Puerto Rican Spanish

[stephanier.1765]

In my part of Florida, the majority of Spanish speakers are Puerto Rican. Matter of fact, my 14yo ds spends a lot of time with a couple of Puerto Rican families. They go camping, play baseball, video games, etc. And a lot of that time they forget to speak English in his presence which I don't think is a bad thing because he is picking up some Spanish by osmosis. I would love to take advantage of the situation to teach him Spanish but it seems as if all the Spanish curriculum are Mexican Spanish and there are definite word differences between the two. Does anyone know of a curriculum I could use that would teach Puerto Rican Spanish?

[Jean in Newcastle]

It sounds like it would be better to have someone in one of those families teach him - if they are willing.

 

http://www.speakingboricua.com/

[Yolanda in Mass]

You want to look at Latin American Spanish. I've never seen a country-specific Spanish curriculum. I'm Panamanian, and I speak the same Spanish all the other Spanish-speaking countries speak, but....I have different vocabulary for some things, have a different accent than other countries, and I don't use vosotros like they do in Spain, and other countries. Puerto Ricans are famous for blending Spanish and English, but, to tell you the truth, many of us bilingual speakers living in this country do the exact same thing. It happens a lot among Spanish speakers, it's just that the boricuas get a bad rap for it.

[Patricia in WA]

Think of it as someone who doesn't speak English asking for a New York English program versus a Georgia English program. There will be some differences as in coke/soda, tennis shoes/sneakers, but not enough to really need a program that specific.

 

HTHs,

[Liza Q]

Think of it as someone who doesn't speak English asking for a New York English program versus a Georgia English program. There will be some differences as in coke/soda, tennis shoes/sneakers, but not enough to really need a program that specific.

 

HTHs,

:iagree:My parents and most of my relatives speak PR Spanish (sadly, I was raised to speak English only so my siblings and I would not be discriminated against. sigh...most of my cousins are bilingual!). Sometimes they slip into Spanglish but, when they stop and think about it, they can almost always come up with the "correct" way to say something.

 

I think that if you stick with a traditional Spanish program (I know that Rosetta Stone has a Latin American Spanish) and he continues to hang out with the Puerto Rican families (we are fun, aren't we!!) he will get the best of both worlds - grammar and vocabulary and regular practice and getting to think in Spanish and a reasonable accent. My brother married a Cuban woman and one cousin married a Dominican and everyone generally understands everyone and laughs over the little differences.

[stephanier.1765]

Thanks to all of you! I'll just go ahead with what's available and he'll figure out the differences as we go along. I'll just make sure he knows there are differences so he won't feel embarrassed if he says something differently than they do. And I'll let them know he's learning so they can help him along. I absolutely love how family oriented Puerto Rican families are and think that's a wonderful example to him so these are friendships I want to encourage.

[Yolanda in Mass]

Latins are very family-oriented and they're lots of fun! I had two wedding showers, a very Anglo Yankee one here in New England and another Panamanian one in NJ. Guess which one had upbeat music and great food? :D