styrofoam in a specialized store on Cordoba. I ask for the price to the two guys who were attending (old + young) and after they reply I say "Vendido!" (like "Sold!").
They both look at me in a very unfriendly way and say nothing. So I repeat "Vendido!". Again, they look at each other & look at me like if I had done something really wrong.

Finally, I understood that they had heard "Bandido!", pffff. Good laugh

That's a funny one. Well, also generally, French attempts at speaking Spanish often make me laugh (often involuntarily), even if in a technical sense they are really skilled. To me the harsh, loud and lumpish sounds of Spanish just don't go together with the finesse of the subtle French language. The combination just sounds ridiculous. However, you seem to have quite a lot of talent for languages, so getting rid of the strong accent should have been easier than for most people I have met.

 

[Lamb]

Especially the RRRRRrrrrrééééé

Small gossip from 5 years ago: I go to buy styrofoam in a specialized store on Cordoba. I ask for the price to the two guys who were attending (old + young) and after they reply I say "Vendido!" (like "Sold!").
They both look at me in a very unfriendly way and say nothing. So I repeat "Vendido!". Again, they look at each other & look at me like if I had done something really wrong.

Finally, I understood that they had heard "Bandido!", pffff. Good laugh

Im a big fan of Cortázar and i was so disappointed when i watched an interview with him and realised he had this french r that gives me shivers. No offense, but the r is one of the reasons i got addicted to Spanish in the first place so the french thing ruins it for me. I can take a french r from french people, maybe, but not from him!

 

[Lamb]

That's a funny one. Well, also generally, French attempts at speaking Spanish often make me laugh (often involuntarily), even if in a technical sense they are really skilled. To me the harsh, loud and lumpish sounds of Spanish just don't go together with the finesse of the subtle French language. The combination just sounds ridiculous. However, you seem to have quite a lot of talent for languages, so getting rid of the strong accent should have been easier than for most people I have met.

My uncle married a mexican woman, about 30 years ago, and has been living over there since. His Spanish is perfect, when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. His accent is still as Dutch as the day he arrived though. A talent for learning languages doesnt necessarily come with a talent for pronouncing them.

 

[Yogur griego]

Another tricky thing: I used to live on Billinghurst & at first, when taking a cab, I was pronouncing "Billignhurst" rather the English way (Billingheurst), than the Spanish way (Billinghourst). Many cab drivers couldn't understand.

That happens all the time with English names, whatever English name, I just degraded my pronounciation to local interpretations in order to be understood.

Let's pronounce Brunswick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9nF6nb4Fww

 

[Yogur griego]

I have a rather Italian-sounding last name (presumably of French origin), which was constantly interpreted as Italian and often slightly corrected by whatever official, restaurant owner, shop owner etc I had to talk to, followed by the usual criticism: '' But you are an Argentine, right? Look at the name!!! Where is your Argentine passport?''