Belinda F. Says:
I’d like to retire to Ecuador and am planning to learn Spanish before I do. Is the Spanish spoken there different to “regular” Spanish or the same?
IL Executive Editor Jennifer Stevens Says:
Hi Belinda,
Congratulations on your decision to retire to Ecuador, and on your commitment to learning Spanish. I’m a big believer that making even a modest effort to learn the local language gives you a huge advantage in meeting people and fitting in and feeling comfortable in your new home.
While you can get by with English in many of the expat communities we talk about at IL, having even a few words of Spanish makes your experience more fulfilling—and easier!
As for the differences between Ecuador and the rest of the world, there are a few. Just like with English, people in different countries use the language differently. Think about the way Australians use English compared to folks here in the U.S.
Here are a few examples of cases in which Ecuadorian Spanish differs from that of other countries:
To describe an auto, carro is used instead of coche (coche is a baby buggy). For a car park, parqueadero is more common than estacionamiento. A computer is a computadora, rather than an ordenador. These are just a few common examples, but there are more.
That said, however, you won’t have any problem using “textbook” Spanish words in Ecuador, regardless of what things are called locally. You’ll be easily understood until you pick up the local vocabulary. Just as you could understand an Australian speaking English in America.
There are also a few differences within the country, in the same way that the use of English varies between New York and Wisconsin, for example.
The big difference in Ecuador is that the language is spoken slowly and clearly in the highlands, while on the coast the rate of speech is much quicker.
If you’re looking for an excellent Spanish course, by the way, I can’t recommend Warren Hardy’s strongly enough. His webtutor program is specifically aimed at older people planning to move overseas and can have you speaking Spanish faster that you might imagine.
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