language

I’ve been learning Castilian Spanish for a couple of years and, at my own pace and in ‘expected’ situations, I’ve some degree of competence. Strong B1, approaching B2 on a good day. (UK ‘A’ level). What I need to work on is conversation and comprehension of random speech. The Spanish radio...

September 16th I will start my Camino Madrid. This is a Camino where mainly Spanish is spoken, a language I don't speak well. Have you encountered difficulties if you do not speak the language on the road?

Has anyone any experience good or bad with any of the immersion language courses in the various schools in Spain? I am planning on returning to Spain in early spring 2020 to complete the Via de la Plata starting from Merida where I left off in 2017. The plan is to go over early for 3 to 4 weeks...

A Camino pal of mine is hoping to return to Spain for a 2-4 week language course. The choices are overwhelming, and he was hoping that someone on the forum would have specific recommendations. He would like to be in a coastal place, daily lessons, not sure what other features he should pay...

Fluency in French/English was great for Caminos in Switzerland and France. Walking with a pilgrim from Brazil was super helpful for Caminos in Spain and Portugal. In May 2020 the Camino Primitivo calls and I understand one should have basic knowledge of Spanish. So both from a personal...

Why do I see O'Cebreiro and O'Pedrouzo so often on the internet? It's bad enough to see "it's" when it should be "its", but where do so many people get the idea that there is an apostrophe in these Spanish town names?

Hi All, I'm lucky to live in central London so I have a overwhelming choice of places to learn beginner Spanish after work e.g. The Cervantes Institute course is £325 per term + books, but the classes are 2.5 hours long !?! (this is the one people tend to recommend on camino forums) Various...

Prior to our last Camino, I thought it might be useful to learn some more Spanish. The aim was to build on my already impressive vocabulary of about 20 words, that dealt mainly with food and drink! The big goal this time, would be to achieve the ultimate in flexibility and independence… To be...

Is there a quick guide to essential Spanish for pilgrims?

How do you think your language abilities affect your Camino experience? If you speak only English… Has that hampered your ability to connect with other pilgrims? Has that hampered your ability to connect with people along the way (bar tenders, servers, store owners...

I'm looking for an app to learn Spanish that is audio based so I can listen while I go for my daily walk. Thanks

Just a philosophical question. Judging by the posts on this forum, most people spend an inordinate amount of time, money and effort fretting about gear and clothing, reading tons of blogs, and diligently watching films and reading books, and yet seem to expend so little effort trying to learn...

Hi. I'm struggling to learn Spanish.... I'm thinking of doing the CP next time: should I keep going with Spanish, or would it make more sense to learn Portuguese? Thanks for your anticipated opinions.

Hi all I have enjoyed learning Spanish over the last 5 years or so here in Oz and practising during my Caminos. Here in Oz I have a weekly lesson with a delightful young Galician teacher. We have moved from going through basic grammar to basic conversation. She suggests I would fall into an...

I have been trying to learn some basic Spanish in preparation for my first Camino. I have been using Rosetta Stone, Spanish 101 at the local State College, Coffee Break Spanish, and Spanish Behind the Wheel. A little bit every day, and it is slowly starting to make sense. I have started putting...

A question especially for any Spanish pilgrim brethren on the forum (and, of course, any others who are knowledgeable): I speak intermediate level Mexican Spanish...aside from those differences I've already discovered (tortillas aren't bread, sandwiches are bocadillos not tortas) are there any...

Something I haven't found in the Camino books and accounts I've read: Conversations with local people in the Camino towns and villages. Nothing about how folks earn a living, what they do for fun, how they feel about life in general. Seems like most of the conversations I read about are...

I searched for similar threads but there don't seem to be any, so here goes--I hope it's not a duplication. So I just found out about a free flashcard program for studying almost any language--or many other things for that matter. You can download flashcards to an android phone or PC, then use...

I just thought I would post this for any Pilgrams that would like to learn or refresh their Spanish . The BBC posts on-line courses for several lanuages including Spanish, French, Italian, etc for free. The video lessons (Mi Vida Loca) is basic spanish, but if you go into the transcripts it can...

Are the signs at the Airport/Train/Bus station only in Spanish? Or do they have some in English? Is navigating these places easy not knowing any spanish?