Here comes the question people have been wondering. Should you speak Spanish in South America? I’m going to be blunt here and tell you yes. First, I haven’t met many girls here in Medellin who have spoken English. The whole time I have been running everything in Spanish. And actually, when some of the girls I have sarged write in English I just want to tell them to stop. Literally, I couldn’t read her sentences I just switched back to Spanish. This mainly focuses on Colombia and Venezuela for knowing Spanish. I talked to a guy in Brazil and in Argentina and it is toss ups there for knowing English. It’s interesting because you take a country like South Korea which Korean is so vastly different from English and they can comprehend English pretty well.
What are the benefits of running your sets in Spanish? You won’t sit there looking at each other just smiling, you won’t have to ask your Latino American friend to translate every time for you (me), and you won’t have trouble escalating because you know your routines in Spanish and there’s no need to hesitate.
But, what if I have a bad Spanish accent or I mix up words? Not a big deal trust me. The people here are always willing to help someone out with their Spanish. Then, you have to ask yourself do you want the quality girls? Well, I’m telling you this that the quality girls probably don’t know any English. I mean why would they? They don’t have a reason to all the Latin guys are taking good care of them.
Latin, I don’t know any Spanish should I still come to South America? Sure, come down to South America. I highly recommend going to a Spanish school and dedicating yourself to learn the language. If you don’t want to go to a school, then check out exchanges. Basically, you teach them English and they teach you Spanish. The key here though is to make an effort to learn the language.
Let’s say in countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile have some people who can speak English- there still will be people who do not speak English including HB’s. I mean why bother speaking English with them when you can work on your Spanish skills. You will be speaking to them in their native tongue which I’m sure they will enjoy more, and let’s be real Spanish is a romantic language 
Hey,
this language issue is something that really bothers me to be honest lol. I used to be like really into foreign languages and taught myself English and French (which I’m both fluent at), but having learned those two languages I can tell what an amount of effort you have to put in in order to become proficient at them.
Actually, I’d like to learn another language (maybe I will some day?), but now being in college and working on the side, I don’t really have time to do so anymore (I sort of doubt that’ll change once I work full time).
I think that’s something one has to keep in mind when suggesting people should learn the local language. Not trying to disagree with what you’re saying, but I just thought I’d add that, because a lot of times people will be like “duuh..it’s their country. When you go there you should friggin’ learn their language..bla” lol.
But if you think about how little free time we have these days and how much time it takes to learn a language and become fluent at it, I think that changes things a little bit. I mean, I learned English without ever going to an English-speaking country and spoke French almost fluently before I ever went to France so I’m extremely passionate about learning languages…but when I think about how much time it takes to become good at a language, I’m thinking it really only makes sense to learn another one if I plan on living in that country for a couple of years (not just for travelling even if it’s a few months).
Personally, I’ve been thinking that it might be a better idea for me to try to work on A) my approach skills and B) figure out places I could go where people/women are likely to speak English. Actually your posts about South Korea made me think so. I’ve been thinking that you could go to places such as English language bookstores/cinemas/language schools (or German/French language schools in my case)/etc. and try to get to know people/women like that when you’re travelling.
I’m surprised how positive you’re about the level of English in South Korea to be honest! because I’ve heared different things about it. I know a korean girl here who says pretty much all young koreans can write/read English, but that speaking is the problem. Then again, Ive heard koreans were a lot more outgoing and willing to try to speak English then say the Japanese. I assume they dont have that much of a problem with trying to speak English with you, but their English can be hard to understand at times (just a guess, tell me if Im wrong plz)?
PS: A while ago you mentioned you knew a girl in Hong Kong who you could ask if there were any areas with lots of English-speakers. I plan on taking a semester off and travelling to HK, Tokyo, Seoul…..could you do me that favor and ask her if you speak to her again? it would probably help me a lot! thanks
GermanGuy25, I do agree with you that it can be tough to learn a new language. Bolo just got down here and he’s pretty surprised at the lack of English.
I’ll be honest with you here in Medellin they don’t speak English. I haven’t met many English speakers. I can count them on one hand and I’ve been here for 3 weeks lol… Do you know what cities have a good amount of English speakers in South America? I’m wondering because Bolo was asking me. I was thinking maybe Buenos Aires.
I also could see that how you feel about someone having a tough time learning the language. I think because I have had much more exposure and have been speaking Spanish that it has been easier for me to transition. But, do you think that only traveling to English speaking cities, might limit your options to cities like Medellin? I’m sure you could still do some stuff with learning some survival Spanish.
The English is spoken to a pretty good degree in Korea. I am telling you this out of experience. And also, going to the bookstores and everything is a great idea. There were obviously ppl who couldn’t speak English. If they didn’t, I would disqualify them. I think speaking the same language is very important so I looked for that while there. I should have learned more Korean, but oh well lol… Also, in Korea they really enforce English at a very early age. I do agree with you that they can be more outgoing. When I was in Osaka, Japan, there was a BIG lack of English lol…
I will shoot my friend a message by the way. We plan on traveling more around South America. Keep you posted on the journey
Thanks for the reply. I dont really plan on travelling to south america, actually (used to want to
), but nowadays I’m more interested in Asia and in travelling some English-speaking and French-speaking places I haven’t been to yet…which is more travelling than I’ll get done any time soon anyway lol.
I used to be so in love with learning languages and it came fairly easily to me, I think..but if I looked back and counted the number of hours it took me to learn English and French..that’s just not something I’d have time to do now that I have less free-time (b/c of not being in high school anymore)…Plus back then I simply learned languages for the fun of it..today I see language more as a means to an end, I guess (communicating), and dont really have the passion anymore.
However, I did read (a couple of years ago) that in South America hardly any English was spoken (thus no ideas in what countries over there it might be spoken).
I find it really interesting what you say about Korea and the level of English their being fairly good (of course, there definitely are Koreans who do not speak it, but Ive heard that in Tokyo the level of English was close to zero (though many say thats because theyre afraid to speak it, b/c of losing face and all)..and that even in Hong Kong (former English colony, etc.) the level of English wasnt good (not even among college students).
So Im really kind of surprised that the level of English in Korea seems to be that good (by that good I really just mean “okay”)
Oh and thanks for shooting your friend a message about HK!