I have a plan, for next year (or the next). I want to disappear for 12 months. (more of a pipe dream at the moment…)
I hope to travel mainly in South America. Specifically Peru and Chile on the West coast.
Question is:
I can speak a little European Spanish, enough to get by in day-to-day situations. It will, hopefully, be better by next year.
How different will Chilian Spanish be, and will I be able to cope OK?
Should I do a short ‘conversion’ course to get up to speed before going? Is it necessary?
Anyone travelled the length of Chile? The dream is Arica to Puenta Arenas in Tierra del Fuego, through all the possible terrians and climates Chile has to offer. Is the route doable?
I remember reading that there’s no road that runs the entire length of Chile, and that you have to veer into Argentina at a couple of places. That was years ago, however, so they might have built something since.
I think you should go to south america. I live Brazil. it is so pretty there. I personally have traveled Chile,Colombia,Venezuela, agetina and many more places. it will be a great experience. Ummmm how fluent r u in your spanish… because there r many tongues in south amreica. so i advice you be able to speak fluent spanish and some potuguese.
bruna
I think you should go to south america. I live Brazil. it is so pretty there. I personally have traveled Chile,Colombia,Venezuela, agetina and many more places. it will be a great experience. Ummmm how fluent r u in your spanish… because there r many tongues in south amreica. so i advice you be able to speak fluent spanish and some potuguese. If u ever visit i live in Sao paulo
bruna
I think you should go to south america. I live Brazil. it is so pretty there. I personally have traveled Chile,Colombia,Venezuela, agetina and many more places. it will be a great experience. Ummmm how fluent r u in your spanish… because there r many tongues in south amreica. so i advice you be able to speak fluent spanish and some potuguese. If u ever visit i live in Sao paulo
bruna
I went to South America, for 2 months, without knowing any more Spanish than how to order a beer. I learned how to read menus and other basics really quickly. Considering that you at least know some Spanish, you won’t have any troubles at all.
Also, don’t let those Chileans tell you that Pisco is from Chile. Sure, they make it, but it is Peruvian.
If you get the chance, go to Easter Island for a few days. It is a wee spendy to get there, but you will not regret it.
Elenfair you must realize someday that in a globalized world chances are that someone will be offended by your stupid jokes. So next time try to be more carefull. Thanks
Back to the Op, if you speak spanish you won’t have any problem. We all basically speak Spanish. And even if you go to Brazil you won’t be in much difficulties, after all both languages are pretty similar (A friend once told me that portuguese is spanish with more rythm :)).
I have never been to Chile but I know it is a beautifull country but, even with all the difficulties we are having these days you won’t find a better place than Argentina. We have rainforests deserts, glacials and we could use your dollars
Sorry, Estilicon, I didn’t mean to offend you - I think you have, however, been wooshed. Don’t worry about it, it happens to all of us at some point.
I’m well aware of the wonders of the globalized world (I study under Peter Beyer), but this time around, you jumped to conclusions a bit too fast. This comment was a reference to what has now becoming a running joke between a handful of posters.
It goes back to an evening, in Montreal (at Dopereal). lno was trying to shock Maeglin, LaurAnge, scottevil and matt_mcl with his trademark dark humour, and succeeded, by getting them to believe that Argentina had declared war on Chile. Finally, someone realized that it didn’t quite… add up. A discussion about the economics of war followed.
So - before you jump to conclusions, ask. Nothing bad was implied in my comments above. I’m sorry if you were offended by them.
I’ve spent time in Buenos Aires and in Patagonia (working with the Welsh communities there), I can attest to the kindness of the people and the beauty of the country.
Well I lived in Chile for nearly 2 years (returned in Dec 1994) as a Mormon missionary (so I can’t tell you much about the night life ). I spent all the time in and around Santiago, so I also can’t talk about the full length of the country…
The spanish there is Castillian Spanish. You should be fine with standard Spanish–the biggest differences are the names for some things, and the “dichos” or idiomatic expressions. The double-l is pronounced with a gentle “zh” sound (similar to Argentina but not as strong). There are several dialects, but they mostly break down into the Northern, Central (Santiago, Vina del Mar), and Southern dialects. Again, the biggest differences are in phrases and nouns.
If you spend any time in the poorer sections of Santiago, you’ll notice a weird dialect of using a chopped-off version of ‘vosotros’ instead of ‘tu’. In other words, instead of saying “Como estas tu?”, you get “Como estai vo?” It takes a while to get used to it. I recall reading that Chile isn’t the only place that variant exists, but it’s only there that its use isn’t marked by region but by social class.
I was under the impression that the Panamerican Highway ran the length of both Peru and Chile (in fact, I thought it met up with Interstate 5 in CA–with a few problems with central america, making a road that went all the way from Alaska to southern Chile). But you’ll have to pursue more current info if you want to know for sure.
When you’re there, be sure to have at least one homemade “Empenada de Horno” and the snack you can buy for around 150 pesos called “Alfajor.”
I’ll keep an eye on this thread in case you have any more questions…
You’ll be able to get along just fine traveling with your smattering of Castilian Spanish. If you speak Spanish, you should more or less be able to understand Brazilian Portuguese. (Not so with Portuguese as spoken in Portugal, which I found out the hard way.) There are a few dialiectical differences, but if oyu weren’t fluent to begin wit, they might not bother you.
I’m jealous of your big adventure! If you go to Argentina and Ururguay, the Spanish spoken there has a lilting intonation whih basically sounds like Italian spoken with Spanish words. I love it! If you go to Argentina, read some Jorge Luis Borges short stories before you go. He rocks! In fact, read as much Latin American literature as you can squeeze in; it;ll give you a feel fror the history and flavor of the places before you see them with your own eyes. But hell, this is my advice even if the trip never materializes. Borges, Garcia Marquez, Cortazar…try them all!
Well, it seems from reading the other posts that I don’t have much to contribute, beyond noting the fact that I lived there for almost two years. I lived in a tiny village called Renaca (sorry, can’t do the right N on this keyboard, it’s pronounced Renyaka), that is not far from Vina Del Mar. And it was a two hour, hair-raising adventure in our VW switchback station wagon to go to Santiago through the high mountains.
That was back in the late 60’s, however, when I was 7, 8 yrs old. I can tell you that it was mostly Castillian Spanish they spoke, and even in all my travels since then, I have rarely met more kind, loving, friendly, happy people. Even the cows were friendly, as we found out one night while camping on the beach, and they decided to come into our tents and say hi with a big lick or two. I have many, many stories about Chile and the people there, but I won’t bore you. One of the safest places we ever lived too. Or at least it was, before a certain dictator took over shortly after we left, and we never heard from our British friends again.
I loved riding Llamas in Peru, and even trying to walk to the terminal at La Paz, Bolivia was quite an experience. ::sharp gasp of air Mom, gasp for air I think gasp this is gasp really higaspgh up. gasp Plane, please? BIG GASP:: [sub]( for those who may not know, the highest airport in the world, or was at that time)[/sub]
Elenfair, sorry for that then. But the fault is all yours :). You shouldn’t post “insiders jokes” in a public place without making sure everyone understand it to be so.
I had heard, as emarkp says, that whilst Castillian Spanish is spoken, the words and verb tenses used are different.
My spanish is very much by the book, and I have precious little experience of hearing different accents, never mind grammatical structures. But I have 'till next year to get better.
** Eva Luna ** mentioned books. I have read only travel type books, mainly Paul Theroux (Old Patagonian Express), Sara Wheeler (Travels in a thin country) and Bruce Chatwin (Patagonia).
What would you recommend I read before going? I have read Garcia Marquez (solitude & colera), but only in engish. Should I struggle through the spanish original to help grasp a little more before heading off?
I don’t think the written Spanish will help you understand the spoken Spanish, unless the story uses colloquial vocabulary. From what I remember, neither of the novels you mentioned by García Márquez have much in the way of slang, or if they have is mid-twentieth century Colombian slang. Still, if you wish to read those books in Spanish, go ahead and do so, they are excellent novels! (Just be sure to have a dictionary with you )
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