This thread on learning Spanish has thrown up a number of questions for me.
The primary one being just how much Spanish do I
realistically need?
As I see it I am going to be walking for approximately 5 weeks mainly in the company of fellow pilgrims who come from many countries around the world and for whom the
lingua franca will probably be English.
If one believes what one reads on this forum, when on the
Camino Frances, there will be pilgrims in front of me, behind me and a plethora of yellow arrows pointing in the direction of travel.
If that is true then I find it difficult to believe one could easily get lost and need to discuss in detail from Spanish-only speaking natives in which direction to walk.
When arriving at a bar/cafe/restaurant surely a nodding acquaintance with the Spanish words for the items on offer or on the menu will be sufficient?
Like Lise T I am enjoying and working my way manfully through the Duolingo app so that when I am organising accommodation or ordering a drink or meal I can do so in Spanish and with some of the social graces and not too many linguistic gaffes.
It is not that I want to be a monolingual Brit who assumes or presumes that Johnny foreigner jolly ought to speak English, it is just that I cannot see a need to be able to discuss the finer points of Spanish politics, football and the various separatist movements when one is staggering with fatigue from having walked many kilometres and only want a shower, a drink, a meal and a bed.
Such a Spanish as I have, at present, comes from two years of not paying attention at school when supposedly learning Castilian Spanish and then many years later, when in Chile for six months, picking up the language again but with their pronunciation which, believe me, bears very little resemblance to Castilian pronunciation!
However, my friends, do tell me where, and if, I am wrong and that I need more Spanish than the Duolingo app can provide?
