Hi What are the major differences between the Spanish taught in Rocket Spanish and the Spanish spoken in Spain. The reason I ask is because I tried out some Spanish on a friend of mine (I'm living in Spain) and he said no you wouldn't say that. Thanks Nick[/img]

Hola Nick. What I'm finding as I study Spanish is that there are _many_ differences in how things are said, not just between the Spanish spoken in Spain and that spoken in Latin America but also between what you'd hear in, say, Argentina and what you'd hear in Puerto Rico or Mexico. Each country or region has some distinctive vocabulary and usage. Of course, that's also true of English. Someone (Shaw?) once said that England and the United States are two countries separated by a common language :) . But it's not just the many differences in vocabulary and pronunciation between England and the U.S. Inside each of these countries, there are regional differences. And, of course, the English spoken in Australia or South Africa has its own distinctive features.

Rocket Spanish teaches Latin American Spanish, so I can imagine that your friend from Spain would find some of the phrases different from what he is used to! The reason we chose to teach Spanish in a South American style is because this form of Spanish is rapidly becoming the most widely-spoken form of Spanish world-wide. When you hear Spanish spoken in the United States, chances are that you'll be hearing a Mexican accent. As a result, we teach pronunciation and common phrases that anyone in the Americas (North AND South) would understand. But never fear: most of the time people from Spain should understand you, too! Just like someone from England can understand an American, though they wouldn't necessarily use the same pronounciation or the same words for things (like "biscuit" versus "cookie"). There are some great websites comparing the difference between the Castillian and Latin American accents. For example, at http://www.studyspanish.com, the oral exercises are separated into Spain and Latin American sections.

[quo]*Quote from * Amy There are some great websites comparing the difference between the Castillian and Latin American accents. For example, at http://www.studyspanish.com, the oral exercises are separated into Spain and Latin American sections.[/quo] In case anyone else runs into problems getting to the website Amy recommended, just try the URL without the comma at the end. In other words, __http://www.studyspanish.com/__. The comma gave my browsers fits--not just Firefox (my usual browser) but also Opera and Internet Explorer. I tried all three, and none of them could deal with the comma. :(

Whoops, sorry about that! I just typed in the URL and kept on writing with the usual punctuation. That Study Spanish site is great, so definitely visit it!