How Many People Speak Argentine Spanish & the Spanish Language Around the World?
Argentina has an estimated population of 45.2 million people and the official language is Spanish (Argentine). According to Instituto Cervantes, in 2019, over 483 million people speak Spanish as a native language worldwide. In addition, about 22 million people study Spanish worldwide as non-native speakers.
What is Argentine Spanish related to?
Here’s an interesting list of facts and myth busters about stereotypes related to Argentina’s culture:
- “Argentine people use the second personal, singular “you” form (“vos”) to address everybody.” Well, Argentine people use “vos” mainly in informal contexts, let’s say, with family and friends. However, when addressing a manager or a doctor, they would use the formal “you” form (“usted”) as it is more polite.
- “Argentine people say “che” all the time.” TRUE. They use the word “che” as an interjection, often to: emphasize something, get someone’s attention or address someone whose name they don’t know. As a matter of fact, the revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara earned the nickname “el Che” because he frequently used this word.
- “Argentine people are always eating asado.” No matter how much Argentine people would like this to be true, they don’t eat asado (traditional Argentine barbecue) every day. However, it’s true that people eat asado regularly. An asado on a sunny Sunday is always a classic.
- “Argentine people drink mate all day long.” TRUE. “El mate” is widely drunk in Argentina. More importantly, apart from the drink itself, it’s about bonding and sharing with your loved ones.
- “All Argentine people know how to dance tango.” FALSE. Although tango is a very popular and symbolic dance in Argentina, not everybody knows how to dance it. In fact, it’s usually related to the Buenos Aires region. Along with tango, there are lots of other traditional Argentine dances such as: carnavalito, chacarera, milonga, malambo, chamamé, among others.
Fun Facts About the Spanish Language
- Spanish is a Romance language that evolved from the dialects of Roman Vulgar Latin spoken in the Iberian Peninsula.
- It is the official language (either by law or de facto) in 20 sovereign states and one dependent territory.
- Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world!
- Spanish is considered to be one of the most romantic languages in the world.
- Some Spanish dialect variations differ in phonological, grammatical and lexical aspects. For example, the reduction or loss of unstressed vowels and the difference in pronunciation of the letter “s”, among others, are some ways that dialects differ from one another.
- In Spanish, you can read a word exactly as written because the written word itself tells you the pronunciation.
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