Categories
Spanish as a language

Discover the Best Spanish-Speaking Countries to Learn Spanish

You only have to travel around the best Spanish-Speaking countries to learn Spanish to realise what a privilege this is. The quality of life, the friendliness of the people and the joy that covers the streets will give you an idea of what it is like to live in a Spanish-speaking heaven.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking for the best way to improve your Spanish, if you want to learn while travelling or if you just feel like a change of scenery and want to find out which country is the best to learn Spanish. Read this iScribo article and start making plans to find out in which land you want to perfect the language of Cervantes.

Learning Spanish for Foreigners

If you wonder how to improve your Spanish speaking, it has always been said that the best way is by travelling. However, we always advise that having a good grounding in the language is essential to be able to start speaking and writing properly.

To improve your Spanish as a foreigner, consider your level to rule out or decide on certain countries, we tell you why:

Basic Level

If you are starting practically from scratch, the best countries to learn Spanish might be in Latin American, as the tone of the Spanish they use is slower and the vocalisation may seem easier at first.

Mexico: you will see how the phoneme /θ/ as in cielo (sky) is pronounced as an /s/. This is a common feature in Latin America, but in Mexico it gives the vocabulary an extraordinary delirium of sweetness.

In Mexico, every letter of every word is pronounced, but watch out! You will also see how the influence of English sometimes plays a trick on the grammar:

Encontrándose cansado se tumbó (incorrecto).

Estaba cansado y se tumbó (correcto).

(Finding himself tired he lay down).

Peru: If you are looking for a culturally rich and affordable country, this might be your best option. Little English is spoken in Peru, so you will learn much more quickly when communicating in Spanish. The Spanish of this area is unique due to Spanish, Andean, Chinese and African influences.

In Peru they make the distinction between ll and y, so you’ll notice the difference in accent between a llama (flame) and a yunque (anvil). They also tend to reverse the order of sentences and express the verb at the end.

Intermediate Level

Neither too much nor too little, these countries speak a type of Spanish that is accessible to all levels:

Colombia: A welcoming and generous country per se. Colombia’s gastronomy and Spanish, indigenous and African influences make it one of the most interesting countries to visit. It might be the Latin American country that best respects the grammar of academics, with a rhythmic and slow accent so that you learn quickly and easily. Be careful! The danger of Colombia is that if you go for a couple of weeks, you’ll never want to leave, not just because of the affordable prices, but because of its charm.

Spain: Perhaps what strikes foreigners most is the speed at which Spaniards speak, as if they are running out of time and can’t say everything they think! In reality, European society is one of the most revolutionary per excellence, which is why there is always so much to tell.

Joking aside, the great diversity of accents in the country will make you learn a cultured spoken Spanish, as in Salamanca, or a more plain and friendly Spanish typical of the south.

Proficiency Level

I hope you like the challenges because there are areas where learning Spanish can be a real one because of the accent, we tell you why:

Chile: Chile’s location means that the Spanish language evolves at its own pace and with its people. It is difficult to classify this type of Spanish, but it can be easily recognised by its melody, its idioms and its disruption. Did you know that the proposal to end adjectives and nouns in -e for the inclusion of the Spanish language was born in Chile? They can greet you with a cachai or invite you to a carrete (party).

Argentina and Uruguay: Speaking of accents, the accent of these two countries may be the most peculiar, and I say peculiar because it is very mellow. It is completely impossible not to distinguish a speaker from these areas. One of the characteristics is that they turn proparoxytone words into graves and graves into acutes, a fact fully accepted by the RAE:

¿Qué miras? (Normal Spanish variant everywhere).

¿Qué mirás? (Normal variant of Spanish in Argentina and Uruguay).

(What are you looking at?)

Believe it or not, Argentinean and Uruguayan Spanish has a lot of influence from Italian and French due to historical immigration.

It is also curious how they pronounce the ll and the y as if it were /sh/: plasha instead of playa (beach).

Live It Yourself!

Have you already identified the best Spanish-speaking country to live in? We can only advise you on our favourites ones, but the decision is ultimately yours. Weigh up the pros and cons and decide which one suits you best. iScribo is our spelling and grammar checker that corrects as you type. It also distinguishes different varieties of Spanish and is a great alternative to improve your language. Have you tried it yet? Tell us in the comments.

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IA and iScribo

What is ChatGPT? Learn the Keys for Beginners

The topic of the moment! Why is everyone talking about it? What is ChatGPT and what is it for? What is a chatbot and why should you care? ChatGPT is new in our lives and it seems that it has arrived to stay forever. It has landed with force in the world of technology and has revolutionised the planet without us expecting it. A thousand questions and concerns arise, so, to get our ideas clear, let’s learn a little about this creation of artificial intelligence.

In this iScribo article, discover the keys to understanding the foundations of this technological product that is as admired as it is controversial.

What is ChatGPT doing and Why Does it Work?

What is ChatGPT used for? First of all, let’s go through its meaning. It is a technological tool that has been born thanks to artificial intelligence. The ChatGPT chatbot generates fully coherent and accurate written content that emulates human writing.

It has burst into our lives because it is an interactive system that responds to your questions, all of them, as if it were a natural conversation, and it is available in a multitude of languages. It is able to adapt to the social context and the age of the questioner. In short, it is as if you were interacting on the internet with a very cultured person in the flesh.

If you are wondering what ChatGPT is and how it works, the best thing to do is to try it out. It is very intuitive and precise, just ask it a question and it will answer it for you. You can also combine it with other types of applications to increase the speed with which you resolve your doubts. Take a look at your mobile phone and select one of your favourite chat apps, you will see that some of them include the possibility of combining it with ChatGPT.

Fears it Arouses

Many people are still sceptical about ChatGPT, as it is a very advanced technology that we are not used to.

Some of the ChatGPT fears are that people see their jobs in jeopardy, such as the world of linguistics and writers. However, it still makes mistakes that need to be developed, and we have no doubt that it will be.

In the world of education, students have found an ally in this evolution of artificial intelligence to deliver their essays, projects and assignments. Teachers now need to look for alternatives to make students work harder.

Don’t panic! Technology cannot take away our work completely, but it does present us with the opportunity to adapt to it in order to improve productivity and quality, so let’s look on the bright side. With this kind of technology, we can work faster and better.

Differences Between ChatGPT and GPT-3

GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) is the predecessor of ChatGPT. It is a deep learning neural network that generates content and predicts the series of words or phrases that will make up the text as a whole. It was designed to perform a variety of tasks, such as translating, proofreading, problem solving and text generation.

GPT-3 is also used to analyse customer reviews when testing a product, as well as in the world of video games. It may sound strange, but this brings naturalness to the characters that have to interact with humans.

It is also used to generate text in applications, without GPT-3 many of the applications we use every day would not have seen the light of day. Finally, GPT-3 is used in marketing campaigns.

Remind you of anything? GPT-3 is the technology used by our spell and grammar checker iScribo since it was born. iScribo corrects your Spanish documents in real time with the help of artificial intelligence and our wonderful team of linguists behind the teaching. Technology and art combined in a product that makes your life easier.

Both ChatGPT and GPT-3 are fed in real time. We teach them and they teach us.

Technology As Your Assistant

We must adapt to the times and not fall into the despair of a world that is advancing at the speed of light. Read, learn and overcome your fears, this is the only way to get the most out of artificial intelligence. Use technological tools as your virtual assistant in your personal and professional life to set yourself apart from the competition. You won’t regret it.

Do you know any ChatGPT alternative and have you tried it? Just think, there are many objects and tools that you use every day that work thanks to this type of technology. Tell us in the comments about your experience and let us know if you notice the difference with the iScribo engine, your spell and grammar checker in Spanish.

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Writing in Spanish

What are the Rules of Dialogue Writing in Spanish

Do you know how to write dialogues in Spanish? Learning how an interaction dialogue works in Spanish is crucial for it to be read fluently and accurately.

The rules for writing dialogues generate doubts and, if we look closely, they are one of the most important parts of stories. Interviews, articles, novels, film scripts, etc., we can find this type of communication exchange very frequently day after day.

What is a Dialogue?

A dialogue is a type of communication between two or more people. It is an essential part of human interaction and, therefore, writing dialogues correctly will allow us to share thoughts, ideas or conversations, among others.

Keep reading to learn the basics about simple dialogues in Spanish, because, yeah, they can be complicated sometimes.

Different Parts of a Dialogue

When we talk about writing dialogues in Spanish, most of the time we are referring to literary dialogue. In this type of dialogue, we can distinguish two parts:

Parlamento: It indicates the speech of each character:

—Oye, Marisa —dijo Enrique enfadado antes de irse.

(“Hey, Marisa – said Enrique angrily before leaving.)

Acotación: This is also called an inciso (parenthetical remark) and it clarifies who is speaking, where and how, among other things.

—Oye, Marisa —dijo Enrique enfadado antes de irse.

Remember that the parlamentos may or may not have an acotación.

The Dash in Spanish Dialogues

When it comes to the punctuation marks in dialogues, the dash or long dash takes centre stage, as it introduces the dialogue:

—Ven, Marcos —dijo Sergio—. Quiero darte el regalo.

(“Come, Marcos, said Sergio. I want to give you the gift.)

It is written next to the word that follows it. Also, as you can see in the example, it is used whenever there is a pause for clarification with verbs of speech, understanding or thought.

Use a dash for each speech of different characters.

In the example above, you can also appreciate that the punctuation mark that accompanies the sentence goes right at the end of the clause, again, attached to the dash.

One last little trick, if the acotación is a non-verbal thought, use the Latin quotation marks in another sentence to express it:

—Margarita va a llegar tarde.

«Deberíamos comenzar la fiesta sin ella…», pensó Jacinto.

(“Margarita is going to be late.

“We should start the party without her…”, Jacinto thought.)

Be Patient!

Nobody said typing was easy and writing Spanish dialogues correctly takes time. I say this because the dash does not appear on the Spanish keyboard, you will have to insert it as a symbol or search for “raya” in a browser to copy and paste it.

We recommend that you practice, repeatedly, until you internalise these rules. The more you write, the sooner you will apply the rule automatically. iScribo corrects your Spanish in real time so you don’t have to waste time going over what you write more than once. Have you tried it yet? Tell us about it in the comments.

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IA and iScribo

Linguistics and Benefits of Machine Learning

Machine learning and computational linguistics are now being applied to all branches of knowledge. That’s right, all of them! In this article you will learn the benefits of machine learning, as well as some key concepts of this wide-ranging technological world.

Sometimes we feel scared when we are immersed in the world of technology but, if we pay attention to it, we will realise that it is a huge field from which we can learn wonders. In fact, what technology does in the end is to improve our quality of life, no less than that.

What do computational linguists do? What is a computational linguist? What is the link between iScribo, artificial intelligence and these branches of knowledge? Read this article to answer all these questions and dive into this trending topic.

What is Machine Learning and How Does it Work?

Machine learning is a discipline inside of artificial intelligence and computer science that studies and applies the use of data and algorithms to emulate human learning. In the process, machine learning improves human patterns to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again, as well as the unnecessary repetitions. In short, it tries to help automate tasks to save time and resources.

It is an evolution of computer programming as we know it today, as it develops predictive models that, after training, become data patterns to be implemented by artificial intelligence.

Algorithmic techniques are the key to machine learning as they solve specific problems.

What is Computational Linguistics?

Computational linguistics is a sub-discipline of linguistics applied to technology. It is about teaching and translating the language of people into the language of machines and vice versa. The contributions of computational linguistics to artificial intelligence are innumerable. We could say that, without this type of linguistics, machines would not understand people.

Here natural language processing is key, as it is also developed by computational linguistics, as well as machine learning and computational semantics. People are essential to perform this task.

Thanks to computational linguistics, even the most complex technology is at our fingertips. And yes, linguists play a crucial role in making all this possible – it is nothing less than a present and future profession, give it thought and you’ll see clearly why.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

What is the difference between ai and machine learning? We’ll make it simple as we could be comparing them the whole day. Machine learning is a branch of AI. While AI focuses on emulating human tasks, machine learning is what educates artificial intelligence. That is, it looks for ways for AI to learn how to perform such tasks – machines also need to be taught and repaired! They make the perfect teacher-student symbiosis.

AI makes progress in creating intelligent systems that perform one or more complex tasks. On the other hand, machine learning helps those machines perform the specific task they should be trained to do. As you can see, this discipline and sub-discipline need each other to function perfectly. This tandem is essential for the proper functioning of software and devices that you use in your home, such as a web browser or a smart interactive speaker.

However, there is a lot of technology behind machine learning and it takes a lot of people to perform it.

Linguistics, AI & iScribo

This is all a bit difficult to process, but once you’ve learnt the basic concepts of machine learning, linguistics and artificial intelligence, you’ll see how they all work together to perform magic!

Our tool is at the heart of linguistics and artificial intelligence. Wow! The iScribo spelling and grammar checker aims to help you improve your written Spanish. To do this, its artificial intelligence-driven engine corrects as you write in real time thanks to the rules of the language it has learned.

In short, linguistics, as the science of language, allows us to know the rules of Spanish. In addition, we have the sub-science of computational linguistics, which translates these language rules to our proofreader and the artificial intelligence itself applies them.

Have you already tried our comprehensive tool? Let us know in the comments what you think of iScribo, the proofreader that combines linguistics and artificial intelligence through machine learning.

Categories
Spanish as a language

11 Resources for the Correct Use of Spanish

When it comes to writing, it is normal to have doubts. Even native speakers ask themselves how to spell a certain word or phrase. Luckily, if you wonder what the best way is to learn Spanish as an adult, there are resources for the correct use of Spanish, both official and unofficial, that you’ll find quite helpful.

From resources to learn Spanish and write it like academics to expert channels that occupy a privileged place in the development of the language, read this article and learn these websites that will help you every time you need it.

Online Resources to Help Learn Spanish

This article must begin, as it could not be otherwise, with the official online resources of our academics and other tools to help learn Spanish from organisations that try to preserve the good use of the language.

1. RAE: you’ve probably guessed it. The Real Academia Española not only has numerous publications, but its channels and web pages are here to help us and show us the way to perfect Spanish. In addition to consulting their dictionaries in Spanish, the RAE has a quick consultation channel or a dictionary of doubts, among others. Take the time you need to familiarise yourself with its websites and make the most out of them.

2. Fundéu: Our second favorite resource, as you probably know too. You can search for queries that have already been solved and ask what you can’t find. There is always an expert ready to help. Not only on their website, you can also contact them in real time through social networks.

3. Academia Mexicana de la Lengua: you already know that Spanish has many variants and all of them are valid. This resource is the key to Latin Spanish, the most widely spoken in the world. Do you know Guido Gómez de Silva’s dictionary of Mexicanisms?

Resources for Learning Spanish as a Foreign Language

The community of experts is immense and you can always turn to more than one tool to help you with your Spanish. If the language of Cervantes is not your native language, don’t worry, in addition to the resources already mentioned, you can check the following:

4. Instituto Cervantes: this institute oversees bringing Spanish to any part of the world. As a foreigner learning Spanish, you will be more than familiar with the work of this organisation. Today we recommend El libro del español perfecto whose title speaks for itself.

5. RTVE: learning and improving Spanish through podcasts is a very original idea to develop multitasking and the language itself. When you are in the car, relaxing on the beach or on a fishing day, listening to testimonials and stories will make you improve in no time – and you won’t even realise it!

6. Wikilengua: This comprehensive resource expands your Spanish horizons. Here you will see how the rules of Spanish are applied as dictated by the RAE. A wealth of wisdom in an intuitive searching format.

Other Resources for the Correct Use of Spanish

We could talk about institutions or people who improve our language all day long! In the end, there are so many Spanish lovers spread around the world. Here we leave you some personalities or entities that have collaborated so that the good use of Spanish reaches all users.

7. The Diccionario de uso del español by María Moliner: is not so much focused on the norm but on usage. It is worth using it frequently to learn how far the frontiers of Spanish extend.

8. Diccionario de sinónimos y antónimos by El País: newspapers have their own style guides and sometimes they use their own resources to apply the rules and bring them to us. Look up a meaning and be surprised by its family of words.

9. Minucias del lenguaje: this work by Jose G. Moreno presents reflections, doubts, explanations, research, etc. on Spanish in Mexico. It is a very comprehensive publication on the syntactic, orthographic and phonetic resources of Spanish, among others.

10. El dardo en la palabra by the illustrious Fernando Lázaro Carreter: it is a work that compiles journalistic articles and explains their impact on the evolution of Spanish as a language.

iScribo, your Tool to Write in Spanish

It is normal to have doubts when writing any language, so it is increasingly common to look for resources to write in Spanish in the best possible way.

11. iScribo: it aims to help everyone write Spanish as correctly as possible. This is one more tool to add to the list in terms of proper Spanish writing. What other tools do you know of, and what other resources are used in Latin America? Tell us in the comments and remember that it’s all about learning!

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