With all the different dialects of Spanish in New York it’s hard to say that there’s a New York Spanish, but better to talk about Spanish in the city of New York.  Some people related to the University of New York and to centres of language study are pressured into saying there’s a “New Yorker Spanish”, although they’d prefer to say there’s a few common styles of speaking Spanish.

With all the different people living there speaking such a variety of different types of Spanish it’s hard to say  where best the mixture comes from! Some people have suggested that whereas over the rest of America there is a hint of Mexican Spanish more than anything, in New York there’s a stronger influence from the Caribbean.

The Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

The people living in New York however have to be able to speak English, and rather than mixing the two and learning Spanglish the focus is now on making sure that the children can speak English properly, and Spanish as a second language. There are few children born in New York that speak Spanish as their first language.

The immigration into New York is a big factor in the mixture of the types of Spanish that you can hear there, with most people coming from Latin America every day. Because of this no-one can predict what will happen in the future. No body has ever thought that Spanish would become so important in the city!

Not only is it a language very important in New York now, but language schools have noticed a big interest in learning the language, especially in teenagers. This is really important so that the New Yorkers don’t all end up speaking Spanglish and failing to master both languages, English and Spanish, well!

Mester understands the importance of learning Spanish well and because of this is offering 15 scholarships to our Salamanca school for non-native Spanish teachers in America. The offer is open to teachers with any amount of experience: newly qualified to very experienced! This is a program of either one or two weeks for 20 hours a week. Everything’s included, the only thing you have to take care of is accommodation in Spain, which we can help you with! There’s loads more information on our website, Description, Terms and Conditions of Mester’s Scholarships for Spanish Language Teachers.