Moving advice - Page 5

hartcjhart wrote on Wed Dec 28, 2022 2:46pm:

I found the Michel Thomas mp3 system very good,whereas it will not get you fluent it will give you a good grounding that you can expand on

I also got a lot of help from Jose in MiTaberna his English is good and his Spanglish is passable and it certainly enriched my life in Spain.

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Now trying to learn Albanian but it is a very tricky lingo

devo49 wrote on Wed Dec 28, 2022 2:30pm:

Hi Bess , when you say our country are you Spanish born or just moved their . I’m not been discourteous just wondered what nationality you where . I have lived in East Sussex for last 40 plus years but born in the midlands and left their in my 30s but still say I’m going home when I visit rel...

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...atives and sole surviving friends .

Bess wrote on Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:23pm:

Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.  England has a lot of immigrants and it can cause resentment if any 'don't bother to learn English' and clog up the queue in a busy surgery, cannot read warning signs, drive illegally, or steal jobs at a cut price rate because they do not pay tax ...

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...but benefit from the infrastructure provided by people that do.  

Why should the monoglot British think that all the above is OK for them in Spain if they are resident ( different for tourists). Perfect Spanish is a very difficult goal but we in Britain expect a working knowledge of English from all people who make their home in our country, good manners we should behave the same to Spain.

DarioMartin wrote on Wed Dec 28, 2022 8:14am:

I fully agree Susi - if you reside here full time, learning the language is vital - if only because living here full-time you can’t always ensure there will be an English-speaking Doctor / Dentist / Electrician / plumber etcetera available.

A good example is if in Vera you need to go to either the Health Centre or the Correos.  Neither Yolanda nor MªAngeles who are most often on reception speak a word of English - and neither do any of the ladies in the Correos....

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...

If you reside here, eventually you may have need of the TGSS if you are working - the main office is Huércal-Overa, but don’t go there if you don’t speak Spanish because there is one individual who I think is the office manager who will just send you away irrespective of what you need.

You can if you hunt round find English speaking tax advisors / lawyers etc, but being able to speak even a little bit of Spanish opens the field much much further and doesn’t restrict you to the handful that can speak English.

I would also entreat everyone to remember; English is not one of Spains official languages; it is not a right to expect someone to speak English, it is a privilege if they do because it means they have taken the time and effort to learn English … the least those of us who live here full time can do is repay that compliment and learn the language.

Matthew wrote on Fri Dec 30, 2022 8:26am:

Learning to speak good Spanish is an excellent plus for anybody spending long periods in Spain. But, it is not vital. Again this forum has old threads on how to learn Spanish with good tips that work. My Spanish is improving all the time and I spend time at it. Ensure you enjoy the learning other...

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...wise your progress will be slower. 

I live outside the periphery of an Irish speaking area in south east Ireland. Mrs Matt and I speak Irish every day without challenging others to do the same. Brits who move to an Irish speaking area in Ireland put us Irish to shame. In fact, they’ve become more Irish than us, something that has been happening for hundreds of years. For some reason, many Brits in Spain do differently and some think speaking English slowly and loudly with a south of the Watford Gap accent indicates that the Spaniards should understand them.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, moving to Spain needs planning, some research, NIE, what to do with the dog, who’ll look after the house in The UK whether it’s being rented out or not. What do I bring, leaving friends behind, will I need to work, how will I fill my day, etc. The effort is in starting the process. You need NIE before you do anything. Likely you’ll need a Spanish bank account. Some kind of “holiday” insurance might put your mind at ease. 

You arrive in Spain, live the experience, settle in and suddenly you realise you’ve got to keep working at living the dream. Correct your experience where necessary and then decide (I) Do I want to stay full time? (ii) Will 3 or 6 months per year satisfy?

Go for it! Don’t die wondering.

Kathy17 wrote on Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:04pm:

Ahhh, it was the jubilee. I can get an Irish passport, my parents were both Irish. 

NaomiD wrote on Sun Jan 1, 2023 7:37am:

Start soon then as it takes up to a couple of years since Brexit. Everyone suddenly wants to be Irish! 😂 

Bess wrote on Sun Jan 1, 2023 12:04pm:

Not much of a compliment to Ireland, I country I have much enjoyed visiting: people only wishing to become citizens in order NOT to live there...