LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

  Whether your English is from New Zealand, Australia, the US, or the UK... stick to educated English which will always stand you in good stead wherever you go. The same goes for Spanish. There is no such dichotomy as "Castillian Spanish" and "South American Spanish" as many are wont to say. Stick to educated Spanish that will again stand you in good stead in Peru, Mexico, Cuba, or Puerto Rico. Steer away from localisms, slang, and low-life Spanish or English. Repeating the mistakes natives make will never make you sound like a native speaker. Mark my words. With educated English and Spanish , you will gain the respect of locals. Mark my words.

Austin Williams has a YouTube channel on frugality, austerity, and simplicity. He speaks well, has a way with words, nice voice and I just plain like him. He spent two years in Ecuador teaching English and he manages to sprinkle a few words and sentences in Spanish in his talks. But, horrors and procrastination, he tries to imitate Equatorian street Spanish, to sound more authentic I presume, but the result is a disaster. Somehow -I ignore where this has come from- learners of languages try to mimic low-class, low-brow, uneducated Spanish and English believing this type of language is more "authentic" and "real." If Williams ever tried to land a job using this kind of language, he would not get it, unless he was applying for a dog catcher position in New York City. So, please, try to sound literate and educated in any language because you will be better understood and win more friends. Do not say in Spanish:  Na, pa, haiga, amos, sausté, m´ha dicho, bailemos, ca......

Recently, a "professor" of Argentinian Spanish (?) was telling people in Instagram that in that language "coger" means to have sex, and "pillar", means to urinate, and advised her students not to say  "terminar" because it means to have an orgasm. The lesson ended there, thank God, because otherwise, we would have learnt that it is impossible to use plain run-of-the-mill vocabulary in Buenos Aires without offending someone. Of course, the same problem we might encounter in Peru, Chile, Mexico, or Spain, and that´s why I promote the study of cultured, educated, language, in any language. An educated Bolivian will always understand an educated Mexican. So, please, stay away from "colloquial" dialects and stick to mainstream language which will always keep you in good stead.