Tips 113: An Insider’s Guide to the Canary Islands

The Real Fast Spanish Tips Podcast

One question you have to ask yourself if you are learning Spanish is: which accent should you focus on? How do you choose an accent? Does it matter?

In this week’s theory podcast I interview Alba del Pino. Alba is from the Canary Islands. Her accent is distinctly different to the accent of the rest of Spain.

Having said that, there are subtle differences in the accents of the separate regions from within mainland Spain. But, the way the ‘c’ and ‘z’ is pronounced in the Canary Islands is much closer to the accents of South America than those of Spain.

One point worth noting is that despite the differences in accent and lexicon of all of the separate countries of the Spanish world, even if you are only focused on one region while learning, you will be able to speak to anybody from any country.

I have spent the majority of my Spanish journey practicing with the Spanish of Spain. But I have never had any real trouble speaking with people from the Dominican Republic, Peru, Columbia, Argentina or Mexico. Yes there are subtle differences in accents and vocabulary but they are rarely a barrier to communication. You can think about the the differences between the English of Australia and the English of the United States—rarely is this difference big enough barrier to make conversation difficult.

Listen to today’s podcast to get a sample of the accent from the Canary Islands and see if you can notice some of the differences.

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the accompanying Spanish podcast transcripts in The Real Fast Spanish School here.

Difficult vocabulary from the Spanish conversation:

Lexicon – Léxico.

Is it the same lexicon? – ¿Es el mismo léxico?

The kitchen / cuisine – La cocina.

What is the cuisine like in the Canary Islands – ¿Cómo es la cocina de las islas canarias?

Canary Islands flour – El gofio.

Canary Islands cream sauce – El gofio escaldado.

It is the most populated? – ¿Es lo más poblada?

Autonomous region – Comunidad autónoma.

El teide – highest mountain in Spain.

The peak – La cima.

The mountainside – La falda (la falda de la montaña).

What did you learn from today’s podcast on the Canary Islands?

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