Nuestra familia bilingüe se compone de padres cuya lengua madre es el español y su segunda lengua es el inglés.
En cuanto al Español, muchas personas que no lo hablan, piensan que todos los países del continente americano que hablan español son bastante homogeneos en su cultura y en su lenguaje. Pero la verdad es que somos países unidos por un idioma no tan común a todos y también con grandes diferencias culturales. España y los países de América que hablan español comparten una gramática, una sintáxis y una cierta cantidad de vocablos que los une lo suficientemente como para designarlos a todos como hispanohablantes. Sin embargo, como todos los hispanohablantes que he conocido en Estados Unidos saben, las diferecias léxicas son tantas que no siempre la comunicación en español es exitosa. En nuestra casa, las diferencias en el vocabulario entre Colombia (Papá) y Argentina (Mamá) fueron evidentes desde el comienzo y motivo de varios desentendidos. ¿El closet o el placard? ¿El arequipe o el dulce de leche? ¿Ahorita o en un rato?
Debo confesar que tengo una afinidad por el modo de hablar de los colombianos; me encanta su uso del vocabulario y su pronunciación del español menos brusca. A mis oídos, el español Argentino o Rioplatense suena mas "fuerte", en especial con los sonidos de "yo" "yogurt" "yo-yo" tan característicos de esa región de América del Sur.
¿Como hablará nuestra hija el español? ¿Será una mezcla de ambos? ¿O hablará ese odioso español "neutro"? Yo prefiero que ella se apropie un SÓLO español con todas sus idiosincracias que lo hacen interesante y vivo.
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Our bilingual family is made up of parents whose mother tongue is Spanish and their second language is English.
As regards Spanish, many non Spanish speakers think that all Spanish speaking countries in the American Continent are pretty much homogenous in their culture and language. But the truth is that we are countries united by a language not so common to all and with huge cultural differences. Spain and the Spanish speaking countries in America share grammar, syntax and a fair amount of vocabulary that brings them together just so that we can all be described as Spanish speakers. However, as every Spanish Speaker I've met in the US knows, the lexical differences are so many that communication among Spanish Speakers themselves is not always successful. In our home, vocabulary differences between Colombia (Dad) and Argentina (Mom) were evident from the start and caused a great deal of misunderstandings. Closet or Placard? (Closet). Arequipe o dulce de leche? (Caramel). Ahorita o en un rato? (In a few).
I must confess I have an affinity for the Colombian way of speaking. I adore their use of words and lighter Spanish pronunciation. To my ears, Spanish from Argentina or from the region of Rio de la Plata sounds "stronger", especially in words such as "yo" "yogurt" "yo-yo" whose initial consonant sound is characteristic of the region.
How is our daughter's Spanish going to sound like? Will it be a mixture of both? Or will she speak that horrible Spanish described as "neutral"? I prefer that she speaks only ONE Spanish with all its idiosyncrasies that make language interesting and alive.
As regards Spanish, many non Spanish speakers think that all Spanish speaking countries in the American Continent are pretty much homogenous in their culture and language. But the truth is that we are countries united by a language not so common to all and with huge cultural differences. Spain and the Spanish speaking countries in America share grammar, syntax and a fair amount of vocabulary that brings them together just so that we can all be described as Spanish speakers. However, as every Spanish Speaker I've met in the US knows, the lexical differences are so many that communication among Spanish Speakers themselves is not always successful. In our home, vocabulary differences between Colombia (Dad) and Argentina (Mom) were evident from the start and caused a great deal of misunderstandings. Closet or Placard? (Closet). Arequipe o dulce de leche? (Caramel). Ahorita o en un rato? (In a few).
I must confess I have an affinity for the Colombian way of speaking. I adore their use of words and lighter Spanish pronunciation. To my ears, Spanish from Argentina or from the region of Rio de la Plata sounds "stronger", especially in words such as "yo" "yogurt" "yo-yo" whose initial consonant sound is characteristic of the region.
How is our daughter's Spanish going to sound like? Will it be a mixture of both? Or will she speak that horrible Spanish described as "neutral"? I prefer that she speaks only ONE Spanish with all its idiosyncrasies that make language interesting and alive.
