Latin American Spanish voice overs: what you need to know

Latin American Spanish is a wide variety of Spanish dialects spoken throughout South America, primarily in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and the Caribbeans. Just like European Spanish, Latin American Spanish is a Western Romance language.

In fact, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language globally by native speakers, and the most spoken language in South America.

Out of 470 million people who speak Spanish worldwide, an impressive 422 million speakers reside in Latin America.

Various Latin Spanish varieties serve as official or national languages in 21 countries throughout Latin America. Outside the continent, Latin American Spanish is extensively spoken in The United States and Canada by expatriates.

Language History

Spanish wasn’t always the most prominent language in Latin America. Historically, indigenous local languages dominated the continent up to the 14th century.

The Spanish language was brought by Spanish colonialists in the 15th century.

The first Spanish-speaking communities were established in Central America as well as southern South America. As the Spanish rule of the continent expanded, so did the European language

However, as time passed, the Spanish language that was spoken in Latin America started deviating from the European variation. The colonial language blended with local language varieties, producing very unique dialects — they were still Spanish, however, very different from their European predecessor. Linguists claim that Mexican and Peruvian local dialects had the biggest impact on Latin American Spanish.

Latin American countries started to gain back independence throughout the 20th century.

However, after 5 centuries of history, the Spanish language was there to stay. 21 countries throughout Latin America established Latin American Spanish variation as their official language.

Close Relations

Latin American Spanish has similarities to other languages in the Western Romance group. While it’s not mutually intelligible with any Romance language, it does share common grammar and some vocabulary with French, Romanian, and Italian.

Just like European Spanish, Latin American Spanish is most closely related to Portuguese, but the two languages are not mutually understandable. However, Latin American Spanish varieties share many common vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar rules with Portuguese.

Latin American Spanish varieties are mutually intelligible with Spanish spoken in Europe. However, Spanish in Latin America has a slightly different vocabulary as it has been influenced by local languages.

Latin American Spanish vocabulary is primarily of Latin origin — a shared feature of all Romance languages. However, it extensively borrowed words from Italian, French, Arabic, and indigenous local languages. Naturally, different Latin American Spanish varieties have slight variations when it comes to loanwords.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Latin American Spanish is the term that covers dozens of different regional dialects throughout Latin America. There isn’t one universal Spanish dialect that would be used as a Latin American Spanish standard. Among many, more prominent regional variations are Argentinian Spanish, Colombian Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish, and Peruvian Spanish.

The natural speaking pace of the Spanish language is 160 words per minute. This gives you an idea of how long your script would take to read (you can also use our handy Words-to-Time calculator tool for that), and that will help when translating your media to Spanish.

While Latin American Spanish dialects have some common features compared to the European variety. For example, in Latin America, the formal you (“vosotros”) isn’t used. Additionally, Latin American varieties tend to drop the letter s or pronounce it as h.

Recording a voice over in Latin American Spanish may “cover” you when want to reach out to Latin American countries in general. However, it’s crucial to know who your target audience is. Sometimes a regional accent may be preferable, depending on your goals.

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