I agree with lin in what she's trying to say. It is not about correct /incorrect, it is about what one who is beginning to learn a language is used to hear or it is useful for him/her to learn. If I am learning, let's say, American English maybe I don't find as useful going to London to practise. Yes, it's better than nothing, but in London I wouldn't hear American English except from tourists
And the same works in Spain or France or wherever. I think it's useful to learn a kind of "standard" and when you are more confident with the language , then begin to know the different accents and pronounciations.
It's my own experience learning English !!

mariposa85

yes

Its one thing to say a certain accent is more 'standard', or easier for foreigners to understand, but to state that it is 'wrong' is pretty ignorant, imo. Andalusians not pronouncing the S in words doesn't make them wrong, it's a feature of the accent, just like the drawn out American vowels and pronunciation of the letter R.

I have onluy been to Madris and do not know how people speak in Barcelona even with Castillian but the difference I found is the slight lisp when people talk like for example Beer is Servesa and pronounced Serbetha in spain....No realising this when over i asked my cousins wife from madris and she said speak the way you know how to in Castillian its cute and they will know you either learned in S. America or USA....I learned from Sesame Street !

mariposa85

I am snobbish
I speak received English (sometimes called Oxford)

so yes

you will be able to understand the spanish accent of Barcelonians.
You may not, however, be able to understand all the argentinians

The city is awash with different versions of spanish, south american slang, spanish etc.
prepare to be submersed.
after a while you do get the different accents tho, which is cool.

The catalan and spanish mix in stuff you see around you (posters, signs, etc) might be quite confusing at first tho if you havent got a fair grasp of spanish already, to be able to clearly differentiate which is which.

and now i must butt in again...


if i am teaching spanish(castillian) to my class, and they are telling me a fish story.. and they say "PECAO", I will certainly CORRECT them and tell them "that is NOT the correct way to say that word".

i will point out that in sevilla, if they want to talk like that, fine, but for their interpreting and oral exams.. it will not go .

sorry, mariposa.

I'm glad I wasn't a student of yours. In my university, all accents were accepted. Some of my fellow students grew up in Andalucia and would have taken great exception to being told their pronunciation was 'wrong'. We were encouraged to learn about the different varieties of Spanish and had teachers from Madrid, Seville, Mexico and Salamanca. Some said pescado, some said pecao and most pronounced it somewhere in between. Considering one accent as 'incorrect' is IMO, snobbish and plain wrong. Who are you to say which versions are correct and incorrect? Do all your students also speak the Queen's English?

i thought we were talking about a place to learn the purest castillian. nothing more.

i thought in my posts i was encouraging her to go wherever her heart pleased her... it all depended on her priorities..

of course all accents are acceptable in everyday speech.. and should be recognized by those learning. they can be lovely, and are a part of a culture.

but on tests and interpreting a higher pure level is expected.(just my experience from official language schools).

i don´t know but maybe i am missing something here.

at a university level, or in advanced courses, once the base is acquired, s actually when i said it was ADVANTAGEOUS to listen and interact with different accents since they would be required for anyone perfecting linguistic abilities.

only boarderbabe knows her goals and hopefully she is preparing a trip full of memories that will last a lifetime in a city that appeals to her and can offer her what she is striving for.

enjoy! i did the same thing YEARS ago and do not regret it.

Let's ask a question: if you had to advised a foreign student WHERE to go in the USA to learn English, WHERE would you tell him/her to go? Would you flat out say "Don't bother going to Duke U. or Georgia Tech because the English down South is of much lower quality/incorrect? If that sounds absurd to you, then you know now how ridiculous Aduchamp sounds .....

Let's ask a question: if you had to advised a foreign student WHERE to go in the USA to learn English, WHERE would you tell him/her to go? Would you flat out say "Don't bother going to Duke U. or Georgia Tech because the English down South is of much lower quality/incorrect? If that sounds absurd to you, then you know now how ridiculous Aduchamp sounds

Please note in North Carolina and Georgia they speak, English (or a reasonably facsimile thereof). In Barcelona, most people speak and most signs are Catalan and in Santiago most people speak and most signs are in Gallego. At last look, Catalan and Gallego are not Castilian.

And then I wrote that studying in Barcelona would broaden her experience and that ws before she posted that she wanted to concentrate on Castilian.

And even Spaniards agree that in the Castilian spoken Andalucia is not as clear or proper ar the central part of the country.

let´s get this straight.

i assume most classroom castillian will be very similar with mostly uniform pronunciation countrywide.

however, what is heard on the street and where she will be practicing is another story. the more advanced student she is, the less "confusing" eatng vowels and consonants will be if she chooses andalucía.

i hope the poster has enough info now to help her out, which was the bottom line.

she will have a glorious time whereever.. just depends on her main objective.

"salamanca pronunciation of "fish" in spanish
pes-ca-tho ( more or less)
sevilla pronunciation:
pe-cao
.. in which case.. you wonder if they are talking about a "pecado" which is a "sin""

Let's settle for "pescaito" )

Hey! Anytime!.. cute!