Spanish language in Latin America

Hola amigos

Since I have an interest in Latin American affairs I was wondering
if learning spanish is the right thing to do ?

Is spanish spoken in all the countries of latin america ?

Which is the second most spoken language in latin america after spanish ?

Gracias

half a hippie

 

Most countries in latin america have spanish as their official language, of course learning spanish is the right thing to do!
but bear in mind that latin american spanish is different to that of spain, not only the accent changes but also the meanings..even among the latin american countries the accents and idioms change a lot but we can all understand one another
I think the second language would be portuguese, brazil is huge! English is mostly spoken in central america though.

chao

 

Zepellina..estas correcta en lo que mencionas al respecto del idioma y sus acentos y figuraciones idiomaticas en latin America. Un saludo desde Chile.

Mauricio

 

hey chileno!! yo soy chilena tambien!

 

mucho gracias senora

My spanish classes have just started
Just one question though
How do you type the letter n with a dash on it in the keyboard ?

Hasta manana...

 

oh i think its alt + 164
not sure now cos it doesnt work on my laptop

 

Portuguese is actually the most spoken language in South America simply because Brasil is so large and populated. Spanish is certainly geographically most prevalent though.

Definitely learn Spanish if you want to work in Latin America. While many people speak English, it's not like Europe where almost everyone speaks a 2nd or 3rd language.

 

De que parte eres Zeppelina ? Yo estoy en Puerto Montt.

Un saludo desde la lluvia.
Mauricio

 

so can someone get by in latin america without knowing any spanish?

i used to be pretty fluent in french and could understand spoken spanish because they're very similar, but it's a been a while, and i've lost a lot of my french

 

Hey guys I am back

I was wondering what you guys think of Coloumbia and the FARC ?

 

Really ? French and spanish is simliar ? i am not sure cuz i learn both of them myself , but i can tell that the spanish speaking sounds totally different with french .. but spanish are very simliar with portugese and italian .. however .. i am just a new new beginer of spanish which i leanr it myself .,... however , i am not sure what kind of spanish i am learning .. the Spain or the Latin America ... i suppose that for a chinese native speaker . all the latin letters lanuage are hard for me to learn for we dont use latin letters at all .. different characters .

But i like to speak french and read in spanish .. plz dont speak french with me..i only know less then 10 sentences ,..hee hee

 

Colombia is a wonderful country and I spend a couple of weeks there every year. FARC is a terrorist organization that has been allowed to fester too long. I am glad that Presidet Uribe is making progress in that country.

 

I have traveled widely through Central and South America and I love every country down there. You won't meet up with many Americans in South America. I have rarely run into many Americans down there, but you'll meet hordes of European travelers. Afterall, Europeans are noted for their being so adventurous, and Americans considered the least adventuresome of all. I can speak a fair amount of Spanish but the big test comes in LISTENING to Spanish, which is where I repeatedly fall down, listening to Spanish. They speak too damn fast for me and it all comes out a blur. I have to tell them repeatedly: Slow down, speak more slowly. And they will for one sentence or two, then they're right back speaking a 100 MPH and I don't understand but every third word. AND, accents vary down there. I was recently in Chile for 15 days and they seem to speak a different type of Spanish, as I was warned about in my travel books. I had a really hard time listening to them. And if you love hanging out with the Indians of South America, like in Ecuador or Bolivia or Peru, then you're going to additionally have to learn some Quecha or amaraya. Your Spanish won't do you much good. Which is frustrating because that's the main attraction for me in South America, hanging out with the Indians and spending time in Indian villages and towns. I always rent a room out in my house and always to a Spanish-speaking Mexican so I can learn a little more Spanish every day. it's a great way to learn, just move someone into your house who speaks Spanish.

 

my spanish teacher is from columbia, she says it has much beauty

And she said there is no trouble if you dont start it

 

There are currently 3000+ people being held by their kidnappers all over Colombia. The U.S. State Department warns that you are more likely to be kidnapped in Colombia than anywhere else in the world. The U.S. Government prohibits its employees from traveling there for vacations etc. I havent even begun to talk about the murders and terrorism.

(P.S.- i go there every year, but its not one of the safest destinations)

 

Check out this link about the Spanish language: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language


This one is about Portuguese: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language

Spanish is the official language in most Latin American countries, Brazil being the most notorious exception. Other exceptions include smaller countries like Belize, where the official language is English; Haiti, where the official language is French; and Suriname, where the official language is Dutch.

 

Spanish is the most spoken language n i think portugues is the second in some countriies they speak both

 

People in your situation would hire a translator/guide in major cities and tourist destinations.
But what an opportunity to learn Spanish! If your travels allow you to stop in one of the cities, take a course. I did!

 

Chilean, Puerto Rican, and Cuban Spanish is very hard for me to understand.
Mexican Spanish in the DF is my favorite New World Spanish, but I have trouble understanding some of the regional dialects.

I don't know how easy to understand Spanish would be outside Chile.
Even though I never studied it, I can grasp bits and pieces of Brazilian Portuguese, thanks to its loose connection to Spanish.

If you have the opportunity to learn Spanish in Spain, that's great!
I haven't really learned vosotros well. I think it is easier to learn vosotros in Spain and then simply not use it in the New World.

 

Spanish is spoken in all Latin American countries, because Latin America means Spanish speaking American nations. Mexico is Spanish speaking and Latino even though they aren't in South America, and Brazil isn't which largely speaks Portuguese. There are others, Guyana and Suriname I think.

Argentina is Latin America, even though 60% of the country is white, so to clarify, Latin American isn't an ethnic designation either.