Sometimes students coming to Spanish courses at the DLTC Language School (Dublin, Ireland) ask us about the differences between the Spanish language spoken in Spain and that spoken in Latin America. The good news is that the differences are no greater than those between the English spoken in England and the English spoken in Ireland or in other English speaking countries. People from Latin America and Spain communicate without difficulty. They read books and watch movies or programs from any Spanish speaking country. However there are a few small differences worth noting.
As with any language spoken over wide areas, we have to keep in mind that there are many accents and that these accents differ not only from country to country but from one region of Spain to another. Probably the main difference in pronunciation of Spanish between regions is the famous ‘lisp’ /θ/ - which sounds like our ‘th’ in the English word ‘thanks’. This sound is characteristic of the Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain and is generally used for the letters “z” and “c” before “i “or “e”. Thus “Barcelona” becomes like “barthelona” if it were written in English. However most of Latin America and southern Spain (Seville, Malaga etc) lack this sound and pronounce “z” and “c” as “s”.
In relation to the grammar, the most noticeable difference is the use of vosotros and ustedes to refer to “you (plural)”. Vosotros is used in Spain to refer “you” plural for informal situations – the verb that goes with it is used in the 2nd person plural form. Ustedes is used in Spain to refer to “you” plural in formal situations – the verb that goes with it is used in the 3rd person plural form (imagine we used ‘they’ to address a group of people in front of us). In Latin America the situation is somewhat simpler in ustedes is the word commonly used to refer to “you” plural in both formal and informal situations.
Just as there vocaubulary differences between the English of Europe and that of the US (think of the words “queue” (UK & Ireland) versus “line” (US)), there are also some differences in the vocabulary of European and American Spanish. For example the Spanish word for “computer” in Latin America would be “computadora” but “ordenador “in Spain but in an age of international media most speakers would know these variations.
So as you can see there are some differences between Castillian and American Spanish – however these differences are small and in spite of them, Spanish is used by millions of native speakers across the world in order to to communicate with people from other Spanish speaking countries and also with non native speakers. So if you are learning Spanish, no matter where, as long as you learn to use the language properly, you will be able to have contact with native speakers around the world without difficulty.
As one learner, I know, said: "From my own experience of over 20 years using Spanish in Spain and in Latin-America, I’m sure I have been misunderstood many times but, as far as I know, never because of using forms from one region in a different one."
