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Spanish – Latin America or Spain?
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Okay, one more foreign language question is spinning around in my head (or maybe just my head is spinning!), so I thought I’d ask for advice.
Nearly 13yo dd wants to study Spanish, and I’ve been looking at various programs. Suddenly, I see options for Spanish to choose from: Latin American or Spain. How do I know which one to choose? Help!
Sue
They are so similar if you learn one or the other you will know both. The accents are a bit different as well as some words, but kind of like English in America vs. English in England. I had teachers in high school who had been educated in Latin America and in Spain and it was no big deal. Like Rene said, Latin American Spanish is more common in the US and that is what we are using. I don’t think you can make a mistake choosing either and I think I would be most influenced by which culture you prefer to immerse yourself in as you study the language.
Thank you. I have borrowed Living Language’s “Complete Spanish: the Basics” from our library to see if 13yo dd likes it, but then I was looking at Rosetta Stone (still can’t afford it) and noticed that they offer both types of Spanish among their materials.
@Sue, bumping this up to see how your dd likes Living Languages for Spanish. Thanks in advance.
We had to temporarily put off starting the Living Languages Spanish. The library copy I borrowed uses cd’s to teach it, and my cd-player broke, then our cd drive in the computer got messed up, so that left us with playing them in the dvd player. With the last few weeks of school upon us, I decided to put it off until summer. We are going to start it (hopefully) this week or next, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
This summer has not started off the way I expected due to health concerns & tests for my dad (with whom we live) and an unfortunate legal mess that was thrust upon him as well. I’ve spent a lot of time driving him places and the kids have been stuck home watching dvd’s and playing games (or riding bikes when I am home with them). To her credit, my 13yo has been reading and sewing on her own.
When we get into the Spanish curriculum, I’ll let you know what I think.
Thanks Sue, I appreciate it 🙂 And, I’m sorry to hear that you are having such difficulties right now. Praying the Lord gives you (and your dad) all you need…as we know He will.
My dh is fluent in Spanish, because he is the son of missionaries who have worked in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. I took Spanish in college, and I was learning words he’d never heard of! Spain Spanish is most definitely *not* the same as Latin American Spanish. Spain Spanish is much more “proper” and traditional than Latin American. I ended up quitting after 1 semester because I was getting so confused and he couldn’t help me (he was my fiance at the time). I would hear him and his parents speaking one version of Spanish, and then I’d go to class and hear completely different words and phrases that meant the same thing. My FIL edits Spanish materials for our church body from time to time, but as far as I’ve ever heard, he does Latin American materials only. I’m not sure if that’s just because Spain has enough materials on its own or if it’s because it’s just too different, or maybe a little of both.
So I guess I would ask, does your dd want to learn it to speak with those around her, or because she’d like to travel to Spain someday? That would be my starting point, anyway, if hubby wasn’t fluent in Latin American Spanish. 🙂
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