Thread: Panamanian Accent

Living in Texas, the accent I'm most used to is Mexican. I can hear a difference between the way my friends (mostly Mexican) and my family (Panamanian) talk. Mexicans seem to say llamo like ya mo and my family would correct me to say ja mo. Also, I notice that when my family speaks Spanish, the v and b sound the same.

For example, one of the only things they taught me in Spanish when I was little was por favor. I thought it would be spelled por fabor since that's how I learned to pronounce it until I took my first Spanish class. Then again I thought que would be spelled kay. lol

Maybe it's just the v that sounds like the English b because I have noticed the Spanish b is barely pronounced sometimes. When I was little I never heard a b in abuelita so it was interesting to see it had one when I learned Spanish in school. It sounded and felt more like an English w. Listening to Spanish music, particularly La Mosca's (an Argentinean band) song Te Quiero Comer la Boca, it sounds like they barely if at all pronounce the b.

Is the Panamanian accent similar to the Argentinean accent?

I understand that the very soft nearly "v" pronunciation of "b" comes from Castillian Spanish. It's been years since I spoke with someone from central Spain so I can't state that for a fact.

No, Panama Spanish and accents are very different from Argentinian Spanish. In addition to many pronunciation differences ("ll," "v," "b," and more), Argentina (and Uruguay) also uses 2nd person plural familiar (vosotros), not used in Panama.

Lots of people who learned "school" Spanish say they have difficulty with Panama Spanish -- not only because of pronunciation, but also because of heavy slang (lots from the US occupation) and speed of speech. Virtually all Panamanians agree that the "best" Spanish in the western hemisphere is spoken in Colombia.

So why is columbian Spanish the best?

Colombian Spanish is the "cleanest," clearest, most correct, and most free of slang.
Btw, I'm not making a judgment here -- just repeating what my Panamanian friends say.

I did notice you put quotations around the word best. I was just wondering how anyone could say one accent was in any way better than another but your explanation makes sense.

So what do you think make it the clearest? Do they enunciate more? I find that Mexican Spanish is the easiest for me to understand since I'm around it the most. For a Panamanian to say someone else's Spanish is easier to understand, that's interesting.

Better enunciation, better use of grammar, and less use of slang and Spanglish.

Btw, you'll find many Panamanians from the city who say even they have difficulty understanding Panamanians from the interior.

It's not terribly unlike the difficulty I have understanding some people from Mississippi or Ireland or Scotland -- and they all speak English. :-)

My Spanish is not that great, and I can't really pick out accents very well -- but it is easier (usually) for me to understand a highly educated speaker of Spanish than one who has little or no education -- and I suspect this is true in any language.

That doesn't really explain why Colombiano Spanish is considered "better," because I don't think they're necessarily better educated -- but maybe it's because they've had less foreign language influences (i.e., corruptions) than many countries.

Originally Posted by candipinki

So why is columbian Spanish the best?

Agree

I can usually tell a Cuban from a Mexican as the Cubans seem to slur their speech at the same time as they speak a lot faster. It is like the words run together rather than a pause between words.

The cuban Spanish is enunciated clearly whenever they want to; otherwise, it is fast and pounding and worst than the Panamanian's. As for myself, being Cuban-American, whenever I speak with noncubans, I try to use a neutral Spanish......As a matter of tragic comedy, I'd say than the Argentinian accent is an affectation.....lol----Colombians have more Spanish language mistakes & idioms than the Cubans (I'm married to a Colombian costenha, but raised in Medellin)...Mexican Spanish: no comment!!!........& the real Castellano Spanish, it's worst than most, they sound like they have a potatoe crushed to their throats...As for Venezuelan Spanish, just listen to Chavez.....Peruvians have a definite nice entonation and my friends from Guatemala & Honduras, really make me mad with their VOS......r