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Spanish is the official language of Spain and of many other countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It is also the official language of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and is widely spoken in several other nations, including the United States of America, Morocco, and the Philippines.
Spanish and English vie for the position of the world’s second most-spoken language after Chinese. In 1999, Spanish had 332 million speakers, while English had 322 million. Today 470 million people claim Spanish as their mother tongue. The rise has been such that in 2050 the Spanish-speaking community of the USA is expected to be the largest in the world.
Castilian (Castellano)
Although generally known as Spanish, the correct name for Spain’s official language is Castilian. It began as a dialect spoken in northern Spain, but became the language of the court of the kingdom of Castile and León in the twelfth century. When Isabella and Ferdinand united their kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, it became the official language of the state. Like other European languages it stems from Latin, but has also adopted words from other languages, including many Arabic words from the time of Moorish dominance.
There are differences in accent and, to a lesser extent, in vocabulary, in Castilian in various regions of the country. The most significant difference is in the pronunciation of the letter combinations “ce,” “ze,” and “za.” In northern Castile, where the language is said to be spoken in its purest form, this is pronounced as a soft English “th”; in southern and western Spain it is pronounced as an English “s.” The “s” pronunciation is also found in Latin American Spanish. There is no snobbery about accents in Spanish. Your accent tells the listener which area you come from, not which class you belong to.
Castilian is the country’s most widely spoken language, although nearly 30 percent of the population have a different first language. These languages include Catalan (12 percent of the population), Galician (8 percent) and Basque (just over 1 percent). The constitution of 1978 gave the dominant regional languages and dialects official status, along with Castilian. Those stipulated are Catalan in Catalonia and in the Balearic Islands; Valencian in Valencia; Euskera (Basque) in the Basque Country and in the territory of Navarre; Aragonese in Aragon; and Gallego (Galician) in Galicia. Bable (spoken in Asturias) and Aranese, spoken in the Aran Valley (Catalonia) are other languages that are protected, although they do not have co-official status. All of these languages except Euskera (Basque) are Romance languages that evolved from Latin. Euskera is a “language isolate,” totally unrelated to any other language. Many of these languages are taught regularly in school and used in radio and television broadcasts within their regions.
Spain’s tradition of regionalism has been a major factor in recognizing the various languages. Other countries in Europe have several local languages, but few of these have official recognition. For the foreigner in Spain this will not cause any difficulties. Castilian is spoken and understood everywhere, although in some areas people will not be as fluent in it as in their local language. However, if you learn a few words of any local language people will appreciate your efforts.
Catalan
Catalan is closely related to Provençal, a language spoken in southern France, and is spoken by the majority of the population in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. There are differences in the way Catalan is spoken in these three regions, and there are continuous politically motivated disputes as to whether Valencian is a Catalan dialect or a distinct language. It has a long and distinguished history as a literary language. It flourished especially during the Middle Ages but declined after the fifteenth century. A revival known as the Renaixença (Renaissance), which began in the mid-nineteenth century, renewed interest in the language leading to the Pompeu Fabra grammar, the basis of Catalan as it is taught today.
Galician (Gallego)
This is spoken in Galicia, in the northwestern corner of Spain, and is the ancestor of modern Portuguese. It was the language of courtly literature until the fourteenth century, when it was displaced by Castilian. From then until the late nineteenth century, when there was a literary revival, its use was limited to everyday speech, and it was more common among country people than in the cities. In neighboring Asturias, the ancient local language of Bable is still spoken.
Basque (Euskera)
This is the most distinctive of the languages spoken in Spain. Neither a Romance nor an Indo-European language, it predates the arrival of the Romans in Spain. Until the end of the nineteenth century Basque was spoken mostly in the countryside, and it had no significant literary tradition. In the twentieth century, and especially since it was made the official language of the Basque Country (Euskadi) in 1978, it has been used in all forms of writing.
On this page are a few phrases in the various languages to get you started. You will notice that questions and exclamations in written forms are indicated by an inverted question mark (¿) or exclamation mark (¡) at the beginning of the sentence, and then a standard one at the end of the sentence. This avoids confusion between questions or exclamations and statements, which in speech may differ only in the tone of voice used, and this cannot be seen when written.
Spanish is considered one of the easiest foreign languages to learn, yet some foreigners live in Spain for years and never learn it or any of the other languages spoken here. Especially on the costas (coasts) there are foreign communities that are almost self-sufficient, and the local people involved with them often learn to speak the dominant language (usually English or German). However, if you have a basic knowledge of Spanish, and use it, this will show that you have an interest in the culture, and it will be greatly appreciated.
Spain is a great country for practicing the language. The basic grammar is straightforward, but in any case nobody worries if your Spanish is not grammatically correct, or if you make mistakes. In tourist areas the local people will probably be able to communicate in different languages, but away from there even stumbling Spanish will open up the possibility of communication. A gregarious people, the Spanish love talking, and will do their best to converse with you.
A phrase book translating basic phrases from your own language to Spanish and a pocket dictionary are probably all you need, to begin with. However, if you plan to stay for a while or will be visiting Spain often, consider doing a basic Spanish course. It will pay dividends.
Written Spanish is almost completely phonetic. Once you know how to pronounce the letters and where to stress the words, you can make a good attempt at reading it. Here are the most basic rules:
The Spanish alphabet consists of twenty-eight letters: a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, x, y, z.
The vowels, a, e, i, o, and u sound like the vowels in the English words “ha,” “hay,” “he,” “ho,” and “who.”
The consonants b and v are pronounced very similarly to each other, as are ll and y. Spanish speakers also drop h sounds at the beginning of words, so that horario (schedule) and historia (history) are pronounced as if they were spelled orario and istoria. These three elements of the language account for the most common mistakes made by people learning Spanish as a second language: confusing b with v, pronouncing ll as though in English, and sounding the h at the beginning of words where it should be silent.
Most Spanish words ending with a vowel or the consonants n or s are pronounced with the stress on the penultimate syllable, for example, vino, casa, abuela, viven, antes (pronounced beeno, kassa, abwayla, beeben, antes, and meaning wine, house, grandmother, they live, before). Words ending in consonants other than n or s, however, are stressed on the last syllable, for example, ciudad, feliz, municipal, hotel (pronounced seeoodad, felleeth, moonithipal, otel, meaning city, happy, municipal, hotel). All words that are exceptions to these rules have an accent to show where the stress falls, for example, estación, avión, López (estatheeon, meaning station, avion, meaning airplane, and Lopeth, a surname).
Whatever language you may be speaking, the Spanish have a typically Mediterranean manner. They stand quite close to the person they are speaking to, and will often touch the other person to emphasize a point. They gesticulate a lot, which can help the learner if the conversation is in Spanish, and they speak loudly. The combination of volume and forceful gestures often make it difficult to be sure whether two people are having a normal conversation or an argument! If you tell someone you do not understand them, they tend to repeat exactly the same sentence, maybe a little louder or slower, instead of trying to find a different way to say it—this is especially true for older generations, who usually have less awareness of what it entails to learn a foreign language.
In a formal situation the voices may be slightly lowered, gestures will be restrained, and the “usted” form will be used. As we have seen, this is similar to the vous form in French, but is not used as frequently. It is a polite and respectful form of address that is reserved when speaking to older people, or perhaps to business associates in a formal meeting.
There are no taboo subjects, but to start with it is probably safer to stay with topics of general interest rather than to ask somebody a lot of personal questions. Sport, the weather and especially complimentary remarks and questions about the local area will always get the conversation going, and you will soon find points of common interest to discuss. As mentioned before, if the Spanish are talking negatively about themselves and their culture, you should be diplomatic and not join in.
Post
The postal service is quite good in Spain, although many people complain about it. The post office (Correos) is open from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Monday to Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, but you can buy stamps from a tobacconist (estanco). Mailboxes are bright yellow. Sometimes there will be a separate one for letters going abroad (al extranjero).
The mail is delivered once a day, usually before 3:00 p.m. Small packages will be delivered to the house, but larger ones will be kept at the post office and will have to be collected. Take the notice they left you, and some form of identification.
The national company, Telefónica, controls line rental, although it now has to compete with other companies over the prices of calls. You may use different companies for different types of calls. Every Spanish province has a different two- or three-figure prefix. Telephone numbers consist of nine digits, including the prefix. The national code is 0034 or +34.
Telephone booths (cabinas) are not very common anymore since nearly everybody owns a cell phone. However, there are plenty of “locutorios” – small businesses, generally run by immigrants, from where you can access the Internet, call your country at cheaper rates, and get special cell phone deals. International and national calls are cheaper after 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, after 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, and all day Sunday.
The standard answer when answering the phone is “Digame,” or “Diga,” which mean “Tell me,” or “Tell,” respectively.
Cell phones in Spain operate on the same principles as anywhere else in the world, although fees tend to be higher. There are predominantly pay-as-you-go phones, although all companies offer contracts whereby your calls are deducted from your bank account on a monthly basis.
Internet
There are Internet cafés in all the major cities and in most towns, and almost everybody has this service at home.
The Spanish are generally relaxed, sociable, and family-loving. With the outdoor life of sunshine, crowds of people, good food and drink, and gossip, activity and good humored bustle everywhere, especially during weekends and in summer you will probably very quickly get into the swing of it all, and will start to love the Spanish way of life.
As a business traveler, you might see some of the Spanish traits from a different angle. Their flexibility and striking ability to change and reprioritise may seem chaotic, but in time you will understand their reasons. You are sure to find your Spanish contacts to be friendly and hospitable, and interested in you personally. Be sure to show them the same interest. Once they get to know you, you will be important to them, and your business is likely to flourish as a result.
Whatever your reason for going there, knowing more about the Spanish and their culture will help you to make the most of your time in Spain, and to have realistic expectations. Above all, it will help you to be at ease in a country where the individual is important and enjoying life is a priority.
¡Viva España!