¿Spanish or South American Spanish?

Jargon, Slang and Colloquialisms - Spanish Arriba!

As any other language, Spanish has changed according to each region where it is spoken. Dozens of different accents, local words and folklore expressions are now in use in Spain and Latin America. Many factors have contributed to such changes. In Latin America, there were hundreds of dialects when Conquistadores arrived more than 500 years ago. Therefore, many of the words now in use have native American roots.

This does not mean or suggest in any way that Spanish and Latin American people can not understand each other or that they speak completely different languages, of course not! This just means that Spanish has diversified and expanded; it is all part of the culture of each country. A clear analogy is the British, American, Australian or South African English variations, each has its distinctive accent, regionalisms, idioms and popular phrases but it is still the same language.

At Spanish Arriba! unlike others, we understand cultural differences but as far as we are concerned we will teach you plain Spanish and you will be able to communicate clearly and effectively with any Spanish speaker regardless his/her origin. The following table shows some of the regionalism and slang phrases from some cities.