# Moving to Spain



## Isabelle22 (Jun 6, 2013)

_*Hello

I am thinking og going to live in Costa Blanca. I am British, and would like to know if I would need to work in order to get social security. Also, if I don't work, will I have to get a private health insurance, and will I need to pay to see a doctor to get my prescriptions?

Do I have to work there in order to be entitled to social security?

Will my English driving licence be valid, and for how long?

Thank you for your help*_


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Isabelle22 said:


> _*Hello
> 
> I am thinking og going to live in Costa Blanca. I am British, and would like to know if I would need to work in order to get social security. Also, if I don't work, will I have to get a private health insurance, and will I need to pay to see a doctor to get my prescriptions?
> 
> ...


Take a browse through recent threads using the 'search' function and all these questions will have been answered.

Briefly though, by SS do you mean benefits? If so then there aren't any to speak of in Spain!

Yes you will need private health care.


However, let's not run before we can walk. First of all you will have to prove that you can support yourself. This can be done in one of two ways; (1) have sufficient money in a Spanish bank or (2) have a job with sufficient money going into a Spanish bank.

English (European) driving licences are fine until they need renewing - done evry 10 years.


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## Isabelle22 (Jun 6, 2013)

*Thank you, I appreciate your answer.

*


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## Isabelle22 (Jun 6, 2013)

*British moving to Spain*



snikpoh said:


> Take a browse through recent threads using the 'search' function and all these questions will have been answered.
> 
> Briefly though, by SS do you mean benefits? If so then there aren't any to speak of in Spain!
> 
> ...



Hi,

I am Trilingual, I speak Spanish, French and English fluently. I am, by profession, a Trilingual P.A. Interpreter, Translator, and a Language Teacher.

I was thinking of going to Gandia, however, should I be able to find a job, then I may move outside.

Anyone knows of someone who needs my experience and qualifications, please let me know.

Thank you


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Isabelle22 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am Trilingual, I speak Spanish, French and English fluently. I am, by profession, a Trilingual P.A. Interpreter, Translator, and a Language Teacher.
> 
> ...


best would be to find a job before you come over - as stated, you have to show funds/income in order to register as resident, anyway


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Hotel receptionists need several languages


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Isabelle22 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am Trilingual, I speak Spanish, French and English fluently. I am, by profession, a Trilingual P.A. Interpreter, Translator, and a Language Teacher.
> 
> ...


Are you officially qualified as a tri-lingual interpreter/translator? If so, in order to work as an employee you will have to get your qualifications homologated and if you want to work in the public sector you will, in addition, have to take "oposiciones". Alternatively you can set yourself up as self-employed (autonomo) and will have to pay the social security of a minimum of €260 per month whether you earn anything or not, plus income tax on your worldwide income if you are here for more than 183 days in a year when you would become tax resident, this is in addition to having to qualify as a "resident" if you are here for more than 90 days for which you have to prove that you have the financial resources to support yourself (either monthly income into a Spanish bank or capital also in a Spanish bank) and have healthcare coverage.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I think that the UK is the only EU state which hands out benefits based solely on residence. Other states are more sensible and careful with their taxpayers' money.
You probably know that the EU is challenging the UK over this. 
I too have worked as an interpreter/translator but I think that unlike the UK it is quite easy to find people here fluent in three languages, Spanish, English and German being the most popular. Very many non-professional people are fairly fluent in more than one language especially in tourist areas.
Russian is a language in demand in this part of Andalucia and there are as yet few people qualified to interpret or translate it. But unemployment is very high in Spain and I don't think you have much chance of getting work interpreting with your languages - I too speak French fluently and to a reasonable standard, speak Spanish fluently but ungrammatically, very fluent German to degree level and basic Czech, Polish and Italian as well of course as English but I doubt anyone would want to give me a job as there are very many people like me around here who know several languages.
Spain has introduced new regulations for immigrants and you will need to prove income of around £600 per month in order to gain residency and be able to work. That isn't enough to live on, though. When you start work, unless you have a contract you will be freelance/autonomo which costs around 250 euros a month regardless of whether you earn 10 euros, 100 euros or 10000 euros.


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## fessex (Apr 28, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> I think that the UK is the only EU state which hands out benefits based solely on residence. Other states are more sensible and careful with their taxpayers' money.
> You probably know that the EU is challenging the UK over this.
> I too have worked as an interpreter/translator but I think that unlike the UK it is quite easy to find people here fluent in three languages, Spanish, English and German being the most popular. Very many non-professional people are fairly fluent in more than one language especially in tourist areas.
> Russian is a language in demand in this part of Andalucia and there are as yet few people qualified to interpret or translate it. But unemployment is very high in Spain and I don't think you have much chance of getting work interpreting with your languages - I too speak French fluently and to a reasonable standard, speak Spanish fluently but ungrammatically, very fluent German to degree level and basic Czech, Polish and Italian as well of course as English but I doubt anyone would want to give me a job as there are very many people like me around here who know several languages.
> Spain has introduced new regulations for immigrants and you will need to prove income of around £600 per month in order to gain residency and be able to work. That isn't enough to live on, though. When you start work, unless you have a contract you will be freelance/autonomo which costs around 250 euros a month regardless of whether you earn 10 euros, 100 euros or 10000 euros.


You must be talking about immigrants, naturally they're going to "know" more than one language, that doesn't mean they're fluent. The majority of Spaniards speak one language.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

fessex said:


> You must be talking about immigrants, naturally they're going to "know" more than one language, that doesn't mean they're fluent. The majority of Spaniards speak one language.


The majority of Spanish I know speak at least two - fluent or not, I dont know - define fluent!! Spain these days has many second generation "immigrants/expats" anyway, and they're truly bilingual!!!!

Like I say, todays Europe is a big melting pot!

Jo xxx


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## fessex (Apr 28, 2013)

jojo said:


> The majority of Spanish I know speak at least two - fluent or not, I dont know - define fluent!! Spain these days has many second generation "immigrants/expats" anyway, and they're truly bilingual!!!!
> 
> Like I say, todays Europe is a big melting pot!
> 
> Jo xxx



Fluent is knowing enough of the language to get a job in a country that speaks that language, without pausing, without having to think of what to say or translate in your head.

Obviously people in Spain and most of the world learn English, but they're not fluent. Only a handful are, like Germany, Sweden, Denmark etc.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

fessex said:


> You must be talking about immigrants, naturally they're going to "know" more than one language, that doesn't mean they're fluent. The majority of Spaniards speak one language.


We are all immigrants here, Brits included. Why should immigrants 'naturally' know more than one language Most British immigrants don't - some can barely write or speak their own language grammatically!

I'm not sure that bit's true that most Spaniards speak only one language, not if you consider that most speak their own regional dialect plus castellano. Many Spaniards I cme across speak English or German, especially younger people. It's frustrating sometimes when you address a Spaniard in Spanish to get a reply in English, both of us keen to improve our language skills.

Fluency is not the be-all and end-all in acquiring a second, third language. Your level of acquisition will correspond to the purpose for which you require it.
Hence I have a reasonable level of transactional Czech and Polish,enough to conduct daily life in those countries, but could not discuss art, politics or similar matters with any fluency. Fortunately my Czech and Polish friends spoke very good English so my conversations weren't confined to the price of cabbages.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

fessex said:


> Fluent is knowing enough of the language to get a job in a country that speaks that language, without pausing, without having to think of what to say or translate in your head.
> 
> Obviously people in Spain and most of the world learn English, but they're not fluent. Only a handful are, like Germany, Sweden, Denmark etc.


No. 'Fluent' is the ability to conduct the kind of affairs needed for you to settle in another country. It does not have to be work-related. Language is a tool which can adapt to many different jobs. And the level of fluency and specialist vocabulary needed will obviously depend on the job. Some jobs require no real knowledge of the host language.

It isn't the case that every person or every other person in Germany, Sweden or Denmark is 'fluent' in English, especially in the former German Democratic Republic where older people are more likely to be fluent in Russian as it was a compulsory subject in schools under socialism. As in Spain, you will find educated people who are fluent in another language, people who are fluent because of work requirements or those who have settled and made their lives in a foreign country and have learnt the language of that country.

Neither does fluency imply grammatical or syntactical correctness. My Spanish is 'fluent' in the sense that I can rattle on about most subjects as I can in English and a couple of other languages but unlike my rattling on in those languages, my Spanish is extremely ungrammatical. 
But I am understood, I communicate, which is the point of language and usually my errors are gently corrected.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> We are all immigrants here, Brits included. Why should immigrants 'naturally' know more than one language Most British immigrants don't - some can barely write or speak their own language grammatically!
> 
> I'm not sure that bit's true that most Spaniards speak only one language, not if you consider that most speak their own regional dialect plus castellano. Many Spaniards I cme across speak English or German, especially younger people. It's frustrating sometimes when you address a Spaniard in Spanish to get a reply in English, both of us keen to improve our language skills.
> 
> ...


Regional dialects? In spain there are 4 Languages castilian or spanish.catalan basque and galician this are languages not dialects well this are dialects from latin like spanish or french or portugues for example... dialect is for example andalucian you can get more information in google.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

mickbcn said:


> Regional dialects? In spain there are 4 Languages castilian or spanish.catalan basque and galician this are languages not dialects well this are dialects from latin like spanish or french or portugues for example... dialect is for example andalucian you can get more information in google.


Yet none of these are recognised as languages by the EU....
So..is whether you regard it as a separate language or not dependant on your political views of Catalan autonomy?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Yet none of these are recognised as languages by the EU....
> So..is whether you regard it as a separate language or not dependant on your political views of Catalan autonomy?


they are recognised as co-official languages by Spain though......


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> they are recognised as co-official languages by Spain though......


which, imo is the important thing since those areas a part of Spain and did not individually sign up to the EU although they do benefit from it.

As to whether Andalucian (or Andalu') is just a dialect any more than Catalan is open to debate.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Yet none of these are recognised as languages by the EU....
> So..is whether you regard it as a separate language or not dependant on your political views of Catalan autonomy?


Catalan language is the oficial language of Andorra one state of Europe.in a while Europe don't allow catalan language in the european parliament because the descendants of Franco are in the power.they "love" the catalan very much and put all the obstacles for ban the catalan in the european parliament.( but this will change in less than 15 month.))


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## fessex (Apr 28, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> We are all immigrants here, Brits included. Why should immigrants 'naturally' know more than one language Most British immigrants don't - some can barely write or speak their own language grammatically!
> 
> I'm not sure that bit's true that most Spaniards speak only one language, not if you consider that most speak their own regional dialect plus castellano. Many Spaniards I cme across speak English or German, especially younger people. It's frustrating sometimes when you address a Spaniard in Spanish to get a reply in English, both of us keen to improve our language skills.
> 
> ...


I wasn't talking about British immigrants. If a Czech person lives in Spain, naturally they would know Czech and Spanish. English is also taught very well in Czech Republic.

Well it is true, statistics show that the majority of Spaniards speak one language: Spanish. I have never come across a Spaniard who speaks more than conversational English and statistics back it up.



mrypg9 said:


> No. 'Fluent' is the ability to conduct the kind of affairs needed for you to settle in another country. It does not have to be work-related. Language is a tool which can adapt to many different jobs. And the level of fluency and specialist vocabulary needed will obviously depend on the job. Some jobs require no real knowledge of the host language.
> 
> It isn't the case that every person or every other person in Germany, Sweden or Denmark is 'fluent' in English, especially in the former German Democratic Republic where older people are more likely to be fluent in Russian as it was a compulsory subject in schools under socialism. As in Spain, you will find educated people who are fluent in another language, people who are fluent because of work requirements or those who have settled and made their lives in a foreign country and have learnt the language of that country.
> 
> ...


Actually around 89% of Swedes and 90% of Germans speak English.
And if you're still making grammar mistakes then you're not fluent imo.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

fessex said:


> Well it is true, statistics show that the majority of Spaniards speak one language: Spanish. I have never come across a Spaniard who speaks more than conversational English and statistics back it up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's true, Spaniards have a low level of English proficiency in general. However, it stands to reason that there are a number of people who speak high level English, who can function fully in their second language. I teach some of them myself!
Fluency may mean more than one thing depending on who is talking. It seems that you are talking about grammatical accuracy whereas a language instructor might use fluency to talk about the ease and ability a person has to communicate, with accuracy not being the most important.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

fessex said:


> And if you're still making grammar mistakes then you're not fluent imo.


 Heck, that makes an awful lot of Brits *NOT *fluent in English lol

Jo xxx


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

It was not until I started to learn Spanish that it occurred to me, how my grammar had deteriorated. We were never taught, conjunctive and subjective etc. I also believe that this thing I am typing on, has made me lazy. I have actually bought an English grammer book, to help me understand Spanish Grammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cambio said:


> It was not until I started to learn Spanish that it occurred to me, how my grammar had deteriorated. We were never taught, conjunctive and subjective etc. I also believe that this thing I am typing on, has made me lazy. I have actually bought an English grammer book, to help me understand Spanish Grammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Bad news - you may have to look at your spelling too


grammar


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

:embarassed::banplease:


Pesky Wesky said:


> Bad news - you may have to look at your spelling too
> 
> 
> grammar


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

cambio said:


> It was not until I started to learn Spanish that it occurred to me, how my grammar had deteriorated. We were never taught, conjunctive and subjective etc. I also believe that this thing I am typing on, has made me lazy. I have actually bought an English grammer book, to help me understand Spanish Grammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We can see how your "grammar" (1st line) has deteriorated to "grammer" (subsequently). 

It always used to amuse me when asking how to spell a word we were told to look in a dictionary but, if you don't know how to spell it, how can you look it up in a dictionary?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cambio said:


> :embarassed::banplease:


A little harsh I think!

One of the reasons I like the forum is that it makes me write in English. My first hundreds of posts were pretty well written with good grammar and spelling, but just recently I've noticed really awful errors.
Shal avetu pul up me soks!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cambio said:


> It was not until I started to learn Spanish that it occurred to me, how my grammar had deteriorated. We were never taught, conjunctive and subjective etc. I also believe that this thing I am typing on, has made me lazy. I have actually bought an English grammer book, to help me understand Spanish Grammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Pesky Wesky said:


> Bad news - you may have to look at your spelling too
> 
> 
> grammar





cambio said:


> :embarassed::banplease:





baldilocks said:


> We can see how your "grammar" (1st line) has deteriorated to "grammer" (subsequently).
> 
> It always used to amuse me when asking how to spell a word we were told to look in a dictionary but, if you don't know how to spell it, how can you look it up in a dictionary?


that's what I LOVE about Spanish..... the spelling is so logical :clap2:


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> that's what I LOVE about Spanish..... the spelling is so logical :clap2:


And one of the things you love about this forum is the MULTiQUOTE!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> And one of the things you love about this forum is the MULTiQUOTE!!


and the







button


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> A little harsh I think!
> 
> One of the reasons I like the forum is that it makes me write in English. My first hundreds of posts were pretty well written with good grammar and spelling, but just recently I've noticed really awful errors.
> Shal avetu pul up me soks!!


I really have to re-read mine every time because either one hand gets ahead of the other and letters get misplaced or I hit a wrong key which isn't helped by some of the labels on the keys having been worn off - No, I can't touch type! However, I do try to get my grammar and spelling correct purely as a matter of personal discipline.

Anyone ever find that, where both the English and the Spanish spellings of a word are similar, with only minor differences, you use the wrong spelling, e.g. the Spanish spelling when you are writing in English and vice versa?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> that's what I LOVE about Spanish..... the spelling is so logical :clap2:


which is more than can be said for the genders!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> and the
> 
> 
> 
> ...


but we are still waiting for a "Don't Like" button!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> which is more than can be said for the genders!


even that's easy................

problems are masculine

men sit on the sofa (masculine) watching the TV (feminine) & pointing the remote control at it (masculine)

the loo - & the room it's in - is masculine, as is the newspaper the man reads in there



sadly, the washing machine is feminine


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> even that's easy................
> 
> problems are masculine
> 
> ...


and so is the kitchen! I often feel that I am trespassing when I cook lunch!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> and so is the kitchen! I often feel that I am trespassing when I cook lunch!


the best 'tricks' though for solving gender confusion are 

D A Z IÓN & L E A N S


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> the best 'tricks' though for solving gender confusion are
> 
> D A Z IÓN & L E A N S


Please enlighten me.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Please enlighten me.


and me!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

cambio said:


> and me!


ditto


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> the best 'tricks' though for solving gender confusion are
> 
> D A Z IÓN & L E A N S





baldilocks said:


> Please enlighten me.





cambio said:


> and me!





Pesky Wesky said:


> ditto


if a noun ends in D A Z or IÓN then it's almost certainly feminine - very few break that rule so it's easy to remember them as you learn them

if an adjective ends in L E A N or S, then to make it 'fit' the noun, you only have to change it for plurals, not gender


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> if a noun ends in D A Z or IÓN then it's almost certainly feminine - very few break that rule so it's easy to remember them as you learn them
> 
> if an adjective ends in L E A N or S, then to make it 'fit' the noun, you only have to change it for plurals, not gender


Thanks but that is too simplified and too much escapes. 


The 'ión' is only correct if it is '-ción' or '-sión'. Camión, gorrión, avión, etc are masculine

Lápiz, maíz, tapiz, etc are all masculine

Día, mapa, problema, tema, etc are also all masculine
etc.

It doesn't cover the illogical - mano (hand) is feminine but dedo (finger) is masculine yet both end in 'o'


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

It is the *amount* of gender exceptions which flummox....

My class is made up of youngish people. No other pensioners in sight !!! Are they all fluent- *or*- just not bothering to learn ???


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Allie-P said:


> It is the *amount* of gender exceptions which flummox....
> 
> My class is made up of youngish people. No other pensioners in sight !!! Are they all fluent- *or*- just not bothering to learn ???


usually "not bothering to learn" or "fearing failure in front of others" and, in some cases, knowing insufficient of their own language and word usages to be able to make the transition from one language to another coupled with a lifetime of mis-usage of words. For example people use 'less' when they mean 'fewer', 'amount' when they mean 'quantity', etc....

I would say that it is not just the quantity but the illogicality...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Allie-P said:


> It is the *amount* of gender exceptions which flummox....
> 
> My class is made up of youngish people. No other pensioners in sight !!! Are they all fluent- *or*- just not bothering to learn ???


there really are very few gender excaptions - truly

as for pensioners.... I do have some (not many) younger students in their 20s - but taking them out of the equation I'd say that the average age of my students is about 60 - I have several in their 70s....


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

Just some of them:
el aroma — aroma
el Canadá — Canada
el clima — climate
el cólera — cholera (but la cólera, anger)
el cometa — comet (but la cometa, kite)
el cura — priest (but la cura, cure)
el día — day
el diagrama — diagram
el dilema — dilemma
el diploma — diploma
la disco — disco (short for la discoteca)
el drama — drama
el enigma — enigma
el esquema — outline, diagram
la foto — photo (short for la fotografía)
el guardia — policeman or male guard (but la guardia, vigilance)
el guía — male guide (but la guía, guidebook or female guide)
el idioma — language
el idiota — male idiot (but la idiota, female idiot)
el indígena — indigenous male (but la indígena, indigenous female)
la mano — hand
el mapa — map
la modelo — female model (but el modelo, male model)
el morfema — morpheme
la moto — motorcycle (short for la motocicleta)
el panorama — panorama, outlook
el papa — the pope (but la papa, potato)
el poema — poem
el policía — policeman (but la policía, police force or policewoman)
el planeta — planet
el problema — problem
el programa — program
el quechua — Quechua language
la radio — radio (short for la radiodifusión; but el radio, radius or radium; usage of the feminine form depends on the region)
el reuma, el reúma — rheumatism
la reo — female criminal (but el reo, male criminal)
el síntoma — symptom, sign
el sistema — system
el sofá — sofa
la soprano — female soprano (but el soprano, male soprano)
el tanga — G-string
el telegrama — telegram
el tema — theme, subject
el teorema — theorem
la testigo — female witness (but el testigo, male witness)
el tranvía — streetcar


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Calas felices said:


> Just some of them:
> el aroma — aroma
> el Canadá — Canada
> el clima — climate
> ...


but how many of those will you need in everyday conversation - few enough that you'll remember those you use, for sure


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> there really are very few gender excaptions - truly
> 
> as for pensioners.... I do have some (not many) younger students in their 20s - but taking them out of the equation I'd say that the average age of my students is about 60 - I have several in their 70s....



I will consider moving to your neck of the woods , in the forseeable future....

There are four others in my group - the three girls are in their late twenties, with the only gentleman approximately 50+. I am the only one who has never missed a lesson - which is probably due to my only liabilities being 1 husband & 1 small dog


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

Many thanks for the comprehensive list, Calas......


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Calas felices said:


> Just some of them:
> el aroma — aroma
> el Canadá — Canada
> el clima — climate
> ...


Thanks for those I've copied them and added them to the chapter on nouns (genders and plurals) in my "Confusions in Spanish"


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

Sometimes in spanish (is funny) something very femenine is used the "el" and for something very masculine we use the "la" i am talking about genitalia. el c..ñ. and la p.....a. SORRY...)


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Calas felices said:


> Just some of them:
> el aroma — aroma
> el Canadá — Canada
> el clima — climate
> ...


Don't forget Papá - Dad or Mamá - Mum!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Allie-P said:


> It is the *amount* of gender exceptions which flummox....
> 
> My class is made up of youngish people. No other pensioners in sight !!! Are they all fluent- *or*- just not bothering to learn ???


I would say neither.... You have to consider that very many of the older people moving to Spain have not had the education needed to easily learn another language. Such foreign language teaching as went on in the past in British schools was often poor in quality, was nearly always French, was delivered by non-specialist teachers and was almost certainly guaranteed to be taught in a way that was boring and put you off for life.
Many of the old secondary modern schools taught no foreign languages at all. Grammar schools fifty or so years ago taught languages not for speaking or everyday life but with a focus on the literature of the language studied. I left school with the old Scholarship Levels in French and German but it wasn't until I spent time in France that I could speak the language with any degree of fluency although I had read Racine, Corneille and Moliere in the original.
Most people who come to Spain are not that affluent or 'cosmopolitan'. They may not have travelled extensively. I remember the awe with which we viewed my Auntie Hilda when she returned from a coach trip to Belgium in the 1950s. Younger people and people of my generation who were fortunate enough to leave our narrow working-class backgrounds via scholarships to selective schools have an entirely different attitude to 'abroad'. 
I cannot get steamed up about older people who speak no Spanish. For many of them, learning Spanish is seen as an almost insurmountable obstacle and we should be understanding of this. THey've come to Spain to retire in their own way. 
But younger people and those who come to work should imo learn the language. When I was in Poland and the Czech Republic I set about learning these two Slavonic and very different and difficult languages and can communicate albeit ungrammatically in them. But then my job was as a teacher/translator/ interpreter of French and German so I had no excuse not to.


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks for the reply, Mary,

I was quite linguistic minded in my youth & attained a French "A" level & an Italian "O" level. I am enjoying learning Spanish - it's a slow process, which is only to be expected at my age !! 

This time, I am leisurely learning a language, purely for pleasure - not in order to pass exams........


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Allie-P said:


> Thanks for the reply, Mary,
> 
> I was quite linguistic minded in my youth & attained a French "A" level & an Italian "O" level. I am enjoying learning Spanish - it's a slow process, which is only to be expected at my age !!
> 
> This time, I am leisurely learning a language, purely for pleasure - not in order to pass exams........


I think that's the best reason of all! You'll learn very quickly. 
I started an experiment in the Infants School attached to our school...teaching four year olds French. No reading, no writing, just listening and talking. After all, that's how we learnt our mother tongues, listening and imitating. They loved it and were very unselfconscious and learnt basic stuff rapidly. I only hope they kept it up.
I do think that the biggest obstacle to learning is an over-concentration on grammar. This can inhibit speech through fear of making a mistake and 'looking silly'. The main purpose of language of any kind is communication and once you've communicated successfully your confidence will be boosted. My Spanish friends correct me only if I make a really serious grammatical mistake or if what I say just doesn't make sense.
Once, in Prague, I mistook a Polish word for a Czech one and informed a startled secretary that I was 'screwing' her boss, my friend's husband the Mayor, when I meant to say I was 'looking' for him.
I also told a bemused Czech who asked me for directions that I couldn't help as 'I was an angel'. Of course I meant to say 'English'.....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Allie-P said:


> Thanks for the reply, Mary,
> 
> I was quite linguistic minded in my youth & attained a French "A" level & an Italian "O" level. I am enjoying learning Spanish - it's a slow process, which is only to be expected at my age !!
> 
> This time, I am leisurely learning a language, purely for pleasure - not in order to pass exams........


Age is neither an excuse nor a reason. You either have (a) the aptitude, (b) the inclination and (c) the determination or you don't. If any of the three are lacking, then you either fail or it is an uphill struggle. Thus speaks the voice of *age* and experience - 72 in 43 days!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Age is neither an excuse nor a reason. You either have (a) the aptitude, (b) the inclination and (c) the determination or you don't. If any of the three are lacking, then you either fail or it is an uphill struggle. Thus speaks the voice of *age* and experience - 72 in 43 days!


Age in itself isn't an excuse but British especially English people are notoriously bad at learning foreign languages and there are reasons for this: experience or rather lack of it plus poor education. If you are in your sixties or seventies chances are that unless you attended an academic school rather than a sec. mod you simply won't have the background knowledge of how to learn anything, let alone a language. Some people have to learn 'how to learn', if you get my meaning.

The other obvious reasons are that Britain is an island, English is a world language and for many people Spain isn't really a 'foreign' country, especially if they have visited only on holiday before settling here to retire. I think the main reason why so many British people come to Spain is because it isn't really that strange or foreign. I think that's part of the reason why some people dislike seeing Brits doing 'Brit things' and talk about the 'real Spain'...it's because they're disappointed at what the reality is and want to 'remake' Spain to fit their preconception. After all, from what I've seen Brits in other countries don't behave like that.

Sandra is very assiduous about learning Spanish. She sets aside time for study each day and makes copious notes of grammar and vocabulary. I can't be arsed. 
I speak, listen and learn, make dreadful mistakes, get understood....and improve, poco a poco. It helps that one Spanish friend refuses to speak English with me and is very patient, kindly correcting my worst mistakes. But he speaks broad Andaluz.....


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