Should you Study Spanish in Puerto Rico?

I lived for a short time in Puerto Rico and hope to return soon. I worked as an English teacher at a local private school. My issue was that since it was an English private school, I simply did not hear a lot of Spanish and everyone always spoke to me in English. I would respond in Spanish and they would normally respond in English. I thought perhaps I would have more of an opportunity to speak and grow in my Spanish had I selected a Spanish private school.

I agree with the second one, not with the first one. "Anglicismos" we have in every Latin American country, so If you want to avoid it, you need to go to Spain, and even there you'll see some. Read more: http://www.speakinglatino.com/study-spanish-in-pue...

Jared,

I wholeheartedly agree! Hitrue broder. Ejemplos como apaga la luz con el "switch", "parquea" el carro en el "parking", vamos a "surfear", hay "please" dejate de cuentos... Y muchos más anglosajismos prevalecen en el Spanglish Puertorriqueño. Should I say more?

I sometimes feel the same way about Argentina, where I studied Spanish (and am now living). If you're looking for a place to learn basic, as-neutral-as-possible Spanish, you have to be very careful where you choose to go. While it's understandable that all places will have their own distinct vocabulary and accents, some places are just so different from the "norm" that they dramatically alter the type of Spanish that you speak. I went back to the U.S. for 6 months last year to teach a Spanish IV class at my university and used so many words and strange pronunciations that the students had a hard time understanding me after learning the basic textbook vocab in their classes. I'm sure it will be a rough transition for me as well if I ever live outside of Argentina; I'll have to completely re-learn how to use the "tu"! Just like in Puerto Rico, in Argentina you will learn terms that nobody else in the world uses and may not be better off when (or if) you travel elsewhere.

Jared, this is fantastic! "Ready" was the first really ridiculous Puerto Rican use of an English word I heard when I first met my puerto rican friends.

Other words I can't get over:
El Closet
Parking
Un tripeo
and the worst: Janguear!

Thank you Ashlee for sharing your thoughts and experience in Puerto Rico.

I continue to hear some strong opposition to what I wrote in the post (led by my Puerto Rican wife and sister-in-law) so want to clarify a couple points.

This post is not a criticism of Puerto Rican Spanish and how "good" or "bad" it is. Nor is it a criticism on anyone that wants to learn Puerto Rican Spanish for a specific reason.

My recommendation applies to anyone that is looking to learn Spanish to use it outside of Puerto Rico. If you are interested in learning Puerto Rican Spanish then of course, Puerto Rico's the place to do it.

However, if you are interested in learning general Spanish or looking to learn it for application in a country other than Puerto Rico, then Do not study Spanish in Puerto Rico .

In point #2 of the original post, I mention that many Puerto Ricans quickly switch to English upon hearing a non-native speak Spanish. Ashlee expressed this well in her comment: "Switching to English is also another thing I experience at a much higher frequency here in PR compared to other Spanish-speaking countries." I am not making a judgement as to why this occurs or if this is good or bad. This is a simple fact of trying to practice your Spanish on the island. You will have less opportunity to speak it than in other Spanish speaking countries specifically because many people will switch to English. It's a fact. Period. There's no moral judgement there.

Related to this, I believe that a major portion of language acquisition occurs outside the classroom, in simple, common, daily interactions with people. I learned the majority of my vocabulary, not in a classroom, but out talking to people. This key portion of language learning will suffer dramatically if you try to practice in Puerto Rico, compared to other countries.

I will follow up this post with future posts on how to choose a place to study Spanish and also how to best take advantage of learning Spanish in Puerto Rico should that be your only option.

Jared

PS. A couple years ago I decided to read Don Quijote (before I realized the full version is over 1200 pages long) in the original Spanish. I was pleasantly surprised to find how close Puerto Rican Spanish is to the Spanish of 400 years ago. It gave me some fun insight into the history of Puerto Rican Spanish.

I agree, learning Spanish in Puerto Rico can be frustrating at times. In my personal experience, I was lucky. I grew up in a highly Puerto Rican area, and was exposed to PR Spanish before any other variety. I also have a boyfriend of 3+ years who was born , raised, and lives in PR which has helped a lot in learning "Puerto Rican". Therefore, I didn't even realize words like "zafacón" weren't used in other countries til I studied abroad in Spain when I was in college. I still get a little frustrated when I ask someone how you say something in Spanish here, and they respond with an anglicismo, or if I use the "Spanish" term for something, but not the "Puerto Rican" term, and just get blank stares.
Switching to English is also another thing I experience at a much higher frequency here in PR compared to other Spanish-speaking countries. Even when people at first confuse me for a native speaker, when they find out I'm from the States, no matter what they think of my Spanish, they try to switch to English occasionally.

However, I don't blame Puerto Ricans, nor do I think their Spanish is "better" or "worse" than the Spanish of any other country. I get very defensive when my friends from Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries criticize PR Spanish. In the same light, Puerto Ricans sometimes have a very disparaging view of their own accent, putting it down and discrediting it. While PR Spanish might not be "100% standard Spanish" (whatever that is), it's no reflection of the intelligence of the speaker or Puerto Ricans in general; accents/dialects/variations are acquired almost unconsciously as a little kid and based on one's surroundings.

I do agree though, that learning Spanish in PR is more difficult than in more places. In fact, I think learning Spanish anywhere in the Caribbean, Southern Spain, Canary Islands, etc. is more difficult, because of the "less-standard" pronunciation and the speed with which Spanish is spoken in those areas. Additionally, the very unique vocabulary/slang of Puerto Rico adds an extra challenge. Also, Spanish is generally not offered as a second language in PR, as in many other Spanish-speaking countries, meaning less support especially for beginners. Because of this, having a good foundation in Spanish definitely helps.

On the other hand, every country has their unique words, expressions, pronunciation, etc. that could present some challenges for a learner. I think wherever you're going to study Spanish (or any other language, for that matter), a good teacher will teach what is used in that area, as well as in other places or the "standard"/most-common term.

A final note on the videos: calling the language "defectuoso" seems very harsh to me... Even in Spain, the word "ticket" (and other borrowings from English) is used at times!