¿Jitomate o tomate? 5 minutes of Spanish _ English version + Podcast

 

Hello, how are you?

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, depending on where you are or what time you hear us.

 

We are Malena and Eduardo from Spanish in Cabo and Spanishup2U.com Your Spanish friends in Los Cabos and online. Thank you for practicing your new language with us.

 

In episode 163 of 5 minutes of Spanish we are going to talk about varieties of Spanish, this language that is spoken by 496 million people and is the second native language in the world by number of speakers, after Mandarin Chinese. If you want to learn more, click here and you will see all the options you have.

 

And, if we consider native and non-native speakers, plus advanced and intermediate learners, where do we rank?

 

In fourth place: after English, Mandarin Chinese and Hindi. Here we add up the whole family of this newsletter!

 

But there are variants of Spanish, aren’t there?

 

Yes, like all languages, geographical dispersion and different socio-cultural levels mean that it is not spoken in the same way everywhere.

 

In addition to history and the passage of time

 

Yes, exactly. As in all languages, English is not the same in the USA, Canada, England or New Zealand, for example. Spanish, too, has its differences.

 

Is there a Spanish from Spain and a Spanish from Latin America?

 

The answer is no. In Spain there are a few varieties. And, naturally, in America, where there are many more speakers, a great number of countries and an infinitely greater extension, we find many more variants.

 

What was the role of history?

 

In general terms, we could say that the way of speaking in Andalusia and the Canary Islands is more similar to that of Latin America than that of northern Spain.

 

Of course, most immigration came from these places, with them language, culture, food and much more.

 

Today we are going to talk about differences within the Spanish spoken in Latin America.

 

Where are the differences? In food and clothing. Another difference is the intonation.

 

In other words, they are written the same or almost the same, but when they are spoken they have different intonations. Ans is there any special characteristic of Latin American Spanish?

One characteristic of Spanish in several regions is the use of diminutives.

 

Ahorita or ahoritita instead of ahora. It is very common in the spoken language but grammatically incorrect.

 

The widespread use of señorita, which you may have heard if you have traveled in Mexico or Central America, is also very endearing.

 

Señorita- Miss

Ahora- now

 

Ahorita o ahoritita - Right now or similar to just now in South Africa according to some students, although it is more common to mean "later" or "in a minute".

 

Shall we see some examples?

 

When it comes to fruits and vegetables there are many different words depending on the region.

 

In most of Mexico we say jitomate - (from the Nahuatl origin xictli-tomatl), in the rest of the Latin American countries: “tomate”, you don't need a translation for this product of Latin American origin, do you?

 

Sweet potato in Mexico, sweet potato in Argentina and boniato in Uruguay - in English? sweet potato

 

And in clothing? “tenis” in several countries, in Argentina: “zapatillas” y.... in Uruguay an original example, which serves as a curiosity.

 

In Uruguay, tennis shoes are called championes after a very famous brand, Champion.

 

Zapatillas, tenis, championes - tennis shoes, sneakers

Calzado    footwear

Speaking of words connected to footwear, it is very important to tie your “cordones” (laces) properly.

 

If you are in Mexico you have to tie your “agujetas” (laces) well.

 

Cordones o agujetas- laces or shoelaces

Tienes que atarte las agujetas   You have to tie your shoelaces

Do you want to discover new ways to speak Spanish, to go to different places in the Hispanic world in your own way talking to the locals? Click here and you will see that with our method you will do it in no time.

 

And, a special greeting if you are traveling in Argentina this year, you will be chatting or chatting a lot in Spanish if you practice in SpanishUp2U.

Too good to be true? Check out the free Friday workshop and listen to how SpanishUp2U participants speak and perform.

 

We say goodbye, see you soon.

 

Bye-bye.