Why Is Puerto Rican Spanish so Hard? [How to Understand the Accent]

[@NovaC21H30O2]

I'm Puerto Rican and I really respect you guys being informative and respectful about our Spanish.

[@enriquerodriguez519]

so you agree with them that we cant speak it properly? I disagree.

[@PHANTOM5050]

Enrique Rodriguez That’s our accent and that’s how we talk bro. There’s no problem with that.

[@berraquito]

BULLSHIT!! Informative and respectful??? You got to be kidding! You ain't Puerto Rican or perhaps you badly lacking in self-respect.

[@Tamaramartinezsantiago]

This is disrespectful / she said human language like we are not human, she is disrespectful

[@Tamaramartinezsantiago]

@@berraquito she is disrespectful/ you are not listening to her/ possibly you are not from puerto rico/ this is very offensive/

[@MelKali]

I’m Puerto Rican and when you said Burger King in Spanish, I couldn’t help but just bust out in laughter because it’s so true!!! Spot on!

[@SpanishandGo]

😂 Thanks for watching, Melissa! -Jim

[@fernandosalamo7589]

SAME HERE.

[@johns9927]

Melissa Reyes literal!!! LMFAOOO, we’re so particular

[@Giancarlo_1997]

I was laughing all 10 mins but really accurate but way 😂

[@jazelismarrero4330]

They forgot to mention how we pronounce Walmart. Instead of Walmart, we pronounce it Walma

[@liqu4214]

thank you for explaining the difference without making fun of us and putting us down. its refreshing to see this explained without judgement.

[@SpanishandGo]

Thank you for noticing that we took a lot of care in preparing this video. We love Puerto Rico and we appreciate your support! Un saludo. -Jim

[@msg3tr1ght]

Li Qu, I agree!!

[@flutterboypr6481]

I can garantee you, their is 90% to 100% they were holding their laughters really hard. I mean, it is funny since I'm Puerto Rican & it is relatable.

[@timmoss5756]

My Grandson is Half Puerto Rican and I’m learning Spanish for him He’s 2

[@yovanni813]

tim moss 😭

[@vaszi101]

um🌚

[@francheskarodriguez4833]

tim moss awww!! ❤️

[@emanandchill]

this is cute. lol 😂😭

[@ericawalter1082]

tim moss I love this! My son is half Puerto Rican so I’m learning for him

[@withoutaname4138]

No se como yo soy de Puerto Rico y me encanta ver personas hablando de mi idioma y más de mi acento

[@SpanishandGo]

¡Qué bueno que te gustó! Nos encanta aprender sobre las lenguas y Puerto Rico tiene una historia bastante interesante. ¡Gracias por vernos! Un saludo. 🇵🇷 -Jim

[@serafindelgado400]

lo escriben de igual manera que lo pronuncian

[@withoutaname4138]

@@SpanishandGo Gracias por tomar de su tiempo para compartir y explicar historias e información del acento boricua. Saludos desde Salinas🇵🇷🇵🇷

[@TheGuyfromValhalla]

Literal

[@tedfebo1741]

@@serafindelgado400 no

[@dtaina]

Greetings from Puerto Rico! Thanks for a well-researched and respectful video about our culture! I just wanted to add that we'll usually stop dropping/replacing letters and aspirating the R's when we're in a professional setting. You don't even think about it; you just do it. It's like flipping a switch. It's so weird!

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for your support and the feedback. ¡Un saludo! 🇵🇷🙌🏻 -Jim

[@LuisSoto-ho5fw]

dtaina - thank you. I have a bit of a problem with the video, as this pair fails to account for that fact that you articulate in your reply. I also grew up there and while the "switch" you described is very much a real thing, not all of us talk that way, at least not to the degree that the video suggests. They also suggest that some of the idiosyncrasies described are exclusive to Puertoricans, when they are not.

[@randomprobability]

Very true. It's more of a slang thing but also education wise I think, some people are more aware of it. I'm Puerto Rican btw lol

[@Journeytaker101]

The switch you speak of happens with some black people in the US. I am black, and there is one way we speak to friends and family and in professional settings our English changes to proper English. LOL! I just love listening to the beautiful way you all communicate our shared reality!! It is so awesome!

[@melindamercier6811]

@@Journeytaker101 it’s not just black people, it’s a very common thing to go from your common vernacular to a professional way of speaking in the US.

[@ManoAmiga_]

Soy español y me gusta mucho el acento boricua saludos a PR 🇪🇸👍🇵🇷

[@luisviera6347]

Que viva Espana desde PR

[@ManoAmiga_]

@@luisviera6347 que viva PR coño 👍 😅😂 gracias guapo

[@luisviera6347]

@@ManoAmiga_ De que region eres

[@ManoAmiga_]

@@luisviera6347 Valencia

[@luisviera6347]

@@ManoAmiga_ Que bien! me encanta la paella valenciana..saludos hermano

[@karldavidblain6524]

Not only puerto rican Spanish, Dominican, cuba too,they speak so fast with their pronunciations.

[@SpanishandGo]

That's right! The accents sound very similar. We noticed that when we visited Miami and met a bunch of Cubans. Looking forward to visiting the Dominican Republic sometime. Un saludo desde Cabo Rojo. 🇵🇷 -Jim

[@karldavidblain6524]

@@SpanishandGo one love from Montreal,Quebec Canada😀👍

[@RafaelAndre00]

pUerto rican*

[@mikebluet]

@@karldavidblain6524 That's cool! One of my fav women's wrestlers is from Quebec. Parle vous français??

[@karldavidblain6524]

@@mikebluetOui je parle beaucoup,et un peu l'Espagnol👊😁

[@JennyBrett]

Puerto Rican style is my favorite way to speak & learn Spanish. It just flows off the tongue so smoothly!

[@blinktambo255]

Soy de honduras , y para mi es todo lo contrario YO ENTIENDO EL ACENTO BORICUA AL 100% .

[@wojramos]

Es q ella es India apenas aprendio español 😅

[@berraquito]

El acento Boricua es muy parecido al centro americano. Por eso los Hondureños, Salvadoreños, Panameños, Costaricenses, etc. nos entendemos perfectamente. No se que carajo esta diciendo esta mejicana. Se caso con el gringo para ser ciudana Americana. Por eso nos odia, porque los Boricuas somos ciudadanos americanos de nacimiento.

[@berraquito]

@Mercy Sarango Ha perdona Mercy que dije india le debi haber dicho nativa azteca. Por supuesto lo digo de sarcasmo porque los boricuas somos una mezcla de taino, caucasico y afros. La nativa se siente superior a los boricuas. En cuanto a los EEUU no dejarnos votar, han habido 7 consultas a los boricuas desde los años 60 y siempre han decidido por la colonia. Eso se llama democracia. Los puertorriqueños son los unicos responsables por la quiebra en que se encuentran. Por eso los que queremos el derecho de votar por el presidente nos fuimos de la Isla. 4.5 millones en EEUU y 3.8 millones en el Caribe. Si quieren ser independientes, entonces voten por la independencia en el proximo referendum. Votaron Estadidad en la ultima consulta porque estan en quiebra y quieren que Papa Nicolas los salve. Enteretare primero. Yo expongo hechos, no opiniones. Vale

[@enriquerodriguez519]

@@berraquito que dios te bendiga!

[@joeycarr1398]

Hable con una chica hondurena recientemente en EEUU y su acento era melodioso.

[@jncrlss2696]

Tambien cuando alguien viaja para USA, en vez de decir "Esta en los Estados Unidos", decimos "Esta alla afuera".

[@XxkimbarixX]

😂😂😂

[@miltonsilva5270]

Está embacao

[@yanerosolitario8572]

Jajajajjjjj

[@ingridmartinez1349]

xFleXx-PR los dominicanos decimos igual😂😂😂

[@kannibalkittie4269]

Siii slm

[@mgalore]

Once you get accustomed to listening to Puerto Rican Spanish it's pretty easy Boricuas speak alot of Spanglish so it's easy to transition from the English to Spanish . Being African American I saw alot of similarities in the expression and sense of humor

[@SeriouslyLeslie]

I love Puerto Rican Spanish. I think the Carribean accents are my favorite. So cute!

[@SpanishandGo]

We're having such an amazing time learning about PR Spanish!

[@adaconcepcion8251]

Thanks❤

[@maratorres801]

Gracias 😁 🇵🇷

[@maratorres801]

@El Desdichado :( yeah even other non-puerto rican hispanics don't undertsand us sometimes. But I have learned with others to talk slower and with more clarity.

[@rzangyz3672]

Cute baby sera caliente

[@KamiKaXi]

me gusta mucho cómo ustedes tocan el tema, muchos hermanos latinoamericanos se burlan de nosotros por como hablamos pero hay que entender la historia de Puerto Rico y la mezcla cultural y la influencia de tantas lenguas que han tenido impacto en el vocablo de nosotros hoy en día

[@alicerosa6766]

Eso es verdaderamente cierto😊.

[@TheGuyfromValhalla]

Dile ahí primo

[@77retse]

Así es. Me pasó con unas viejas colombianas, entoces yo no sabía como contestarle y me quedé da. Unos años después mi sobrina, de madre puertorra, mi hermana, y padre colombiano se le salió lo de colombiana come mierda y trató de burlarse de mi r arrastra' ah pero se tuvo que meter la lengua en el culo. No me acuerdo que es lo que ella dijo a lo colombiano pero me la bufié y nunca más se burlo de mi español.

[@KamiKaXi]

@@77retse llegó a estar yo allí le contestó bien fácil, A mi más me importa aprender y rescatar la lengua Taina que el español que nos forzaron por medio de la conquista, o sea me gusta mí español él mío el que hablamos en nuestra isla ese es el oficial para nosotros y lo hemos adaptado a nuestra realidad, al que no le guste tiene otros tantos países para escoger

[@adriancrespo1575]

Casi siempre se burlan y dicen Puelto Lico

[@tonyprime8107]

A classic example is our saying: "¡Yo soy boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas!"

[@gscruzseven]

Mark Rivera 👌

[@HVLLOWS1999]

Sí

[@wmbeverleyblanco]

Weeeeeppppaaaaa!!!

[@NewTech_2024]

Y en República Dominicana se dice 'PA que sepa

[@plokiju88]

Lol, it’s funny that you wrote the s at the end but when we say it we hardly pronounce it.😂😂

[@shaym.3519]

Im puerto rican and when i watched this i realised a lot of small things in my spanish that ive never ever noticed before😂

[@luisacarmona1910]

Shay M. Lol me too 😝😜🤣

[@user-td8um8mn4f]

Hiii I don't have Puerto Ricon friends can we be ??

[@DTUFINOPhotography]

I'm puerto rican and i never understood why other spanish speaking people knew what a guineo was, and i also didn't know it was African... Thanks for the education! Wepa!!!!!

[@aracelisnunez9965]

D*TUFINO Photography 🤣🤣🤣🤣 me neither I thought it was a Taino word and I thought that’s why no body knew because that language it’s extinct, so all my life I thought it was a taíno word 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Hartbreak1]

That’s because our teachers here focus more on trying to tell us on how bad we’re at speaking “proper” Spanish than teach us the history behind our way of speaking. 😂

[@Olsjaz]

En Centroamérica también se le dice guineo. Pero cabe recalcar que el término «guineo», proviene del país Nueva Guinea, que es donde se descubrió esta fruta. Y ha llegado a nuestro continente por medio de muchas compañías de plantaciones de bananos(al menos em Centroamérica). Obviamente que los mayores consumidores han sido los africanos o descendientes de africanos en América.

[@jamieborges4281]

D*TUFINO Photography your right about the Guineo because alot of other Latinos call it platano while Puerto Ricans we call it guineo because our bloodline is African and taino ...some words that Puerto Ricans use are backward for other Latinos from central America and south America...when Puerto Ricans say goyno it like damn but to people from south America it's like saying something bad..they don't even know that sangano is a dumbass or stupid person..they think that it's a drink. Condules they don't even know what it is they thought it was a vegetable

[@dovrubstudiosuwu488]

De igualmanera jugo el de chinas

[@johns9927]

As a puertorrican, I’ve noticed that we speak and spell “correctly” when we’re speaking/writing formally

[@stepherpeppers]

Definitely. Parte de nuestra educación española.

[@Es97Coqui]

@@stepherpeppers Ay mucha gracia mi amor! Estoy leyendo los comentarios por aquí y veo mucho odio hacia España, y mira esta gente se tiene que aprender como vivir sin odio sin rencor porque nosotros puertorriqueños de la isla siempre somos alegres y nos gustamos vivir tranquilamente y feliz. Besos amor! 🇵🇷❤️🇪🇸 Saludos desde Caguas, PR

[@Moonkidmax]

Exactly ! I equate it to me talking in regular black American vernacular with my friends and fam but using my “proper educated” voice/dialect when I have to at appropriate times 💯💯

[@n051de4]

The differences and influences in PR Spanish is the reason I want to learn it over others forms of Spanish.

[@rowdyjohnnada952]

There's a switch we have. We can be "formal".

[@rafaelbrito5317]

Im from Brasil and trying tô learn english and spanish too, Good Bless PR.

[@joeycarr1398]

God bless Brazil too. Just a drop of knowledge, almost every airline flight from Brazil to New York & viceversa goes over the Island of PR. This happen mostly at night time. The FAA in PR (ATC) is the one controlling the entire airspace around the Island.

[@rafaelbrito5317]

@@joeycarr1398 i Wil Go next vocation .

[@aracelisnunez9965]

RAFAEL BRITO I am Puertorican and estou aprendendo sua lingua

[@rafaelbrito5317]

@@aracelisnunez9965 u teach me and i teache u.

[@vaszi101]

i respect that i’m gonna learn to speak portuguese too soon :)

[@ericm7028]

The change of the r for the "j" is not everyone in Puerto Rico. It depends where in the island you grew up and if your family spoke like that.

[@SexyBeautifulBabe]

True but that’s how French and Portuguese pronounce it …both which are in the bloodlines of most Puerto Ricans

[@emanandchill]

im puerto rican and this is very accurate lol. 😂

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for watching! Un saludo. -Jim

[@Giancarlo_1997]

Very true lolll

[@AdventuresWithUlyssa]

Its so cool how the same language can be so different depending upon the region and influences from migration patters an colonialism. El mundo es muy interesante! I love it!

[@SpanishandGo]

¡Así es! El mundo es bastante interesante. Thanks for watching! Un saludo. 🇵🇷🙏🏻 -Jim

[@Schumanized]

Adventures With Ulyssa Oh man!! First time i traveled to central and south america, nobody understood!!! "Dame un jugo de china" They went like....wuuut??😆 Que viva mi isla 🇵🇷y que viva latinoamèrica!! UNA SOLA CASA!!

[@NathanSotoGuitar]

La letra 'r' cambia a 'l' en el medio de una palabra solamente si la próxima letra que le sigue es consonante. No cambia si hay una vocal que le sigue. Por ejemplo, caro (expensive), NUNCA cambiaría a "calo."

[@XxkimbarixX]

En "velda" en "velda" que sí. 😂😂😂😂💓💓💓💓

[@nathanielrodriguez1434]

Cierto !!

[@blancanunez2401]

Natito Guitarrista exactamente

[@andith]

Igial que en mi Rep Dom se ecribe igual que se pronunsia.

[@adriansoto8274]

Nadie en Pr dice calol, de hecho es cuando una palabra termina en r o si después de la r hay una consonante. Por qué ejemplo que vas a hacel, calol

[@DiannahHernandez]

Yes, we have a french influence, that's why 🙌🏼 also we have some arabian influences too, like "Ojalá", referring to Alá and stuff like that

[@luisacarmona1910]

Diannah Hernandez oh wow 😯 muy cierto!!

[@a.ros12]

Wow, thats what that means? I had no idea what I've been saying all of my life.

[@wmbeverleyblanco]

Insh'Allah se convierte en Ojala

[@izyhernandez1827]

Wow i never knew that

[@ZachVanHarrisJR]

*I confess, I have an infinite for my Boricua people, peace and one love family*

[@a.cartagena9468]

As a Native Puerto Rican, who now lives in the mainland, I'd like to take this time to express my gratitude to you both for making this video and explain to the public the idiosyncrasies of the dialect of Spanish spoken in P.R. I am glad to see this done. Thank you!

[@juanpimentel6901]

The aspiration of the “s,” the dropping of the “ado,” is present in all the Spanish speaking Caribbean and coastal South America via Andalusian/Canary Spanish. The lambdacism (r->l) is prevalent in the Spanish speaking Antilles, too.

[@amgooder]

🎯

[@casketman14]

I’ve been almost all Spanish speaking countries and Dominicans/Puertoricans do this the most.

[@amgooder]

@@casketman14 Cuba...and some other South/Central American contries aswell.

[@casketman14]

@@amgooder been there and I actually got Cuban family and they don’t do this like Ricans and Dominicans do. Just out of personal observation…

[@amgooder]

@@casketman14 I know Cubans who do. Listen to Gente de Zona...say amol...instead of amor. Most Cubans may say "pueta" for puerta, "pueco" for puerco. ¿Poque? for Por qué R disappears...so do some l's Cuban: ¡ Oyeee "Oga" ! Olga. 😂🤣

[@MA-id1hr]

...chacho....nunca an ejcuchao a alguien decil: Mera... tu te cree q pol q el sapo brinca ej de goma...?🤣

[@GoddessHomesStudio]

🤣🤣🤣

[@starort9573]

Hahahahahaha

[@tuabuelota]

Oh My God, mas boricua no pudo sonar este comentario xd

[@geejay2278]

Al ciento bro! A orgullo y honra boricua de pura cepa, Wepa!

[@nelidamontanez7502]

Bugo:Soy uno de esos que se me sale lo de mera.Bugo.

[@guelopr]

14 Puerto Rican Slang Phrases to Make You Sound Like a Boricua. Make sure you learn this ones.... 1. Boricua Admittedly, the word boricua isn’t technically slang, but it’s a popular word that’s important to Puerto Rico. It’s also frequently used in conversation, and not knowing it’ll make you sound silly. Therefore, it’s front and center on this list. Boricua is a term used to mean “Puerto Rican.” Before the Spanish arrived on the island now called “Puerto Rico,” the indigenous Taíno people called the island Borikén (also spelled Boriquén and Borinquen). Boricua is simply a name for the local people derived from the island’s original name, but let’s face facts-it’s just more interesting than puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican). 2. Janguiar/janguear/hanguear While the spelling varies, janguiar, janguear and hanguear are all slang for “to hang out.” Try saying any variation out loud. You’ll notice it sounds a lot like “hang.” That’s because this slang word is an Anglicism. It was derived from the American expression “hang out.” Use it to talk about hanging out with friends or just relaxing. 3. Broki Broki is Puerto Rican slang for “buddy.” Again, this word may look familiar. That’s because it’s derived from the popular English-language slang “bro.” The “ki” suffix makes it diminutive, making the term more affectionate. 4. Tirar You probably already know tirar as a verb meaning “to throw” or “to throw away.” However, in Puerto Rican slang, it can also mean “to hit on” or “to diss” or “to shoot” (as in a person). Given its diverse meanings, try to be careful with your use of tirar. Context is important, and slipping up could come across as a threat. 5. Acho/chacho Acho and chacho are both short for muchacho (guy). However, these slang words are usually used between thoughts, similar to how we use the word “well…” in English to transition between ideas or change subjects. Alternately, acho and chacho can also mean “what’s up?” 6. A mi, plín A mi, plín literally means “to me, plink.” Still unclear? Well, “plink” usually means “to shoot at for fun.” Think “Plinko” on “The Price is Right.” However, in Puerto Rican slang, a mi, plín usually means “I don’t care.” It’s a bit more colorful than no me importa (I don’t care). 7. Tiraera/tiradera It looks like tirar. It sounds like tirar. It’s like tirar, but it only ties to one slang meaning of tirar, which relates to a diss. Yes, tiraera or tiradera is the noun form of the verb tirar. While the slang tirar can mean “to diss,” tiraera or the alternate spelling tiradera refers to a diss, a verbal feud or the act of purposefully antagonizing. Tiraera or tiradera is also often used to describe feuds between rappers. For instance, you might say Kanye West and Taylor Swift have a tiraera/tiradera. 8. Al garete Al garete originally referred to when a ship was adrift. It’s used as an adjective. In Puerto Rican slang, it has a wide variety of meanings. It can mean “wild,” “off the rails,” “disastrous” or “out of it.” For instance, if you hosted a party and it went poorly or got out of control, you might say “la fiesta se fue al garete” (“the party went off the rails” or “the party was disastrous” or “the party was wild”). 9. Nebuloso Nebuloso literally means “cloudy,” “foggy” or “vague.” However, in Puerto Rican slang, nebuloso can also mean “untrustworthy.” It’s kind of like the English slang word “shady” in both its literal and figurative meanings. 10. Chavos In Puerto Rico and its neighbors Cuba and the Dominican Republic, chavos is slang for “money.” Don’t confuse it with chavo, which means “guy” in Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua. 11. Gufiao This one’s a good example of the pin balling paths slang words can take as they develop. Gufiao is a contraction of gufeado, which is derived from the English word “goofy.” However, in Puerto Rican slang, gufiao actually means “cool” or “awesome.” 12. Gufear Like gufiao, gufear is derived from English. However, in this instance, gufear means “to goof around” or “to joke around.” 13. Bregarle Chicky Starr This one requires a little dissecting. Bregar is the verb for “to struggle.” For this phrase, it’s used with an indirect object (le) to refer to the person being affected. Chicky Starr, meanwhile, is a Puerto Rican wrestler, cast as the antagonist in the ring. In slang, bregarle Chicky Starr means “to play dirty with someone,” “to betray someone” or “to turn on someone.” It’s a humorous but negative phrase. And it certainly is entertaining and colorful! 14. ¡Mano! If you hear someone say mano your immediate thought will probably be that they mean “hand.” Totally understandable. Mano usually does mean “hand.” However, in Puerto Rican slang, the exclamation ¡Mano! is an abbreviation of hermano (brother). Indeed, in slang it’s used to mean brother; however, as an exclamation, ¡Mano! roughly means “hey, bro!”

[@JERios-wv8lx]

LA NUM. 13 ES COMPLETAMENTE NUEVA PARA MI (Y YO HE VIVIDO TODA MI VIDA EN PR) DE LO QUE SI ESTOY SEGURO ES QUE "BREGAR" SE USA COMO SINONIMO DE "TRABAJAR". EJEMPLO: EL EQUIPO DE SONIDO BREGA BIEN. (ES DECIR, EL EQUIPO DE SONIDO TRABAJA BIEN.)

[@carmencaro754]

Me gustó mucho to explicación!! Excelente!

[@tainadelcaribe]

Just to elaborate in some of your points, for #3 people also say “brosky”. #5 “Chacho” can also be use as “c’mon” or “really” like when replying ‘chacho’ with disbelief in your tone of voice which is the equivalent of “c’mon!” or as in “really?” Or “really!”. #6 the long form of that is “A mi plin y a la made a dulce ‘e coco” (‘e is a contraction of ‘de’ since ‘dulce’ also ends on ‘e’ and we love to shorten words). I think I read some time ago that comes from a compliment invented about a General called Antonio Prim and it changed from ‘prim’ to ‘plin’ in PR. I’ve heard people from Spain use it though. And the second part supposedly was also added in PR because of a creole female character called ‘Madama Antillana’ used to sell sweets back in early 20th century. But there’s no definitive conclusion of Origen about it from what I could gather, or maybe I gave up since I go into tangents all the time (as proven by this point) and change direction during my curious “for fun” researching rabbit holes. #9 is used in English too as in e.g. ‘he has a nebulous past’ or ‘that’s a nebulous theory’ which means shady like you said. I know is not very common for people to use it, but I’ve heard it plenty of times and used it too. Lastly, I have to say I like comments like yours that detail things that others trying to learn the language (or slang) might find useful!

[@alicerosa6766]

Wow...tremenda clase has dado aqui, eso si es ser un verdadero Boricua🇵🇷. Pal que no entienda que aprenda, muy buena explicacion mi pana😊👍.

[@alicerosa6766]

Miguel Perez y Aygo, los felicito por tan gran aportacion a nuestro lenguaje👍👍.

[@aileensotorosa7422]

I'm Puerto Rican and this is so funny! I hadn't realized how different our Spanish is 😂

[@yoselynrodriguez177]

Example: Yo soy Boricua pa' que tu lo sepas!😘

[@SpanishandGo]

🇵🇷🙌🏻❤️

[@armando8800]

tú****

[@amylee9]

Pa’ que tu lo sepa’

[@imabigbadgirl1273]

parceleros los que dicen esa frase

[@idaliagonzalez8879]

Yoselyn Rodriguez weppaa

[@YoubetheCook]

We also have to remember that Puerto Rico was a melting pot not only for the Africans, Spaniards and French but we also had many German, Dutch, Belgium, Italian, Chinese and Arabic that settled on the island and have influenced our culture and our language. We adopted many words from other European countries, which is why our Spanish seems very odd and different than other Spanish speaking countries. We had many Jews who moved here and had to marry Christians so they wouldn't be targeted, if I am not mistaken we have what is called Microjudism, they also put their little grain of sand into our culture and vocabulary. We've also had many Mexicans and people who are from South America who called Puerto Rico home, besides Cubans, Dominicans, Haitians and other islanders from the smaller islands like St. Croix, who all have influenced us in one way or another. Also, depending on which part of the island you are at, the Spanish being spoken sounds different. Not everyone is lazy in dropping the R, D or S. Some enunciate the words properly. I for one don't drop the letters previously mentioned, but then again I do have an accent because my dominant language is English. But most slang that you've mentioned is revelatory new, spoken mostly by the younger crowd than the older. I honestly find it annoying because I was taught to use "fin de semana" , "estoy emocionada", "Como estas" or "Que haces" without adding the extra "tu". Also to use "marrón" instead of "brown" or "estacionamiento" instead of "parking" and I was taught to properly roll my R's. It all depends on which part of the island one is from and who were your Spanish teachers in school. My teachers weren't too keen with students speaking Spanglish and they will go out of their way to correct you even if you weren't their student. LOL. I learned the hard way, but I'm grateful.

[@SpanishandGo]

We still have so much more to learn about the history and the language here! Thank you very much for taking the time to watch the video and commenting. Te mandamos un saludo desde Boquerón. -May

[@YoubetheCook]

@@SpanishandGo Igual a ustedes, un saludo y abrazo fuerte. :)

[@tainousa51]

My great grandparents are jews and sicilian and spaniards

[@princerose233]

Oh you mean the whitening of pr after 1914.

[@michellelugo705]

Morphed Ladino. Jewish yes

[@kemolegend907]

Hey Puerto Rican here, you’re absolutely correct about the French influence on the R.

[@todasnenas]

The best explanation to my spanish ive ever heard. Makes tons of sense.

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for watching, Tanya! Un saludo. 🙏🏻🇵🇷❤️ -Jim

[@machatero1]

It was funny to notice how Mexicans hear Puerto Rican Spanish 😆 Loved it so much! I am Puerto Rican and you were correct so no hard feelings 😜 I was laughing so hard... 🎉

[@jerz2315]

I was dying! Everytime they said a word and how we pronounce it, I literally hear my family talking to me lol. El roofo or coucho, lmao.

[@machatero1]

@@jerz2315 My favorite is when Jim said "te llamo pa tras", with the 's', and May said no "te llamo pa TRA" lol or this one...."etamo ready" lmao!! I love Puerto Rican Spanish

[@chacmool2581]

@@machatero1 equiumi - excuse me

[@Kairi1416]

I'm surprised they didn't use "parkin" as one of the English words examples XD

[@tylerortiz5173]

machatero1 my Mexican (michoacano) coworker says he can’t understand Puerto Rican Spanish lol

[@MadredeAgua9]

My mother was born in Loíza Aldea. Quite often I used to hear her curse, "Me cago en la potoroca." I learned later in a course I took on the history of the culture of PR that the Africans who remained on the island during the Middle Passage pronounced its name as "Potoroca". Another occurence I recall was staying with some cousins in Loíza as a child (I am now 68) and being bitten by a mosquito that my cousin Florencio referred to as a "zancú". I did some research on my own and read that "zancú" is/was the Congolese name for mosquito. The majority of the slaves shipped to Loíza were Nigerian (Ibo) and I think that the Nigerians and Bantu were mixed together during the Middle Passage whether out of cargo convenience or to purposely prevent any communication with one another since stories of slaves uprising and rebelling were common.

[@Flametree1492]

Thanks for the information, nice to know little facts like that.

[@dolymorales4264]

Good one on "potoroca" i do say it too when I'm mad or bothered, "zancú" few people on the island still say it, I didn't know what it was unti now. Like pastelillos in Ponce y Empanadillas in San Juan🤣🤣🤣💗💗

[@rin6435]

I’m Nigerian and that’s really cool 😎

[@lesteraponte5734]

Loiza is a very interesting place. it had the highest percentage of Africans in the island. that's why they have the local version of Mardi gras.

[@TheMichellepr]

My favorite African word in PR is Eñangotao!

[@WJH777]

Que viva Puerto Rico! Mi amada isla🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

[@yadielpena4554]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@ilovelanadelrey2900]

😍😙

[@florenciobravo2552]

Que viva! 👐 saludos de mexico hermanos

[@johnmontes4075]

I am from Mayagüez, living in Minneapolis and am loving this. You have found a sweet spot in describing our language/culture from the perspective of the outsider but in a respectful and insightful, even funny way. Something important to mention is that while the island is so small, there are significant regional differences in accent, even in words for the same subject. I remember when I moved to San Juan I had to remind myself to change my “rr” sounds (which we call: arrastrar la erre) to not sound provincial in a professional setting. That sound resembles more the Scottish “ch” sound (eg. loch) than a “J”. It comes from Andalusian Spanish, which carries lots of Arabic influence. Any ways, thank you so much for your videos and hope Borinquen is magical for you.

[@joeycarr1398]

Very good that you mentioned the spaniards influence in our spanish in PR. A couple of friends from Spain do not pronounce some vocals when they talk. If you watch spaniards talk in some tv channels from Spain it is very noticeable too.

[@enriquerodriguez519]

disagree. everything she said was all slang. all spanish countries not including cuba and dominican republic think we cant speak properly. this is blatant ignorance. this is literally slang talk, they didn't bother speaking about our actual language.

[@aracelisnunez9965]

John Montes totally true what are you saying because there was a time when a lot of Arabic’s, Jewish , French, etc immigrated to PR from Spain. And my grandpa was one of them; he is from Madrid Spain. And he has told me many stories of his past in Spain 😍😍😍😍😍

[@aracelisnunez9965]

Enrique Rodriguez Yes mi amor you are right it is slang but the title don’t talk about that, they are trying to explain why it is difficult to understand our accent even if we speak slang it’s still difficult to understand for others because we still have our past roots attach to us. And they tried to give an idea of why and they also explained that they’re learning from our island and they just wanted share what they’ve learned so of course they don’t have the full knowledge of our language, also found out that our accent were different from others Latinos and most of this ppl think all Latinos speaks the same and is obvious that they didn’t knew all that. And adding to all this they clearly ask for ppl to share in the comments what else is different because they still need to learn more. That doesn’t make them wrong. Btw we should be so grateful that they did it with so much respect an also are interesting to learn more from us while others just criticize and make fun of our accent and don’t take the time to learn like they just did.

[@berraquito]

Enrique is right you Aracelys are dead WRONG. They make their quotes after selecting the lowest common denominator of the society. It was not with respect, it was mockingly. I have met people from Central America, for example Costa Rican and Panamanian accent is very similar to ours. We understand each other perfectly. Who the hell says POMPEADO? Give me a break. They went to the slums to interview their subjects? Really? Have a little pride and recognize those who look down on you.

[@szymonfaba8557]

I m canarian ( tenerife ) and this accent is very similar to ours, sometimes it's even hard to say if some is from puerto rico or from canarias, the only thing is the "l" instead of "r" if it wouldn't be for that, its almost the same accent ( or verrrrrrrry similar ), Un Saludo !

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for sharing! That’s fascinating. We can’t wait to visit the Canary Islands someday. You guys also have Sylbo, correct? The whistling language? I heard it’s not very popular today, but it’s still very interesting. Thanks for watching! Un saludo desde Puerto Rico. -Jim

[@catocall7323]

@@SpanishandGo fun fact, where I grew up in San Juan people used to whistle insults at each and call each other with whistling. It's not as expressive as the Canarians do it, but you definitely knew when someone was trying to start a fight by whistling.

[@dick91p]

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico; my father's last name is Italian and my mother's last name is French.

[@hectormanuel8360]

Possibly from Corsica descent? :)

[@audreynery]

You can hear these patterns in the spoken language but the written spelling of the words is correct. When it comes to switching the "r" sound with the "j" it is seen a lot in countryside. Some people aren't even physically able to roll their r's. My dad has is frenulum ( the string under your tongue) cut to improve his pronunciation. This aided him with pronouncing words like carro, arroz, etc. So that he could roll the r instead of imitating the rolled r sound with the throat which you referred to as the "j" sound.

[@danadomino]

I have been trying to trill my R's for years and just can't. I think its likely due to the frenulum problem, but I'm just not willing to get mine cut. I thought I would never be able to speak Spanish because I wouldn't be able to differentiate saying pero vs perro and Caro vs Carro, etc. Until someone told me about the particular PR accent that uses the French H sound and I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Been learning Spanish this way now and finally feel so much less stressed about speaking.

[@trsafit]

Thank you for making such an educated video about the Puerto Rican language lots of Spanish speaking people from South America say that Puerto Rican’s speak wrong and that’s not correct that’s just ignorance .the Spanish language is wonderful and beautiful it’s very diverse and that’s what makes it unique from different languages Spoken around the world

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for the kind words. Some people take this video the wrong way, but our intention is never to offend. We love Puerto Rico! Thanks for watching. Un saludo. ❤️🇵🇷 -Jim

[@familyandfriends3519]

Puerto Ricans aren't Spanish and Hispanic and Latino until given back to Spain and getting independence only from Spain

[@JaviEnding]

Puerto Rican here! This was great, I love to hear others' perceptions of our dialect. Hope you like it here in PR!

[@SpanishandGo]

We love Puerto Rico! Thanks for watching. Un saludo. ❤️🇵🇷🙌🏻 -Jim

[@JaviEnding]

Spanish and Go saludos!!

[@jefte788]

It’s not difficult it’s the way it’s. English also has so many expressions that also hard to get their meaning when you first hear them.

[@judithdejesus7326]

Is good the way both explain. Besides, is necessary to say that as in any other country in the world, common street talk is too different of professional & high educated people. Puerto Rico is a small archipelago but has a huge diversity in idiomatic & linguistic expressions. We are a very diverse rich culture.

[@Mxnty_A]

I'm puertorican but I never knew that my language was hard to learn, I learned english quite easy tho. ;-;

[@ShortiesCleverShorts]

My high school Spanish teacher (in USA) was Puerto Rican and when I talked to native Spanish speakers from Mexico they looked so confused!

[@ozzypark9991]

Being Puertorrican myself, I can confirm that yeah thats how we talk 😂😂 Saludos desde Hormigueros! 🇵🇷

[@joeycarr1398]

Beautiful little town which I like a lot.

[@enriquerodriguez519]

wrong. that is slang only. we know how to speak properly.

[@geejay2278]

Wow! Eso es calle, no empleo, no escuela ni otras cosas, todo tiene su lugar.

[@official_crybaby]

I am puertorican and i live in Puerto Rico(Ponce) and ive never noticed that we do that😂

[@shenanesse]

pretty cool to learn a little about the puerto rican language

[@SpanishandGo]

Glad you enjoyed the video! Have you ever been? It's pretty awesome here! Cheers. -Jim

[@lalypou3284]

All this video is not true!!!

[@jimmykuilan8751]

Puerto Rico recibió un premio del príncipe de Asturias en España por el idioma castellano y todos entendieron que era Castellano lo que se hablaba a lo puertorriqueño

[@anamaria2053]

Y es dialecto, como se ocurre in España y otros países.

[@linavalenciana]

Es que castellano es lo mismo que español, en España solemos decir castellano y en el extranjero se le llama español. Buena cuarentena 🌈

[@porumbel5789]

I am Puerto Rican and the origin of the French " r " sound is actually French, that's the most accepted theory. And you will hear it more in the Center of the Island than in the Coast. Love your video!

[@SexyBeautifulBabe]

Portuguese as well.. they pronounce de their “r” like that .. and a lot of Puerto Rican’s have Portuguese ancestry as well

[@IamMaria_O]

I would not say it's very hard to understand. As a language specialist we must understand that every every culture have different accents and dialogue.

[@johnservellon2346]

They're idiots and snobbish. They make it sound as if the nuances of intonation, accents, cadence and small differences makes the Puerto Rican dialect unintelligible to other Spanish speakers. It's laughable because I should say that I can't understand what she's saying because of her accent and the way she pronounces certain words. As a native Spanish speaker I can understand anyone speaking Spanish. This is the kind of gibberish that discourages language learning. I've had people tell me that they tried to learn Spanish but failed because there were so many different types of Spanish that they felt overwhelmed. Somehow because he learned Spanish primarily from Mexican speakers that somehow makes any other Spanish accent hard to learm. I'm a cab driver in Orlando and I speak Spanish on a daily basis with people from all over Latin America. Not once have they said to me that they're having a hard time understanding the way that I speak. In fact they're appreciative that I can communicate with them when they don't speak English well or at all. Yes including Mexicans.

[@Vaderish]

@@johnservellon2346 I'm a native Spanish speaker too and I sometimes find difficult to understand other fellow Latin Americans. Just because we have different words for some terms and I just don't know what they mean. They can use a word that for me is something, but for them is other thing and I get confused about what we are really talking. As them (Spanish & Go) are not Puertorricans, they find it difficult because of how we deliver our vocabulary. Just as how I sometimes get confused. I don't think I'm an idiot to think it's difficult to understand other languages, and as they, I do acknowledge that is because our different cultures.

[@johnservellon2346]

@@Vaderish Thanks for your reply. The video is titled. " Why is Puerto Rican Spanish so hard? " How to understand Puerto Rican Spanish. So the inference that they're making is that it would be more difficult to learn Puerto Rican Spanish as opposed to Mexican Spanish and that's precisely what I find ridiculous. Yes there are differences in all dialects of Spanish but the differences are small in comparison to the language as a whole. To give you an example taken from one of their other videos where they discuss how difficult it was for them to understand certain words. The word for Orange in Spanish is naranja but in Puerto Rico it is called China. Okay so let's go with that. It only takes being told once what the definition of China in Puerto Rico means for one to learn. The rest of the language is the same. So a sentence like " I'm thirsty, I sure could use a tall glass of China". The only word that changes is China and once somebody tells me that, I got it. So in America we use different words to mean the same thing. Look at the sentence" I'm hungry I want to eat a Hoagie. What's a Hoagie? You know a Sub, a Poboy, a grinder etc. Or I couldn't understand what that Britt said because he called the elevator a lift. The core of the language is there and it would be ridiculous to say that they as fluent Spanish speakers are having a hard time understanding Puerto Ricans. In other words they're using the Mexican dialect as a comparison. As language teachers they should encourage not discourage just how simple it is to learn the few words that are different. Go back and review their videos and see with what contempt they treat the differences between Puerto Rico and what they're used to. Should I go to Mexico and make a video claiming that Mexican Spanish is hard to learn. Walk around Mexico and point out the each and every single word that is different. I've been to Mexico and I didn't have one bit of problem getting around. And I quickly learned what words they used for different things. For instance they called the buses camiones A que hora pasa la gua gua.? Que es la gua gua? Tu sabes es un vehiculo para transpotar gente Ah. Te refieres al camiom. El camion pasa an cinco minutos. Gracias amigo. A sus ordemes. As you can see anyone that claims to speak Spanish in any Latin country can understand that sentence As I said before I'm a taxi driver in Orlando Florida. The majority of Hispanics in Orlando are from Puerto Rico. But we have Hispanics from all over and the Latin world and I have great conversations with each and every one of them and if they say something I don't understand. I ask them to clarify and if they don't understand me, they ask me to clarify. What I tell my Mexican friends. "Aqui estamos en Orlando, a si que ponte Boricua. , chacho. " ja ja.. Y la respueasta es "Andale guey" ja ja. After all Spanish is Spanish and not Chinese.

[@aaronquick6154]

@@johnservellon2346 Well I don't think they are trying to be mean. I wouldn't get offended but as someone who is a native English speaker and learning Spanish, I can tell you that I converse better with someone from lets say Mexico or Costa Rica, places where words are pronounced completely and more slowly, vs Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, where words are spoken fast and the grammar, at least pronunciation, is changed. The vocabulary too yes but that isn't the hard part. For beginners or learners, like myself, it can be very confusing when things are changed and the speed spoken in Puerto Rico doesn't make it any easier, if anything it makes it harder. I am sure if I lived in Puerto Rico I could become accustomed to it. I'm not trying to be disrespectful at all, I love Puerto Rico and you have a very rich culture. Spanish taught in school, they teach us everything from vocabulary, to grammar, all the different forms, so we are learning it verbally as well as reading and writing. So we are taught the words pronounced as they look. I'm not saying Puerto Rican Spanish is wrong by any means. I just feel as if you are focusing on the vocabulary aspect of it. In every language vocabulary is switched, look at British English and American English, we call our yards or backyards meanwhile there they say garden. But its the pronunciation that tricks a lot of people, including myself. Puerto Rican Spanish is a bit harder especially when you aren't a native speaker.

[@johnservellon2346]

@@aaronquick6154 The difference in wether a dialect is difficult is both exposure and learning method. If you're learning Spanish in a traditional scholastic manner than I would agree with you. But if you're only exposure to Spanish came from one source then you would have to agree that the level of difficulty would be the same. Forget Dominicans and Puerto Ricans not pronouncing all of the letters in a word such as saying Buenos Dias and barely pronouncing the ending Ss. Using your logic French becomes unintelligible because they eat half the letters in their words. The trick to learning a language wether you're a beggininer or advanced is exposure. If its easier for you to have a conversation with a Costa Rican or a Mexican it's simply because you're not accustomed to listening to the Puerto Rican cadence and pronunciation. I learned English in America therefore my exposure came from the American dialect. I find it difficult to understand Scottish English dialect only because of my lack of exposure but learning English in Scotland would have not been any harder or more difficult than American English. Puerto Rican dialect is not HARDER to learn than Mexican if that's you're only exposure. Once you master Spanish you'll be able to understand anyone who speaks Spanish even though it may be difficult from your point of view. Buena Suerte

[@robertorodriguez-torres9938]

This is one of the best and most informative explanations of Puerto Rican Spanish I have ever heard. I have had non-native speakers say the Puerto Rican accent sounds a lot like the Spanish spoken in parts of Spain, with some variations on vocabulary due to the Taino and African influence you described. It was very interesting to hear that many French people settled the central mountain areas, and explains why the guttural R is usually used to describe the Spanish spoken by the Jibaros that live in the more rural central mountain areas.

[@katvalentine912]

I think one of the main reasons that I think Puerto Rican Spanish is so colorful as well is because of the tempo that older generations seem to have is typically faster than most others who speak Spanish. As well we tend to use a lot of idioms and expressions to get our points across rather than speaking "plainly" or directly. "Te estas vendiendo?" when someone's shirt tag is sticking out is one that comes to mind. It is a very playful language and is usually made of quick wit and poking a little fun at each other.

[@kellylopez9858]

Our way of speaking Spanish originates mostly from Andalusia in Spain. The tendency to eliminate the sound of penultimate consonants (preparao instead of preparado). If you read Spanish literature from that area from the early 1900s you will think it written by a Puerto Rican!

[@lissandrafreljord7913]

I hear that back then in Latin America, most of them spoke like Andalusians, because the majority of the female Spanish immigrants during colonial times were from Andalusia. As a result, the mothers taught their children how to talk the Andalusian way. But nowadays, you don't see much of the Andalusian traits in some of the Spanish in Latin America. The Caribbean islands (Puerto Rico, Cuba and Dominican Republic) clearly have the most noticeable influence of Andalusian Spanish, as well as Canarian. Makes sense, since they are geographically the closest to the Canary Islands and Andalusia. And like mentioned in this video, the Native Taino and African slaves heavily influenced this accent too. You can also kinda hear similar traits in Venezuelan, Panamanian and Coastal Colombian Spanish with their way of sighing, especially in Venezuela. These countries have a significant Afro-Latino population too, not to mention the native Wayuu people were related to the Tainos. Come to think of it now, most Latin American countries actually aspirate their S to a degree, except for maybe Mexico (don't know where the Mexican accent came from, but guessing a mix of Castillian dialect with Aztec and Mayan). Chilean accent also has similar qualities to the Caribbean Spanish, in that it is spoken really fast, there are a lot of contractions with the S and D being cut off sometimes, and there is some aspiration. Their vocabulary is also influenced by the native Mapuche. In Argentina, most of the Spanish immigrants came from Galicia instead of Andalusia, but the heaviest influence in the Rioplatense accent of Buenos Aires and Uruguay is the Italian immigrants. Paraguay and the Mesopotamic and Chaco region of Argentina is heavily influenced by the native Guarani.

[@normagonzalez7470]

Eso es lo que hace la cultura PUERTORRIQUEÑA... Y eso se respeta como ustedes pretenden que se les respete. Tenemos muchas influencias. Si van a España, notarán que en algunas regiones hay ciertas similitudes. Hay algo también que deben saber... TODA ESA ZONA OESTE - SUR OESTE tienen un acento diferente a otras partes de Puerto Rico...lo de la "r" como "j" es propio de esa Zona y ya la RAE lo aceptó como regionalismo igual nuestro español en general. Se sorprenderán que si se mueven a otras áreas, notarán diferencias en acentos y palabras. Indagaron bastante ésta vez. Abrazos

[@aloysseandino6223]

SumKoon y que carajo a ti te importa tenemos los mejores artistas jajaaa

[@WVGURL304]

My husband is half Puerto Rican and is teaching me some stuff but my country accent makes it sound off lol

[@eveg.2615]

Oh my goodness! You both did a great job! I am 1st generation Puerto Rican born in the USA and am in my late 50s. I took Spanish in school and couldn't understand why PRs spoke that way. Other Hispanics made fun of PRs. I enjoyed and greatly appreciate the history lessons. Thank you.

[@amgooder]

I am also first generation from U.S. My parents moved to P.R. when( I was 16, Am now in my 50's) My Spanish was not very good looking back then. After attending college, and becoming an avid reader it improved greatly. Having said that, the Puerto Rican Spanish that they are referring to is the informal one. Have them speak to professional PRicans. All Spanish speaking countries follow the same Spanish rules from (RAE) Real Academia Española. All countries speak informal and slang. Mexicans: hiloje pos hermanitooooo, mande, que chidoooo. I really don't understand them too well. Nowadays when I speak to other hispanics, I dare them to correct my Spanish.

[@noriakikakyoin8587]

I'm Puerto Rican and I naturally have the accent, but I'm also from a secluded area in the center, so I also have the traditional Jíbaro accent on top of that

[@luisacarmona1910]

Law Evading Rock and I LOVE our jibarito’s accent ❤️

[@1vapng]

Kakyoin es boricua eso ess coño

[@HVLLOWS1999]

Haaa! My family pokes fun at my Abuelo he's from Guanica but he speaks with a Jíbaro sometimes so they call him Jíbaro a lot. I didn't know what that meant until now. I am from LA there's not many Boriquas out here, I unfortunately do not speak Spanish.

[@chefjosuesoto2559]

Someone is from Matrullas in Orocovis lol, saludos

[@mishelly]

this is so helpful, I started learning Mexican spanish living in Colorado. I have moved to Florida, I am trying to focus on Puerto Rican spanish. I had no idea about the history of the island, I can't wait to learn more!

[@lala_nyc]

I think the Spanglish is mostly spoken by the younger generation.

[@MariachiTS]

Linda Aponte I’m from PR and must of the younger in the metropolitan areas speak Spanglish or more English.

[@SpanishandGo]

Absolutely! The younger generation is without a doubt more used to hearing and also using Spanglish with their friends. Thank you for watching and commenting! ¡Un saludo desde Boquerón!

[@NathanSotoGuitar]

It depends. The degree of spanglish used on the mainland US is not the same as on the island because on the island many people are not fluent in english. In the mainland USA, the type of Spanglish is actually more like speaking half of a sentence in Spanish and the other half in English whereas on the island is mostly one or two words in the sentence and that would be only when speaking with a slang not an entire paragraph

[@luisviera6347]

@@MariachiTS you are out of your mind ..only 5% of the people speak english...you loco loco!

[@luisviera6347]

wrong wrong wrong !!!!!!!!!!

[@omega4568]

¡Gracias! Thank you guys for your interest in our "Español Boricua". Some notes for you: 1-"Ñame" (Yam in English) is not like Sweet Potato. Sweet Potato in Puerto Rico is call "Batata" ("Boniato" in other parts of Latin America). 2- Instead of "Pompeado" we say "Pompeáo", without the "d". But there is another very interesting thing here. 3- You say that you are living in the area of Cabo Rojo. Cabo Rojo is a town located at the most South West tip of Puerto Rico. You must know that we have linguistic differences among regions. The linguistic expert Luz Nereida Pérez call this: linguistic geography. You must ask to the locals about the differences between the City of Ponce linguistic ways and San Juan. More complicated? Here is a link from a Southerner newspaper ("La Perla Del Sur") where Mrs. Pérez talk briefly about this (The note is in Spanish): www.periodicolaperla.com/luz-nereida-despierta-curiosidades-del-idioma/

[@LearnWithLilibeth]

6:23 Ñame

[@williamd3141]

Remember that Spain was dominated by the Arabs for 600 years. The language has Arab words, for instance, azúcar= zucar.

[@JulioPrietoRivera]

#4 That R is the ere arabica. It’s a cultural aspect of the Cabo Rojo- Ponce area because of the Arab migration under the Spanish regime!

[@bryanotero123]

Xactly

[@alondramaldonado8131]

Probablemente las personas piensan q Puerto Rican spanish es es difícil porque nosotros hablamos en disparates y aveces no sabemos lo q decimos . 🤣😂🤣😂#Boricua 🇵🇷❤️

[@henrybladesturbine]

Alondra Maldonado no es eso Es la pronunciación de las palabras que usan ustedes

[@lenny2681]

Trabajo en hotel : Conoci a un puertoriqueno Le hablo en inglés.. Me dijo: solo español.. Le hable español.. De ahí en adelante.... Nada le entendí... Sí buena actitud y sonreia siempre. Al final mostro estar agradecido. Bendiciones boricuas!

[@joeycarr1398]

Alondra saludos, cuando yo hablo yo se exactamente lo que hablo y no digo disparates pero se de pal' de cuÑao's mios que se ponen disparateros cuando estan jumos! lol

[@heru-deshet359]

En PR se habla Espanol de lo mas bien. Ellos entienden otras formas de otros paises. Cada cultura tienen su forma de hablar en "slang" y PR no es diferente en eso. Si vas a Las Islas Canarias, ellos hablan casi igual a los Puertoriquenos.

[@lenny2681]

@@heru-deshet359 Que tal!!! Gracias camarada.

[@justfrank5661]

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who noticed the silent “S” in Puerto Rican Spanish!!! No offense to any Puerto Rican’s reading this!!! I’m just making an observation - A Floridian

[@gracielabonilla5160]

Actually the R at the beginning is like the French and you got it right when you mentioned the influence

[@biancacolon6765]

Yo vivo en la isla de P.R. 🇵🇷, este video me hizo sonreir por la variedad de verdades que expresan.😊 Tambien expresaro datos muy culturales genuinos.🌴

[@enriquerodriguez519]

la problema que yo tengo es que ella piensa que nosotros somos brutos. que no sabemos como hablar español correctamente.

[@scottpilgrym2562]

@@enriquerodriguez519 pensé lo mismo lol

[@fleurstube]

One of the best, as other commenters have said, brief explanations I’ve seen. As a Puerto Rican, this video is a very useful tool for me to explain to non-Puerto Ricans what our Spanish is like.

[@duvine3882]

Is no more different than any other. language, still accent aren't slang per se. A deep thick (Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Australian, New Zaland, New Yorker, Southener, etc) accent would not be characterized by stereotypes of their urban v.s rural counterparts, not more difference in here. As far a the mode or way the majority of the population speaks in the streets I different from the way is allowed in schools or white collar professional workplaces having to enunciate more properly & correctly. Thanks for sharing your life growing experiences & great memories for your future with us.

[@pubggang3206]

Thank you so much for this video❤️🇵🇷 and by the way Mexican 🇲🇽need to see this because they always talk about our language and think we don’t know how to talk or speak correctly

[@henrybladesturbine]

PUBG gang320 jjj este esta cómo su papá adoptivo Trump La trae contra los mexicanos 😂

[@Anthony-bl5rm]

PUBG gang320 always trying to put mexican down . you know we are the most hated of the Latinos and instead of showing brotherly love u say some shi like this.

[@Anthony-bl5rm]

Henry blades exactamente . por eso el mexicano es el mas odiado de los latinos. Por eso somos los mas fuertes.

[@mishellnamjoon2787]

I had a Puerto Rican friend and obviously and I'm Mexican so I understood her even though certain words were missing I still understood her cuz I know not everyone speaks the same Spanish but it's easy to understand for me at least

[@jesserodriguez8197]

Also when my friends here in USA learning Spanish from school they ask me “what is ‘Puerto Rican’ Spanish or ‘Mexican’ Spanish??? Why do Latinos always say that? Isn’t Spanish just Spanish???” I always tell them just because we r speaking the same language doesn’t mean we can understand each other just fine it’s different dialects, example: someone from London will not speak like someone from Boston who will not speak like someone from New York City who will not speak like someone from Texas or Georgia etc. Yet they r all speaking English... the same thing happens in English I always tell them....

[@LuisSoto-ho5fw]

Indeed. This is the problem I have with this video. It does give off a disrespectful air because of it - although I'm sure (I hope) it wasn't intentional.

[@jesserodriguez8197]

@@LuisSoto-ho5fw o yea nah he said it at the end they weren't making fun of it... but as a good friend of mine once said "no that's ok you can say it... were not the same....... because we in fact... r not the same" lol ain't nobody in this planet like my beautiful people from PR the island of enchantment

[@catsmeow4003]

Bicho in Colombia means insect but in Puerto Rico it's penis. In Puert Rico bolsa means bag but in The Dominican Republic it means testicles.

[@Journeytaker101]

Yeah, English is the same way! Have you ever tried to understand someone from south Louisiana??? I am a native English speaker from the South, and I have a hard time understanding people from South Louisiana. Australia, London and Ireland...OH MY!!! We have the same kind of regional differences in the English language too!!!

[@jesserodriguez8197]

@@Journeytaker101 yes exactly is jus different dialects, different accents and in some cases u may even here some words from those other regions that make u go "what the hell is that?!?" Lol like they're creating words... over time because so many of us Puerto Ricans have moved to the US, the American culture has become imbued with ours, we have created several words that r like half english and half spanish, which is where the term SPANGLISH comes from.... or more precisely, speaking full sentences utilizing half the words in that sentence in Spanish and the other half in English... Italians r known for this too though m sure many other people also do this... example: "hes a stunad... hes my gumbada... or they speak a full sentence and at the end or just before the sentence they sneak an italian word in like aspeta (wait) or capish (which is to say capisco which it really supposed to b capito which means "understand")

[@DannySword21]

Yes that’s true, y estoy orgulloso, gracias por dar enfoque a mi Isla, you guys are great!

[@SpanishandGo]

¡Muchas gracias por vernos! Lo hacemos con mucho cariño y respeto a este hermoso lugar.

[@FLYKIDD320]

Yes, I’m Haitian (neighbors to PR) we speak French/Creole and my Puerto rican friend told me that they have French Influences within their culture/language as well.

[@elvergalarga-ig6tx]

Yo soy Boricua y apruebo este mensaje papeh!!!!! ☝🏽😂😂

[@josephjohn3560]

Hahahaha!!!

[@joanrm1130]

😂😂

[@richardlamb71]

I am a native Puerto Rican, but I have a tendency adopt the accents and patterns of other Spanish speakers after a while of speacking with them, I fins that other puerto ricans sometimes do that.

[@SpanishandGo]

That's awesome! I tend to do that too even though my native language isn't Spanish. I find myself saying "chévere" instead of the word for cool I first learned in Mexico - "chido." 😅 ¡Un saludo! 🇵🇷-Jim

[@richardlamb71]

@@SpanishandGo I have married to a Mexican for nearly 27 years and rarely say "chido" but do say "orale" a lot

[@viktury2075]

Puertorican don't have a accent like Cuban or Spaniard, that is the reason why we take very easy other accent like Mexican for example, but not the vocabulary that easy!

[@djjammindave]

You are totally correct. After ten years in US and hang around Mexicans in different work settings I visited PR and I was told that my spanish sound it like Mexican....lol

[@azilepr]

Spanish and Go que chevere!

[@amajanaelilshay3864]

My mother is Puerto Rican and and my father is African-American. And my mama is on my ass about learning spanish. Thank you sm.

[@xxjer23xx91]

jaja yea in case you go to the island

[@alondravelez7977]

Happy and proud to be Puerto Rican 🇵🇷❤🇵🇷❤

[@toddkreiser3323]

Sad and jealous to not be Puerto Rican.

[@playerhaterr6172]

I love Puerto rican woman

[@sazon_papi47ortiz21]

🇵🇷🇵🇷

[@geejay2278]

@@toddkreiser3323 why? We love everybody

[@LSantiago65]

Gracias por tocar este tema con respeto y con información histórica.El acento puertorriqueño sigue evolucionando y lo se porque crecí en los 60s y 70s. La juventud actual habla muy diferente a mi generación. Encuentro muy particular nuestro acento pero aún más los acentos de nuestras islas hermanas. Me gusto mucho el vídeo. Saludos!

[@nousito073]

Es verdad yo naci en los 80 y esta mas diferente creo q este si no es el unico es uno de los paises q mucho evoluciona en el idioma

[@Kairi1416]

@Hola Cheska This is pretty much how I go about it. I can speak a very neutral Spanish if I want to, but I rather speak it as it's spoken here at home. But on a very bright side, the fact that we have such distinctive Spanish actually makes it easier for us to understand other accents.

[@milagrosdejesus1871]

La diferencia de como algunos jovenes hablan se debe a la influencia de la generaciòn que viven. El español gramatical y el hablado tiene variaciones

[@annettetorres7914]

SLR 05 Se Han mesclado muncho con los dominicanos y ha cambiado un poco nuestro acento yo soy de los 70 ‘ y el acento era diferente

[@nelidamontanez7502]

Bugo:Crecí en los 60&70 pero me acuerdo de muchas palabras y frases de los años 50 como:Mami,estas como el jamón del cairo bistec de la palestrilla ect.Bugo.

[@antonio3026]

I've been Puerto Rican all my life and, didn't realize I did Those things when I spoke Spanish. Thanks for the learning experience great job.

[@MariachiTS]

The pronunciation that you experience was for the center and south of the Island. Is really common.

[@lizzapadovanihoms9784]

That’s right. In other parts of PR people speak differently.

[@bperez8656]

Exactly. That is not how the city people speak

[@ozzy9120]

LoL that's not true I'm sure I can put 10 people from PR and you will not be able to say what city they are from.

[@judithdejesus7326]

We are unique, lol. Puerto Ricans are sooo mixed that you cannot figure it out that simple. Is necessary to know history of immigrants to Puerto Rico / PR. FRENCH R is about our Corsicans & French influence by families that established in center & south-western of PR. CHANGING R to L came from a large number of Chinese that settle in the north-east & center of PR since the 19th Century. The not ending words with a S is also French heritage. Puerto Ricans who were born, or lived in USA or had travel often to there say the correct pronunciation of Burger King. Others do not since not everyone is fluent in English. There is a Puerto Rican pride cultural resistance from a number of boricuas. Note: We in PR have a huge colony of people from our neighbor latin islands & from North countries of South America, most or mainly of Venezuela & others Colombians. Maybe you won't see a physical difference, but all them had made our culture a pride diverse one. So you may be speaking to one of them that really have pride to live in PR. They have been welcome as one of us. Our Beautiful Puerto Rican, Corsican/French-Italian Roots Nuestra hermosa herencia, raíces Corsas: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXLGdayeophmn6s Our cultural enriched Chinese influence. Nuestra enriquecedora influencia de hermanos y hermanas de origen Chino. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZXQk5Sqh7yobck

[@bandit4true]

You havent mentioned the African influence. Hmmm

[@judithdejesus7326]

@@bandit4true I do not have prejudice, we are MIXED and we know it & that includes our beautiful African heritage. That is over well known for Puerto Ricans. The only exception are those in denial.

[@z0phi3l]

@@bandit4true I bet it would blow your mind to know that as a Puerto Rican I'm Portuguese, Spanish and Taino with maybe 10% African, but I'm dark skinned Too many people go out of their way to emphasize our African heritage, but in many cases it's not as great as claimed

[@MegaBullfrog09]

Yes! My mom talks like that and I picked it up too.

[@gsheverything_2716]

@@bandit4true that always a scary for them

[@Wileiryb]

I’m Puerto Rican and I agree with everything you say trying to be fluent again

[@lillydejesus9510]

Is just slang but they write it perfectly

[@Schumanized]

Lilly De Jesus Well....it depends where in the island you are.

[@lalitajasso]

I mean, Mexican Spanish is hard to understand for me, so...

[@BeautifulMixedKids]

Lali Jasso exactly!

[@sh00k_y79]

It’s very different. Pinche would be used to insult somebody in Mexican Spanish. In Puerto Rican spanish it would be used as a hair tool. Very different!, right?

[@lalitajasso]

Right. Plus many words in Mexico are actually nahuatl words that have been made "Spanish sounding". Meaning, they aren't recognized by the RAE as Spanish. My husband is of Mexican decent (1st gen born in USA) and he struggles to understand his cousins that were born and raised in Mexico. If he can't get it, there is little hope for the rest of us.

[@chacmool2581]

@@lalitajasso yeah, but then you are talking about the lexicon, the vocabulary. Mexicans in general and as a group don't shift or drop vowels like PRs do.

[@lalitajasso]

@@chacmool2581 If you really speak Spanish, me dropping a letter shouldn't make it hard to understand me at all. Me changing an r for an l shouldn't make it suddenly unintelligible. I obviously meant Puerto Rico. I obviously meant Ricardo. I obviously meant cortado, mareado, encojonado, y cansado. Not my fault your brain is incapable to understand such a simple change. Then you guys go to Andalucia or Canarias and don't dare say shit about their dropped letters and cut letters. Suddenly it's normal/ not wrong, until a Puerto Rican says it.

[@braulioramirez3463]

Congratulations! As a native puertorican I could not agree with you more about your analysis of how the puertorican Spanish has evolved into what it is today. Thank you for showing interest in making this video which may motivate others into learning our culture by understanding the roots of our distinctive mix of races and culture. My question to both of you is, what motivated you guys to make this video? I'm truly humbled when I see outsiders (non native speakers) draw an interest into learning the history of an island most people know nothing about. Puerto Rico has become a sort of attraction since "Despacito" broke the record of most-viewed video, EVER, in KZbin which might explain the boom of "reggaeton" into an international genre.

[@gloriavasquez9060]

I’m puertorican and I don’t talk like that! Not everyone’s does! Saludos! 😉

[@ozzy9120]

Well you are a minority.

[@trexiuznevarez8072]

Don't take this video personal.. Many people in PR talks like that. I bet you say 20 (veinte) with the letter B without knowing it.

[@SOLOTU167]

I don't think it's a minority, I've never talked in that way, it's about how you are educated and in what area of ​​Puerto Rico you live. It's not about being offended, But I think minority speak in that way “ta to bien” que tú hace” “cajo” haha sounds like a child or not in my area.

[@MiguelHernandez-pj7pl]

Ok, so I was born in Jersey but lived most of my life time in PR. My parents decided to move back to the island when I was just a kid and I know what the problem is. Unlike other Spanish speaking countries that have their own dictionary, the Spanish taught in Puerto Rico comes from ( La Real Academia Española). This is the real deal from Spain. This is what is taught in school, this is where our Spanish comes from and that is the dictionary we use. Yes I acknowledge that alot of our words come from our Tainos and others are heavily influenced by our African brothers and thats what makes us so special and unique. I also acknowledge that we use a lot of slang just like anywhere else but we can speak adequate Spanish if we choose to. The problem is that the newer generation does not choose to because they think that its cooler to talk calle!! Now regarding the substitutions from one letter to another, Yes, I have also heard it many times but I will agree with Didi Cruz and Gloria Vasquez, not everybody talks like that and that also depends on what part of the island your from. If you are from the mountains or (El Campo) then yes you will hear that alot especially from older people. The farther you are from the Metropolitan area and the closer you are to the center of the island the more you will hear it from older people. This was typically due to the lack of education back in those days and when I say those days I mean like my grandparents days. Im 41 so you can imagine. In that era if you wanted to go to school you would have to walk many kilometers on dirt roads, crossing rivers and probably bare footed hanging your shoes to your neck by the laces so that they wont get wet. There was so much poverty back then that alot of people opted to work at a very early age without finishing there education in order to sustain their family. Apparently work was a priority back then. Sugarcane fields, coffee grain fields, plantain fields, you name it. My grandmother who may rest in peace never even learned how to write although nobody could hustle her over money. She was very good at counting and with numbers but she would sign her name with an X. So you see, many of the words that mysteriously disappears were probably heard from undereducated people and then there kids learned it from them and so on. Then the other words (slang) come from the newer generations that think they sound cool and dont realize how dumb they sound. Its embarassing just listening to them speak and express themselves but this issue can also be seen in every single country including the US. But I can garantee you one thing, that if we chose to, we can speak perfect Spanish as we are taught throughout the course of our school years with the accents where they are suppose to be, the correct punctuations, the correct grammar and without having to eliminate any words. I currently live in Texas but when I moved here 10 years ago I remember being asked by a Mexican guy (very great guy by the way and a dear friend till today), Where are you from? I replied, from Puerto Rico. He answered ohh, from( Puelto Lico)? I said, what do you mean. Well Puerto Ricans speak with the L instead of the R (Puelto Lico). I answered well, you must have been speaking with a chinese guy trying to pass for Puerto Rican because I have never heard any Puerto Rican speak that way. Sorry for the long story to whoever read this novel of mine and note that im not mad in any way. I just want to clarify any doubts. Like I said before, I agree with Didi. Only a minority speaks that way and its either older generations due to lack of education and passed on to their kids or newer generations that are inclined into reggaeton, rap, trap etc genre and do not hesitate in inventing new worlds to add to their dictionary of slang or calle meaning street words.

[@MariaReyes-jk2co]

@@SOLOTU167 I don't speak like that either

[@alexledesma3595]

The best way to describe it, is it's Spanish Ebonics. Plain and simple.

[@isaachernandez8990]

alex ledesma that doesn’t make sense..

[@1LovedbyHim]

I absolutely love dialects, languages, cultures, etc! My husband, who is Trinidadian, always gets asked what language he speaks- “English,” he replies. I am a native speaker, and although he and some of his family members were speaking to English to one another, I literally thought it was another language 😂. Of course, this was before I got to know him. In my opinion, the Trini accent is so beautiful and rhythmic … I could listen to it all day long! I definitely understand why others think Trinis speak another language.

[@Karymer926]

Aplauso 👏👏👏👏👏 this gringo can truly roll those r' s. Good job. I think you understand our Spanish better than most people including natives to the island like me. Thank you for putting it out there and sharing so that others can appreciate and understand the way we speak and communicate. You guys are amazing!

[@SpanishandGo]

😆 ¡Muchas gracias! Thank you for watching! Un saludo desde Cabo Rojo. 🇵🇷 -Jim

[@Ram-Fighter]

Wepaaaaa! Boricua aquí! Disfruta mi Isla ♡ Gracias por darle mucho amor!

[@pices229]

I'm puerto rican and this is the best teaching on puerto rican language I've heard. Don't forget the "Jibaro" (hillbilly)mixed in too.

[@jeimynoream]

The part with the “Cabo Rojo” and the “H” thing, it is actually “Cabo RRojo”.. we say words with one R in the middle with two “R’s”. Like, carro (vehicle). “Puerto RRico” it isn’t and “H” it is and additional R that you hear.

[@ZedicusZorander]

Actually, rather than pronouncing two 'R's, what's happening there is that, although initial 'R's are rolled at the tip of the tongue, in these cases people are rolling the 'R' at the back of the throat, for lack of a better explanation. This is very similar to how people in Spain (and in most other latin countries) pronounce the letter 'J'.

[@jeimynoream]

Amado Santiago // Agree, definitely a better way for people outside our country to understand it. Thank you!

[@sheillyjanice3514]

!Por fin! !Alguien que explica bien el asunto de las "R"! Siempre que tratan de burlarse o imitar el acento, dicen que no pronunciamos la " R " nunca, lo cual es falso. Depende de la ubicación de la R en la palabra. Diríamos "Te Recojo en el aeRopueLto a las 10". Al contrario de los que piensan que decimos "Te Lecojo en el aeLopueLto a las 10". Gracias por tan buena explicación :)

[@joseanrodriguez3423]

I am proud to be Puerto Rican that makes us unique we are humble people anyone is welcome to the island

[@edgeofpeace781]

I loved this! My degrees are in Hispanic linguistics emphasis in Caribbean phonetics and phonology and you really hit a lot of the key characteristics of this accent and your pronunciation is beautiful.

[@enriquerodriguez519]

wrong

[@enriquerodriguez519]

this is slang. not proper spanish. so this is a fail

[@tarasuchan]

michel Where did you study?! Sounds so fun!

[@edgeofpeace781]

@@tarasuchan I went to Georgia Southern University. Also Puerto Rico

[@TuscanWonder]

@@edgeofpeace781 hey Georgia

[@TradaArt]

jaja super bien explicado!! ❤️🇵🇷

[@SpanishandGo]

¡Gracias por vernos! ¿Vives en PR? Un saludo desde San Juan. 🇵🇷🙌🏻 -Jim

[@TradaArt]

@@SpanishandGo Si, en Guaynabo. ✌️

[@SpanishandGo]

Qué chévere. ¡Solo está a media hora de nosotros!

[@John-wl9pg]

*explicao :)

[@isfrom5169]

Eplicao*

[@bodyshock]

Nice job ! I'm from Puerto Rico and i think one thing to add is the different accents are also related to location, example American English has the New York accent witch is very different to the Southern accent as well as the New Orleans accent. Lets not forget Spanglish. That might be 1 way of looking at it.

[@domingorivera6128]

si las personas del mundo fueran como ustedes el 99% de lo problemas del mundo estuvieran resueltos un abrazo espero encontrarlos algún dia👍