Where you will have to use your spanish..

[que]

Ok, so based on Bens 5 ideas for improving our Spanish:

Where, in Spain, is a good place to visit where you are most likely going to need your Spanish, i.e, where you won't be saved all the time by peoples knowledge of English.

So if anyone can please tell of good places to visit, im sure it would be greatly welcomed!

[Ben]

Great, I was just writing a post on this (http://www.notesfromspain.com/673/) in the blog too! Who can add to the list?

[Jules]

When we visited Granada last year, our accommodation was in the Zaidin barrio which is about 30 minutes walk or a 7 minute bus ride from the centre. From the instant you got on the bus in the centre it was total immersion in Spain. In the bars & restaurants if you wanted to be understood, then it was Spanish only!!.

[que]

Excellent, i'll chalk that one up!

Next time i visit Spain i must visit other places than the major cities, i should also not go with my Spanish friends as you can get lazy and let them do the talking!

[Jerezano]

I've never heard much English spoken in Cadiz or in my home town, Jerez. It's still rare enough to where it'll make my head turn if I'm walking down the street and I hear someone speaking English, or any other language besides Spanish.

Also, as an educator for many years in this area, I can say that the level of English speaking is quite low accompanied by a very high level of patience for people who don't speak Spanish well. This is always the best!

[gtappend]

On Lanzarote - Teguise market on a Sunday morning.

http://www.teguise.com/mercadillo-es.html


Not in Spain but...

1. when I flew from Miami to La Paz wearing my Scout Uniform I was spoken to in very fast spanish by another passenger wanting to know where the nearest Scout Group was in their part of La Paz! She didn't speak any English so I was forced to use my Spanish.

2. we often have festivals here (Germany) where South American (mainly Bolivia and Peru) play pan-pipe music and want to sell their CDs etc. They are usually more than pleased if you try out your spanish with them and will answer in it as well, as their English (or German) is usually limited by the fact that they have an interpreter with them for hotels etc.

[richardksa]

Excellent, i'll chalk that one up!

Next time i visit Spain i must visit other places than the major cities, i should also not go with my Spanish friends as you can get lazy and let them do the talking!

The answer: train your friends. All my Spanish friends speak excellent English, but know that I am trying to learn Spanish. As I met most of them at a school to improve their English, where I had to speak normal paced English at them for a week, they like to get their revenge by turning the tables. They are good people and very patient with me, and an hour of slow Spanish with me included in the conversation really helps. As does the fact that we will surely be sitting in a bar and alcohol really does remove that "Translating in your head" speed bump.

[theo]

Go on your own in the shops in a not to big town and try to buy the latest popular novel or something else. Does wonders for your Spanish :)

[ruthcasares]

Just stay away form the costas and you will find most people don't speak English, even in the larger tourist towns such as Granada, Madrid, Sevilla etc. it is not common.


(http://www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com)

[Culebronchris]

Extremadura. Not a lot of people there so not many English speakers. And it's a cracking part of the country too. After three weeks by myself in Extramadura I was overjoyed to find myself in Cadiz where I could have conversations in English.

You could also go on holiday to any local Government Office where nobody speaks any sort of intelligible language of any sort.

[Edith]

As I met most of them at a school to improve their English, where I had to speak normal paced English at them for a week, they like to get their revenge by turning the tables.

;D

And did you enjoy the experience?

Another suggestion: talk to ordinary Spanish people wherever you go. I always talk to the shopkeeper when I visit a souvenir shop and very often, it works for me!