Reviewed: Lonely Planet Fast Talk Spanish
I never want to be the stereotypical Brit abroad, repeating something in louder and louder English and cursing the fact the locals don’t speak my language. That’s not to say I’m fluent in all known dialects – far from it, and I thank my lucky stars that so many people do speak my native tongue. But making the effort, I’ve found, gets you a long long way.
contains affiliate links*
Even in Japan, a language I had no intention (or hope) of mastering in the short period between booking and travelling, I managed to learn ‘thank you’ and a few other words. For Europe, I try to add at least hello, goodbye, please and ‘do you speak English’ to the list. Minimum.
Sadly, I know from experience (and a degree in French and German) that I can spend years learning a language and if I don’t practise regularly, it becomes very rusty, very quickly. So I also know that picking it up properly takes time and dedication.
And despite the fact that Spanish is high up my list of ‘useful languages to learn one day’, I haven’t quite managed it yet. Which is where the Lonely Planet Fast Talk Spanish book came in.
A dinky little pocket sized book (even for my kind of pockets), it’s a bit of a bargain and packs a lot in. Because the writers have realised that while grammar is important, if you’re travelling you probably want to be able to make yourself understood rather than necessarily needing to decline verbs correctly or memorising the gender of nouns.
So as well as the kind of full sentences you’re likely to need, there are phrase builders and fast phrases, easy to remember alternatives.
After all, knowing ‘una copa de vino’ is a glass of wine is the essential bit. Adding por favor is the manners. You can work up to asking for recommendations for the best red from the area after that.
There are also pronunciation tips, five phrases to learn before you go (for some reason, I never got round to using ‘where can we go salsa dancing?’) and words to use to sound like a local, the kind of more relaxed slangy chat that rarely makes its way into phrasebooks… most of which sound like they were written by an Edwardian etiquette expert.
Then you’ve got sections on the basics, airport & transport, accommodation, eating & drinking including a very useful menu decoder, sightseeing, shopping, entertainment and practicalities. To finish, there’s an English:Spanish and Spanish:English dictionary at the back.
If you’re mentally tutting at the dumbing down of language learning, the book does still include information on singular/plural, masculine/feminine and polite/informal constructions, so the framework is there is you’re looking to build on the basics.
The proof, of course, is in the performance. And unless I left a trail of Granada residents waiting politely to snigger only once my back was turned, it works pretty well.
We got by buying tickets, ordering meals and making the occasional query – and mostly people seemed pleased that we made the effort, replying in Spanish as far as our understanding stretched.
Because there’s nothing worse than painstakingly constructing a sentence and having someone sneeringly reply in note perfect English. So, Lonely Planet, gracias!
Available from Amazon
This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission
Image courtesy of Lonely Planet
LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER