Why you should learn Spanish if moving to Spain, and why you really can do it

If you're buying a property in Spain, moving to Spain or spend long periods of the year there, learning Spanish is completely necessary – in fact, you should start your learning process before moving to Spain, and as far in advance of your move as you can. If you move to a very cosmopolitan area of Spain, you may not need to speak Spanish socially all the time, if you meet friends who speak other languages you are familiar with. But for all non-social interaction, you will need to be able to express yourself clearly in speech and writing in Spanish and fully understand it when reading and listening.

Depending upon your education and background, the idea of learning a new language may feel extremely daunting – but it really is true that practically anyone is capable of acquiring foreign language skills.

Common barriers to learning Spanish

Some of the most-cited reasons why expatriates say they 'can't' learn Spanish, or why they avoid trying in the first place, are based upon misconception. And, in most cases, they are unfounded: Many foreigners in similar situations have been able to acquire a new language.

Some of the more common arguments expatriates make for not learning include:

"I won't be able to learn it. I left school 50-plus years ago with no qualifications!"

Don't panic. You don't need qualifications or recent classroom experience to learn a language. Many adults and children in developing countries who have never had access to school have learnt to speak, for example, English, enabling them to communicate with tourists.

Also, think back to 10, 20 or 30 years ago: If someone back then had talked about 'downloading something from a website', or 'sending you a WhatsApp on their smartphone', you wouldn't have had a clue what they meant. Yet now, these words and terms form part of your everyday speech. You didn't have to memorise them in a classroom and pass an exam – you just 'acquired' them through regular contact with and use of them. The same applies to learning a language.

"Maybe I could have learnt Spanish when I was younger, but my memory isn't what it used to be."

You don't need an excellent memory. Learning a language is about acquiring a habit, not about memorising a script. It may take you a little longer to retain words, but the more you use them, the more they will stick. Eventually, you'll find yourself using them without realising.

Here's an example you may relate to: Can you remember when you first learnt to drive a car, and how strange it felt, and how much new information you had to process? Well, now, when you get into the driver's seat, you don't have to 'remember' what to do – it happens by instinct. That's how learning a language becomes.

Why persistence is crucial when learning Spanish

Many expatriates start off enthusiastically, excited about being able to communicate with the majority of the population in their new country. But a high number give up very early on, before they have acquired any real conversation techniques. You need to realise that, somehow or another, living in Spain means you're going to have to learn Spanish – you can't avoid it. Of course it's going to involve effort, time, setbacks and disappointments, but everyone who is fluent in a language that's not their own has been exactly where you are. And they'll tell you how amazing the sense of achievement is when they had their first effective, two-way conversation.

Here are some of the most frequently-quoted obstacles:

“I've been going to Spanish lessons, but I'm not getting anywhere. I keep having to go over the same thing week after week.”

That's completely normal! You may need to spend weeks or even months repeating and repeating until it sticks. Everyone learns at a different pace, but even those with unique language-learning talent will not be able to remember and apply any new words, phrases or structures the very day after they hear them. Learning a language is a long-haul process, and you can't expect to be fluent after a 10-lesson course; there's no shortcut.

Repetition is necessary. Reading, hearing, writing or saying the same words or expressions over and over again until they become automatic is the only way to learn a language successfully.

“I don't need to learn Spanish. I live in an expatriate community and everyone speaks my language, even Spanish people.”

To begin with, yes, you do need to learn. You might need to call the electricity board or phone company to query a bill. You might end up in a public hospital. Maybe you buy something from a larger store and need to exchange it because it's faulty. Perhaps you need to speak to the police. If you drive, you need to be able to read warning and information signs. In all these situations, if you can't speak Spanish, you'll have to find someone bilingual to do it for you, and pay them. Even if you have a friend or neighbour who could do it for you very occasionally as a favour, you can't expect them to do it constantly for nothing, or be available whenever you need them to. Remember, they may have a job, family, or both, and might be doing the same 'free' translations for everyone else on your urbanisation.

Also, you cannot expect native people to learn a foreign language to accommodate you when you move to their country. Even if they appear to speak and understand it, you cannot be sure they are 100% confident, and it may involve real effort for them. If you've made the choice to move to their country, you have an ethical responsibility to make that effort yourself. The last thing you want is to make people in your new home resentful of you for not trying to integrate, but you'll get a very warm and friendly reception if you do try.

“I only want to learn enough Spanish to 'get by'; I don't want to learn grammar. But in my lessons, we're always doing verbs.”

You can't 'get by' without grammar. Remember, 'grammar' is just the pattern, or structure, of a language. You 'use grammar' in your own language all the time, without realising it.

Perhaps what frightens you here is the idea of technical terms, and it all sounds too much like when you were at school. But you can use your own terms if it helps you recognise the bits of 'grammar' you need. For example, you might prefer to think of a 'verb' as a 'doing word' – such as 'eat', 'drink', 'speak', 'be', or 'go'. You can think of a 'noun' as a 'person or thing'. A 'preposition', such as 'from', 'of', 'to', or 'at' is sometimes thought of by learners as a 'glue word' – or a word that 'makes everything stick together'.

How long does it take to learn Spanish?

This depends entirely on you as an individual. On average, an intensive daily course will see you reach a very strong elementary (A2) or pre-intermediate (B1) level within about three months, and upper-intermediate level (B2) within a year.

Less-intensive learning can take much longer. If you take evening classes once a week, for example, it could take you at least two years to reach B1 level, and more than a year for A2 level.

Learning methods and length of time taken are highly subjective, so it is up to you whether you decide to attend classes in your home country, use books and audio materials, or take online courses. You might decide to travel to Spain before you move and take an intensive, daily course at a language school.

Once you're in Spain, it is easy to find courses, or academies and freelance tutors offering private lessons. You could still use books and CDs or online courses as you did in your home country, either as a complement to your classes or instead of them.

Well done for taking the step to get your Spanish-learning journey started. We won't promise it will be easy, but we can promise it will be worth it!

If you need a bit of guidance on how to begin, take a look at our article How to learn Spanish when moving to Spain: Taking the first steps.