Language
As on other Canary Islands, Spanish is the language spoken on Tenerife and La Gomera, though it differs slightly from mainland Spanish in its vocabulary, the main differences are in pronunciation - which is closer to South American than European Spanish. Numerous Spanish phrasebooks are available, one of the most user-friendly being the Rough Guide Spanish Phrasebook . For teaching yourself the language, the BBC tape series Espana Viva is excellent. Cassells, Collins, Harrop and Langenscheidt all produce useful dictionaries ; Berlitz publishes separate Spanish and Latin-American Spanish phrasebooks. For non-native speakers the easiest difference to notice in the pronunciation of Canarian Spanish is the absence of a "lisp" on the the letter "c" before vowels - which is replaced by an "s" sound. Thus Barcelona, pronounced Barthelona in Spain, becomes Barselona. But in its most casual form, the Canarian pronunciation doesn't even really bother with "s" sounds at all, particularly where these come at the end of a word - so gracias becomes gracia; and buenos dias, bueno dia. Another easily noticeable peculiarity to Canarian Spanish is the use of Ustedes , a plural form of "you", used in place of vosotros . On the mainland the former is reserved mainly for formal occasions to afford respect towards the person addressed.
Your Tip for Tenerife
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Tenerife - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Tenerife - visit the main Tenerife forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Tenerife webguide section below! Thanks.
|
