Did you know that there are over 100 million speakers of Colombian Spanish around the world? It is a popular language due to its beautiful dialect and interesting culture. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most interesting facts about Colombian Spanish.
How to Improve Your Spanish Colombian Accent
In order to improve your Spanish accent, you should practice speaking with people with a good accent. You can also learn from TV or videos.
When Spanish words are pronounced by a native speaker, the language has a certain charm. As foreigners, it is hard to speak like this. For example, Spanish words like taco, pico, and taza are pronounced differently by English speakers.
To become fluent in everyday conversational Spanish, beginners can learn step-by-step lessons that focus on practical conversation skills (like introducing themselves) through video flashcards.
To make it easier for non-native speakers to learn Colombian Spanish pronunciation, there are a few things you can do. Comprehension trumps production, so listening to the language and trying to make sense of what people say will help a lot more than producing your own speech. There are also different dialects in Colombia, so it’s important to pay attention to where someone is from if you want to understand them.
Where Colombian Spanish Originated
Colombian Spanish is spoken in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela as well as small parts of Costa Rica and Panama. It is also often heard in many other Latin American countries where it has undergone some change, such as Chile and Cuba. The dialect of the capital city Bogota is considered standard for all Spanish speakers in Colombia. Colombians have a certain way of pronouncing words and Spanish verbs which is difficult for other Spanish speakers to understand, so it’s important to learn how to speak Colombian Spanish if you want to communicate effectively with a native speaker!
In places where a population has been exposed to both dialects, Colombians tend to have trouble understanding speakers of other Latin American countries because there are some words that they pronounce differently or sometimes don’t say at all. There is a lot of slang too, so many non-Colombians can find it hard to understand Colombians or what they mean.
For example, there’s “vaina,” which is a way of saying “thing” and is pronounced with an ‘s’ on the end of it. Colombians often add the letter ‘s’ at the end of words where other Spanish speakers would not do so. Additionally, some words that end in ‘o’ for other Spanish speakers will be said with an ‘u’ instead of an ‘o’ by Colombians, such as “chucuto” (instead of chulito) and “cachaco” (instead of cachado).
The Colombian accent is extremely difficult to understand for non-native speakers, but this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to speak like a Colombian.
Hilarious Spanish Slang You Need to Learn
Aside from slang and verb changes, Colombians also use different words for things than other Spanish speakers do. Here are some examples:
- When they want to say “I’m going” in the sense of “I’m leaving,” some Colombians use the verb “tirar” (which would translate to “to throw”), like in the sentence, “Tiro para mi casa.”
- Some people replace the word for ‘a lot’ with más. For example, they might say something like “Tiene un más cuerpo” instead of “Tiene un cuerpo más grande.”
- When asking for things, Colombians often use the verb ‘preguntar’ and not ‘pedir.’ For example, they would say something like “Pregúntale si quiere salir” (instead of “Pídele si quiere salir”).
- “Pacha Mama” is a term Colombians use as a reference to the Earth, similar to calling it “Mother Nature.”
- ‘Pelar el cobre’ translates to ‘to rip someone off’, but Colombians are known to use this phrase when they want to refer to the act of stealing copper wire. A more common term in Colombia is ‘pasar’, which means ‘to steal’ or ‘rob’. However, it’s taken a step further and used specifically for losing an electronic device or taking items from a store without paying for them.
In Colombia, there are over 50 dialects. The most important ones are those from the West side of the country which includes Valle del Cauca and Antioquia and those between the East and Central regions such as Southeastern Colombia, which includes the city of Neiva. People from these areas have a strong accent that makes their speech difficult to understand for other Colombians.
On the other hand, some people from the following regions may not be able to communicate well with those who come from Western parts of the country: Boyacá and Santander (North), Cundinamarca, and Tolima (Central East), and Amazonas, Caquetá, and Putumayo (South).
Colombians also have a very specific way of pronouncing names that may be difficult for other Spanish speakers to understand. For example, they might put stress on the wrong syllable or elongate a letter. For example, “José” would be pronounced as something like “Hosepé.”
Next time you go to Colombia, make sure to watch out for these differences, and don’t be afraid to ask your Colombian friends or language instructors about them!
Learn Spanish through Songs
Colombian Spanish is clearly very different from other dialects of Spanish, which means that it is important to study it if you want to communicate effectively with native speakers. Luckily, Colombian Spanish courses are available all over the Internet for free or for a fee like Rocket Languages which offers several types of online courses.
There are also plenty of opportunities to practice speaking and dancing if those are not your strong points.
Resources To Learn Spanish Colombian Online
- Colombianspanish.co: a website dedicated to teaching and learning Colombian Spanish. They provide free lessons on the language as well as cultural facts about Colombia and its people.
- Learn more than Spanish: a language school that offers Colombian Spanish lessons online and advice about the country.
- fluentu: This website was created by language experts from the ground up. It offers courses for over 30 languages including Colombian Spanish which can be downloaded or streamed on any device connected to WiFi or a data network.
- Preply : a website where you can find private teachers in Colombia and every major city around the world.
The best way to learn is by going to Colombia and meeting the locals, but there are plenty of ways to do so online as well!
Just remember: it’s all about practice, practice, and more practice.