I loved this. We have this challenge in spades here in Switzerland
We have all kinds of flavours of dialect - I spoke the Bernese flavour when I was a kid and now speak the Zurich flavour.
We have lots of folk from just up the road in Germany - some who try it with the dialect, many who don't. In meetings at big places, you have to ask - Mundart i.e. dialect or German.
I find it really hard to talk dialect to somebody who replies in German.
What I do find is that all the locals appreciate those non-native speakers who make an effort, even if that is in German and not dialect. And, over here, nobody minds English - in fact often. they want to practice their English!
So, keep going. figure out your own flavour of dialect and don't worry if you use some English
OK, my comments.. First, I think you'll naturally start to pick up specific local/regional terms that you're starting to hear a lot. As your Spanish improves, you'll notice "hey, I don't think that word I keep hearing is part of standard Spanish". The only thing I can compare it to is when I, a native Minnesotan, moved to Boston and started hearing words like "tonic" for soda pop instead of the typical Midwestern "pop", or "grinder" instead of "hoagie" for that kind of sandwich. It felt natural to start to use the local terminology, and was kinda fun. But in five years of living there, I never (as far as I know) started to pick up the local dialect such as "pahk the cah by hahvahd yahd". Over decades, that could start to creep in. We have a friend who moved from Minnesota to London decades ago. Now when we see her she'll say British things like "having things sorted", "that's brilliant", and even says "tom-ah-toes" as if she were a native Brit. Linguistically, she's now more British than Minnesotan for sure. I've never asked her, though, if she purposely worked on that or it just happened naturally over decades. Certainly your personality will gradually emerge in your Spanish. The thing I'm curious about is swear words. I think when you start swearing in Spanish, Melisse will definitely get a big kick out of it! (and even she is on a linguistic journey, from growing up in P.R. to now living in Valencia)
It's definitely fun comparing all of the Spanish ways of speaking. Melisse can tell where somebody is from instantly. Like I can do for people from the United States. Basically refinforcing your point. I can tell you if someone is Canadian in a less than a minute. Same with being from different parts of the US.
Thanks, Doug. I completely understand this. I usually work for an hour or two before coffee. And I sometimes notice a difference in the before and after periods!!
Is it possible you're overthinking how to fit in right now? Stop for a moment and reflect on far you've come in your language learning journey. Just my opinion: You might want to give it a year or so before working on the personality angle. Think about how strong your core language personality currently is, how long it's taken to develop, and how it evolved over the years. You've come such a long way in your life, accomplished so much and learned many valuable lessons along the way... maybe in another year or two your "Spanish personality" will emerge with little thought.
On another note. Is the bike publication up and running? When I tried signing up it led me to Notes. As much as I love you and your writing and publication, I try to spend as little time on there as possible, but if this is where you need support (in addition to giving money) let me know. Also, one other thing. Will (or is) the bike publication be in Spanish?
I don't think I'm overthinking it. At least not any more than I overthink anything else. I'm actually pretty much taking it all in stride. I'm just mindful of the process, because I find it interesting.
Thanks for letting me know that it takes you to Notes. That's weird. Definitely not where I need support. I'm indifferent to Notes. I need to figure it out because the publication is live. I just haven't posted yet. I'm aiming for by April 15 to get everything going. And it will be mostly in English, maybe, at times and when I can, both. The website should be available in both.
Okay, well as long as you find it interesting and not causing you anxiety. I think it'll be fascinating seeing you evolve, but will I, as an English speaker be able to celebrate the wins with you? (I'm way behind you, but eventually moving to my own Spanish speaking country this will relate to me then, for sure.)
Yeah, I don't know why it's redirecting me, but I'll try again in a couple hours to see if that changes. Sometimes temporary glitches happen, this might be one.
Well, at least now we know. Maybe you should post one article to get it activated. By the way, one other question (sorry, I'm full of them today), what camera do you currently use? I know you'll use a Go Pro for biking, but curious if your images are from the phone or an actual camera. I'm thinking of buying one and expanding into photojournalism.
Notes seems to be an odd place to redirect. It really should just be the newsletter homepage.
It's a slow process. I am finding that just a few minutes of focused reading in Spanish each day helps. Try Olly Richards, Short Stories in Spanish. I have had it for a while but now slowly and methodically working through it. Brian Wiesner who writes Serendipity Lab on Substack told me it took him to the next level. He lives in Barcelona and speaks excellent Spanish.
I loved this. We have this challenge in spades here in Switzerland
We have all kinds of flavours of dialect - I spoke the Bernese flavour when I was a kid and now speak the Zurich flavour.
We have lots of folk from just up the road in Germany - some who try it with the dialect, many who don't. In meetings at big places, you have to ask - Mundart i.e. dialect or German.
I find it really hard to talk dialect to somebody who replies in German.
What I do find is that all the locals appreciate those non-native speakers who make an effort, even if that is in German and not dialect. And, over here, nobody minds English - in fact often. they want to practice their English!
So, keep going. figure out your own flavour of dialect and don't worry if you use some English
I appreciate it, Olaf. It's quite a journey. I am loving it.
Very interesting post Rocco! I’ll have some comments later after I have some coffee ☕️😂
OK, my comments.. First, I think you'll naturally start to pick up specific local/regional terms that you're starting to hear a lot. As your Spanish improves, you'll notice "hey, I don't think that word I keep hearing is part of standard Spanish". The only thing I can compare it to is when I, a native Minnesotan, moved to Boston and started hearing words like "tonic" for soda pop instead of the typical Midwestern "pop", or "grinder" instead of "hoagie" for that kind of sandwich. It felt natural to start to use the local terminology, and was kinda fun. But in five years of living there, I never (as far as I know) started to pick up the local dialect such as "pahk the cah by hahvahd yahd". Over decades, that could start to creep in. We have a friend who moved from Minnesota to London decades ago. Now when we see her she'll say British things like "having things sorted", "that's brilliant", and even says "tom-ah-toes" as if she were a native Brit. Linguistically, she's now more British than Minnesotan for sure. I've never asked her, though, if she purposely worked on that or it just happened naturally over decades. Certainly your personality will gradually emerge in your Spanish. The thing I'm curious about is swear words. I think when you start swearing in Spanish, Melisse will definitely get a big kick out of it! (and even she is on a linguistic journey, from growing up in P.R. to now living in Valencia)
It's definitely fun comparing all of the Spanish ways of speaking. Melisse can tell where somebody is from instantly. Like I can do for people from the United States. Basically refinforcing your point. I can tell you if someone is Canadian in a less than a minute. Same with being from different parts of the US.
Thanks, Doug. I completely understand this. I usually work for an hour or two before coffee. And I sometimes notice a difference in the before and after periods!!
Is it possible you're overthinking how to fit in right now? Stop for a moment and reflect on far you've come in your language learning journey. Just my opinion: You might want to give it a year or so before working on the personality angle. Think about how strong your core language personality currently is, how long it's taken to develop, and how it evolved over the years. You've come such a long way in your life, accomplished so much and learned many valuable lessons along the way... maybe in another year or two your "Spanish personality" will emerge with little thought.
On another note. Is the bike publication up and running? When I tried signing up it led me to Notes. As much as I love you and your writing and publication, I try to spend as little time on there as possible, but if this is where you need support (in addition to giving money) let me know. Also, one other thing. Will (or is) the bike publication be in Spanish?
I don't think I'm overthinking it. At least not any more than I overthink anything else. I'm actually pretty much taking it all in stride. I'm just mindful of the process, because I find it interesting.
Thanks for letting me know that it takes you to Notes. That's weird. Definitely not where I need support. I'm indifferent to Notes. I need to figure it out because the publication is live. I just haven't posted yet. I'm aiming for by April 15 to get everything going. And it will be mostly in English, maybe, at times and when I can, both. The website should be available in both.
Okay, well as long as you find it interesting and not causing you anxiety. I think it'll be fascinating seeing you evolve, but will I, as an English speaker be able to celebrate the wins with you? (I'm way behind you, but eventually moving to my own Spanish speaking country this will relate to me then, for sure.)
Yeah, I don't know why it's redirecting me, but I'll try again in a couple hours to see if that changes. Sometimes temporary glitches happen, this might be one.
Okay. So it seems that Substacks with no posts get directed to Notes. Not good. Oh well.
Well, at least now we know. Maybe you should post one article to get it activated. By the way, one other question (sorry, I'm full of them today), what camera do you currently use? I know you'll use a Go Pro for biking, but curious if your images are from the phone or an actual camera. I'm thinking of buying one and expanding into photojournalism.
I have the newest Google Pixel (not the Pro version). It has a GREAT camera. I haven't even used it yet, but I just bought a GoPro Hero Black 13.
You're gonna have a blast with that GoPro!
Notes seems to be an odd place to redirect. It really should just be the newsletter homepage.
It's a slow process. I am finding that just a few minutes of focused reading in Spanish each day helps. Try Olly Richards, Short Stories in Spanish. I have had it for a while but now slowly and methodically working through it. Brian Wiesner who writes Serendipity Lab on Substack told me it took him to the next level. He lives in Barcelona and speaks excellent Spanish.
Thank you for the suggestions!! Appreciate these!