If you’re a student of Spanish, you may have noticed that there is a lot of variety in the way the language is spoken in different parts of the world. (With over 500 million speakers across the globe, it’s no surprise!) Regardless of where they’re from, Spanish speakers get along just fine communicating with one another despite some big differences in vocabulary and even grammar across dialects. With the help of our e-Tutor, Enrique, we’ve put together a quiz to test how well you know those defining characteristics for some varieties spoken in Latin America and Spain.
1) Where is it common to hear someone say ¿Mande? when they didn’t hear what someone said to them?
a) Mexico
b) Spain
c) Cuba
d) Chile
2) Where are you likely to hear poroto used to mean ‘bean’?
a) Mexico
b) Spain
c) Cuba
d) Chile
3) “To drive a car” in Spain is ______ and in Latin America it is _____.
a) manejar un carro / conducir un carro
b) conducir un carro / manejar un carro
c) conducir un coche / manejar un carro
d) manejar un coche / conducir un carro
4) In Spain a computer is known as _____.
a) la computadora
b) el computador
c) el ordenador
d) el fijo
5) How would you address someone informally in Argentina?
a) vos
b) tú
c) usted
d) ustedes
6) How would you order a glass of orange juice in Castellano?
a) Un jugo de naranja, por favor.
b) Un zumo de naranja, por favor.
c) Un exprimido de naranja, por favor.
d) Un batido de naranja, por favor.
7) When talking informally to a group of people in Spain, you are likely to use ___.
a) ustedes
b) usted
c) tú
d) vosotros
8) When parking your car, you’re likely to hear ____ in Spain and _____ in Latin America.
a) aparcar / estacionar
b) escapar / estacionar
c) estacionar / aparcar
d) estacionar / escapar
9) A bus in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay is known as _____.
a) la guagua
b) el autobús
c) el bus
d) el colectivo
10) In Spain a cell phone is known as _____.
a) el celular
b) el móvil
c) el teléfono portátil
d) el cel
11) In Puerto Rico your plane ticket is known as _____.
a) el billete
b) el pasaje
c) el boleto
d) la tarjeta
12) If looking for an apartment, you would search for a ____ in Spain, a ____in Argentina and _____ in the Dominican Republic.
a) piso / departamento / apartamento
b) departamento / apartamento / piso
c) piso / apartamento / departamento
d) apartamento / piso / departamento
13) A jacket in Mexico is known as a______.
a) chaqueta
b) cazadora
c) chamarra
d) impermeable
How’d you do? Check your answers against the key posted on our Spanish language learners’ forum.