WanderingTrader

Learning How To Speak Puerto Rican Spanish

This video is learning how to speak Puerto Rican Spanish & Puerto Rican basic expressions.  I have the pleasure of introducing my very good friend Maria Alexandra from http://latinabroad.com trying to speak English, or wait, Puerto Rican Spanish.  Having such a close relationship with the United States, the Spanish spoken on the island of Puerto Rico has a lot of slang mixed into it.  To give you an example instead of saying Pan-thai-ya for computer screen, they simply say E-Screen, lol.  You will find some common phrases that they use including some phrases that are exclusive to Puerto Rico.

Problems with the video? Watch on Youtube (click link) –>  Learning how to speak Puerto Rican Spanish

Learning To Speak Puerto Rican Spanish?

  • Hello: Kes-Lah-Keh (literal translation is whats up/whats going on
    • Variation: Kes-Lah-Keh Pai (add Pai at the end to signify bro/man, whats up bro)
  • Thats Cool: Esta Bien Kangri! (Esta Bien Cabron)
  • You’re the man: Estas Bien Brutal!
  • How are you: Como Estas

See the posts below if you want to learn other dialects of Spanish:

35 Comments

  1. Marcello,

    I moved to Puerto Rico after almost 5 years living in South America, and all their English terms mixed in to Spanish confused me at the beginning.  One day I started talking to someone about my “tarjeta de embarque” from my recent flight.  She had no idea what I meant.  Finally I described it as the little paper that they tear apart when getting on a plane that has your seat assignment.  Her response:  “Ahhh, el Bolding Pass”.

  2. Antoinette.. this girl was born and raised in Puerto Rico.. the spanish that you hear from the people in the New York is probably different dialect called New Yorican… she is 100% PR.. born and raised on the island

  3. Great post. I appreciate travelers who take the time to learn languages. The English-mix is just about as bad here in Japan, where there are almost countless “loan words” — none of them pronounced even remotely like normal English. lol Safe travels!

  4. When I was younger my family moved their for 4 years. I totally identify with this article. I love the island , the culture, easy language, and everything but when we moved back to the States and I was told I did not speak proper Spanish by my high school Spanish teacher. I knew PR spoke a lot of “Spanglish” but apparently in NM it was like I disrespected the whole language and heritage.

    1. I live in NM and I am Puerto Rican can you give me any tips because the Spanish here is so different and I want to learn how Puerto Ricans speak

  5. My husband was raised the PR way …we have a house there, and love it down there, and do plan to move there. I know a little of the language but would like to know the language. My husband speaks both languages, and is helping me learn. I do understand he and his family when they talk within themselves…but can’t speak it very well. I can say/answer the simple things.

  6. my sister speaks puerto rican to me i dont understand a dame thing until she taught me how it was so easy then she made me try puerto rican food it was so good now i eat it for dinner everyday

  7. Actually Marcello, I live on the West Coast of Puerto Rico (way far away from San Juan) and I can vouch for the fact that they speak this way all over the island – maybe even more slang/slurred accent/dropped words over here in the “boonies”. Cute video. Spot on. 🙂

  8. Hi, Marcello! Maybe you would like to learn the Spanish-based creole language in the Philippines. We call it Chavacano language.

  9. Entiendo su Espanol. lol. Ella is linda! Veo que eras hablando un poco de espanol! Ambos de sus acentos eran buenas y comprensibles.
    Btw, who wants to speak proper all the time. Sometimes you wanna slang your words a little bit! ^-^
    Great video Marcello. 😀

  10. I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago from the age of 6. Always spoke the broken spanish we Puerto Rican’s normally speak, but when I went to the island 10 years ago at the age of 21 I was utterly astounded with their slang. I luckily I understood what they said of course. It’s common sense to put one and one together to get a complete understanding of things, but the slang has changed drastically as time passed that what I used to know as slang has morphed into mockery if I was to use it now. lol

  11. Slang is an international thing. I’m a 60 year old Puerto Rican who studied both on the island and in New York. Both educational systems fostered correct and standard English or Spanish skills. But on the street people want to do their own thing. Here in the states we older folk have to keep learning the new slang just to keep up with our own grandchildren. So again it’s not a Puerto Rican thing, it’s universal.

    1. Hi, i want to learn how to speak spanish, I’m Puerto Rican but was never taught and i live in the US. So can i ask, if i learn from a class or program like Rosetta Stone, will I be confusing Puerto Ricans when i speak, i heard the Spanish taught in schools and programs are based off of like Mexican Spanish or something like that. Thanks in advance! 🙂

  12. Hi Marcello! Can you please do an article on West African Spanish in the country of Equatorial Guinea? I know a guy who is a Spaniard and he said it’s the best Spanish he’s heard outside of Spain.

    1. I wouldn’t consider the Spanish spoken in Spain to be the best although that is where Spanish comes from. If I ever do visit Equatorial Guinea will definitely do a video.

  13. Why wouldn’t you consider Spain Spanish the best? I mean, if Spanish comes from there, it has to be the most correct. Although I know that Spain Spanish has a lot of influence from Arabic because of the African and Middle Eastern Moors. Is that why? And if so, this happened before Columbus “discovered” South America and the Caribbean, which means that the Moorish influence got carried down to Hispanics.

  14. My family is from Utuado, I can tell you that the much older generations speak Spanish different from the younger generations, there are more colloquialisms with the older folks and spanglish/ slang with the younger. I was raised by my grandmother in the states in a urban city, the differences in spanish are noticeable.

  15. I’ve been trying to teach myself Puerto Rican because it is my nationality and I don’t know how to speak it. It’s embarrassing.

    1. Same here, I want to learn so badly, but i don’t know how to go about it, what have you been doing to learn if you don’t mind me asking!

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