# English accent of Spanish speaking people



## murena

Hi.

When speaking english, are there any differences in the accent, depending on the country the spanish speaker comes from?

I imagine that someone from Spain has a different english accent than someone from Argentina or Cuba. Is this correct? I have never noticed it, as I normally speak spanish with people from Spain or Latin America.

I guess this same enquiry may apply for people from arabic speaking countries as well.

Thanks.


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## KateNicole

Interesting question.  It's hard to say because the degree of everyone's accent when speaking a foreign language varies, regardless of where they're from.  I can notice a slight difference in Puerto Ricans and Mexicans who learned English as a second language, but I don't really even know how to explain it.  When I went to Spain, I didn't seem to notice a big difference between their accent and the Mexican accent when speaking English.


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## grumpus

Hi,
that's an interesting question.  There may be.  For the most part, it may not be noticable. It might just be recognized that there is a Spanish accent.  Well, maybe people from northern and central Spain don't have the "th" problem that many other Spanish speakers do and maybe that could distinguish them. ??

I can tell the difference from somebody from Brazil vs. Portugal (P't'g'l as they say it)  when speaking English.


Grumpus


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## Fernando

As an example, I would say that Spaniards do not distinguish very much among English, Australians, N Americans or even Norwegians. They simply "hablan en guiri". At most we would separate  French, German and Arab speakers.

I assume that they could separate an Argentinian from a Cuban, because (at least for us) their accents are very far each other, but I do not know.


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## Laia

Maybe our accents are not so different, because there are Spanish actors playing Mexican characters in Hollywood, aren't they?


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## grumpus

Laia said:
			
		

> Maybe our accents are not so different, because there are Spanish actors playing Mexican characters in Hollywood, aren't they?


 
HI Laia,
that's an interesting point that says a lot about Hollywood culture.  I have heard Mexican actors complain about the use of  Spanish or Puerto Rican actors to play Mexicans. The difference is only "obvious" to someone who speaks Spanish.  

saludos,
Grumpus


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## Fernando

No, I would say it says much about the nationalism of Mexican or Puerto Rican actors.


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## Residente Calle 13

I can often tell people are Panamanian by their accent in English. I can tell if somebody is Mexican and not Puerto Rican due to their accent in English as well.


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## Cracker Jack

The accent of Latin Americans nearly approximates that of the Americans. If not at all, their pronunciation is AE based. This can be noted by observing the accents of Mexican or Latin American actors like Andy García, Gael García Bernal or Salma Hayek (although her Mexican accent is really evident when she delivers her lines), and singers like Ricky Martin and Shakira.

As mentioned before, the accent of singers become ''neutral'' when they sing. No offense meant for Spaniards but I have observed that most South American college students and professionals have better accent when speaking English. With this, I mean to say that they do not syllabicate words like Colgate. Here in Spain it is pronounced as 
COL-GA-TE. Although there are exceptions too.

However, Spain is catching up with English phonetics too.


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## grumpus

Fernando said:
			
		

> No, I would say it says much about the nationalism of Mexican or Puerto Rican actors.


 
Incorrect, Fernando
Hollywood is formulaic, you speak Spanish, you're Mexican and that's that.
Watch the movie "Traffic" and you'll see what I mean.

love,
Grumpus


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## belén

Oh yeah, we do have a very different accent even if we speak the same language and that reflects in how we speak other languages

I can recognize the Spanish-speaking country where the person comes from iI hear them speak in English


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## KateNicole

I was just thinking that I can usually tell when a person is from Chile, because the ones that I know really have a difficult time pronouncing words like "something"  It sounds like "samfsing" when they say it, and it's a peculiarity that I haven't noted in any other accent.


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## BasedowLives

Laia said:
			
		

> Maybe our accents are not so different, because there are Spanish actors playing Mexican characters in Hollywood, aren't they?



And Mexican actors have played Spanish characters.  (See Gael Garcia Bernal)

Works the same with people from the US and UK.  British people play Americans and vice versa all the time.


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## Mei

BasedowLives said:
			
		

> And Mexican actors have played Spanish characters.  (See Gael Garcia Bernal)
> 
> Works the same with people from the US and UK.  British people play Americans and vice versa all the time.



What about Salma Hayek or Andy Garcia? 

Mei


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## Laia

BasedowLives said:
			
		

> Works the same with people from the US and UK. British people play Americans and vice versa all the time.


 
Yes. The point is: when I hear an American person speaking in Spanish, or a British person speaking in Spanish, I can't find out where is he/she from. I just don't know.
Does it happen in the other way? I mean, If I speak to you in English, how would you know (because of my accent) that I'm not Mexican or Peruvian, for example?


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## Cracker Jack

Hi Laia.  One guide to enable you to detect Americans is to watch their terminal o.  They pronounce it like ''Pablow'' while British pronounce it like ''Pablew'' using the Spanish phonetics.  Another way is watch out for the terminal e.  It is more pronounced among Americans.  The British also do so but less marked.

Another way to detect is the pronunciation of the ''a'' in Spanish as long a for Americans and short a for British.


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## Laia

Thank you 
I'll try to remember it!


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## fenixpollo

Cracker Jack said:
			
		

> Hi Laia. One guide to enable you to detect Americans is to watch their terminal o. They pronounce it like ''Pablow'' while British pronounce it like ''Pablew'' using the Spanish phonetics. Another way is watch out for the terminal e. It is more pronounced among Americans. The British also do so but less marked.
> 
> Another way to detect is the pronunciation of the ''a'' in Spanish as long a for Americans and short a for British.


 The original question, though, was the reverse.  Belén, Residente or someone else, what specific cues do you use to tell which Spanish-speaking country a person is from when you hear them speak English?

Appearance, non-verbal communication and accent cannot be separated from each other or from other contextual clues to a person's origin.  I suspect that those of you who correctly guess a non-native-speaker's country of origin are using more than their accent to make your decision.


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## Cracker Jack

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> The original question, though, was the reverse. Belén, Residente or someone else, what specific cues do you use to tell which Spanish-speaking country a person is from when you hear them speak English?


 
Yes FP, you are right.  Thanks for the reminder.


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## Residente Calle 13

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> The original question, though, was the reverse.  Belén, Residente or someone else, what specific cues do you use to tell which Spanish-speaking country a person is from when you hear them speak English?
> 
> Appearance, non-verbal communication and accent cannot be separated from each other or from other contextual clues to a person's origin.  I suspect that those of you who correctly guess a non-native-speaker's country of origin are using more than their accent to make your decision.


Hi Fenix,

Many Panameños sound more like Jamaicans than Latinos when they speak in English here in NY. That may very well be because they are! Many West Indians from English speaking countries migrated to Panama to build the Canal and stayed and many continue to speak English, I believe. In NYC, if you want to find Dominicans looks for the Puerto Ricans. If you want to find Panameños, go to the Jamaican neighborhoods.


Mexicans who speak English use some different words, like "ese" and "güey" but even when they don't the cadence is very similar to Mexicans who speak Spanish. Ditto for Puerto Ricans who say "mira" and "bro" alot.

The accent of native English speakers is different but I can still tell Mexicans from Puerto Ricans unless they talk, for lack of a better term, *white*.


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## SpiceMan

Besides neighboring countries (Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia - I explude Brazil, because it's portuguese). 

Listening to an uruguayan speaking English, I would think he's from Argentina. Our intonation, pronunciation, idioms, etc are really alike in the triangle Rosario (Argentina) - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Montevideo (Uruguay).

Someone from Chile or Paraguay, I would think of a spanish speaking person, but I doubt I'd grasp which country. However I think I can recognize Spanish or Mexicans, their pronunciation are so different to me ear that I spot right away.Is not only pronunciation, also sentences structures, and several other things that give the talker's origin away.


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## fenixpollo

Some suggestions, Spice Man:





			
				SpiceMan said:
			
		

> Besides neighboring countries (Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia - I exclude Brazil, because it's Portuguese).
> 
> Listening to an Uruguayan speaking English, I would think he's from Argentina. Our intonation, pronunciation, idioms, etc are really alike in the Rosario triangle (Argentina) - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Montevideo (Uruguay).
> 
> Someone from Chile or Paraguay, I would think they were a Spanish-speaking person, but I doubt I'd grasp which country. However I think I can recognize Spaniards or Mexicans, their pronunciation is so different to my ear that I spot it right away. It is not only pronunciation, also sentence structure, and several other things that give the talker's origin away.


Please explain how two Spanish-speakers from different regions can speak English with different sentence structure.  I don't get it. 

Using Spanish regionalisms doesn't count, Residente.     And are you saying that Puerto Rican's cadence is different from a Mexican's when they speak English, or the same?


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## Residente Calle 13

Fenix, half the time I don't know _*how *_I figure it out.

I just thought of this!

A Mexican says, in Spanish :

_Está abierto 24 horassss al día._

A Puerto Rican :

_Ta bierto 24 hora jal día._

In English, guess which one is Puerto Rican :

A. _Is open twentyfourrr hourrsss._

B._ Is open twenyfoa awa._

Plus, the cadence is different. Jennifer Lopez does not talk the way she does in _Selena _(the movie) in real life. All those esses are just one clue she not an _Ese_. The cadence is way diferent too. I spoke to Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and they sound nothing like Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver.

Al Pacino does a decent Cuban in Scarface. Rent Scarface and Stand and Deliver and compare. Pacino's accent is forced but it will give you a general idea. Cubans are very nasal in English because they are in Spanish...when those consonants drop they are replaced by nasalization (think French).


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## belén

I think it is a question of accents..more than structure or expressions usage.. I can't really tell you what is different but how a Mexican speaks English is really different to how a Spaniard does... 
I guess we drag our own accents into English and since our own accents in our native language differ so much, it reflects on our _Englishes_.


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## SpiceMan

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> Some suggestions, Spice Manlease explain how two Spanish-speakers from different regions can speak English with different sentence structure.  I don't get it.
> 
> Using Spanish regionalisms doesn't count, Residente.     And are you saying that Puerto Rican's cadence is different from a Mexican's when they speak English, or the same?


1st question:
For instance, in Argentina we avoid using perfect tenses. An Argentinian will always say "Comí in ese restaurant", never "He comido en ese restaurant", so in English people from Argentina are more likely to say "I ate at(in) that restaurant" over "I've eaten at(in) that restaurant". 

We don't use future tense. We say "ir a" + verb. Which is acceptable in English too.

An Argentinian is more prone to say "I'm going to a party" rather than "I'll go to a party". Because we don't say "Iré a una fiesta" but "Voy a ir a una fiesta". 

Once I found and argentinian with an american and a mexican speaking in English in Japan. I could tell they were a mexican and an argentinean right away.

2nd question: 
They're the same to me, but that doesn't mean they're the same. My point was, I roughly get pronunciation, patterns, etc from really close countries, or way different ones. And there's a lot of countries in between.


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## fenixpollo

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> A. _Is open twentyfourrr hourrsss. _That's not Mexican, that's cholospeak!
> 
> B._ Is open twenyfoa awa. _That's not Puerto Rican, that's New Yawk!


 I'm guessing that you're not trying to be stereotypical... so I'm just being flippant with my comments in blue.  I'm just pointing out that our ideas of "a Puerto Rican accent" or "a Mexican accent" is colored by the different degrees of Spanish fluency and native-ness within those two communities.

I understand what you're saying, though. There is a big difference between the accents of these two lines: "Say hhhello to my lil' friend" and "A negative times a negative is a positive."

The written nature of this forum makes it hard to compare accents (I can't hear you "do" Scarface, for example) and discuss details of what makes each one unique.


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## Residente Calle 13

Yeah. Generalizations are bad. But that's a generalization too! Rats!

I know two songs where a Spanish speaker "imitates" an Asian speaker and they do it by saying things like "alo flito" for "arroz frito" and "cultula" for "cultura."

Ironically, both songs are by Puerto Ricans who often say "no impolta" for "no importa" and "ponel" for "poner" (even in these very songs!) and you notice they say "alo" not "aloz". 

I guess even when they are supposed to be Asian, Puerto Ricans will drop the final esses. But the intonation of a phrase, even when the same phonological switches occur, gives the speaker some hints. 

I think it was Spiceman who said he could pick out people whose accents he's familiar with in Spanish but could not tell a Mexican from a Spaniard who's speaking in English. I can tell Mexicans from Puerto Ricans but I think I would be lost telling a Peruvian from an Argentinian eventhough I could pick a Rioplatense speaker if she spoke in Spanish.

---
P.S. These are all generalizations. Some Mexicans drop final esses and some Puerto Ricans do not, and this depends on who they are talking to. And most Asians I know do not say *R *for *L* or vice-versa.


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## mora

Hello
I can tell what country a person is from when they are speaking Spanish, but not when a native speaker of Spanish speaks English. There are such a very wide variety of accents and too many variables to make this distinction. Level of education, where they learned English (on the street or in school), the age that the person commenced learning English, the natural ability of the individual to mimic sounds, and the attitude that the person has towards the learning of English are all factors that contribute to a person's accent. For example, I have two friends, both in Canada the same length of time, both from Colombia. One, a filmaker,  speaks English correctly, rarely making errors, but with such a heavy accent I find it easier to speak Spanish with her. The other speaks English with almost no accent at all, it is really remarkable, you would think she was a native speaker, except she makes grammatical errors that a native wouold never make. She is a professional musician, and I think her great ear for sounds and her ability to hear a sound and accurately duplicate it have contributed to her accent-free English. 

'Mexicans' or 'Puerto Ricans' are not homogenous groups, the variables within the group, between individual education, abilities and experience, are of greater importance in the development of an accent in English than the national origin. 

Mora


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## Residente Calle 13

mora said:
			
		

> Hello
> 'Mexicans' or 'Puerto Ricans' are not homogenous groups, the variables within the group, between individual education, abilities and experience, are of greater importance in the development of an accent in English than the national origin.
> 
> Mora


Neither are Spaniards but you can guess somebody is a Spaniard by the way they talk. They too have different levels of ablility, education etc. 

What is being said here is *not *that all Mexicans, or any other national group, are the same, or that they are all fluent in English to the same degree, but that just like many speakers can tell somebody is Mexican by the way they speak Spanish they can tell somebody is Mexican by the way they speak _English_.

When I heard George Lopez's act for the VERY FIRST TIME, in English, I knew he was Mexican. He had the accent. Now Carlos Mencia sounds Mexican to me but is from Honduras so it's not fool-proof. Still, I could tell he was not Puerto Rican. I'm not saying that all Puerto Ricans sound the same when they speak English...what I'm saying is that so very few of them sound anything like Carlos or George when they do.


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## ewhite

> I'm not saying that all Puerto Ricans sound the same when they speak English...what I'm saying is that so very few of them sound anything like Carlos or George when they do.



Exactly. Practically all English-speakers who speak another language at home have what I can only describe as a "tone" in their English, no matter how fluent. The Mexican tone is different from the Puerto Rican, and I can distinguish between them. For all I know, there are tonal varieties between Puerto Rican and Dominican English, or Mexican and Honduran, but I cannot differentiate between them.


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## fenixpollo

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> When I heard George Lopez's act for the VERY FIRST TIME, in English, I knew he was Mexican. He had the accent.


 George Lopez is not Mexican; he's American.  He was born in California and grew up in Los Angeles.  (bio)  Couldn't you tell that by his accent in English?


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## JLanguage

ewhite said:
			
		

> Exactly. Practically all English-speakers who speak another language at home have what I can only describe as a "tone" in their English, no matter how fluent. quote]
> 
> I find that not at all true, in my experience. I know plenty of people who spoke/speaks a language other than English at home and speak English without sounding even a bit different than monolingual English-speakers.
> 
> Respectfully disagreeing,
> -Jonathan.


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## thuja

BasedowLives said:
			
		

> And Mexican actors have played Spanish characters.  (See Gael Garcia Bernal)
> 
> Works the same with people from the US and UK.  British people play Americans and vice versa all the time.



Yes,  always assuming the actors are good enough with accents to "pass".  GGB spoke like a Spaniard; I read in some interview somewhere that there was some tension between him and Almodóvar on this point. 

This isn't the same thing as, say Paz Vega pretending to be a Mexican immigrant speaking English.  On physical grounds she is an implausible Mexican domestic.


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## fenixpollo

thuja said:
			
		

> .... Paz Vega pretending to be a Mexican immigrant speaking English. On physical grounds she is an implausible Mexican domestic.


 That's quite a slippery slope you started down, thuja. Why is Paz Vega implausible as a Mexican domestic?  You obviously think it's for another reason, besides her accent in English.


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## Bettie

Hi, well I think it's a difference between a Mexican speaking English and a Spaniard, Penelope Cruz speak English with spanish accent, I notice Salma Hayek accent a lot too, but not that much with Shakira for example.
I am assuming that you said that Paz Vega couldn't be a mexican domestic because she was too cute?? Or why?? 
She could depending the part of Mexico she were from.


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## Brioche

JLanguage said:
			
		

> ewhite said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Exactly. Practically all English-speakers who speak another language at home have what I can only describe as a "tone" in their English, no matter how fluent.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I find that not at all true, in my experience. I know plenty of people who spoke/speaks a language other than English at home and speak English without sounding even a bit different than monolingual English-speakers.
> 
> Respectfully disagreeing,
> -Jonathan.
Click to expand...

 
Sometimes its a matter of how well you can "hear", and whether you know what to listen for.

I am very interested in languages, and I reckon that I can often tell someone's background by the way they speak English, even though the person was born and educated in Australia.


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