[Wckcvhsg]

If I were some white guy from suburbia or someone, no I would not feel comfortable talking ebonics in english or another language but I am an urban minority. It is ok for me to speak improper in a language.

Does that mean its not ok for white guys to speak like an uneducated street thug if thats how they want to be perceived? Are you still a minority in the DR?

[rXpX]

1) That video put up by BronxBoy is an example of how NOT to parent. The whining kid needs his discipline but not like that. A horrible example. And that fat kid on the couch is really revolting...you gotta wonder...but that is happening all over the US and a lot here too.

2) Speaking poorly is never right. If your wifey/GF or whatever is teaching that to you it is because she probably does not know any better. She should be teaching you proper Spanish...in the long run you come off better...

While there are times and places for Dominican slang--car washes, auto repair places, whore houses, low class bars and cockfight arenas--it is not wise to use it any place else....it just lowers you in the opinion of others.


HB

[TimoDass]

I am confused because in the DR, people teach me street Dominican and love it when I say it. Especially, at the colmado I go to. The guy teaches me street Dominican all the time. My wifey teaches me street Dominican too and thinks it is funny when I talk like that and gets all happy and giddy when I talk like that. As soon as I master some of it, she teaches me more and more. So, it is wrong to speak it?

I bet your wife thinks you sound cute and that's why she teaches you more. And also, most Dominicans enjoy hearing people with other accents speak and even more if they try to speak slang.

It's important to learn slang because you'll be able to understand more and communicate better locally but you don't want it to be the only way for you to speak Spanish.

[loginereQQ]

I dunno. If a guy from the country goes to the city and tries to speak street he often sounds like a tool as it really doesn't flow well if it is unnatural to you. Exactly the same as when a white boy starts speaking black, he is considered a plonker. Or if a blonde guy grows dreads and so adopts a Jamaican edge to his accent, just an utter cock.

So if a foreigner comes along and tries to speak street he will surely be nothing more than someone for people to laugh at, as it is so much more unnatural, impossible for him to ever get it right as the accent is never going to be there, not for many many years at best. Even when a gringo says he speaks Spanish with a local accent, he doesn't, only in his mind maybe.

If a woman is trying to get her gringo boyfriend to speak hood rat talk then I expect it is because it is what she speaks mostly and finds it amusing, a bit like making a dog speak, the dog doesn't speak it just barks and if you really really try to twist your mind then maybe you can make a word out.

understanding street slang is so much more than words, it is attitude and the posture when delivering it. Gringos may feel they know street slang, but they don't, they know a few words and that is where the similarity to speaking slang ends.

Obviously it is entertaining for some simple folk to teach their kids and foreign partners hood speak which isn't really something to aspire to. I agree it is useful to understand it, especially if you spend a lot of time in Colmados, where most pick it up.
Local slang sounds entertaining to foreigners, just like cockney sounds fun to people that visit London, or Geordie for those who visit Newcastle, but the reality is within society, hood slang is spoken by the dregs of society, same as anywhere.

[crumoursegemo]

Folks, Ebonics, or as linguists call it, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), is not slang; it is a language system.

Slang goes in and out of style rapidly, gaining or losing currency rapidly, and it does not have a grammar or rules of pronunciation.

The man in the video is just using bad words: coño, mamaguevo, etc...

[juyrett]

I call it verbal abuse!

Me too, how many times can the old guy shout coño in 3 minutes. Reminds me of my dad when I was a kid, but the word started with bas and ended with tard.
Der Fish

[Mearticbaibre]

If I were some white guy from suburbia or someone, no I would not feel comfortable talking ebonics in english or another language but I am an urban minority. It is ok for me to speak improper in a language.[/QU

Does that mean its not ok for white guys to speak like an uneducated street thug if thats how they want to be perceived? Are you still a minority in the DR?

Honestly, it depends who you speak it to. With people like myself, it would make them fit in better and stick out less like a sore thumb in a neighborhood full of blacks and Latinos. When a guys comes in and does not even try to identify or be like us, they come off as thinking they are better or being more of an outsider than someone we can respect and identify with. I have two masters degrees but around friends and family in the community I speak ebonics. In my professional work setting or a school, I speak proper English.

[Mearticbaibre]

I dunno. If a guy from the country goes to the city and tries to speak street he often sounds like a tool as it really doesn't flow well if it is unnatural to you. Exactly the same as when a white boy starts speaking black, he is considered a plonker. Or if a blonde guy grows dreads and so adopts a Jamaican edge to his accent, just an utter cock.

So if a foreigner comes along and tries to speak street he will surely be nothing more than someone for people to laugh at, as it is so much more unnatural, impossible for him to ever get it right as the accent is never going to be there, not for many many years at best. Even when a gringo says he speaks Spanish with a local accent, he doesn't, only in his mind maybe.

If a woman is trying to get her gringo boyfriend to speak hood rat talk then I expect it is because it is what she speaks mostly and finds it amusing, a bit like making a dog speak, the dog doesn't speak it just barks and if you really really try to twist your mind then maybe you can make a word out.

understanding street slang is so much more than words, it is attitude and the posture when delivering it. Gringos may feel they know street slang, but they don't, they know a few words and that is where the similarity to speaking slang ends.

Obviously it is entertaining for some simple folk to teach their kids and foreign partners hood speak which isn't really something to aspire to. I agree it is useful to understand it, especially if you spend a lot of time in Colmados, where most pick it up.
Local slang sounds entertaining to foreigners, just like cockney sounds fun to people that visit London, or Geordie for those who visit Newcastle, but the reality is within society, hood slang is spoken by the dregs of society, same as anywhere.

How cool would it sound if a dog talked like in your example? People would go crazy. It would be the coolest and most amusing thing. The same for a gringo that speaks tigre talk. I have only seen people who go crazy and love it and teach me more and teach me more.

I mean maybe I understand how it is better because I grew up not speaking proper english. It is just natural for me to not speak proper unless I have to speak it. I never had any problems. HOwever, I have been able to bond with people and create my own gringo tigre accent and have people love when I talk and find it quite amusing and awesome every time I open my mouth.

[clapsoewmred]

2) Speaking poorly is never right. If your wifey/GF or whatever is teaching that to you it is because she probably does not know any better. She should be teaching you proper Spanish...in the long run you come off better...

HB

Absolutely. There's another reason for this. Some uneducated people from poor barrios take pride in bringing others down to their level. It makes them feel less insecure and levels the playing field for them. It's part of the whole "keep it real" matra, which usually means "keap it real low-class and vulgar".

When someone like this tries to take another person down by having them mimic their behaviors, the attitude is, "See, I knew this person ain't shiit, just like us". Speaking low-class barrio Spanish is worn as a badge of pride and seen by certain classes of Dominicans as being more authentically Dominican.

Try the reverse and you'll be accused of being a "come mierda".

So if you say "kechoo" you're keeping it real. If you attempt to correct the person and tell them it's "salsa de tomate" you're an elitist.

[FredderiK]

Honestly, it depends who you speak it to. With people like myself, it would make them fit in better and stick out less like a sore thumb in a neighborhood full of blacks and Latinos. When a guys comes in and does not even try to identify or be like us, they come off as thinking they are better or being more of an outsider than someone we can respect and identify with. I have two masters degrees but around friends and family in the community I speak ebonics. In my professional work setting or a school, I speak proper English.

Yeah, but English is your first language. I am black with a French accent. I do not speak Ebonics cause it just sound stupid with my accent.I understand perfectly of course given where I live. I don't stick out like a sore thumb I am just the girl with the sexy accent
Same rule applies in Spanish.

[exchpaypalgold]

the thing is, where are you supposed to pick up proper spanish in the dominican republic? i learned spanish in the dr, mostly from attending school and hanging out with my classmates. except for some of them, they were not street and came from higher middle class and upper class families but still, dominican spanish has a particuar pronounciation and lots and lots of words which are used nowhere else in the spanish speaking world, or which have a different meaning in other countries. furthermore, the rich youth loves speaking dominican slang and considers it part of their identity. i remember a friend of mine talking to his mom and when she greeted him and said "como tu estas" he replied something a long the lines of "no prive en vaina, on this island we say "como tu ta". some people try speaking "proper spanish" when talking to a foreigner, but apart from news anchors, journalists and during academic discussions, i haven't seen many people speaking properly in the dr. so needless to say, while people considered me "aplatanado" in the dr, back home my spanish teachers looked at me in horror when i opened my mouth. they managed to straighten most of it out, but from time to time some dominican spanish slips thorugh, especially in my pronounciation. i've had dominicans abroad pinpoint the exact city where i learned spanish after speaking to me for a couple of minutes.

[KRbGA0Bg]

Bernboy, I've never heard from any of the spanish speaking countries the word 'dime' being offensive. Do you know Lengua Espanola? otherwise, you could've placed an argment regarding the use of the word 'dime' I have many Ecuadorian friends and that statement is unheard of.

[Nptxsews]

i think it is useful to KNOW street dominican spanish. nothing wrong with extending your vocabulary. since i love reggaeton my workers translate popular songs for me: first what is actually being said and then what it means. miesposo is useless here because he does not understand any of the barrio speak. his spanish is very prim and proper.

at the end of the day i learn a little of both worlds and i use a little bit of both worlds. when really annoyed i can whip a speech that would make daddy from this video sound like a cheerful puppy. i love swear words in any language, there is no other group of related words that has this flexibility and the power of expression. but alas, you cannot curse all the time, otherwise there would be no point cursing. so i curb my lexicological enthusiasm and speak like everyone else. my vocabulary changes depending whether i am in a farmacia joking with workers or in a public office, trying to resolve things.

[Wckcvhsg]

It may seem exotic since its another language. I personally would not invite anyone to my house who spoke like that.
Should tell you something that your hubby is a native and he doesnt speak it.

[SantaClaus]

Bernboy, I've never heard from any of the spanish speaking countries the word 'dime' being offensive. Do you know Lengua Espanola? otherwise, you could've placed an argment regarding the use of the word 'dime' I have many Ecuadorian friends and that statement is unheard of.

I'm sure it wasn't considered offensive, probably just impolite in certain situations like addressing a stranger or an older person when dígame would be more appropriate.

[Nptxsews]

i have to admit i never got the hang of the formal spanish. in polish we have certain forms used to address strangers or pople of the authority. english is much less strict, simple sir or madam at the end of the sentence does the trick. in polish, like in spanish, formal language has a different grammatical structure too. but somewhat all this usted business does not seem to find it's way into my daily vocabulary. i just refuse to use it. i may use señor or señora but almost never don/doña - i reserve this ONLY for people i actually respect. i don't give a single f**k to address someone this way just because they are veeeery old or somewhat higher in a social hierarchy than myself. my old gardener is don, equally old dude who works with miesposo and who i think is a lousy little piece of crap is simply tu.

[loginereQQ]

Bernboy, I've never heard from any of the spanish speaking countries the word 'dime' being offensive. Do you know Lengua Espanola? otherwise, you could've placed an argment regarding the use of the word 'dime' I have many Ecuadorian friends and that statement is unheard of.

Dime? Dime is probably the most used pregunta, of my days. It only means what it means in DR, 'dime' is an accepted currency of conversation. High or low.

Bad example of a divide, it is something we all use every day when speaking to our loved ones, friends and similar associates, wealthy or poor. Tell me the BS on this, deimi/Demi, it's not slang, it's just a natural request. Tell me what is going on! Tell me what you said.

[reiseebup]

Embarassing! What a loser and then the parents wonder how/why their kids become street thugs.

[Paul Bunyan]

Argentinians and Chileans speak the best Spanish outside of Spain. Id say the DR is a close second.

I don't know what you mean by "best"..."best" with respect to what?
And what part of Spain are you referring to?
And at which time period?

I am sorry to say you are confused about many things.

The language spoken in the DR is a closed descendant from the language spoken even today in Southern Spain. For example not pronouncing the final "s", not pronouncing the final "r", replacing "ado" with "ao" in verbal forms all come FROM SPAIN, specially from the South...and some of those are also used in other regions of Spain (and of course in other Castellano-speaking countries).

Why then in school were you taught that those practices were 'wrong'? Simply because the 'official' Spanish, or rather Castellano, is based on the language spoken...surprise, surprise, surprise...in Madrid....which 'coincidentally' is the capital city and historical centre of power of Spain...Shocking??...you can bet that if the centre of power in Spain was or had been Sevilla (South) many of the 'wrong' forms of Castellano were the officially correct ones...

By the way, the Argentina dialect is VERY different from that spoken in Spain and in most other places...in particular, the form they use for "tu", "vos", completely change the CONJUGATION of the verb in all tenses...that is a GRAMMATICAL difference...of course that does not make it 'wrong', just different....their accent seems to have strong influence from Italian (which would NOT be surprising).

To conclude, there is no 'wrong' Castellano, just NON-STANDARD one...The advantage of standard Castellano is NOT that it is "correct" or "better", but rather that it enables Castellano-speakers from around the world to communicate with each other with minimal effort (by sticking to the STANDARD form)...that is ALL.

P.S. Some regions in Spain have their OWN LANGUAGE which descends directly from Latin just like Castellano...for example Catalan and Gallego...And the Basque language does NOT even descend from Latin...it is not even an "Indo-European language! Which is why I have used the word "Castellano" instead of Spanish.

[QWNPdpr5]

It's about respect- for one's self and others. The fact that many people the world over massacre their respective native tongues is no proper reason to regurgitate what you hear them say. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. That certainly applies to learning any language- first, second or third. It grates me when I hear that someone is planning to herver some water or says conducieron. I respect them enough(si son de confianza) to correct them. To say "they're uneducated...that's how they talk" is condescending. To go to the trouble to correct someone says "you're smart...you're capable of expressing yourself well". Regionalisms and accents are charming and make language interesting. Lazy speech and poor spelling is not to be excused, especially in the case of a language as elegantly simple as Spanish.