One of the focuses of our trip was learning Spanish. It was an interesting challenge, for three reasons:
- So many Latin Americans speak English, it’s pretty easy to stay in your comfort zone (as an English speaker) for as long as you want.
- Most of the travelers we met (especially in the backpacker hostels) spoke little to no Spanish; English was the lingua franca there as well.
- During the three longest stays of our trip (a month in Costa Rica, a month in Galapagos, and three weeks in Antarctica), we were primarily with American and European tourists, again – and everyone primarily spoke English.
So what did we accomplish? Stef went from not being able to say more than “Hola”, to having a solid grasp of “travel Spanish” – the ability to read a menu, order food and drinks, negotiate prices, get directions, find hotels and other spots, and handle typical travel situations. I went from being able to use a little bit of Italian and get directions and order to foods to reading the newspaper and Harry potter, watching the news and other television shows, doing guided tours in Spanish, having smaller political conversations, and doing all of this across the amazingly diverse accents of south America. Overall, we did pretty well, especially when you consider that we really only had less than six months of real opportunity to learn.
Here’s how we did it:
- Traditional classes. Stef spent her month in Costa Rica studying Spanish (and doing yoga). We also each spent a week in Quito Ecuador studying as a part of our Galapagos volunteering experience. Finally, Stef studied Spanish for another week in Cuenca Ecuador on our way south.
- Street practice. We tried to speak Spanish almost everywhere we could – restaurants, bus stations, airports, hotels, shops, museums, and of course, on the street. Tours were generally a bit more difficult, because most Spanish-speaking tours have Spanish-speaking tourists, so the tour guides often speak at native-speed, which is too fast for us. The vocabulary and grammar are often more complex as well.
- Individual time. Whether with the newspaper that was at the hotel desk, writing in a notebook, or taking another piece of Spanish-language literature (Harry potter books, tour brochures, flyers, etc), we each found time individually to learn more aspects of the language.
Of course, being self-taught in this way often leaves gaps. For instance, neither of us knows anything about the vosotros verb forms – they aren’t used in South America. Also, I can use the subjunctive reasonably well, but can’t conjugate several verbs in the simple past or simple future tense at all (which are much more basic uses than the subjunctive).
We’re hoping to keep up our Spanish practice back here in the States with the help of a few things:
- Pimsleur audio language courses
- More Harry potter books (we have the first two; I’ve only finished one)
- Our collection of Hispanic music, which we really enjoy
- Meeting up with some of our Spanish-speaking friends to practice every month or so
Let us know if you’d like to join in!
