# Language learning



## henddoug (Jun 21, 2013)

I recently visited Panama and have struck it from my list of possible retirement areas. I'm now looking at Spain (Barcelona/Valencia). I want to learn Spanish.

First, has anyone used Rosetta Stone and what did you think? Are there other products to consider?

Should one learn 'Latin American' or 'Spanish' Spanish to be able to converse easily in both Spain and areas of latin America? I'm not sure of the similarities and/or differences.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

henddoug said:


> I recently visited Panama and have struck it from my list of possible retirement areas. I'm now looking at Spain (Barcelona/Valencia). I want to learn Spanish.
> 
> First, has anyone used Rosetta Stone and what did you think? Are there other products to consider?
> 
> Should one learn 'Latin American' or 'Spanish' Spanish to be able to converse easily in both Spain and areas of latin America? I'm not sure of the similarities and/or differences.


:welcome:

there are lots of discussion threads about this, if you have a bit of a search

as with all these things, some people like Rosetta Stone, others don't - it depends how you learn...

the main difference between Castellano & S.Am Spanish is vocabulary - a bit like the difference between Br.English & Am.English


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

The lady who taught me was from Argentina, I have no difficulty conversing with Iberian Spanish, Canary Islanders or the many South Americans that live here.

Barcelona they speak Catalan and in Valencia many of the road signs are unreadable.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

Hepa said:


> The lady who taught me was from Argentina, I have no difficulty conversing with Iberian Spanish, Canary Islanders or the many South Americans that live here.
> 
> Barcelona they speak Catalan and in Valencia many of the road signs are unreadable.


We the catalan speak catalan and spanish very well and our spanish is more clear than other regions of Spain...


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

mickbcn said:


> We the catalan speak catalan and spanish very well and our spanish is more clear than other regions of Spain...


Yes I know I have been there, it is very difficult for a none Catalan visitor to understand the road signs, or announcements on the metro. The O.P. will probably have to learn two languages if he selects your neck of the woods, whereas only one would be needed in other parts of Iberian Spain.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> there are lots of discussion threads about this, if you have a bit of a search
> 
> ...


and some pronunciation especially of things like "ll" - in Spain it is frequently pronounced like the 'y' of 'yuck' or the 'lli' of the French 'million", in Colombia it is pronounced like the 'lli' of the English 'million' (i.e. the 'l' sound is present), In Argentina is is more like the 'zu' sound in the middle of the English 'pleasure' or the French 'je', and so on.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Hepa said:


> The lady who taught me was from Argentina, I have no difficulty conversing with Iberian Spanish, Canary Islanders or the many South Americans that live here.
> 
> Barcelona they speak Catalan and in Valencia many of the road signs are unreadable.


Just like Wales, bach.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

Hepa said:


> Yes I know I have been there, it is very difficult for a none Catalan visitor to understand the road signs, or announcements on the metro. The O.P. will probably have to learn two languages if he selects your neck of the woods, whereas only one would be needed in other parts of Iberian Spain.


When one non hungarian visit Hungary have the same problems when is there. Or when one non sweddish person visit Sweden..... however for a non catalan who knows spanish is easy to understand many words in catalan signs... usually in the anouncements of the Metro the information is in both languages catalan and spanish (if i am not wrong because since years ago don't use metro.)


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## elisa31bcn (Jan 23, 2013)

I agree with mickbcn...I have never learned Catalan in my years in Barcelona, and have never had any trouble with signs, either metro or highway. Also no trouble communicating with my Spanish in all situations, as, like mick said, everyone native here also speaks Spanish.


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## peterinmalaga (May 27, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> there are lots of discussion threads about this, if you have a bit of a search
> 
> ...


I found Michel Thomas's CDs best for learning Spanish as a beginner. If you come to Spain and live in or near a tourist city, the Town Hall offers VERY cheap classes, which I found good too. I should not worry too much about the differences between latin American Spanish and European Spanish but I would visit the area where you want to live to see if they have an accent that you can understand. I love Andalucia but find the local accent very difficult at times: Andaluz is a language without consonants! There are other languages besides Spanish in Spain, e.g. in Catalunya they often speak Catalan, in Valencia they often speak Valenciano etc. For me the language has not been too much of a problem but the bureaucracy in Spain has caused me more than a few headaches. 
I would suggest you come out here one winter and spend a few months here in rented accommodation before you commit yourself. I appreciate the presence of an English-speaking community far more than I would have imagined, even though my Spanish is now fluent.
Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol is a good place to live in my view.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Just like Wales, bach.


All the road signs in Mallorca are in Welsh


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Kileroman said:


> Sure? My friends just came back from Cataluna, and they told me people talk to you in catalan even being a foreign person. They are quite obsessed with such language. Im thinking about moving, and I also think there re many other places in Spain, and beautiful, for example Andalusia, where I could move to and where people talk in Spanish...


even Spanish people from outside the region have trouble understanding Dandalú


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> even Spanish people from outside the region have trouble understanding Dandalú  {/QUOTE]
> 
> 
> I find it not too difficult if a person is from seseo country rather than ceceo because having damaged hearing, unless I an facing the speaker and can see their lips I don't hear the very soft "th". Just here I am on the borders so I'm faced with both.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Just another region why I am happy living in the north...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

elenetxu said:


> Just another region why I am happy living in the north...


We each have areas and places that suit us best for living in but have to option to go and visit other areas for holidays. The best of both worlds really.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> We each have areas and places that suit us best for living in but have to option to go and visit other areas for holidays. The best of both worlds really.


I just mean I can't understand anything down south! (Or in Galicia, come to think of it.)


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

elenetxu said:


> I just mean I can't understand anything down south! (Or in Galicia, come to think of it.)


If you learn a little Portuguese, Gallego is relatively easy. I have no problem with that at all. Basque is another matter entirely.


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## elisa31bcn (Jan 23, 2013)

About your friends' experience in Catalunya....were they trying to speak English or Spanish?
The number of residents with a decent level of English is quite low. And there are no English speaking enclaves here as in other parts of Spain. You have to speak Spanish to survive here, and more than just a survival level. I can remember a handful of times someone answered me in Catalan, and I would just laugh, and ask them politely to speak in Spanish as my level of Catalan was not sufficient to understand. Everyone would always comply ...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

elisa31bcn said:


> About your friends' experience in Catalunya....were they trying to speak English or Spanish?
> The number of residents with a decent level of English is quite low. And there are no English speaking enclaves here as in other parts of Spain. You have to speak Spanish to survive here, and more than just a survival level. I can remember a handful of times someone answered me in Catalan, and I would just laugh, and ask them politely to speak in Spanish as my level of Catalan was not sufficient to understand. Everyone would always comply ...


all my daughters' friends & their parents speak Valenciano at home, & I'm sure that some of the parents have forgotten how to speak Castellano

I've often found myself in a room full of people speaking Valenciano - I can't speak it but must have absorbed it over the years because I find I can join in....... in Castellano!!


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> If you learn a little Portuguese, Gallego is relatively easy. I have no problem with that at all. *Basque is another matter* entirely.


Ez, erraza da. 

Basque is like a fun puzzle for me. I'd be the first one in the Euskaltegi if it weren't for the whole political issue. 


I was sick the last time I was in Galicia (small town on the northern coast.) OH and I went to the pharmacy. The pharmacist gave us instructions that sounded lovely but I couldn't understand. I assumed OH did, what with him being native and all. 

We walked out and I asked: "So, what did he say?" 
"I don't know, I thought YOU understood!" replied dear sweet OH. 
Why he thought the guiri would've understood beats me, but ... oh, OH.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

Kileroman said:


> Sure? My friends just came back from Cataluna, and they told me people talk to you in catalan even being a foreign person. They are quite obsessed with such language. Im thinking about moving, and I also think there re many other places in Spain, and beautiful, for example Andalusia, where I could move to and where people talk in Spanish...


All what saying your friends is absloutely FALSE. This kind of lies are very tipical from some spaniards and their media.


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## Navas (Sep 2, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> even Spanish people from outside the region have trouble understanding Dandalú
> 
> Curso dandalú - YouTube


Brilliantly funny :rofl:


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