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Legends and realities of English language skills in Spain

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I guess some of my four readers (Catón dixit) may have heard that people in Spain tend to have very poor skills in languages other than English (and in the west of the country maybe French).  Although I have some Spanish friends who do have a good command of the language, I guess this story shows that the reality is even more extreme than I thought:

  • An American tourist in Toledo fell into the local river, and was shouting for "Help!" for 3 hours before he was rescued.  The locals didn't come to his aid because they thought he was calling for "Pepe" (nickname for José).

So remember, learn some basic Spanish before you venture there.

Via Gwyn's Blog.

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2 thoughts on “Legends and realities of English language skills in Spain”

  1. Yo sí que he escuchado que los españoles son muy malos con el inglés y los pocos que conozco siempre me piden que traduzca cosas, así que no se les debe dar mucho.

  2. This makes me think that it might be a good idea to learn the word "help" in the local language, wherever we travel… Just in case!

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