When I graduated from the Defense Language Institute in Monterrery, CA I had to take a verbal discussion exam that included at least 3 foreign speakers. One of them was from Chile. In my opinion, the most difficult to understand! We had to carry on a conversation among all of us and the other two were from other countries. They had a difficult time understanding the Chilean! They used some unusual phrases such as:

Se le corrieron las tejas (to be loonytunes)
Hace leso (to fool someone)
No salva a nadie (to be a bum or worthless)
Saca la vuelta (to pretend to be working)
bicho raro (a very odd person)

Of course this was 14-15 years ago so maybe none of those terms are used anymore!


>LOL...
>
>I guarantee you that Chileans do not have a French accent. And they will tell you they speak Castellano. I lived there for two years, mostly in Santiago.
>
>
>>This may give you a smile
>>
>>Once in my local convenience store, addressing the store clerk and pointing at the wine shelves, I said:
>>
>>"Oh, and give me a bottle of that Chilean Sauvignon Blanc" (in my best French accent)
>>"Say that again" she said
>>"What? Sauvignon Blanc?"
>>"Ooh, I love the way you say that. Do you speak Chilean?"