Language

I got very lucky with a host mom that spoke English in Seville, so the language barrier was never a problem. While it would have been fun to navigate a totally Spanish speaking environment, it made life convenient that I could use English. Our host mom would always repeat sentences in Spanish to make sure that we were learning, and I would always speak in Spanish when possible.

The other people on the Dialogue told stories of how difficult it was to communicate with their host moms. One girl who does not eat meat took the whole two weeks to fully convey to her host mom that she did not want meat in her sandwiches. Another girl arrived in Spain a day early, and was completely silent because she did not speak Spanish and simply could not communicate with her host. Still, a combination of sign language and basic nouns was enough to survive the two weeks in a Spanish home for most people.

My biggest concern with the language barrier is not that I can not convey meaning, but rather that I may come off as rude. Usually if you use the correct noun and verb the person will understand what you are trying to say. My bigger issue is that with a limited vocabulary I may not be giving the correct, polite response that I intend to and I fear that I am offending someone. In our first week here, I had a debate with my peers whether the term “No Gracias” was a thing — the equivalent of “No thank you.” Our host mom confirmed that it was a thing, but that in Spain people are more direct with their communication, omitting formalities like saying “thank you” after every little favor.

In Barcelona, we have to use a little more Spanish when we eat out at the restaurants, but we are primarily around other English speakers. Many of the menus in restaurants are written in Catalan so in that case we are usually just left guessing. Even though I know basic Spanish and can understand what is going on given the situation and the specific nouns I hear, in the moment when I am trying to speak I am usually reduced to just pointing at things. One phrase I needed to learn quickly was “para llevar,” or to take out food at a restaurant. I always thought llevar was to carry, but I guess not. Those are the kinds of phrases you only learn when you need to use them.