“I don’t speak Spanish”- a phrase I found myself repeatedly saying very regularly. Sure, I can say Hola and Gracias but my knowledge doesn’t extend much past that. So, when I ended up on holiday (a very nice one thank you) in one of the least touristy places in the south of Spain, where no local could speak English, I had to learn how to get by without knowing the language. This wasn’t always easy, but it’s nothing to fear and it can be achieved. Being an international magazine, it probably won’t be surprising to find out that many of you have struggled before so here are my tips for Scriptoeris readers out there:
Situation 1: What’s for dinner?
Over the course of the holiday I ate out a few times and being somewhere where translations on the menu weren’t the norm, quite often I had no idea what I was about to eat. Far from letting this be a disaster I turned it on its head and made sure that the language barrier wasn’t going to get me down!
Instead of staring at the menu in desperation, hoping that my brain would suddenly learn Spanish, I closed my eyes and pointed at an item on the menu; this would be my dinner. I ordered (putting on my best Spanish accent) and waited eagerly to see what on earth it was I would be presented with. When it came, some sort of mussel with (what I think was) cheesy mash, it was delicious. Now I’d not only learnt the word for mussels (Mejillones), I had also tasted a local food that I wouldn’t have come across otherwise!
If you’re not feeling brave enough to try this, then why not find a little phrase book and take this along with you to dinner?
Situation 2: Dealing with the officials.
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Spain is awful when it comes to car parking restrictions. I was given a parking ticket for parking somewhere with a blue line painted on the road. I couldn’t see any signs telling me to pay, there was nothing written on the road and there were no pay here machines in sight. After looking up parking restrictions in Spain on Google (Google is a lifesaver in any situation) it became clear that a blue line meant you should have paid. Keen to avoid huge costs from the car rental company, who would inevitably add admin fees, I tried to get this sorted out myself (even without knowing Spanish).
By finding what looked like an address on the back of the parking fine I headed to the building to try and argue my case and get let off what I considered to be unfair. The woman in the office did not speak any English; as expected. We worked our way through the conversation by effectively having a game of Charades. She mimed cutting and pressing buttons. I mimed being English (well maybe not mimed exactly), not wanting to pay. As it turned out she was willing to let me off the fine and only asked me to pay the price of a normal ticket (result!).
In most situations abroad you can make the most of over the top hand gestures to try and demonstrate what you mean. It can even be quite fun trying to guess what the other means!
If you’re worrying about not knowing the language before you go, I strongly recommend giving duolingo (http://www.duolingo.com) a go. It’s a great website, and is available as an app, that allows you to learn a variety of languages. The phrases they teach you are useful and you learn through speaking, listening and writing.
And, if all else fails don’t panic. Take a deep breath and bust out your best charade actions.