381 unique participants - 15 comments. first week of voting
Surprising result ! According to the poll, 62,17% of the participants can speak atleast enough Spanish to get by and be understood.
George Orwell wrote in 1938: "The only way I could get along was to carry everywhere a small dictionary which I whipped out of my pocket at moments of crisis. But I would sooner be a foreigner in Spain than in most countries. How easy it is to make friends in Spain!"
More than 70 years after the publication of Homage to Catalonia, a million of Orwell's fellow countrymen have followed his lead, eventhough many have now returned due to the crisis. The British are the largest contingent of foreigners in Spain and 2% of the population. But does that 2% of the population speak Spanish?
These are a few views of expat journalists, expat politicians and locals on the subject:
"Brits tends to live in a bubble. With more and more information available in English, there's less reason to learn Spanish and, as a consequence, less opportunity to understand the local culture. Many residents speak no more than 10 Spanish words in an average week – usually restaurant Spanish – and they pride themselves on 'getting by'.”
"By moving to Spain, most have opted out of the rat race, substituting social responsibility for social activity within the numerous Brit clubs, amateur theatre and charity groups that have mushroomed over the entire Costa Blanca."
"It's difficult. I try to practise my Spanish but people come back to me in English."
"British people do not seem to integrate terribly well.They are very good at societies, book clubs, social organisations of different kinds but, in general, they seem to associate with themselves more often with other expats.”
"In my personal experience, many Britons seem to have many things to complain about – the madness of the property market and rental prices, the even madder madness of red tape and paperwork when they need to deal with government offices and funcionarios. This is partly due to the culture shock and the contrast between the Anglo-Saxon and Latin mentalities but it does make some things difficult when it comes to integration and learning the language."
Recent research has shown, using Spanish in everyday situations and sticking to regular classes can help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease, say doctors.
Learning a foreign language could put back the first signs of dementia by at least five years,
Expatriates in Spain are at a particular advantage, since those who regularly use the language they have learnt are even more likely to fight off Alzheimer's than those who have merely studied one and let it lay dormant. Whilst crosswords, sudokus and other 'thinking' puzzles have long been lauded as a tool for fighting off memory loss and confusion in old age, experts believe that those who speak two or more languages have even more chance of retaining their mental faculties.
They say learning a language is a more powerful type of mental exercise, and builds up a bank of 'spare' brainpower which helps the mind to keep working for longer and more effectively, slowing down the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's.
Medics behind the research, which took place at York University in Toronto, Canada, say this is rather like keeping a spare battery for your mobile phone or an emergency tank of petrol in your car.
"It means your brain can keep going for longer because there is more in the safety tank," they say.
The part of the brain that controls memory, decision-making, reasoning and expressing oneself in words is made stronger, more flexible and more resistant to damage by learning and using a foreign language.
Doctors claim the sooner a person starts to learn a language, the more beneficial it is for slowing down the process of dementia and age-related confusion.
Researchers found that the average Alzheimer's sufferer began to see the early symptoms of their condition in their mid-70s, or younger, where they only spoke one language.
But those who spoke two or more languages - or were actively learning one - tended to be in their 80s before they were diagnosed with dementia.
Additionally, the process of the mind breaking down - including loss of short-term memory - took hold much more rapidly in monolingual patients.
However, they warn that learning a language will not actually prevent Alzheimer's - it will simply slow down the associated mental deterioration and stop the condition from manifesting itself for much longer.
So how well do you speak Spanish? Are you fighting off dementia or have you already gone mad trying to get to grips with it?
Please participate, it will be interesting to see how many of the memebers of Eye on Spain, actually get by in Spanish. Please leave a comment and let us know how your learning experience was and how you are getting on!
Sources : Costa News / The Guardian