I am thinking about finishing up a second degree in Spanish next fall, and I would like to do this abroad. I am not fluent in Spanish, and I know that immersion would be the most effective way to accomplish it. I am a nurse, and I know that learning Spanish will be very helpful. Ideally, I want to study in Spain - I spent some time there a few years ago, and can't wait to return. However, a few of my professors have encouraged me to study in Latin America instead, because most of the patients I will work with will be of that origin (I live in Texas). Do you think the differences between castellano and american Spanish are so great that I would be at a disadvantage learning in Spain? I know this is probably a biased group, but I would love to get some insight into any experiences you may have with this. Thanks!

Here is my 2 cents. I have lived in Texas (15 years in San Antonio) and I have studied at immersion shcool in Spain. I had no problem communicating with the Mexicans upon my return from Spain (althought they did laugh at the lisp... I studied in Andalucia) Also you know that there will be diffrences such as the Mexicans don't use vosotros. In Spain they use coger (to catch) all the time and you will want to avoid this with your mexican friends. Good luck

I lived in Miami after studying in Spain, and my friends there often teased me (in a friendly way) about sounding like a "snob." They explained that it was like the difference between listening to British English and American English--though maybe the difference is a little greater than that. Still, I felt proud of my castellano and didn't mind that there were a few words that didn't "translate" well. Once you know the few that might offend someone, and work to avoid those, any other differences (I think) are likely to just seem quaint.

My two cents...if you will be working in Texas, I am going to assume that some of your clientele in a nursing situation are going to be folks who didn't study Spanish very much in Mexico! Border Spanish is not quite like other Spanish in that the vocabulary is likely to be unique to them and/or a Spanglish combination. It is hard to "study" for this. I studied in Spain and dropped the lisp because it just didn't work with the situations I found myself in. My vocabulary became a blend of all the words I heard, so I am now just as likely to use a Mexican slang expression as a Castillian one. Studying in Spain will certainly give you a strong grammar base, and vocabulary is a bit like shoes for me...there is no end to the acquisition. There is no guarantee that studying in Latin America will prepare you any better (or worse), since any place you select would have its own language bent. Get a strong base and some confidence, and then be ready to adjust and modify so you can speak will the range of people you are likely to run into in Texas.

Here are my 2 Euros worth. I have many latin American friends as well as many Mexican friends and they understand my Castillian Spanish perfectamente. They are "charmed" by my Castillian-American accent. I would venture to say that the difference between the Spanish spoken in the different countries is like the English spoken around the world (or just in the USA for that matter). There will be differences in vocabulary, differences in colloquial expressions and differences in accents. Just because you study Spanish is some Latin American country (that isn´t Mexico) does not mean that you won´t encounter the same challenges (in difference in accent, vocabulary, etc) than if you had studied in Spain.

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Chica ]

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Chica ]

Thanks so much for the encouragement to go back to Spain! All of these posts have kind of confirmed what I was thinking, but then several of my professors here seemed to disagree, and it was making me a bit indecisive. I think the main obstacle I have to overcome is being confident speaking Spanish, which I can develop in Spain just as well. Your responses are very helpful - if anyone else has insight on this, please share!

SRedw,
Why don't you believe in Castillian Spanish? I believe there is a definition for "Castellano" so I guess that Castillian exist. Many years ago I read a book that said that the official language of Spain is "Castellano" (this was many years ago).

There are many BIG differences between "Spanish" around the world.

You said you have an MBA, Does that mean that you are right? I think that means you went to college and passed your tests... (I have 3 and I don't think I KNOW everything about history, English language and Spanish language)

Please, don't be offended by my post, I am just curious about your thoughts...

I think that they refer to it as ´castellano´ because in spain ´español´ is hard to describe. There are 4 or 5 languages/dialects so you would have to differentiate which one is the official. I am pretty sure in Chile they call it castellano also, so I think that castellano is more or less interchangable with español, except when you are discussing the different dialects of Spain.

As a matter of fact, "español" and "castellano" make reference to the same language. The problem is that the using of one or another term may be quite sensitive.

Spain is a multicultural and multilingual country and, as Roe pointed out, those communities with an own language may point that their languages are also spanish (basque, catalonian, galician, valencian,...). In true, there is no single of these languages more spanish than the other. Historicly castilian has evolved and has been adopted more or less as the main spanish language, and thus, it is recognized as is by our Constitution.

The latin american countries also prefer to call it castellano, because to them español makes reference to Spain, as if we still had any influence over them. They prefer to call it castellano because it makes reference to the metropoli.

But there is more, in some autonomous communities the term español is prefered over castellano (usually when there is no other local language), and when in a international context, the term español is prefered too (to make reference to the main and oficial language of Spain). It is really a sensitive matter.

The RAE (Real Academia de la Lengua) suggests that the best is to call it any way you feel confortable with.

Fernando