It's not really that you won't be able to get by. When you go to a restaurant, you can use Google Translate on your phone to read the menu. You can point your finger to the menu at what you'll have and say "por favor" and "gracias" to not be rude. Most lodging you find will have someone who speaks English, *especially* at hotels/Airbnbs/whatever that cater to foreigners.
But you'll miss out on cultural exchanges, which to me is the best part of travel. Standing around food cards at 1am, you won't know how to order without a menu. You won't get to have conversations with strangers, even though Latin Americans are generally very outgoing. You'll sort of be isolated, in your own head, and since it'll be easier to just go where you can "get by", you will not be as embedded in the culture as you would if you knew Spanish.
So, yeah, it would be a way better experience if you at least know some Spanish. But that's okay. You don't not travel to a place because you don't speak the language. Just go and do it anyway.
One thing about Duolingo. I don't think it teaches you numbers very early on, which is unfortunate, because they're arguably the most important things to know. So, find some Spanish numbers instructions on YouTube and skip right to them or something.
You'll be able to "get by" but you'll be bored and alone until you find some good folks who speak english. You'll be frustrated when friendly and attractive people try to talk to you, but then can't. I got lucky and found a few friends through tinder who would translate for me while out doing stuff.
Otherwise, expect to do a lot of pointing at menus and saying "lo siento, no entiendo" as cashiers show you calculators with totals typed out. It's not that bad, but it'll make you want to learn spanish. Stick with the gringo-friendly barrios and you'll have a better time.
Just like going to any other major city in the world.
It can be extremely frustrating at times like today.
My data ran out. Website is hard to read when translating, no stores seem to want to sell data. They don't speak enough English to understand what I'm trying to do.
But eventually you'll figure out.
Just deal with it.
It's the price you pay to travel and not know the languages.
The same as cztj said, and also for your safety don't go to sketchy districts. If you stay in Lima, these are "good" districts: Miraflores, San Borja, Barranco (for partying), La Molina, and that's it.. any other places you may wanna go with someone who knows the area.
Interesting question. Probably in bigger cities you will most likely find English speaking people but you won’t get away from the problem that if you’re in a group of Spanish speaking friends they probably won’t speak English with you unless they’re used to the context of adapting to one person who doesn’t speak the language. And it does become boring. Try to get a local SIM card with data on it so at least you can use translators like duolingo and sayhi to have some help it’s better than nothing. Don’t rely on someone translating for you as it’s also quite a lot to ask of someone. Most people will understand English but feel intimidated to speak it Argentinian accent can be one of the thickest to understand. But it’s. It all Argentinians it depends on where they’re from and the person. I usually have more problems being fluent in Spanish but not native to understand Argentinians from Buenos Aires or Rosario for example. Mexicans are very easy unless they use their slang which they have a lot of. You could always practice a few phrases to greet people like qué onda wey to your Mexican friends (what’s up dude) but it will break the ice not bear a whole conversation. A translator app will get it half way maybe but better han nowhere.
Yes, you'll be fine. BUT, you'll enjoy your trip muuuuuuch more if you make an attempt at learning Spanish. Even if you start the trip with no Spanish but you incorporate learning to speak and understand it as part of your daily routine you will have a much much much better time than if you just say "fuck it, I don't speak it and I'm gonna barrel my way through this without learning it".
Have fun, try all the new foods, be open and friendly and use common sense and you'll have a great time.
I spent 2 months in South America without knowing a lick of spanish beforehand. I ended up taking lessons in Lima. You should go hard on Duolingo beforehand and the first thing I would do if I were you is take private lessons for 3 weeks or so full time in South America (there’s lots of affordable options). Oh my god. Knowing spanish is SO essential for not going crazy.
You'll be fine and you'll learn a lot more than you think on the go. Did 6 months in central Mexico and by the time I left I could have a semi-fluent conversation with people.
You joke, but for what it's worth, my first trip to Medellin inspired me to learn Spanish. A year and a half of lazy study later, I speak ok Spanish.
So yeah, it has taken time, but it's one of the best things I've ever done.
I do plan on doing it, I really want to learn it. I wanted to originally take a Spanish class while there but I'm taking an online one about programming while working full time
I took spanish in high school (20 years ago), which gave me a foundation of verb conjugation. After that, I used duolingo daily (258-day streak!) and the show "extr@ espanol" on youtube.
Now I get the best practice from actual conversations with my spanish speaking friends in bogota and medellin.
I'm not fluent, but I can talk with most anyone.
Gonna be harder to get good deals without speaking Spanish. Much easier if you can actually communicate with the locals instead of being an obvious tourist
Yes, they'll figure out you're a foreigner, but if you know Spanish, you'll still be less ripoff-able.
Say there's a taxi ride that should cost 60 pesos. If you're fluent in Spanish, you can just say, "Sesenta pesos a cinco veintidós calle santo domingo -- bien?", the taxi driver will probably nod and you get in and go. Or if he tries to rip you off, you can tell him, *in Spanish*, that his price is absurd or insulting and he'll immediately come down to market price.
In contrast, if you just pull out your phone and point to a place on Google Maps and say "how much," I can assure you, you're going to be quoted a price twice what a Mexican would pay -- if not more. Maybe you can talk him down, but that's going to be challenging if you don't speak the language. Even taxistas who know English have an amazing ability to forget it when it comes time to negotiate a price with a tourist.
From experience, I can definitely tell you that after you learn at least some Spanish -- enough to communicate -- you are much less likely to be ripped off. They know you're a foreigner of course, but they don't assume you're out of your element and an easy target. Even if they do assume that, you can quickly correct that misconception.
I found a really good hack when i was traveling south & central america - set the route you're going into the uber app and see what the actual rough costs is. When you get into a taxi, ask how much and if you're quoted a ridiculous price that is far from what the uber app shows it is, just quote the uber price and say isn't that the correct pricing? e.g. "No es cientospesos el precio correcto?". Most will just smile and say "ah lo siento. si, ceintospeso senor!"
Yeah, that's a good guideline. Uber's pricing is time and distance, while in plenty of Latin American cities, it's how many districts you travel. But they'll be priced similar and Latin Americans negotiate specific fares all the time.
Find Butterfly Spanish on youtube. Anna is really good at teaching Spanish.
It's not really that you won't be able to get by. When you go to a restaurant, you can use Google Translate on your phone to read the menu. You can point your finger to the menu at what you'll have and say "por favor" and "gracias" to not be rude. Most lodging you find will have someone who speaks English, *especially* at hotels/Airbnbs/whatever that cater to foreigners. But you'll miss out on cultural exchanges, which to me is the best part of travel. Standing around food cards at 1am, you won't know how to order without a menu. You won't get to have conversations with strangers, even though Latin Americans are generally very outgoing. You'll sort of be isolated, in your own head, and since it'll be easier to just go where you can "get by", you will not be as embedded in the culture as you would if you knew Spanish. So, yeah, it would be a way better experience if you at least know some Spanish. But that's okay. You don't not travel to a place because you don't speak the language. Just go and do it anyway. One thing about Duolingo. I don't think it teaches you numbers very early on, which is unfortunate, because they're arguably the most important things to know. So, find some Spanish numbers instructions on YouTube and skip right to them or something.
You'll be able to "get by" but you'll be bored and alone until you find some good folks who speak english. You'll be frustrated when friendly and attractive people try to talk to you, but then can't. I got lucky and found a few friends through tinder who would translate for me while out doing stuff. Otherwise, expect to do a lot of pointing at menus and saying "lo siento, no entiendo" as cashiers show you calculators with totals typed out. It's not that bad, but it'll make you want to learn spanish. Stick with the gringo-friendly barrios and you'll have a better time.
Can’t speak or understand much Spanish and never had serious problem in Mexico City.
Just like going to any other major city in the world. It can be extremely frustrating at times like today. My data ran out. Website is hard to read when translating, no stores seem to want to sell data. They don't speak enough English to understand what I'm trying to do. But eventually you'll figure out. Just deal with it. It's the price you pay to travel and not know the languages.
The same as cztj said, and also for your safety don't go to sketchy districts. If you stay in Lima, these are "good" districts: Miraflores, San Borja, Barranco (for partying), La Molina, and that's it.. any other places you may wanna go with someone who knows the area.
Interesting question. Probably in bigger cities you will most likely find English speaking people but you won’t get away from the problem that if you’re in a group of Spanish speaking friends they probably won’t speak English with you unless they’re used to the context of adapting to one person who doesn’t speak the language. And it does become boring. Try to get a local SIM card with data on it so at least you can use translators like duolingo and sayhi to have some help it’s better than nothing. Don’t rely on someone translating for you as it’s also quite a lot to ask of someone. Most people will understand English but feel intimidated to speak it Argentinian accent can be one of the thickest to understand. But it’s. It all Argentinians it depends on where they’re from and the person. I usually have more problems being fluent in Spanish but not native to understand Argentinians from Buenos Aires or Rosario for example. Mexicans are very easy unless they use their slang which they have a lot of. You could always practice a few phrases to greet people like qué onda wey to your Mexican friends (what’s up dude) but it will break the ice not bear a whole conversation. A translator app will get it half way maybe but better han nowhere.
Yes, you'll be fine. BUT, you'll enjoy your trip muuuuuuch more if you make an attempt at learning Spanish. Even if you start the trip with no Spanish but you incorporate learning to speak and understand it as part of your daily routine you will have a much much much better time than if you just say "fuck it, I don't speak it and I'm gonna barrel my way through this without learning it". Have fun, try all the new foods, be open and friendly and use common sense and you'll have a great time.
I spent 2 months in South America without knowing a lick of spanish beforehand. I ended up taking lessons in Lima. You should go hard on Duolingo beforehand and the first thing I would do if I were you is take private lessons for 3 weeks or so full time in South America (there’s lots of affordable options). Oh my god. Knowing spanish is SO essential for not going crazy.
Medellín will be a hard challenge outside of 1 neighborhood. México city you'll be fine, and I've never been to Lima so I can't speak to that.
You'll be fine and you'll learn a lot more than you think on the go. Did 6 months in central Mexico and by the time I left I could have a semi-fluent conversation with people.
Learn spanish. Geez.
you're right, I'll master it in a week
I've seen people learn basic conversational Spanish in less time than that. Crazy..
You joke, but for what it's worth, my first trip to Medellin inspired me to learn Spanish. A year and a half of lazy study later, I speak ok Spanish. So yeah, it has taken time, but it's one of the best things I've ever done.
I do plan on doing it, I really want to learn it. I wanted to originally take a Spanish class while there but I'm taking an online one about programming while working full time
[удалено]
I took spanish in high school (20 years ago), which gave me a foundation of verb conjugation. After that, I used duolingo daily (258-day streak!) and the show "extr@ espanol" on youtube. Now I get the best practice from actual conversations with my spanish speaking friends in bogota and medellin. I'm not fluent, but I can talk with most anyone.
Gonna be harder to get good deals without speaking Spanish. Much easier if you can actually communicate with the locals instead of being an obvious tourist
You'll be an obvious tourist pretty much no matter what.
Yes, they'll figure out you're a foreigner, but if you know Spanish, you'll still be less ripoff-able. Say there's a taxi ride that should cost 60 pesos. If you're fluent in Spanish, you can just say, "Sesenta pesos a cinco veintidós calle santo domingo -- bien?", the taxi driver will probably nod and you get in and go. Or if he tries to rip you off, you can tell him, *in Spanish*, that his price is absurd or insulting and he'll immediately come down to market price. In contrast, if you just pull out your phone and point to a place on Google Maps and say "how much," I can assure you, you're going to be quoted a price twice what a Mexican would pay -- if not more. Maybe you can talk him down, but that's going to be challenging if you don't speak the language. Even taxistas who know English have an amazing ability to forget it when it comes time to negotiate a price with a tourist. From experience, I can definitely tell you that after you learn at least some Spanish -- enough to communicate -- you are much less likely to be ripped off. They know you're a foreigner of course, but they don't assume you're out of your element and an easy target. Even if they do assume that, you can quickly correct that misconception.
I found a really good hack when i was traveling south & central america - set the route you're going into the uber app and see what the actual rough costs is. When you get into a taxi, ask how much and if you're quoted a ridiculous price that is far from what the uber app shows it is, just quote the uber price and say isn't that the correct pricing? e.g. "No es cientospesos el precio correcto?". Most will just smile and say "ah lo siento. si, ceintospeso senor!"
Yeah, that's a good guideline. Uber's pricing is time and distance, while in plenty of Latin American cities, it's how many districts you travel. But they'll be priced similar and Latin Americans negotiate specific fares all the time.