When you say you want to speak Spanish, do you mean Latin American Spanish or Castilian Spanish that’s spoken in Spain?

Wait, you didn’t know there’s a difference?

There are over 559 million Spanish speakers on the planet. They can’t all speak the exact same language.

Think of the English language for a moment. There are slight differences between English in the Midwest and English in New York. Like when you order a pop vs. order a Coke. There are also differences between the English spoken in Canada or England and in the U.S.

It’s the same thing in Spanish. It’s the top language in over 22 countries, and each region has a different way to speak the language. It’s said that there are over 100 dialects of the Spanish language in Mexico alone.

Before you get into a panic about which dialect you need to learn, it can be broken down into two options: Latin American Spanish and Spain Spanish.

Read on to learn the differences between the two and how the Spanish language evolved to have so many variations.

A Brief History of Spanish

Let’s take a quick look at how the Spanish language came to be and how it evolved into so many dialects. It’ll help you understand how we go to this place with so many dialects.

Spanish is considered to be a Romance language with Italian, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Galician, and Romanian. The common thread between these languages is that they came from Vulgar Latin. Vulgar Latin isn’t full of cuss words, it’s the form of Latin that was used by commoners.

How did Latin reach the Iberian peninsula? The Romans conquered Spain and Portugal over 2000 years ago and brought their Latin language with them.

Latin evolved into Spanish over time, with influences from other conquerors of Spain like the Carthaginians and the Moors. It wasn’t until the 13th century when it was standardized by King Alfonso X, who wanted to unify the languages spoken throughout Spain and create codes and laws under one language.

In 1492 when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he brought the Spanish language with him. More specifically, he brought the Andalusian dialect, which is still spoken in Southern Spain. That’s why you’ll notice similarities between Latin American Spanish and Andalusian Spanish.

Today, children across Spain are taught Castilian Spanish, but will also speak in their regional language or dialect. You’ll find that anywhere you travel to across Spain.

The Differences Between Spain Spanish and Latin American Spanish

While there are similarities between the dialect of Andalusia and Latin America, there are differences between the “proper” Spanish that’s spoken throughout central and Northern Spain.

The Lisp

One of the most common things you hear about Castilian Spanish is the lisp. Yes, Spaniards speak with a lisp. The ‘th’ sound when you pronounce ‘think’ is actually spoken when you come across the letter ‘c’ followed by ‘I’ or ‘e.’ The letter ‘z’ is also pronounced with a slight lisp.

A word like ‘gracias’ would be pronounced like ‘gra-see-ahs’ in Latin America and ‘gra-thee-ahs’ in Spain. Luz (meaning light) would be pronounced ‘luth’ in Spain and ‘looze’ in Latin America.

When you study Spanish, you’ll come across the term seseo. This refers to the Latin American Spanish speakers who don’t use the ‘th’ sound but rather the ‘see’ sound when they say ‘ce’ together.

Check out the video below!

Vosotros vs. Ustedes

There are multiple ways to say the word you in Spanish. There’s the plural version of you (no, it’s not yous), and formal and informal versions.

Most of the time, in singular form, tú will serve just fine for the word you. In formal situations, or when you’re speaking with someone you don’t know, usted should be used. It shows respect for formalities. You may be corrected to use tú.

In some Latin American countries like Uruguay and Colombia, you may find vos is used to informally address someone.

The plural version of you is different between Latin America and Spain. In Spain and Latin America, ustedes is used in formal situations. Informally, vosotros is used in Spain, while Latin Americans will use ustedes. Vosotros isn’t used at all in Latin American Spanish.

You shouldn’t be worried about not being understood when traveling to different Spanish speaking countries however, check out this video below…

Differences in Vocabulary

Let’s say you’re traveling to Spain and you want to rent a car. Throughout Spain, a car is called a coche. In Latin America, you’ll hear, carro.

There are different terms for driving the car. In Latin America, you’ll hear manejar, while in Spain you’ll hear conducir.

You can find plenty of examples of these differences. Juice is called zumo in Spain, while it’s called jugo throughout Latin America.

You’ll come across ever more differences when you start to learn street slang.

Take a look at the video below to learn some differences in vocabulary….

What Do You Need to Learn?

Which one do you need to learn? Unless you plan on living in Spain, you’re fine learning Latin American Spanish. It’s what’s spoken in the U.S. and you’ll be able to communicate with other Spanish speakers here. You don’t need to learn every single dialect, but it’s good to be aware of what the differences are.

As long as you have a solid vocabulary, can put a sentence together correctly, and have good pronunciation, you’ll be fine. You’ll be able to understand and communicate 90% of the time. The other 10% you can learn on the go.

If you want to build a great foundation to learn, we can help. Check out our Gritty Spanish programs to improve your Spanish skills today.