Oxford Alice
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- (Bits of) Camino Frances (2001)
Camino Frances (2014)
Camino Frances (2018)
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In my experience you have a higher chance of meeting English speaking pilgrims if you start in SJPDP.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
Most pilgrims speak at least some English, in fact a lot more pilgrims speak English than Spanish, and nowadays more and more Spanish people (especially the younger generation) also speak English. But communicating face to face is as much visual as verbal or oral. Focus on looking at the person you are talking to and learn to use mime, gesture and facial expression. It's a skill, it's fun acquiring it and as a human being, evolution has programmed you to be good at it. Or just smile. If that doesn't work, they probably weren't worth speaking to anyway.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
A simple smile goes a long way.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
If you are able learn some very basic words or phrases. Use Google translate as needed if that fails you.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
Brilliant! Thanks so much. That's reassuring.Of those 428: 81 were Spanish, and 347 were from other countries.
Of those 347: 83 were from either USA/UK/Canada/Ireland, thus probably speaking English.
Seems to me you'll be fine and there is no reason for unnecessary anxiety. Buen Camino !
Good luck! I am excited for you and do let us know how it goes. English is sort of like an invasive language, so many people will be able to speak it even if they aren't native speakers. I recommend brushing up on some Spanish, the basics, maybe.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
Hi Alice,How many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so.
Agreed. However, in a room full of people who all speak a different language, having a common language can be uncommonly useful. As can having a little book full of pictures, and a translation app. As i often found traveling in countries with a different alphabet, or pictograms. Are you seriously going to learn more than hello, please, thank you, yes and no for three days on a train as you travel across the world?A few years ago we were all taking courses and seminars in topics such as Cultural Competence and Cultural Literacy etc.
I recent times I have happily one across the concept of cultural humility. It has changed my life.
For me, this means I no longer measure other cultures against my own. Wherever I am, that is the pervasive culture. I am the outsider, and I need to earn my welcome.
In my own country, how would we respond if a Spanish visitor, for example, fronted the ticket office at the train station and asked in Spanish for their reservation? So why should I expect to be able to do the same in English if I am in Spain?
Go quietly, leave no print, and breathe humility. (Says I to self.)
Amen
Small correction….Dos cerveza grande por favor!Hola @Oxford Alice . If you can master "cafe con leche"(coffee with milk); dos cerveza por favor (two beers please) you will be ok. As one who speaks English virtually only a Spanish phrase book was helpful and I found that if you tried the Spanish people were very friendly. Also you will find that a large percentage of pilgrims have some english. Buen Camino
My wife, Mary Ann, and I are starting April 4, so we may well run in to you along the way. She speaks only English. I speak enough Spanish to carry on a decent conversation.I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
In six weeks we met hundreds of people (like you, I enjoy the pilgrim crowds) and got by in our only language, English. As others have said, there are many Americans and other English-speaking countries, and most Europeans speak English to a degree. In fact, English was so convenient I learned far less Spanish than I expected simply because I did not need it. Translation apps were helpful to understand signage, but otherwise person to person we were fine. I learned how to order coffee and ask for "dos pequeno aqua" at the convenience stores. Don't let it worry you. We also had an app that would let us speak or type English then it would translate to Spanish. We could then just show the screen to the person. Worked great. Especially when my wife needed to tell the guy at the bar there was no toilet paper in the ladies room. Not a sentence you learn is Spanish class anyway. Have fun!I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
I am also Monolingual (though perhaps you speak other languages besides Spanish/Castellano).I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April but having last-minute jitters! The social angle is big for me -- I've never complained that CF is too crowded with pilgrims -- and I wonder how many English-speakers are likely to be walking in a week or so. Does anyone have any direct experience or insight on this? Better yet, does anyone know if English-speakers are registering at SJPP or Pamplona? I don't speak other languages so this is important for me. Darn! I should have studied Spanish in high school!
[Emphasis added]
A number of people who live in the EU or Britain walk a week or two a year - purely because the transport costs are so affordable ,and they may only have a few weeks holiday a year.
This is so important. Thank you for posting it. I try, really try, to always remember that I am a guest and act accordingly, with various levels of success, of course. When I encounter something unexpected in another culture, my mantra is: “It’s not good; it’s not bad; it’s just different.”A few years ago we were all taking courses and seminars in topics such as Cultural Competence and Cultural Literacy etc.
I recent times I have happily one across the concept of cultural humility. It has changed my life.
For me, this means I no longer measure other cultures against my own. Wherever I am, that is the pervasive culture. I am the outsider, and I need to earn my welcome.
In my own country, how would we respond if a Spanish visitor, for example, fronted the ticket office at the train station and asked in Spanish for their reservation? So why should I expect to be able to do the same in English if I am in Spain?
Go quietly, leave no print, and breathe humility. (Says I to self.)
Amen
A few years ago on arrival at Barcelona airport, I went to enquire where to get the train into city. Being in Spain I asked in Spanish. The girl in the information booth replied very rapidly, so I asked if she could speak a little slower. She responded by saying "if you don't know the language why didn't you just speak English". I was taken aback. But it hasn't stopped me. I still try to speak Spanish whenever I can in Spain, and am continuing to study and improve my Spanish.A few years ago we were all taking courses and seminars in topics such as Cultural Competence and Cultural Literacy etc.
I recent times I have happily one across the concept of cultural humility. It has changed my life.
For me, this means I no longer measure other cultures against my own. Wherever I am, that is the pervasive culture. I am the outsider, and I need to earn my welcome.
In my own country, how would we respond if a Spanish visitor, for example, fronted the ticket office at the train station and asked in Spanish for their reservation? So why should I expect to be able to do the same in English if I am in Spain?
Go quietly, leave no print, and breathe humility. (Says I to self.)
Amen
@Oxford Alice, you will be soon on your way now! A volunteer from the pilgrims welcome office in SJPP posted on Facebook that they had 136 pilgrims coming to their office on Friday and more are expected this weekend. The first photo of a line of pilgrims waiting outside to enter the office has been posted, too. I think you will have plenty of company from the English-speaking international pilgrims community. Buen Camino!I'm planning to start the CF on 6 April
Such a good typical story, quite real, experienced this on many occasions. 20 yrs ago I started off, now I know sufficient Spanish to have a conversation of sorts with them!Oxford Alice,
Please relax. Pilgrims are a polyglot group.
Furthermore smiles and the basic words hola, por favor, cuanto and gracias will take you far. Also learn to point!!
Many years ago walking west from Leon on the CF in pouring rain at Villadangos del Páramo I staggered dripping and exhausted into a truck stop. What a way to make an impact! The place was packed with about 80 VERY macho men whose lorries were parked in front. All seemed to be eating the menu del dia or special daily menu. When the flustered young waiter rattled off the main course choices l pointed towards the nearest customer's plate, nodded and said por favor. The food was copious, hot and delicious.
At dessert time half the room seemed curious about what I would choose. I pointed to rice pudding, but fruit and chocolate cake also appeared on my table por la fuerza en el camino. As the truck drivers left for their coffee served at the bar most waved and wished Buen Camino....All these years later when necessary I still point.
By the way. On the first floor of the Pilgrims Office in Santiago is a room from the Dutch and Flamish Pilgrims Association where before or after your registration for your Compostela certificate you can have a coffee and a talk with Dutch speaking volunteers. So Dutch and Flamish speakers, make a visit to them if you arrive there.You will be welcomeI found French a helpful backup, especially in Navarre, but English has come to be the default European language, and you will find that Dutch and Norwegian and Danish pilgrims speak it far better than you do, helpfully correcting your subjunctives.
As far as Spanish is concerned, get your basic greetings down, and your numbers, and your favourite foods and beverages, and you'll be fine. You will find that our Spanish hosts will do their utmost to figure out what you want and need, and supply it with a surprising degree of grace. They are proud of their language and culture (the good side of nationalism) and will be pleased with every honest effort you make to communicate.
Remember to smile a lot, and never omit to say gracias and por favor, and you'll do well.
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