I am from Romania. Romanian is a Latin language so I understand Spanish pretty well, although I can't speak it. I will try to read some books and learn some minimal Spanish untill I would go to Madrid (a week or so) but I think that wouldn't be enough. Anyway I am always intersted in other people culture and ideas.
Well, Romania is a very hospitable country. It's also true that foreigners are regarded as a kind of superior cause they are usually richer than my conationals, so perhaps this is the reason for which they are so kind and eager to talk with them.
Anyway, I want to go to Madrid and Toledo, perhaps Segovia, we didn't decide it yet. And I will definetely go to the Spanish coast in the summer if I would like this trip to Madrid.

Haven't been to Spain yet, however, we recently hosted a Spanish student.
This young lady was sweet and fun; and was a
complete joy to have live in our home.
My daughter who is studing Spainish is school has wanted to go to Spain. SO this
winter we will be on a short visit 2 1/2 weeks to Spain. THis exchange student and her
frineds( there were 18 of them in our area we
found delightful and about 4 of them were constatly with us. We did this not expecting anything. Her parents have invited our daughter to spend the summer with them.
One of the other students parents have asked us to visit them in Cadiz and will bring us to Flamenco and show us the areas. I find them warm and open hearted, and we can not
wait till we arrive in Spain. In fact, they
are most helpful in helping us find areas where we would like. I am sure you will have
no problem.
We have traveled to many countries, do not
speak a foreign language, and never once had
a problem. It all depends on you and your
personality. Have a good time.

hi there,

well you should definitely go to spain if you have the chance! but about the language thing, i have traveled to lots of countries too and rarely knowing the language. you CAN get by in big cities and in northern european countries or among young people of any country you can find english speakers...

BUT spain was closed in many ways during the Franco period and most still do not speak English.

and I cannot tell you how much i had to struggle with the language when i ventured away from tourist areas even in Barcelona and certainly in the basque country.

so you can get by with gestures and a few universally known english words. i mean, of course it can be done. but to go out and experience spain outside the tourist traps you will need to at least be able to read some spanish.

i guess for those just going for a vacation its not such a big deal...but if you have a passion for a country (like lots of us here do) it's high on our minds.

have fun on your trip to see the exchange student! you might just come back with a new passion too!

brian

Have only just seen this thread. I agree that having more than minimum language is better. I was in Spain in October by myself and found my lack of conversational skill a bit wearing after a while. I could speak okay (well, I got a few strange looks!), but understanding what was said to me was another story. So, I was sort of embarrassed. I won't go again alone without doing a course to learn more. Really, most of the Spanish people don't speak much English, not that we should expect them to. So, if you're travelling alone & want to meet and speak with the locals, I'd recommend learning more than the minimum. In reply to Xena's comments on France, I had no problem with anyone in France, including the city people. My French is a little better than my Spanish, but still so-so. Maybe some foreign people come on a bit strong for them! They are very proud of their culture and country, and resist "watering down" from outside influences, and this is a good thing! Vive la difference!

I really enjoyed the Spaniards that I got to converse with. It is obviously too small a number to be a significant sample, but I enjoyed Galicians the most. They were warm and very open. As for the language, you can probably get by without any or very little, but the more you can speak the greater the opportunities.

Hello Xena,

This is an e-mail I received from my daughter who is doing a semester in Madrid.

"Last weekend I went to a friend's house in the mountains, and though they
all lived in pretty modern suburban houses there, I was quite surprised
and totally impressed when my friend's mom made paella (typical Spanish
rice dish) in the fireplace, with actual fire. How often do you see that???
They had two fireplaces, one upstairs in the living room, and one in the
basement for cooking. It was this great mix of the old/traditional world
and the modern technological world that we live in. In the same house
where there was a tv, computer, etc, they were cooking in the fire. Pretty
cool, huh? And the food was really good! (nice change from the bland meals
I get in my house here)."

I will be visiting my daughter next month and with her e-mail, I am looking forward to see Spain.

I have just returned from Madrid.
Well, I must say that I love all about this country AND the people. I didn't speak much Spanish, just a few words, but because I'm from a Latin country I understood like half of it. But all the people were so hospitable and kind! They always spoke with us in pubs or on tthe streets and, even if we didn't reply in a fluent Spanish they were so joyful and eager to exchange impressions about different things. As I said I understood a lot of Spanish, but one week of intensive learning was not enough for me to speak it.

Anyway, all of barmen or taxi drivers or just passers by were very, very nice and warm. They spoke with each other all the time about all kind of subjects even if they didn't know each other and it just happened to stay in the same place (i.e. at the bar in pubs, in park on adiacent seats or so).
I really love them.
And I will definitely learn Spanish before going to Barcelona next summer.

Xena,

With your comments on your recent Spain experience is making me very excited to visit Spain next month.

I guess Spain has magic that wants you to come back again and again!. My daughter definitely is loving Spain and may want to return this time in Barcelona. She found the people as you described open to learn from other folks.

I totally agree with you. Spain has a kind of magic and you can become addicted like on drugs or caffeine!!! So watch out before you go there you will be dropping in their fishing nets with which they catch their so great seafood

Xena - I'm very glad to see you found the Spanish are not xena-phobic (hehe )