What language is spoken in the Dominican Republic? Spanish is the national language of the Dominican Republic. It is customary to speak it in the vast majority of cases.
Such a spread of the Spanish language on the territory of the Dominican Republic is due to the fact that the territory was previously conquered by the Spanish colonialists. That is why, if you speak Spanish, then you should not have problems communicating in the Dominican Republic.
True, if you do not know Spanish, but speak, say, English, then there should also be no difficulties in communicating with the local population. The fact is that here English is considered the second most popular language that is actively used in the country. True, it should be understood that it is mainly used in tourist places.
This is where the locals will understand you. If you want to ask something in English in another part of the Dominican Republic, you may encounter incomprehension from the locals (only 3% of the local population of the republic speaks English).
Despite the prevalence of the Spanish language, few people speak it absolutely perfectly. Residents use exclusively its only dialect, which is used in the Caribbean.
In particular, a similar dialect is the Latin American dialect. It also gained its distribution in Cuba, Venezuela, and also in Colombia.
Features of language style
The key feature of Dominican pronunciation is the swallowing of half a word. As a result, even native Spanish speakers have a vague understanding of the Dominicans.
In addition, in this dialect there are a sufficient number of words that have an English origin. As a result, this is explained by the proximity of the location to the United States of America.
If you think that only Spanish is used in the Dominican Republic, then you are greatly mistaken. Here they began to study the French language, which became widespread in some parts of the republic.
So, in the city of Las Terrenas (province of Samana), French is actively used. And in the province of Puerto Plata – German. Therefore, if you do not know Spanish and even English, then you can try your luck and explain yourself using other languages.
History of the spread of the Spanish language in the Dominican Republic and in other Latin American countries
The Spanish language of Latin Americans is very different from the classical Spanish spoken in Barcelona or Madrid. Why is that? As you know, the first European to visit the Western world was Christopher Columbus. After him, powerful European powers began to fight for new lands and islands – England, France, Spain and Holland. As a result, everyone got their own piece of the New World. The Spaniards, who received a significant part of the new territories, spread their culture, religion and language to them. Indians who lived in the Western world long before the arrival of the Spaniards had to learn a new language. Numerous African slaves who were brought to the island were also subjected to the same. Over time, the new language took root. True, it has undergone some changes. Taking into your vocabulary a lot of foreign words.
Local Dialect
Today, the official language of the Dominican Republic is Spanish. However, Dominicans do not speak classical Spanish, but a dialect that has some peculiarities. For example, the inhabitants of the island often swallow the endings of words and individual consonants (most often “c”). The Spaniards themselves do not always understand the speech of the Dominicans! However, some deviations in pronunciation are characteristic of all Latin America.
Other languages of the Dominican Republic
In some regions of the Dominican Republic, basic knowledge of the French language will be useful. For example, in the town of Las Terrenas, in the province of Samana. And in Sosúa, located in the province of Puerto Plata, you can practice using German.
