Speaking the Local Tongue

Here in Tarragona, Spain, the co-official and more commonly spoken language besides Spanish is Catalan, which is a language that sounds sort of like a mixture of Spanish and French. Everyone here also knows Spanish, though, and a lot of Catalonians know English as well. When we need to communicate with the locals, which most often occurs at restaurants, we get by with a mixture of Spanish and English. There are a few of us here who speak Spanish well enough to have a relatively simple conversation, and others know only the necessities, like “hola,” “gracias”, and “agua.” Either way, the language barrier hasn’t really been too much of an issue.

I think my most exposed moment when it comes to speaking the local tongue happened when I took the train to a nearby town with my professor and a few classmates to explore, and my professor left his wallet at the other train station. When we returned to Tarragona, and he figured out he was missing it, a classmate and I talked to the woman at the ticket desk, who directed us to her associate who dealt with these types of situations. She did not speak any English, so we explained what had occurred in Spanish, she called the train station, and told us what our next steps should be. Between me and my classmate, we understood everything she said and ended up retrieving the wallet the next day.

On the other hand, one of our most confusing moments was more humbling. Two of my friends and I were at a restaurant, and the waiter was telling us our dessert options. One of them was helado de avellana, or hazelnut ice cream. Unfortunately, the waiter didn’t know the English word for hazelnut, and we didn’t recognize the Spanish. After a few confusing minutes of the waiter attempting to explain what a hazelnut was without using the word (there were hand gestures involved), we gave up and decided to just order it and see what we got. As soon as we tasted the ice cream, we had an “ooooooh, that’s what he was trying to say” moment. We were very happy to have ordered it – it was one of the most delicious desserts I have had here. We took a risk, and it definitely paid off!

My favorite word in the Spanish language is definitely “vale” (pronounced vah-lay). I already knew this word before arriving in Spain, but I did not realize how often it was used. I swear Spaniards say it at least once per sentence in conversation. It means a variety of things, which is why it’s such a valuable word – it can be used to say “ok,” “sure,” or “well,” or to express agreement. Conversations often end with “vale, gracias!” or “vale, adios!” No matter how you use the word, “vale” makes you sound like you are an authentic Spaniard, which is why I’m trying to integrate it into my vocabulary more often!