Thousands of foreign nationals live or spend a lot of time on the Costa de la Luz. When first setting up home, the temptation is to make friends with fellow ex-pats, rather than make an effort with the Spanish language. This is understandable, but studying Spanish is probably the best way forward.
If you need to communicate urgently, there are specific services that you will help you. There are telephone based companies who can set up a three way phone conference, translating back and forwards between you and the third party, to quickly solve a problem. Before you have mastered the language yourself, you may need assistance to get you through these difficult times. Once you are on your feet and have learned some Spanish yourself and a neighbour or friend needs some help, if you are too busy, you can always pass on the number to them!
It is important that you make an effort to speak Spanish, especially if your aim is to live and work here. Even if you spend holiday time in the Costa de la Luz, the experience will be greatly enriched by friendly communication with the locals. There are many good language schools that run many different types of courses, such as evening classes, weekend and summer courses. There are special courses for foreigners learning Spanish run by the Spanish Universities (e.g. Granada, Seville, etc.).
The great thing about living in the Costa de la Luz is that the people are generally very friendly and willing to help – especially if they can see that you are making an effort.
If you do make the effort, you’ll find out much more about the real Costa de la Luz and how they tick. You will be able to tap into the cultural heritage without always relying on translation. The reward is worth the effort, especially when you consider that Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, with 380 million Spanish speakers.
The Spanish course we recommend is: