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Lost in Spain

While in Spain at times I felt completely lost because of my lack of Spanish language ability. Its actually shocking how few people in Spain speak English. Of course I should learn Spanish if I want to spend time in Spain but its a stark contrast to Japan.

In Japan young people on the street generally have very good listening comprehension. Speaking is hit or miss. But when I asked young people in Spain for directions they looked at me like…well, like I was speaking a foreign language. They couldn’t understand a single word I was saying nor could they respond.

However in Spain almost everyone in the business world I met had a really good command of English. In Japan its the opposite. Its shocking to meet Japanese diplomats who speak no English. Isn’t the language of business and diplomacy English?

Why are these countries so different? Maybe the answer is in how much a country embraces American or British culture.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 26th, 2006 at 9:52 pm and is filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Lost in Spain”

  1. gummy Says:
    February 27th, 2006 at 4:17 am

    Why are you expecting everyone can speak English?
    I’m a Japanese and live in my country. Sometimes American people ask me something in English on the road and everytime I see them I feel it strange.
    Why do you try to talk in your language even if you go to the foreign country?

  2. Ha Ha Says:
    February 27th, 2006 at 6:02 pm

    I agree with my Japanese friend. The last statement “Why are these countries so different?” was a stupid point (to say the least)

  3. Walt Says:
    February 28th, 2006 at 12:22 pm

    I think its a valid question. Scandanavian countries and Holland are countries in Europe where you can expect most people to have a working knowledge of English. Countries such as France, Spain less so. I think there are many reasons; TV programmes are not dubbed in Scandanavia. On the other hand, I think it is good that they look at you like you speak a foreign language; it should take a bright guy little effort to learn “do you speak English?” in Spanish ;-)

  4. torrente Says:
    March 6th, 2006 at 7:40 am

    ¡¡Lo que me faltaba por oir!!

    Estimado Señor “perdido en españa”,

    afoturnadamente el mundo no es solo USA+UK y paises como el mío cuidan su lenguaje y cultura propia (por cierto, el español es lengua oficial en más países que el inglés).

    Si quiere entendernos aprenda Español como yo aprendo Inglés para entenderle a usted.

    Un saludo.

  5. Ramon Says:
    March 15th, 2006 at 4:08 am

    Iba a escribirte en inglés pero veo que también admites opiniones en español; por cierto, el segundo idioma más hablado en el mundo, después del chino.
    Querido Ejovi, es precioso viajar, adquirir cultura, … pero permíteme que te sugiera que antes de ir a un país te documentes un poco. ¿Sabes cuál fue el slogan usado por las autoridades españolas para promocionar el turismo en los años 60? SPAIN IS DIFERENT
    ¿Por qué? Buff, por muchas cosas que cualquier español estaría encantado de explicarte (algunos podrán hacerlo incuso en ingés).
    Un abrazo

  6. ejovi nuwere Says:
    March 15th, 2006 at 6:51 am

    Look, I’m not saying people in Spain should learn English. But I’m saying if a country wants to embrace tourism outside of those who don’t speak its native language english is best. I consider myself fairly multicultral having lived in Japan and grown up in a black/hispanic community. Worked for and spent a lot of time at companies in Argentina and now a company in Spain. I have nothing agaisnt the Spanish language. All I’m saying is that when your airplane is landing in any major country in the world they speak one language. English. And there is a reason for that.

    I also noticed that many foreigners living in Spain seem to have come from other Spanish speaking countries. Spain seems to be a critical hub country for Spanish speakers.

  7. mikel Says:
    March 29th, 2006 at 8:28 am

    I’m also from Spain and I’ve just read the comments from my country-mates up there. I have to say that often I feel really embarrased of the people I’m living with, it seems they are happy of their own ignorance. I speak Spanish and Basque as mother languages, but I’ve made an effort to learn English and right now I’m trying hard with German. I think that’s the interesting thing of living in Europe.
    As a computer engineer, I find it very frustrating not being able to work in english (coding, designing, etc.) just because my colleagues aren’t able to do it. I think one day I’ll have to fly away from this “spanish-speakers-hub” (I liked the expression :) )

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