Sorry if this has been posted a million times before, but I'm quite new to Spain and was wondering how long it took all you other expats to pick up Spanish?

I am starting from scratch, not knowing anything except 'gracias' when I arrived....I've found it surprising how much I can guess from written Spanish and what words I have already picked up, although understanding speech is a whole other matter!!

How long did it take you to pick up the language, to the point where you are comfortable having a conversation, for example?

Expats learning Spanish?
Sorry....you lost me there!

Hello hellokitty!

We live in an area where the accent is quite strong, and some letters are omitted from words
Although I had done a couple of terms of Spanish classes in the UK prior to moving, I was completely unprepared for the fact that I could hardly understand a word once I got here!!
However, the fact that I knew basic greetings, could say a bit about myself and knew a little vocabulary, meant that people were incredibly helpful with my initially awkward attempts to ask questions and so on.

19 months on, I can generally follow a the gist of a conversation, at more or less normal speed - although I do sometimes lose the thread, and definitely can't keep up when there are 5 people all talking at once around me!

I'm still quite disappointed by my lack of fluency, although people tell me that I speak really well.
I'm sure they're just being kind and supportive, because I definitely don't class myself as fluent!
However, one thing I have found, is that the more pressure one puts on oneself to become fluent, the more difficult everything becomes!

I also think that it depends what sort of learner you are, as to how you pick up language skills.
I like to refer to my books to back information up, but I couldn't just learn from a book.
I prefer to just sit and listen to people, then I try out new words and phrases with people I feel very confident with (in case I make a fool of myself!) and then once I know I'm saying something correctly and in the right context, I'll use it more freely with other people.
For me, hearing language in context is the best way to retain the information.

By far the best way to become more proficient is to listen to other people speaking.
I'm sure it must be normal when learning a foreign language, that you first understand much more than you can actually say?
(Well, that's what I tell myself, anyway! )

You sound like you're doing well already, if you're picking up words when reading
Do you have much opportunity to sit and listen to local people?
Are there any free lessons provided by the Ayuntamiento?

Good luck...............and at the very least you're trying

All the best,
Sam.

Ah Pete, you old cynic you!!

Sam answers the phone with a sultry "Hola" you know!
Then I say "Look ew......what ew doing by year mun?"

In all seriousness though, most expats make little or no effort to learn. I've had people asking me to speak for them and they've been here ten years! And I've only been here since Nov 2005. Something's wrong there you know.

You look at most other European countries (particularly the Dutch) and they have a multitude of languages they can use. Most Brits can barely put a sentence together in bloody English.

I've said it before....most Brits have to consult every other Brit in town, then hire an interpreter......before they can even take a dump. And then they probably miss the pan and blame it on Spanish plumbers!

It's bloody embarrassing being a Brit abroad.....and to put it in context, most of the EU views us as the idiots of Europe.
We're stuck with it I'm afraid.....and just remember that every time you show your Brit passport all you're doing is publically displaying your "Moron Licence".

You've just made me laugh out loud Pete!! Thanks

Oh, and by the way..................that "sultry hola" is actually a very "anxious" hola, because I never know who's going to start rattling off at 100 miles an hour to me, in Spanish
Do you find it more difficult to speak on the phone than you do in person?

I can't bring myself to say "diga me" (or "di me" as it is here!) - it just sounds so brusque!

Don`t you think Spanish should be taught in UK schools, as it is probably the second business language most used in the world and the most useful for the future ?
That is probably why English is taught in the Netherlands etc.

I am trying my very best to learn Spanish. I have three one hour lessons a week. I have to say, after the first couple of weeks I did feel as though I could hold a conversation a lot better. We had been here a few months before I started lessons so knew a few of the basics.

In principle that would be a good idea jdr. But in realty education standards are now so low in the UK that most kids leave school knowing absolutely nothing, yet they have a host of qualifications. They can't spell or punctuate, they can't add up without a calculator.....and if you discuss any subject with them they never know the answer. They just say "We never did that".
When my son was about to sit his GCSE's I went on the Net and found the corresponding "O" Level papers that I did in 1970. We went through them one by one for the subjects he was doing, and not only did he not know the answers....he couldn't even understand the questions. And he gained high grade passes in everything.....says it all doesn't it?
So if Spanish was taught as a major language, they'd come out with all the certificates but would probably know less than the "Por Favors" over here.

Spanish was being taught at my daughters secondary school so they learned the basics and the eldest who is living here found it easy to pick up the language when she moved over. Both girls left in 1994/5 so I don't know if they still teach it

Thanks for all your replies it has certainly given me hope when I hear people say they picked it up over time. I've only been here 3 months so it's all still new.

Yesterday I was standing there in Eroski with my mini dictionary, trying to translate a can of mosquito spray to make sure it was what I wanted....!

I definitely want to make the effort to learn even a bit, and don't really understand how expats can be here 10 years and never know anything??

I am still quite nervous about asking for things in Spanish but I did ask for 4 English stamps the other day (in Spanish) and she gave me what I wanted...so I can't have been too bad - yay! (I know its quite pathetic but it did make me feel all proud for 5 mins )

I think the first language being taught in British schools these days is Gangsta Rap.
As I understand it most sentences will involve smacking a bitch about and dissing your homies in the hood.
Schools use all the latest software too.....

Oh, I've SO been there and done that!
Once, in our first week or so, I went (minus dictionary) to find some bathroom cleaner. When I got home, I discovered I'd bought the eqivalent of Viakil - you know, the stuff for getting rid of limescale!!
I wondered why it smelt strange when I poured it round the sink!


You're absolutely right about the little achievemnets though; they give you confidence to continue, and that's how you build on things

That's UNBELIEVABLE!!!