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crad80 said:Hi Everyone,
In a few weeks, I will be starting my first Camino. I was just wondering what level of Spanish proficiency is needed for the Camino. Is English spoken at all? Or, is Spanish the only language spoken along the Camino route? Thanks for your help and assistance. I am truly a newbie to the Camino.
crad80 said:what level of Spanish proficiency is needed for the Camino.
SabineP said:My experience in France with my school french has been quite something different : people trying to correct me and being snotty about my pronunciation.
SabineP said:Seems that the language issue is on of the few "Camino " themes I'm confident about :wink: . Four years of adult evening school learning Spanish has been proven a great asset when travelling through different parts of Spain.
I have always gotten positive comments about the fact that I tried to make myself understandable even if I obviously made mistakes against grammar/ vocabulary. Spanish are really cool about foreigners trying to do their best with spanish. My experience in France with my school french has been quite something different : people trying to correct me and being snotty about my pronunciation. But maybe my view is coloured by the fact that we belgians have always been considered as the " little stupid sibling of France "... :wink: End of rant...
SabineP said:My experience in France with my school french has been quite something different : people trying to correct me and being snotty about my pronunciation. But maybe my view is coloured by the fact that we belgians have always been considered as the " little stupid sibling of France "... :wink: End of rant...
newfydog said:SabineP said:My experience in France with my school french has been quite something different : people trying to correct me and being snotty about my pronunciation. But maybe my view is coloured by the fact that we belgians have always been considered as the " little stupid sibling of France "... :wink: End of rant...
I think it must be a Belgian thing. No one could have a worse accent than my 'Murican garlbled French. Last year I made a hotel reservation over the phone and apologized for my French and she said , "no, c'est formidable!" (trust me, it isn't)
Another time we stayed in a Chambre d'Hote, and the next morning they asked us to act like we were staying a second night "there are Belgians at the door!"
Sort of like Texas and Colorado I guess.
This is a good point. I heard a Spanish man explaining that he was sure that the Mexican lady who asked for "el bano" did not really want to take a bath. Look for "servicios" or "aseos".renegadepilgrim said:My only advice is learn CASTILLIAN Spanish, not LATIN AMERICAN Spanish. There is a difference and I found that my Spanish was often misunderstood due to learning a different kind of Spanish, which in the US is probably more useful, but overseas, not so much. Then if you throw in all the regional dialects, it makes it all kinds of fun! I think if you learn a few basic phrases, you will be fine.
scikowski said:This is a good point. I heard a Spanish man explaining that he was sure that the Mexican lady who asked for "el bano" did not really want to take a bath. Look for "servicios" or "aseos".renegadepilgrim said:My only advice is learn CASTILLIAN Spanish, not LATIN AMERICAN Spanish. There is a difference and I found that my Spanish was often misunderstood due to learning a different kind of Spanish, which in the US is probably more useful, but overseas, not so much. Then if you throw in all the regional dialects, it makes it all kinds of fun! I think if you learn a few basic phrases, you will be fine.
Suzanne
(Im new here so Im not sure if it is ok to post a link - please remove it if it is against forum rules)
Frogmarch said:I certainly wouldn't worry about learning the Spanish version of the language rather than a South American variety, since the overwhelming majority of the words are the same. After all, how many Americans study English before making a trip to the U.K.? And I'm sure that not many young American females are overly shocked when asked in a B&B if they would like to be knocked up in the morning. :mrgreen:
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newfydog said:Frogmarch said:I certainly wouldn't worry about learning the Spanish version of the language rather than a South American variety, since the overwhelming majority of the words are the same. After all, how many Americans study English before making a trip to the U.K.? And I'm sure that not many young American females are overly shocked when asked in a B&B if they would like to be knocked up in the morning. :mrgreen:
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I never had any trouble speaking Indonesian in Malaysia. Some things I don't understand, and some things I say make everyone laugh. I don't know why, I just assume it is like a Brit looking under bonnet of the car. Much better than knowing nothing, and sort of fun. Mexican Spanish will go far in Spain.
Thank you for this link, I'm going to put a few of the lessons on my iPod and hope that some of it manages to sink in!sun is shining said:For everyone interested in learning some Spanish before you go check out
http://radiolingua.com/category/shows/c ... k-spanish/
>josephleaf said:Hola! So, do not worry, the camino will take care of you and you are likely to have a unique experience, whatever the language you could or could not speak.
Many pilgrims speak English, and knowing that I'm an Asian (by my look, of course), they would use English to communicate with me. My Dutch friend told me that English has gain some popularity since the establishing of the EU, when people seek to find a common language and English is one. I do not know how true is that, though.
inspiredjen said:This is a GREAT thread!
As a former language teacher, I have a suggestion for anyone who struggles to learn a language: try writing. Of the three learning styles (visual, kinesthetic and auditory), learning by ear is far and away the hardest way to learn.
Writing incorporates movement (kinesthetic) and images (visual) and helps your brain retain the information in a different way.
So, in addition to any other strategies you're using, try writing out a list of words and phrases by hand. It might just be the trick for your brain!
Thank you Sarahandlouise, I have just downloaded a similar app for android for my Samsung and it works great (Voice Translator Pro). Not having this on the camino made me learn more Spanish which is a good thing but this should help when you are way out of your dept.Sarahandlouise said:We have downloaded SayHi which translates by voice recognition into Spanish? Not only does a Spanish voice translate but the Spanish text is printed out so you can repeat it. For those of us with poor language skills(not through lack of trying) it is a way of showing you want to try not to depend on English whilst embracing the technology available. it costs less than €1 to download if you intend to take either an iphone or ipad.
That's because the greatest influx of German speakers (including the Austrians and the Swiss Germans) like to take their holiday in May. They have a large amount of public and religious holidays during this time, that they can easily add an extra 'free' week to their regular holiday rights.clearskies said:If anything, learn a bit of German! I struggled to meet English speaking people last May. I am studying Spanish at the moment so hopefully that will be of use to me as I'd like to converse with the locals. It's not essential though.
The Elisabeth-Smith.co.uk site is slower than molasses on a winter's day. Other bookseller's sites overwhelmed me with the great number of offerings in this series, each of a slightly different price, but all with too similar descriptions beyond "50 words" or "what you need to get by" or "400 words" or "450 words" ...vinotinto said:crad80 said:... you can find more info in guidebooks and basic travel language programs like Elisabeth Smith's One-Day series.
Although born in the United States, we left when I was 8 years old. We went to Mexico, and spent 3 months every year in Murcia Spain where my Dad's family is from. Eventually moved there and spent 4 years in the southern part of the country. Communication was never a problem in Spain, indeed there are idioms and colloquialisms inherent to each country, but the basic grammatical structure is the same. So the combination of the letters c and z in front of the vowels e and z have a soft th. For example instead of saying "gracias" where the ci is pronounced like an s in Latin America -minus the Caribbean countriesMy only advice is learn CASTILLIAN Spanish, not LATIN AMERICAN Spanish. There is a difference and I found that my Spanish was often misunderstood due to learning a different kind of Spanish
tpmchugh said:Went with just a few phrases like no habla espanol, donde esta ..., la cuenta for the bill, soy Irlandes and menu del perigrino. Just about got me through and the big hearted Spanish people who were happy to communicate in sign language if need be. One waitress said Moo to indicate beef and flapped her elbows to indicate chicken wings. What a marvellous people they are
Seoul Survivor said:A resource that she pointed me to was the BBC Spanish language site with its interactive language unit called Mi Vida Loca.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/
Alan
Seoul Survivor said:One thing I wanted to do for the Camino is learn the Lord's Prayer in spanish. I am not sure if it will come in handy except that it is a personal thing. Below is the link for anyone who may be interested.
http://alanhoskin.net/gallery3/index.php/vi-Gallery-Image
Bien Camino
Alan
crad80 said:Hi Everyone,
In a few weeks, I will be starting my first Camino. I was just wondering what level of Spanish proficiency is needed for the Camino. Is English spoken at all? Or, is Spanish the only language spoken along the Camino route? Thanks for your help and assistance. I am truly a newbie to the Camino.
I've been happily working my way through Duolingo Spanish - which turns out to be Latin American Spanish. I'm not starting on the del Salvador and Primitivo until late September so I still have time to change over to Castellano. However, how much of a problem is it to speak Latin American Spanish in more remote areas of Spain? If Gallego and Asturiano are common, would Castellano and LatinAm both be equally quaint spoken by a learner?My only advice is learn CASTILLIAN Spanish, not LATIN AMERICAN Spanish. There is a difference and I found that my Spanish was often misunderstood due to learning a different kind of Spanish, which in the US is probably more useful, but overseas, not so much. Then if you throw in all the regional dialects, it makes it all kinds of fun! I think if you learn a few basic phrases, you will be fine.
I've been happily working my way through Duolingo Spanish - which turns out to be Latin American Spanish. I'm not starting on the del Salvador and Primitivo until late September so I still have time to change over to Castellano. However, how much of a problem is it to speak Latin American Spanish in more remote areas of Spain? If Gallego and Asturiano are common, would Castellano and LatinAm both be equally quaint spoken by a learner?
Thanks
Mary
About 15 years ago I had an unpleasant experience over language in France but it seems the French have changed and are not as extreme about their language as they once were. This past September I came to know many French and French Canadian people hiking from SJPdP to Santo Domingo de la Calzada and, with my very limited French and their usually limited English, we were able to carry on rather lengthy conversations about a variety of subjects and I found every one of them to be very pleasant and very warm to us. I didn't meet one person on the Camino I didn't like.Sorry you had that experience, Sabine, I have to say, as an Englishman, I've always got on quite well with my "school" french - most people are appreciative that I make a (garbled..) effort to speak their language.(and it has to be said that the English are the worst). I recently travelled part of the River Meuse, from Belgium into France (by water, not on foot!), and found both the Belgians and the French very helpful and friendly. (though some spoke far better English than my french...)
I hope my basic Spanish will get me through on my camino in 3 weeks time - I've just about mastered Arn's list of essentials!
I had an unpleasant experience over language in France but it seems the French have changed and are not as extreme about their language as they once were.
I had a conversation with some French colleagues at a conference recently about this topic. They said that basically the same thing, especially with younger French people - people are becoming much more open and accepting of other's attempts to speak the language.
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