Now, if you think you have a fairly solid comprehension of the Spanish language, in Chile think again. Famously known as one of the hardest Spanish accents to understand, you probably won't get a single word of what Chileans say at first. But don't worry! Even native Spanish speakers have a hard time understanding them.
Forget all the European Spanish that you learned at school/university (knowing how to conjugate the subjunctive will only get you so far here) and prepare to learn a whole new vocabulary including lots of Chilean slang, or 'chilenismos'.
My first encounter with Chilean Spanish shocked me into a stunned silence. It was when I met my Chilean host family for the first time... and all they asked me was if I wanted a cup of tea!
Chilean Spanish: Hola Hannah! Como e´tai? Queri un técito?
Spanish Spanish: Hola Hannah! Como estas? Quieres un té?
A translation of the above statement into comprehensible Spanish shows that there is A LOT of variation in the Chilean version.
Now this might seem like a pretty easy phrase to understand, but bear in mind that Chileans also speak at 100 miles an hour, so I had absolutely no chance.
This unfortunately meant that, in response, my first words of Spanish in Chile were actually 'no entiendo' (I don't understand). Such a great way to make a first impression!
It was a struggle at first but in a desperate attempt to understand the world around me, I learnt Spanish a lot faster than I ever did in England. After just a couple of months, I felt a lot more confident to speak and join in with conversations. Now, I can chat easily with most Chileans. Sometimes, I even drop in a chilenismo or two just to show I can.
Spanish students- please don't be down hearted if you can't understand everything straight away. As you can see, there's a whole new language to learn so you'll probably spend the first few months asking what on earth it all means.
Patience, practice, and before long you'll be speaking like a local!
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