Learn where Spanish is spoken
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: Where is Spanish spoken? |
| Ninoska: And how many varieties of Spanish are there? |
| Michael: At SpanishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Ben Lee is meeting another college student, Emma Lopez, for the first time. On hearing her speak Spanish, Ben Lee asks, |
| "Where did you learn Spanish?" |
| Ben Lee: ¿Dónde aprendiste español? |
| Conversation |
| Ben Lee: ¿Dónde aprendiste español? |
| Emma Lopez: En Seattle. |
| Ben Lee: ¿Dónde aprendiste español? |
| Michael: Where did you learn Spanish? |
| Emma Lopez: En Seattle. |
| Michael: In Seattle. |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Spanish, or |
| Ninoska: español, |
| Michael: is not only used in Spain, but is also used as an official language in many countries in the Americas. These countries include Mexico, |
| Ninoska: México |
| Michael: Colombia, |
| Ninoska: Colombia |
| Michael: Peru, |
| Ninoska: Perú |
| Michael: Argentina, |
| Ninoska: Argentina |
| Michael: Ecuador, |
| Ninoska: Ecuador |
| Michael: Costa Rica, |
| Ninoska: Costa Rica |
| Michael: as well as Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States. |
| Michael: Furthermore, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States of America. |
| Ninoska: Los Estados Unidos de América. |
| Michael: That's why Emma easily could have learned Spanish in Seattle. |
| Outside of the Americas, it is also spoken in the African country of Equatorial Guinea, |
| Ninoska: Guinea Ecuatorial. |
| Michael: Spanish is, after Mandarin Chinese, the world's second-most spoken native language, with over 450 million native speakers. |
| Michael: As you can see, Spanish is spoken in many locations around the world. As a result, Spanish has many varieties and dialects, but only a few of these are considered Standard Spanish, or |
| Ninoska: Español estándar. |
| Michael: Standard Spanish was established by the Royal Spanish Academy, |
| Ninoska: La Real Academia Española, |
| Michael: and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, |
| Ninoska: La Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, |
| Michael: and it is mainly used in writing. Another form of the language, which is used when speaking, is known as Neutral Spanish, or |
| Ninoska: Español neutro. |
| Michael: It's also known as international Spanish, and its function is to be understood by all the Spanish speakers around the world. It's neutral because it's accent-free and doesn't include any regional slang. It's based on the common lexicon and has no distinctive intonation. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's practice the opening dialogue. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the Spanish speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how BEN LEE |
| asked, |
| "Where did you learn Spanish?" |
| Ninoska as BEN LEE: ¿Dónde aprendiste español? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ninoska as BEN LEE: ¿Dónde aprendiste español? |
| Michael: And how did Emma Lopez say, |
| "In Seattle"? |
| Ninoska as Emma Lopez: En Seattle. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ninoska as Emma Lopez: En Seattle. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Now, one last bit of trivia. Did you know that Spanish is an official language in at least one country in each of the five main continents? Besides Europe, the Americas, and Africa, which we have already mentioned, it's also an official language in the Philippines in Asia, and in Easter Island in Oceania. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ninoska: Hasta pronto. |
| Michael: "See you soon!" |
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