Knocking off the Language Rust

March 27, 2017

I can certainly say my time here in Barcelona has helped improve my conversational Spanish significantly. Living in a homestay as well as in an area that does not see many tourists, I am forced to practice and use my Spanish since most people – shop keepers, cashiers in cafes, taxi drivers – do not speak English. At the beginning, it was hard because my Spanish was rusty, I couldn’t conjugate verbs correctly quick enough to make fluid sentences and overall it was very frustrating to be unable to convey what I wanted to say. However, that changed very quickly as I was forced to speak it every day, to everyone.

When visiting Spain, one expects to only hear Castellano, what we call Spanish. But people in Barcelona also speak Catalan, a different language. I knew about this before arriving but it sometimes caught me off guard when I would hear Catalan on the metro, or when a taxi driver speaks a mixture of Catalan and Castellano. It is easy to understand when reading because you can identify similarities between the two languages but listening and understanding is much harder because they talk so fast. It is getting easier with time and doesn’t surprise me as much anymore; having one more language in the city I live in seems to only be enriching my experience as I am slowly able to catch and learn a few words in Catalan, in addition to improving my Spanish.

Written By

Mitali Mirle

I am originally from India, born and raised in Dubai UAE. I am studying Environmental Science with a minor in psychology and Spanish. I chose to study abroad because I wanted to experience a new culture, travel to new places and in the process, improve my Spanish. While some people speak English here in Barcelona, the preferred language is definitely Spanish, therefore if I want to communicate with others, I am forced to speak the language, which will help me improve my conversational Spanish. While abroad, I hope to use Barcelona as a gateway to rest of Europe, say yes to almost all opportunities, try new things, eat new types of food and witness and be a part of new traditions and customs of Spain. I would like to come back and share my experiences with others like me who also want to travel the world and see the world from different perspectives.