So.
I'm going to carry through on my life-long (almost) desire to learn to speak Spanish. As I can't afford a tutor at this stage (although if I progress as I hope I will try to find a conversation class where I can practice "live" and get feedback on my accent - which is actually pretty good. I've spoken enough languages in my life that I've got an excellent ear for pronunciation.) I'm going to try one of those downloadable Spanish courses.
I hit a small snag, already though. What is the difference between the Spanish (Castilian) spoken in Spain and that spoken in Latin America? Is it a matter of accent, or does the vocabulary vary? I don't mean just idiom, I mean - are there real differences?
And how different is Castilian from Catalan, which I know is more greatly influenced by Latin - but is it so very different? Can a person who speaks Castilian understand someone who speaks Catalan?
All assistance gratefully received.