OK, I asked this on madridman.com's Lycos Talk Show : "What is the difference between the Spanish language in Spain and The Canary Islands?" I wanted to know this because a German friend of mine has lived there for few years, and said when sometimes they talk to each other, and they don't want anyone to know what they are saying, they speak in (what my friend says) "their own type of Spanish." I hope someone can answer this.

-Nuggito

[ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Hi Curtis! I'm somewhat surprised that you came and posted your question as I suggested, but good for you.

SURELY some of the Spaniards registered here know the answer to this question. IS there such a thing as a Canary Islands dialect?? Do they speak a different Spanish from mainland (let's say "castellano") Spanish?? I didn't think so, but I could be wrong.

Saludos, MadridMan

(P.S. Curtis, the next UNofficial show is tonight at 7:45pm -- only a 30 minute show since the NBA basketball finals game #4 is at 9pm)

They speak the same Spanish we speak in the rest of Spain. They have a different accent (similar to those speaked by people from South America) and a few different words.

Maybe your friend was refering to the fact that if they speak fast (Canarian / Andalucian accent is difficult to understand for a foreigner), using special words or even slang, you won't understand them. But I think that's all.

I live in the Canaries and Antonio is right. Castellano is spoken here with some differences. Primarily, Canarians do not use the vosotros form-- it's strictly Ustedes. And, like all other comunidades, there are loads of Canarian words. The accent is different (just try and understand someone from Las Palmas or La Gomera-- Canarians even have difficulty understanding people from the other islands!)and Canarians pronounce the z's and c's like s'-- more like Latin Americans.