The Nicaraguan Accent | How to Speak Spanish like a Native Nicaraguan 

My wife is a native Nicaraguan, and after 32 years of marriage I can confirm everything is indeed an -ito/-ita. One of my favorite breakfast meals, scrambled eggs with tortillas, my wife calls “huevitos con tortillita”. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is diminutive small with Nicaraguans. Even our 6 foot 4 215 pound son is still called Robertito. I always (and still do) think it’s the funniest and most interesting thing about Nicaraguan Spanish.

Hello All! I am Nicaraguan and she is very closed about our accent. However, I would explain it in a slightly different way. We pronounce the "S" as a "J" sound in Spanish. With the example you mentioned, "Qué es esto?", it would sound as "Quéjejto". The same thing happens with "estar", I would pronounce it as "ejtar". When letter "S" is between two vowels the "S" remains as the usual "S" sound, if it is at the end of a word it sounds as the "J" sounds in Spanish. We have that variation of the "S" pronunciation because the influence of the south of Spain during the colony, they pronounce the "S" similar as we do. Regarding the conjugation of the verb "Decir" with the pronoun "Vos" in past tense, there are two reasons we add an "S" at the end of the word "(Vos) dijistes", the first one is in Spain before pronoun "Tu" started to appear and extended in Spain and Latinamerica, there was a variation of the way the verbs were conjugated with the pronoun "vos" and "vosotros", it used to be "Vos dijisteis, dijistes" and "Vosotros dijisteis", for example. However, since we don't prounaunce the "S" as other countries or regions the final sound of the words ending in "S" gets amboiguous, so we add the "S" in "dijistes" to emphasis the word, for example when we are fighting: "Es que el otro día vos me dijistes!" hahaha. By the way, in Spain they still use the pronoun "You (all)" as "Vosotros.

I’ve lived in Nicaragua for 5 years, and I feel like I’m just going backwards. Your video is so very helpful. Very glad I found you.

Te felicito porque tienes un buen a acento y buena pronunciacion nica ..keep learning, well done.greetings from canada 🇨🇦.

Wait, wait, wait... Let's get one thing straight: YOUR NICA SPANISH AND ACCENT ARE GREAT! This is probably an area where I shouldn't give my opinion given that I don't sound Nica (unless I purposely put on a Nica accent). I think that people in Managua have less of an accent... or perhaps people in the provinces have more of the type of accent you're referring to. Again, I'm probably not the best person for this topic... ie when I'm in Nicaragua, I get asked IN ENGLISH "Where are you from?" and when going to National Parks I always pay fees for "extranjeros" 🙄🙄🙄

It's nice to know people are learning more about Nica Culture. My mom will be so proud when I show her these videos. Thank you!

Indeed! Your Nicaraguan Accent is pretty Good!

Thank you! Lots of great vocabulary in this video, and I find it fascinating how the Spanish varies from country to country. I wondered why I couldn't quite make out what you and Tomas were saying when you spoke Nica Spanish at normal speed, but now I realize that it is because you are dropping the "S" and slurring everything together. There is also the little changes between common words. This is awesome, and thanks again!

Hey👋 just found this channel - Gotta say You did a great job explaining everything in this video. You roll your R's good👏👏.🙂

i never noticed how much my family and i slurred words until you mentioned it

I am thinking about moving to Nicaragua next year and your videos are awesome! Keep them coming please!

I'm nicaraguan and you know more spanish than me😭

Very good, thank you for your video.

I got to say your Spanish is better than mine now

I'm nicaraguan, good job... accurate

Great video keep it up.

Hola, tu video me ayudo mucho, estoy enseñando español a una pareja de coreanos que sirven como misioneros en Nicaragua 🙂

Your NIc Spanish is excellent. muy buen trabajo, tu español es excelente.

she said the double R so good!!

Your daughter is sooooo cute, she's so full of joy, do you call her by a diminutive?

I am from Nicaragua and i asure you know more than me jjj im learning english

I am from Guyana South América and am very interested in the Nicarguan cultura and music. I was trained with Nicaráguans in Rádio broadcasting in Trinidad in the year 2000. There is where I first heard their music. Lovely!! I am also native to the indegenous tribe in this part of south América.

I'm Nicaraguan and your accent sounds great! It would throw me off if I heard you speaking in the street.

This video is super useful, thank you! I recently started seeing a Nicarguan girl who doesn't speak any English, and I can't tell what the * she''s saying almost ever. This explains it. I had definitely noticed the slurring and skipped s's. And I say her add an s in a text recently, but I took it as either a typo or informal speech (context-wise It expected imperative form, but it looked like normal present tense). She said "Me avisas"

Saludos desde Nicaragua 🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮

Sinceramente yo pensaba que eras nica , pero si hablas bien español , saludos desde Miami florida , soy nica de Masaya , bendiciones para ti y tu familia.

Omg you almost pass as native Nicaraguan!

Soy de Michigan!

I moved to San Diego at the age of 7 and I lost my accent and UNKNOWINGLY picked up a Mexican one. I want my accent back

Muy bonita la niñita

Hola! Hello! My name is Alexis and I am married to a Nica! I’m from Northern Wisconsin and I met him aquí en los estados unidos pero unfortunately I have not been able to travel to Nicaragua to meet his family and see el país hermosa pero yo quiero ir en el futuro :) I was hoping you could mándame un mensaje privado and we could chat about their language?? He doesn’t speak any English, I took Spanish in school and when I met him thankfully I remember so much! But hay mucho palabras y cosas no entiendo porque Nicaragüenses have like their own special language of their own with all the slang! I am very interested in getting to know you, learn more, and become friends! Mucho gusto amiguita bonita!

Nicaraguan in the USA for over 40 years, no one knows my accent when speaking Spanish to any other Spanish speaking Pearson. I think I when'd back to my school Spanish or the correct Spanish, in school we all learn the correct grammar till we go out of school. 😂

You're from the Lulula peninsulul of Michigan? I wonder what that's like. Is it where the teletubbies came from?

My husband is from Managua. He wants me to go with him.I’m kinda nervous about it.I’ve never been out of the country. I also don’t speak Spanish it will probably be all awkward lol

Wow muy bien la verdad que nosotros los nicas hablamos mal pero nos entendemos bien jejejejee

El nica la mayoria elimina la s al final y le pone una j 😂😂 ejm pues puej entre otras

We gotta add "-ito" to everything because our tone sounds rude lol

No es precisamente que no decimos la a, simplemente o normalmente la ese suena como una " j "muy sutil no sonora que pareciera que sonara, pero que ahí está y si querés darle relevancia a la palabra a huevo tenemos que pronunciar la s.

You should study linguistics you’re a natural

Eso solo se ve en el norte de nicaragua nosotros decimos dijistes

Your Spanish pronunciation awareness is surprising considering you don't have the tool of phonetics to give you a hand. As you well have guessed, /t/ and /d/ in Spanish are interdental sounds (Apico-dental in English) and /t/ doesn't have an "extra-plosion of air" in accented positions. Besides, The /d/ sound is in Spanish, though plosive in initial position -as in English-, africate in the rest of positions (that means you first close your point of articulation and then release the air -technically it's not either a plosive /d/ or a continuant /ð/, rather something in between). As far as I can hear, your "rolling" is quite convincing... By the way, I guess my compliment comes across well in Nica Spanish: "Tu nena está para comérsela!!!" Regards.

Hahahha not like an Arian...hahahahahhahah crazy times we live nowdays

i have just started dating a Nicaraguan Woman.

bruh cant believe i gotta watch this to speak spanish like my people, so embarrassing 😞