Basic Caribbean Spanish

Summary

This comprehensive five-session audio course is designed to introduce beginners to the essential words and phrases of Caribbean Spanish, specifically catering to those eager to acquire a Caribbean Spanish accent and a fundamental understanding of region-specific vocabulary. The course is especially beneficial for individuals without any prior knowledge of Spanish and aims to equip learners with practical linguistic skills, emphasizing easily applicable terms such as greetings, numbers, colors, and phrases useful for ordering in restaurants and posing basic inquiries.

Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on mastering effective pronunciation and enhancing listening comprehension skills. Learning is reinforced through repetition and comprehension exercises. This structured approach ensures that participants can confidently engage in basic conversations and understand the nuances of the Caribbean Spanish dialect by the end of the program.

Caribbean Spanish is predominantly spoken in the Caribbean regions of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. The dialect has historical roots stretching back to the 15th and 16th centuries during the era of Spanish colonization in the Americas. It evolved from a blend of the Spanish language with elements from the indigenous Taíno languages and various African languages introduced through the transatlantic slave trade. These influences have imbued Caribbean Spanish with distinctive phonetic, syntactic, and lexical features that set it apart from other Spanish dialects.

For those starting from scratch, this course promises a solid foundation in the basics of Caribbean Spanish, culminating in achieving a beginner level (A1) on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). By the end of the five sessions, learners will have acquired linguistic tools to begin to understanding and speaking this important Spanish dialect.