| For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
|---|
And with Spanish there really is no excuse. Unlike English and French it is consistent and without silent letters
Umm, h is silent
Exceptions: The words where the h is pronounced? Apparently the only such word that is recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy as fully Spanish is hámster, a cognate of the English word for "hamster,"
you can learn to pronounce say...'pescado' absolutely perfectly (soft d etc) and find the locals say what seems a different word altogether ie : peca'o
oh I know guys, I was over simplifying but its STILL easier than French or English!!!...almost always (see below). And the u in gue and gui... always. OTOH, in güe and güi, the u is pronounced.
Other words that come to my mind (recognized by the RAE) are: saharaui, sahariano and sahárico (all of them meaning from/or/relative to the Sahara or the Western Sahara).
In some areas of Spain (mainly rural areas of the West of Andalucía) the h is pronounced aspirada; mainly in words that started by f in Latin.
Using this and other sources I've made a public Google sheet of key phrases by category, with English/Spanish and a phonetic pronunciation column.
There are several Spanish dialects and accents in Spain so locals from one area speak Spanish different than locals from another area...
P.S.: Don't forget there are also several languages in Spain so if you are in any of the bilingual (or plurilingual) areas of Spain and you don't understand what it's said/written, check first if it's Spanish what it's spoken/written or if it's another language.
I won't comment about the phonetic pronounciation because it'll take too much time and open too many arguments. I won't comment either about the missing accent marks on the document as well as the missing ¿ but I'll comment about some wrong translations, some typos and some other things.
RE: está bueno - I was trying to talk about the weather
I had Spanish as spoken in Andalucia in mind when I wrote that
Thanks Castilian, that helps a lot, everyone on this forum is so helpful and generousI've gone through and updated the document according to your list.
Pronunciation: The pronunciations I've written are based on how the words sound on my audios and how best I can describe them to myself with my Australian accent.
Lack of accents was just my laziness, I've been mainly practicing through speaking and listening and just didn't take the time to write them properly. I've fixed up all that I can see.
Male/Female forms - Where there is just female quoted it's usually because my travelling companion (my Mum) and I are both female and it's all I was expecting to use. I've updated those couple you mentioned.
Tu vs usted - I figured it it's always better to be safe than sorry and use the formal form. I've added tu to those instances as an alternative.
RE: está bueno - I was trying to talk about the weather, have added the context.
Singular/plural "you" - I'm terrible at grammar, I think this might be a bit much for me with only 2 weekish till I go.
Thanks!
Not a splicing time thenIt is just great to hear from so many of you and to learn that you have been having such a spiffing time on the Camino. From all your comments it is clear that our sense of humour is not dead!
I did not realise that there were so many linguists amongst our pilgrims. Must write up a few more flash cards as none of this is in my Berlitz, Spanish Phrase Book!
Should have read spliffingNot a splicing time then
Is there an Android app to hear-and-speak enough Spanish for the Camino? I'd like to learn as I walk laps inside the mall. Earphones to the cell phone would be great, but not if I must walk staring at the screen. Duolingo says I'm 35% fluent but that's reading - still don't know how to ask "Where do I catch the bus to Santiago?" and couldn't understand the answer if I got one.
Hello fellow pilgrims, i walked the CF this past spring now planning for #2! I was a pre-school teacher in California so I learned “kid Spanish” it served me pretty well. Now as I am planning my next Camino I understand not all the Caminos are as English language friendly as the Frances. I now have the time and desire to learn conversational Spanish. I know of Rosetta Stone and Babbel, have any of you used either or have any recommendations? Thanks Dee
From my language impaired perspective, the Camino Frances is not English language friendly. Admittedly, many pilgrims spoke English, but I did not find anything beyond the exchange of food and beverage for money in English.I understand not all the Caminos are as English language friendly as the Frances.
why that’s too bad. I had many 1/2 English 1/2 Spanish conversations I think it could be even better with a bit of work.From my language impaired perspective, the Camino Frances is not English language friendly. Admittedly, many pilgrims spoke English, but I did not find anything beyond the exchange of food and beverage for money in English.
Hello fellow pilgrims, i walked the CF this past spring now planning for #2! I was a pre-school teacher in California so I learned “kid Spanish” it served me pretty well. Now as I am planning my next Camino I understand not all the Caminos are as English language friendly as the Frances. I now have the time and desire to learn conversational Spanish. I know of Rosetta Stone and Babbel, have any of you used either or have any recommendations? Thanks Dee
Look into the Olly Richards program. Also iTalkie for practice online with a native speaker of your choice.Hello fellow pilgrims, i walked the CF this past spring now planning for #2! I was a pre-school teacher in California so I learned “kid Spanish” it served me pretty well. Now as I am planning my next Camino I understand not all the Caminos are as English language friendly as the Frances. I now have the time and desire to learn conversational Spanish. I know of Rosetta Stone and Babbel, have any of you used either or have any recommendations? Thanks Dee
Fluenz seems rather expensive. Do they have any special offers that you know of?Hi Caligirl, I used some of Rosetta Stone before my first Camino in 2012 and have used Duolingo for practice as well. I certainly got by in the most basic way. But, I’ve had the most success using Fluenz. It teaches using situations you may find yourself in and takes advantage of what you know about your own language. I’ve used Fluenz Spanish through all levels, but what most impressed me was going through level 3 in Fluenz French and managing better than I ever thought possible while walking the Chemin du la Puy. I find French difficult. There’s also an old program on the internet called Destino. It’s actually a Spanish novella, with a guide. It helps with listening and reminds you to listen to the whole as well as focus on the content and situation rather than getting stuck trying to translate every word. I still have lots to learn in Spanish so your question has also given me lots of new resources to explore. Good luck with your language learning...it’s a fun life long endeavor.
Muchas gracias Picosrider! I am currently learning Spanish for my mid September Camino Frances. I was going to write a list of useful phrases for the trip and learn them by heart. This thread is great! Maravilloso!There is no doubt that it is very useful, if not essential, to speak at least a bit of Spanish when undertaking the Camino. However it does take time to learn a foreign language and most of us are short of time. However it is not too difficult, or time consuming, to learn just enough to get by.
I have a friend who over 50 years has cycled in many countries of the world and has done that, learned just enough of various languages to get by. These include Spanish, French, German, Polish and even Japanese!
From experience he has learned that you can get by with about 150 phrases. He starts with a phrase book which includes phonetic pronounciations. He recommends the combined phrase book/dictionary by Berlitz, but there are others. From this he writes up the 150 most useful phrases onto flash cards, and then starts to learn and practise them. This way you only have to learn a minimum of words/phrases, those which are most likely to be of use during your trip.
There are some phrases which will not appear in your phrase book, for example:
Please can you stamp my credencial - Por favor, puede usted sellar mi credencial.
And instead of asking if there are rooms free, at a hostal you will be asking for a vacant bunk bed.
But you get the idea, it just needs a bit of thought and adaption!
So perhaps it would be useful to set up a pilgrims crash course of 150 useful phrases. So to start the ball rolling, any suggestions for inclusion is what should go into the top 20 most useful phrases? Are there any phrases that you want to know, or wish that you had known?
That’s interesting Dave. I have had an account with US Amazon for about 10 years. It hasn’t changed over to the Aussie one.Due to the limitations of amazon, which requires Australians to buy from amazon.com.au rather than any other country’s version of amazon.com, it appears to allow me to buy the kindle edition from the uk site but not from the AU site. The wonders of “border free” commerce.. haha.
A much missed friend used to say "I speak perfect French, it's a shame my neighbours don't!" - he was a Welshman who lived in the Charente Maritime region of France for 25 years.Don't know if anyone else is like me... but typically I can understand French and Spanish when others are speaking it but I have a hard time vocalizing my own thoughts into those languages.
An excellent resource - now if we could have a few practical phrases for the pilgrim along the way . . . .I took the Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros, and extended it with additional words and phonetic spellings. Here is my revised Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros with the SPA (SPAIN) phonetic spellings from spanishdict.com. I also added them to Quizlet.
Solo practicando ... ¡buena suerte!
"The mouse is under the table" and "the cat is on the chair" could quite possibly be practical for a peregrino. I think "the monkey is in the tree" is likely less practical and suggest replacing it with "the bedbug is in the bed" as a more potentially useful phrase.An excellent resource - now if we could have a few practical phrases for the pilgrim along the way . . . .
I suggest: "The mouse is under the table". "the cat is on the chair" and "the monkey is in the tree" cf Eddie Izzard we'll be good to go
I took the Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros, and extended it with additional words and phonetic spellings. Here is my revised Basic Dictionary for Hospitaleros with the SPA (SPAIN) phonetic spellings from spanishdict.com. I also added them to Quizlet.
Solo practicando ... ¡buena suerte!
Thanks. That would be great ... suggest away.Can I suggest some corrections? Sorry, the Spanish teacher in me can't help it
Until you learn about the present perfect subjunctive...I believe Spanish is one of the most easiest language you can learn from English.
I agree, there are languages in Europe that are difficult even for their locals.I believe Spanish is one of the most easiest language you can learn from English.
I am the invisible number 4Thank you for showing interest in learning some basic Spanish. I had intended to add some more info, but it appeared that no one was interested in this topic. So now, you, me, and one other makes three!
I am off tomorrow on a school trip to Normandy, France, for a week. It is an 8 hour coach and ferry journey each way. I will be taking my Berlitz Spanish phrase book with me, as I will have lots of opportunities during the journeys to get some language learning in.
I have read several sources which all say that it is best to learn language in lots of short sessions rather than long ones. They suggest that for example, two 30 minute sessions are better than one of an hour. Even 5 or 10 minutes with your flash cards is very useful for busy people. After about 30 minutes the brain slows down its ability to retain information, so short sessions are more time efficient.
Given that most of us only have a short time available to learn some basic Spanish, what should we concentrate on?
From experience I would put these at the top of the list:
1. Asking directions. At some time during your Camino travels you will get lost, or be unsure of the correct way to go!
2. Buying/ordering food and drink. At self serve mercados finding what you want is easy. However up in the hills, at the local village grocery shop (la tienda de alimentacion), you will have to ask for things. And don’t expect the store keeper to speak English!
3. Finding accommodation. Not only do you need to be able to ask for rooms and pay for them. You will probably come to an aubergue which is shut but has a notice on the door. It might say in Spanish, ” You can find the key at ...." ( Puede encontrar la llave a ....) or perhaps “ If shut, phone Jose at …….” (Si abierto , llama Jose a numero ....).
4. Other needs, problems and difficulties. Injuries/medication, boot / bike repairs if walking or cycling the Camino, lost items or replacements required.
Whilst on my trip to France I will expand my repertoire to cover these eventualities, so watch this space for the next exciting installments!
However before I go, see my next posting. Some useful words to add to your flash cards and learn whilst I am away.
Hasta luego, feliz aprendiendo!
Until then, happy learning!
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?