How to talk like a real southern Spaniard

The back story

I started learning Spanish in high school as a requirement to get into college. I never in a million years imagined how much it would end up molding my life and leading me to where I am today. That being said, during college as I continued my studies I spent time in Mexico working with children and later in Chile during a semester abroad. That means that the Spanish I spoke when I graduated was a mixture of several different influences and that the accent I had was not anything near what it sounds like today.

Fast forward a couple of years to when I met Jose in grad school. After spending so much time with all the Andalucians that were there for the year (and who later stayed for the program) and then coming to live in Seville for a year myself, my accent, slang and intonations have all changed. 

This was confirmed for me this week again as I met several people while doing job interviews (in Spanish) and they couldn´t get over how strong my accent was. At times I think, "wow, I must sound pretty good." At others I get annoyed when they mimic me and point out the things that come out of my mouth that sound "authentic." For example, here in the south of Spain it is common to eat the end of words. They won´t pronounce all of the letters. Like, parada become pará. I have always picked up on and assimilated the way other people spoke especially with groups of friends. I think the development of my Spanish has been the same. It is not something that I was conscious of but that at times I become self conscious of.

According to this infographic created by voxy, Spanish is one of the easiest languages of English speakers to learn. (The original post can be found here.) I would say that personally it wasn´t difficult to learn the basics of Spanish but the accent and the colloquialisms were a different story. Read on to find out how to sound like a real southern Spaniard (below the infographic).

How to blend in

Do you want to sound like a real southern Spaniard? Here are some things you need to know:

1. Refer to your friends as killo (which comes from chiquillo) or as tío/tía (uncle/aunt)
For example: "Killooooo!!!! ¿Qué pasa, tío? ¿Dónde anda?" English: Duuuuude! What´s going on man? Where are you?

2. It is also appropriate to call basically every female regardless of their actual relationship to you, hija (daughter).
For example: "Allie, hija, hace mucho que no te veo." English: Allie, friend, it´s been a long time.

3. If you want to show that you don´t believe something that has been said to you (English equivalent, "yeah right) then say, sí hombre (yeah man). This does not have to be a response to a male.
For example: "Ayer Betis ganó el Eurocopa." Response: "Sí, hombre." English: Yesterday Betis won the Eurocup. Response: Yeah right.

4. Used in much the same way as sí hombre, you can also respond with venga ya or venga ya, hombre.
For example: "Fui a una reunión con mis amigos y todos llegaron a tiempo." Response: "Venga ya (hombre)." English: I went to meet my friends and they all arrived on time. Response: Yeah right man.

5. When someone tells you something disappointing or surprising (something you didn´t expect) you can say vaya tela (roughly translated to wow, cloth).
For example: "Mañana 40 grados de nuevo." Response: "Vaya tela." English: Tomorrow it is going to be 40 degrees again. Response: Oh, no/oh, man.

6. To signal your agreement with something you can say vale (okay). You can even repeat it several times. 
For example: "Bueno, venga, nos vemos pronto." Response: "Vale, vale." English: Good, well, see you soon. Response: Okay, okay.


I know there are a lot more examples of these colloquialisms. These are just the ones that came to mind right now. I am  also planning on writing another post about how to swear/cuss/insult like a Spaniard soon. That is how you really sound authentic in any language!