Many(most) of the original shows on Telemundo or Univision are filmed in the U.S. How different is U.S. spanish? What about what the common north-of-the-border speak? Is there a nuetral dialect that is commonly used in broadcasting? I don’t know spanish, but even if I learned it would take awhile to learn dialects.
U.S. Spanish is a lot like Mexican Spanish from what I’ve picked up. (English is my native language). Mexican Spanish has a lot of English influence to it and there is more to it the closer you are to the border.
Mexican Spanish sounds a lot different from Cuban or Puerto Rican Spanish and a whole lot different from Castillian Spanish.
The accents between Mexico and the Caribbean vary quite a bit and there are some grammatical differences between New World and Old World Spanish.
I learned a lot of Spanish watching Spanish language TV (good way to watch World Cup soccer).
First of all, technically speaking, all Spanish speakers speak Castillian Spanish. Whether in Cuba, Argentina, or Mexico, if you speak Spanish, it’s Castillian Spanish.
Second, main differences in Spanish in each country are:
1> Accentuation.
For example, Puerto Ricans usually will “eat” their r’s and softening it with an Spanish “l” sound. Rather than saying, “carro” they sound like “calo”. Argentinians will overemphasize the double “ll” sound. Rather than saying “caballo”, they usually sound like “cabacho”. There are different accent, but in the case of translating from English to Spanish Venezuelan and Mexican accents are preferred since sounds more “neutral”.
2> Regional Influences
Spanish speakers will be influenced by either other languages such as Italian in Argentina or English in Mexico which in turn might create localized dialect. Also, certain regions would be cut off from Spain and therefore be stuck with old Spanish words. For example, Northern Mexico and U.S. Southwest Spanish speakers will use Anglocisms in their spanish. “Troca” is truck, “chorcha” is church, “traques” is railroad tracks.
“How different is U.S. spanish?”
Depends on the region you are talking about. New York has high percentage of Puerto Ricans, Miami is strongly Cuban, and the Southwest is strongly Mexican and Central American.
“What about what the common north-of-the-border speak?”
Usually is either Spanish with a strong Northern Mexican accent or “Spanglish”. “Spanglish” is used by Mexican-Americans who were raised speaking both English and Spanish, use English as dominant language, and use elemental Spanish with English influences. (see examples above of “troca”, etc.)
“Is there a nuetral dialect that is commonly used in broadcasting?”
Most broadcaster will try to avoid a certain regional accent, but most go for a Mexicanized “neutral” accent. Though, this is not often the case since a lot depends on who is doing the talking.
“I don’t know spanish, but even if I learned it would take awhile to learn dialects.”
If you learn your regular Spanish, you should have no problem in any of the Spanish speaking countries in the world. You may have to get used to certain accentuations, but overall you should have no problem.