Learning Spanish language: The Spanish Learners' Society!

One thing that struck me was when I was sitting next to a hairdressers and the sign was bilingual, it said 'Peluquería' and 'Perruquer', bearing in mind I was only doing my GCSEs. I returned saying 'Perruquer' to my teacher and she looked at me so confused. Some of the words are so similar it's really hard to differentiate. Being a student who's learning French and Spanish, I love Catalan. Like 'Sortida', it looks like such a cool combination of sortie and salida. Sorry for going on

Do you ever get annoyed by the nationalists though?

A few words are exactly the same and then of course you get Catalan expressions/words in Spanish and vice-versa and they're so common native Catalans and Spaniards who live in Catalonia don't even know. And of course people confuse the grammatical rules and spelling... "labios" in Spanish and "llavis" in Catalan, and yet most of Catalan friends think it's "llabis" Pretty basic word but they got that wrong at 16 years old.

Hm I get annoyed by people who claim to be nationalists but then speak to me unfailingly in Spanish. If they're nationalists then they should speak their real or native language as they call it. But nobody my age is really that bothered, a few friends speak in Catalan and have their facebook in Catalan and stuff, but that's about it really.

Well I went on even more. Sorry

I'm happy to hear that since Catalonia is probably my favourite region of Spain.
Don't worry about talking too much, I love talking about issues in Spain. It's just, when I read comments on El periódico de Catalunya and some other Barcelona-based newspapers, as soon as Catalonia's position is being compromised for the rest of Spain (e.g. lots of Catalans shouting 'Espana nos roba' since Catalonia pays more taxes than other regions etc.) some readers immediately shout 'Independencia ya!'

How come you're coming to the UK to study? I thought Barcelona's university was the best in Spain

I kind of get what you're saying about the nationalism though, being Welsh. I constantly hear a lot of Welsh nationalists who are fiercely proud of Wales and bash all things English, who can't even hold a conversation in Welsh. It's quite pathetic actually

I would recommend trying to study the language somewhat 'holistically' until you reach post A level. Otherwise you might be caught out with random bits of basic Castillian vocabulary if you only study Latin American Spanish. For example, you might learn the LA word for pen: "pluma", but if the word "boli" comes up in a GCSE exam and you don't recognise it as the CS word for pen then you might be penalised. As much as it pains me to say it, as a fervent LA Spanish fanatic, Castillian Spanish is considered the 'default' version of the language in Europe, so a failure to understand common grammar and vocabulary of this variety, even if you know its Latin American equivalent, will probably not go down so well.

But actively, you'll presumably be allowed to speak with a Latin American accent and conform to LA Spanish grammar provided that you are consistent (e.g. don't say things like "coged vuestras plumas", say either "coged vuestros bolis" or "tomen sus plumas" for 'take your pens')

I know this wasn't directed at me but I never realised pluma & boli mean the same but in different countries! I was taught to use pluma for a fountain pen and boli for a biro. The teacher I had comes from Latin America though so now I'm confused and worried that I have all sorts of odd LA vocab

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bol%C3%ADgrafo#Nombre

Kind of explains it.

Thanks, that seems to confirm that boli = biro like I was taught. But what word would a Spaniard use for a fountain pen or any other non-biro pen? Would that just be boli as well?

Hmm that I know of, "boli de tinta" for ink pens, but generally people just use the brand "Pilot".

I'm awaiting my Spanish GCSE result of which I'm hoping will be my highest result of them all as I found it to be one of the more approachable subjects. Is there a big difference from top level GCSE work to AS? Spanish is one of my options for September.


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An excellent reply, thank you. Yes sorry, it's late and I should have been more specific; I was talking about pronunciation and accent only. So pronouncing the "th" lisping sound in the s fashion of SA Spanish would be allowed during the GCSE and A Level course, do you think?

I've just done my A levels and my teachers said it would be fine. The examiners know of differing accents ('seseo' I think it's called, is used in the south of Spain and Canaries too, not just SA). My teachers told me not to use Latin American vocab though, as some have different meanings in Spain and Latin America and the examiners might not know some vocab. Hope this helps

I know this wasn't directed at me but I never realised pluma & boli mean the same but in different countries! I was taught to use pluma for a fountain pen and boli for a biro. The teacher I had comes from Latin America though so now I'm confused and worried that I have all sorts of odd LA vocab

I'm awaiting my Spanish GCSE result of which I'm hoping will be my highest result of them all as I found it to be one of the more approachable subjects. Is there a big difference from top level GCSE work to AS? Spanish is one of my options for September.


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Can somebody recommend me a good audio-book/audio-course/other resources for learning Spanish?

Also, does it matter too much if I will learn Latin America Spanish or Euro-Spanish?

EDIT: Can you please quote me if u gonna reply to my post?

*Ceceo

jaja is your teacher Latin American? That's a Latin American orthographical error right there!

Also, ceceo is what is used in Spain and not in Latin America (it means 'lisp' - and there's no lisping in SA!)

Hey, I really recommend the Michel Thomas audio course. It's absolutly fantastic, really good course.

"Latin American" Spanish in my opinion is a bit mis-leading. Colombian Spanish is a bit different from Argentinian which is a bit different from Mexican...

Take your pick, it really doesn't matter which varient you learn as once you can speak it you will be able to identify the differences in other varients. Schools and nearly all language schools (the ones you pay for) in the UK will teach you Castellano (Spain Spanish)

Best of luck, suerte!

Hey, I really recommend the Michel Thomas audio course. It's absolutly fantastic, really good course.


Best of luck, suerte!

¿Tienes "EN" en la derecha de tu toolbar? Si no... Control panel > Clock, Language, and Region > Change keyboards or other input methods > Change keyboards? > Add?
Y después de eso, debe haber "EN" o "ES" en tu toolbar para cuando quieres cambiarlo. Espero que mi explicación tenga sentido.

no te preocupes, como dije yo apenas las uso aunque son importantes

I sometimes switch the keyboard to ES, but you can also get accents on a UK keyboard by using Alt Gr + the letter you want.

Thanks, that seems to confirm that boli = biro like I was taught. But what word would a Spaniard use for a fountain pen or any other non-biro pen? Would that just be boli as well?