A few questions, but they should be prety easy.

Spanish European is the dialect spoke in Spain (Castilian Spanish) while South
American is the dialect spoken in North America.

What are the differences between the two? 
Does one sound 'better' than the other?
Which one is spoken by more people?
Which would be more useful to learn?

Hello, markabe:

Yes, you are right, here in Spain we speak Castilian, but right now is
more correct to say we speak spanish which englobes all the dialects.

Q. What are the differences between the two?
A. Many because there are many different Spanish dialects, you can go
to Peru and the dialect is diferent than Spanish, basically is the
same but there's a lot of different words and the sound of talk is
different. This doesn't mean someone from Peru doesn't understand
someone from Argentina, but there must be different words.

How Much Does Spanish Vary?
http://spanish.about.com/library/questions/aa-q-varieties_of_spanish.htm

Q. Does one sound 'better' than the other?
A. There is no better one, you must think all the dialects derive from
Castilian spanish, but each country has it's own dialect and it's
correct on each country, a Peruan can say Spanish from Spain sounds
weird and we can say Spanish from Peru sound weird, there's no better.

Q. Which one is spoken by more people?
A. This is really hard to say, there are many spanish dialects...

Spanish Language distribution
http://www.orbilat.com/Schemes/Spanish/index.html

Languages in Latin America (scroll down to see spanish dialects)
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/languages/index.html

Spanish Facts and Stats
http://spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa070300a.htm

Q. Which would be more useful to learn?
A. If you want to learn spanish, you must learn the *official* one. If
you learn it, you could go to any spanish speaking country with no
problems, the only problem you will face will be the pronunciation,
that's all.

Regards.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by markabe-ga on 07 Aug 2002 22:26 PDT

OK, now I'm confused. joseleon-ga, what is the *official* one?

When I learnt German, I studied what's known as "Hochdeutsch", or High
German, which can be understood by pretty much everyone who speaks
German. It's similar to learning the Queen's English: not everyone
speaks that way, but you're guaranteed to be understood by any English
speaker in England, Scotland, Ireland, America or Australia (where I
live).

To clarify my question, the priority to me is to be able to be
understood by as many Spanish speakers as possible.

So which would be the best option to do that?

---

Clarification of Answer by joseleon-ga on 07 Aug 2002 23:05 PDT

Hello:
  My advice for you is to learn Castilian Spanish, which is the
equivalent to the English you will learn on England (London), it's the
*official* one.
  
Regards.

Good answer, but I found the comments added much more. So, Castilian it is!

markabe - 
  While I think joseleon provided you with a good and rounded answer,
I couldn't resist throwing my two cents in.  As an American learning
Spanish in grades 7-12, I was taught by Peruvian and Argentinan
speakers.  And most of the Spanish conversation I hear on the bus or
in the supermarket definitely has a South American flavor.  To me,
Castilian speakers sound somewhat ridiculous as they pronounce their
"s" sounds a lot like the American "th" - like they all have a bad
lisp.  That's just my perception though.  I'm sure Castilian speakers
don't think it's strange at all.
  Anyway, my point is that if you're living in America it might be
helpful to learn some Mexican, Guatemalan, or Peruvian expressions,
and the "vosotros" form may not be as necessary in these South
American dialects.  If you're in Europe, I'd suggest learning the
Castilian.  Just make sure to know effective swear words in each! ;)
  Best of luck to you.  "They" (popular wisdom) holds that Spanish is
one of the easiest languages to pick up.
~hippychick

Hippychick, what you say about 's' is not correct, Castilian speakers
speak spanish as must be spoken, Peruvians and Argentinians doesn't
pronounce well (no offense, it's true), for example, they speak 'c' as
if were an 's', and this is not the right way to talk. Let me explain
it:

These two words (for example, there are many others):

bazo
vaso

Sound the same in South America (Peru, Argentina), but in Spanish
(globally speaking) sound different and *must* sound different. So I
recommend to learn Castilian Spanish because in that way you will be
speaking right.

Regards.

Markabe,

I believe there are tremendous differences in pronunciation and words
across the Spanish-speaking world, especially as perceived from a
beginner.

There is no right or wrong answer as to where from you learn it.  If
you are a traditionalist by personality, learn it from Spain, where it
has the higher likelihood of being close to the 'real thing'. If you
are more of a progressive practical type, learn it anywhere that is
available to you.  When you travel, you will need to adjust your ear
to the pronunciation of the locals, be aware that common everyday
terms and phrases are different.  Professionally used Spanish is very
similar across all regions.  Listen to the TV news in either Spain or
Latin America and you will see that there is greater convergence in
word use and pronunciation.  I would recommend you listening to the
news to learn speak very generically.

If you are even more practical than that, note that the US has great
cultural power through movies and the media.  And given that the great
majority of its immigrant population is Mexican.  Mexican Spanish will
continue to be very dominant, perhaps.

Among the 20+ Latin American countries, I can't think of one that is
the leader in population, economic, and cultural power.  Spain may
arguably topple all of them in this respect.

Have fun,
Claudietta

The information above is in many ways correct.  Spanish (Castellano)
and Spanish (Latino) do vary considerably in many ways, most notably
pronunciation.  And there really is not *official* form of the
language.  It is in many ways similar to English in that British
English, American English, Austrian English, etc all differ to some
degree, but are nonetheless equally understandable.

As for some personal experience in relation to which you should
learn...  I myself am a Cuban-American.  Although both my parents were
born in Cuba (prior to the revolution), my father was raised in Spain
and my mother in the United States (New Jersey to be precise), so I am
roughly familiar with both the form spoken in Europe and the form
spoken in Latin America.  I have recently started college at Brown and
many of my peers have come to me for advice on Spanish (they want me
to speak it all the time).  I have noticed that many learned
Castellano (the form spoken in Spain) and complain that it is more
difficult (although by no means impossible) to communicate with Latin
Americans than with Europeans.  Personally I have found Latin American
Spanish much more useful than Castellano in the United States.

My recommendation?  If you want to learn Spanish for use in the
Western Hemisphere then I suggest you learn a Latin American variety
(particularly the United States where it is the second most widely
spoken language, like French in Canada, only unofficially.)  If you
want to learn the language for use in Europe (or perhaps more
globally) then Castellano is the Spanish equivalent of High German or
the Queen's English (it was, after all imposed by the royal family
following the unification of Spain.  Although each part of Spain still
retains its own dialect, often in a fiercely regional way.)

I hope that was helpful.

- Rollie

Obviously I meant to say Australian English, not Austrian English.

My apologies.

- Rollie

I agree with all the opinions given here. I would like to add my
opinion.
If you are thinking of learning Spanish (or any other language),
expect different levels of expertise:

1)basic or functional level
2)intermediate-advanced
3)advanced

For the level 1), it really doesn't matter the different varieties
that exist in the different Spanish regionalisms. Study the basic and
*universal* expressions. Clearly, perfect pronuntiation and accent is
not expected here.

2) intermediate-advanced and 3): If you are settling down in a
specific country or you are working for a specific firm, or dealing
with a specific clientele, may be it is time to pay attention to the
regionalisms/localisms in the use of the language.
But don't panic! 
Irrespective of the variety of Spanish you command, you'll be
understood by the other part, specially if the other person has a good
command of the language (e.g. if Spanish is her/his mother language).
Kind regards,
Tom