An aspiring pop singer from Colombia’s Caribbean coast is gaining worldwide popularity with a short internet tutorials on how to speak to mystical dialect of the Caribbean region which leaves even native speakers tongue-tied.
Lessons of a Cordoban: expressions used on Colombia’s Caribbean coast (BBC)
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Up and coming pop star and Colombian internet sensation Martina La Peligrosa, sister of famous Colombian singer Adriana Lucia, has taken the internet by storm with her short video clips which explain common phrases on the coast, which baffle Colombians and foreigners alike.
Her series of 15-second youtube videos called Clases de Cordobese (‘Lessons of a Cordoban) have spread like wildfire across Latin America and afar. Each clip features a lesson about what an individual word or phrase means.
While each country has dialects and phrases which may seem strange to others from different places, the dialect of the Colombian coast, known as costeñian has a reputation for being extremely hard to speak and understand, even for Colombians.
Martina explained in an interview with Cordoba News channel El Meridiano that she was aware that Costeña Colombian Spanish was easily identifiable, and that people found it difficult to understand.
Martina stated that she wanted to put her home state of Cordoba on the map, and distinguish the local dialect as different from that in the more well-known tourist Caribbean tourist zones of Cartagena, Santa Marta and Barranquilla.
“I arrived in Bogota, and the people didn’t understand me when I spoke. There is one thing which is clear to both the people from the coast, and others, and that is that the Costeñians don’t speak the same. Depending on the region, there are things which are really different. In the same region, the words change and the meanings change from one town to the next. Its amazing. I think its difficult to speak Cordobese, but I wanted to help the world. I love my accent and I love the fact that people notice where I am from. People always ask, where are you from? Cartagena, Barranquilla or Santa Marta? For lots of people nowhere else exists on the coast. But I’m not from any of them, I am from Cordoba. “
Slang words from Colombian Caribbean coast(BBC):
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Her first post on Instagram about a year ago was a short monologue of seemingly meaningless slang expressions from the Caribbean coast, delivered with a very strong accent.
The first post on youtube received a wave of positive feedback from Cordoba natives in Colombia and other countries, and has grown in popularity with every post, in Colombia and all over the world.
The UK independent newsgroup BBC released an article about the videos and she now has more than 230’000 subscribers to her Instagram account.
“I was really surprised by its success, because I thought it would be something too local,” Martina told the BBC.
After recently releasing her 33rd video entry and with an ever growing fan base worldwide, along with a blooming career as a musician (under the same name) and support slots for Colombian music stars such as Juanes, it appears that Martina La Peligroso will soon be following in the footsteps of her famous sister as a household name in Colombia.
Hopefully her video clips will help the world understand her.
Sources
- #BBCTrending: The Colombian who teaches Colombian to Colombians( BBC news)
- Martina La Peligrosa y sus clases de cordobés (El Meridiano)