language

[Sandra T.]

Greetings, Ali:

Prof. Tom is absolutely right in the sense that if you learn good Spanish
anywhere you will have no trouble in Spain. I am of hispanic ancestry, a teacher
of languages and have lived in  Spain. Most of Spain, except for Andalucia,
does use the "seseo" or "th" lisp, but that will have little effect on your
understanding or being understood.
The only misconception I'd like to correct is that in Spain it's not a
question of dialects. Spain has four distinct, legally recognized languages, all of
ancient lineage, with their own rich literature and poetry. The only exception
is Basque, which has a rich oral tradition but did not have a written
alphabet until the latter part of the 19th century, I believe.
in case you're interested, the four languages are:
Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Gallego (spoken in Galicia where Santiago is
located) and Basque. Variants of Catalan are spoken in Valencia, the Balearics and
the Canaries). Pardon the pedantry but I'm a language maven.
So, habla espanol, and enjoy!
Sandra in New York preparing to do the Camino
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