Dialects

Well the only dialects that I know well are in Spanish. In Puerto Rico there are differences in vocabulary between the North and South part of the island. There are syntactic differences between Spain and Latin America. Spaniards use the verb 'haber' much more than Latin Americans. For ex. Spain: He ido a la oficina. Latin America: Fui a la oficina. (Translation: I went to the office.) We all have different accents. Most people say we Puerto Ricans talk fast, and in a sing-song way. There is definitely a lot of preconceived notions associated with some accents. Dominicans have to overcome the stereotype that they are dumb. In Puerto Rico if you roll your 'r's too much people will assume you are from the country, and therefore ignorant. The television channel Univision had a lot of their news casters take classes to strip away accents, and have them talk in a 'neutral' Spanish. I think some soap opera actors are doing this too. I personally don't like it. I think the way you speak is part of you identity and it's horrible to strip people of their identity.

Minimal Pairs Activity

Put words inside a box and have students each pick out a word. The students with the matching minimal pairs pair up and write a poem or story using at least one of the words in each sentence.