Why our location?

Which type of Spanish am I likely to face in Asturias? Well, one of the easiest ones as most of northern Spanish. Like all languages, Spanish has its dialectal variants and its standard language. Spanish is also different from many other languages because, regardless of the dialectal varieties within Spain and outside Spain, mainly in Latin America, it has managed to maintain a common standard language for all Spanish-speaking nations. That´s because of the Spanish Language Academies in each country, which coordinate what is standard Spanish (admitted by all), and what are dialectal varieties. In this construction and evolution of the standard language, all the Spanish Language Academies of all the Spanish-speaking countries participate on equal terms.

In Spain there are, according to all linguists, two great dialectal varieties, the so-called North-Central Peninsular Spanish, and Southern Spanish. Within these varieties there are different accents depending on the northern or southern region. Popular north-central peninsular Spanish is the closest to the standard language and, probably, the purest, the easiest for a foreigner to understand. This does not mean that in certain aspects the standard language has not incorporated more tendencies of the Hispanic-American or southern Spanish variants, because they are the majority in the Hispanic world, and which are unusual in the north, such as the “seseo” in pronunciation.

The north-central peninsular variant is the one that originated in Castile, a region of Spain where Spanish emerged, called Castilian by some Spanish speakers. You can call it whatever you want, Castilian or Spanish. Although in certain regions of Spain it is clearly called Castilian, not Spanish, because there are other languages with which it shares space in Spain: Galician (very close to Portuguese), Catalan, Basque and Occitan (on its Aranese side) and which are common languages of daily use in their regions in the daily life of the people.

In Asturias, the north-central peninsular variant is spoken. The Spanish spoken is not as pure as that of Castile, but practically the same, with an enormous proximity to the standard language in the big cities of Asturias. It is definitely an ideal place, and one of the best places, to easily understand Spanish and get used to the language. Many students we know have told us so.

Which type of Spanish am I likely to face in Asturias? Well, one of the easiest ones as most of northern Spanish. Like all languages, Spanish has its dialectal variants and its standard language. Spanish is also different from many other languages because, regardless of the dialectal varieties within Spain and outside Spain, mainly in Latin America, it has managed to maintain a common standard language for all Spanish-speaking nations. That´s because of the Spanish Language Academies in each country, which coordinate what is standard Spanish (admitted by all), and what are dialectal varieties. In this construction and evolution of the standard language, all the Spanish Language Academies of all the Spanish-speaking countries participate on equal terms.

In Spain there are, according to all linguists, two great dialectal varieties, the so-called North-Central Peninsular Spanish, and Southern Spanish. Within these varieties there are different accents depending on the northern or southern region. Popular north-central peninsular Spanish is the closest to the standard language and, probably, the purest, the easiest for a foreigner to understand. This does not mean that in certain aspects the standard language has not incorporated more tendencies of the Hispanic-American or southern Spanish variants, because they are the majority in the Hispanic world, and which are unusual in the north, such as the “seseo” in pronunciation.

The north-central peninsular variant is the one that originated in Castile, a region of Spain where Spanish emerged, called Castilian by some Spanish speakers. You can call it whatever you want, Castilian or Spanish. Although in certain regions of Spain it is clearly called Castilian, not Spanish, because there are other languages with which it shares space in Spain: Galician (very close to Portuguese), Catalan, Basque and Occitan (on its Aranese side) and which are common languages of daily use in their regions in the daily life of the people.

In Asturias, the north-central peninsular variant is spoken. The Spanish spoken is not as pure as that of Castile, but practically the same, with an enormous proximity to the standard language in the big cities of Asturias. It is definitely an ideal place, and one of the best places, to easily understand Spanish and get used to the language. Many students we know have told us so.