Neutral Spanish is a kind of Spanish used mostly in translations and dubbing because it reaches more than 400 million Spanish-speaking people in 21 countries. It has been used to bridge the gap between Latin American and European speakers. Want to learn some more? Check out this very cool video that talks in very understandable (and neutral!) Spanish.
Here’s a very cool interview with Colombian singer Shakira for CNN en Español. She talks about a law to help education in many countries.
Listening tip: listen and watch the video many times, get used to real spoken Spanish. Input is of extreme importance to be fluent in any language so the more you listen and read, the more fluent you will become.
Today we’ll have a look at some typical vocabulary used in Cuba. Check them out!
Amarillo – a coward person. Aquel hombre es un amarillo. (That man is a coward.)
Caballo – friend. ¿Cómo estás, caballo? (How are you, my friend?)
Curralo – work. Voy pa’l curralo. (I’m going to work.)
Embori – a snitch, a rat. Ten cuidado con ese tipo, es embori. (Be careful with that guy, he’s a rat.)
Facho – theft, robbery. El facho fue anoche. (The robbery happened last night.)
Fardo – pants. ¿Cuánto costará este fardo? (I wonder how much these pants cost.)
Fuca – a gun. Cuando la policía llegó al local del crímen, la fuca ya se había desaparecido. (When the police arrived at the crime scene, the gun was already gone.)
Gao – house. Aquel gao se está cayendo. (That house is falling down.)
Güiro – a party. El sábado habrá güiro en la casa de Ana. (On Saturday there will be a party over at Ana’s.)
Jama – food. Ven ya, que la jama se enfría. (Come quickly because the food is getting cold.)
Lima – a shirt. ¿Te compraste una nueva lima? (Did you buy a new shirt?)
Macri – a white man. Ese macri no es de aquí. (This white man is not from here.)
Nébole – a friend, a buddy. ¡Hace cuánto que no te veo, nébole! (I haven’t seen you for so long, buddy!)
Pincha – work. Está muy dura esta pincha. (This work is very hard.)
¡Qué bola! – How are you doing?
Tacle – deceit, swindle. Con tacles no me vas a convencer. (You won’t convince me with deceits.)
Teque – a long-winded speech. No me vengas con teques, chico. (Don’t give me your long speeches, boy.)
Yira – Money. Estoy sin yira. (I’m broke.)
Take a look at this video of a boy speaking in typical Cuban accent, vocabulary and speed!
Nos vemos prontito!
