“Do I need to learn Spanish to walk the Camino de Santiago?”

This is a question that many have when planning their first Camino. It’s a question you often see in Camino-related groups.

The answers in those groups range from “no need, a smile is enough” to “the more your learn, the richer your experience will be”.

As you can imagine, I don’t agree with the first group. Not 100%, anyway. If that’s how you want to do your Camino, that’s fine. It’s your Camino. It’s your loss too.

I do totally agree with the second group: the more Spanish you learn, the richer your Camino experience will be.

The most common reasons people give to learn at least some basic Spanish:

• it’s the polite thing to do and it makes the locals more receptive to your needs. True.

• it reduces the chances of feeling frustrated when you need to communicate and you can’t. Also true.

• it also reduces the chances of feeling lonely and isolated if you happen to have no English speakers around you. Again, true.

Let me add another reason. It is not mentioned so frequently, but it’s equally important, in my opinion.

• you learn so much about Spain and it broadens your mind.

You’re going to spend some time in the country. A few días (days) at least. A few semanas (weeks) in many cases.

And you don’t learn anything about the country you’re walking through?

A silly example:

More serious examples

I’ve witnessed this many times:

People post on social media about their Camino. They share pictures, as well as their general comment about a number of things.

The kind of stuff I read sometimes… let’s just say there’s a lot of eye-rolling and head-shaking coming from me.

You can tell that these people came to Spain with a mochila full of stereotypes and preconceived ideas. Everything they see, they interpret it through those stereotypes and misconceptions.

They speak no Spanish.

They don’t talk to any locals.

So, they go back home with the same incorrect beliefs they had when they started.

They learn nothing about Spain. Their wrong beliefs are reinforced.

Let me give you a couple of examples.

People with no Spanish at all

Not too long ago, I started following someone’s daily posts on a Facebook group about their Camino Portugués. The reason I started following was the captions of some of the pictures: any resemblance to reality was pure coincidence.

Clearly, these people had this idea of Spain as a deeply Catholic, very traditional country. And that’s how they saw it.

A random building was, in their eyes, a church.

A mural, in a fishing village, depicting fishing scenes, was a religious painting.

A person begging outside an iglesia (church) was someone dressed in traditional clothes.

A couple of other things they said, I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about.

According to their own comments, these people did not speak a word of Spanish, they didn’t interact with any locals, other than to try to get food and accommodation. They completed their pilgrimage and went back home having learned nothing about Spain. A missed opportunity.

People who know better than you

But there’s another type of pilgrim that totally baffles me. The one who arrives with their mochila full of stereotypes and misconception… and refuses to accept that they are wrong.

A couple of weeks ago I had to make a huge effort to not be rude to someone on social media. This person shared their thoughts about their recent Camino experience.

Among other things, they said that supermercados (supermarkets) in Spain have small puertas (doors) to protect the front of the building because ‘these people have lived with civil war in their country up until recent times’.

I replied that the Spanish civil war ended more than 80 years ago (it took place between 1936 and 1939) and that the size of supermarket doors have nothing to do with it.

Well, apparently I know nothing about my own country. This person went on to give me a lecture on Spanish history.

I ‘learned’ that we were having civil wars in Spain up until the mid 70s. Maybe we weren’t as affected in my area, that’s why I don’t know. Really?

I don’t claim to know everything about Spain. I know I don’t. But not knowing if I’m living in a civil war?

Excuse me while I roll my eyes again.

And I won’t get into the siesta comments because I get very triggered by those and I could be ranting here forever. If you want to know more about the truth behind siesta, you can check this other article I wrote a while back.

But can anyone truly believe we sleep up to 7 hours in the middle of the say? A recent post I saw reminded people that ‘most towns have siesta from around 12.30pm to 5 or 7pm’. I love my sleep but seriously?

So, please, don’t be like these people and don’t waste the opportunity to immerse yourself in the Spanish culture. You don’t need to be super fluent. But make at least an effort. You will be rewarded for it.

* Learn more about hórreos in Walking through Galicia.

Today’s Spanish words

¡Buen Camino!

Incorporate Spanish into your daily life |

You believe there are good reasons to learn Spanish before your next Camino de Santiago. You have the best intentions to learn some. Maybe you’ve even started, very enthusiastically… only to give up a few days later.

I’m demasiado viejo (too old). Or muy cansada (very tired). Or muy ocupado (very busy). Or muy… you can add any adjectives you like in there. Deep down, you know it’s just an excuse. I know. I’ve used them all! OK, maybe not the ‘too old’ one, but definitely all the others.

It could also be that you have the wrong ideas about learning a new language:

Maybe you believe you have to study for at least 1 hour every day in order to make any progress.

Or you think you must take traditional lessons, full of complex grammar explanations and repetitive exercises.

And then you start feeling overwhelmed, bored, stressed… And that’s why you give up. I know, I’ve done that too, not following the advice I give my own students.

You know the phrase ‘It’s your Camino’, right? You can apply this to learning Spanish too: there is no right or wrong way to learn Spanish (or any other language); you just have to find what works for you.

A tiny bit of grammar and a couple of exercises won’t do you any harm. But learning a language should be an enjoyable experience. You’re more likely to remember new words if you learn them while doing something you enjoy. If you enjoy doing grammar exercises, go for it! But there are other things you could be doing too.

You don’t need to take my word for it; this has been researched (an example). It has also been researched that consistency is quite important.

What does this mean?

Let’s say you spend 1h per week on your Spanish. In the long term, you will learn more if you spread that hour throughout the week (let’s say 10 minutes per day), than if you spend that hour on one day and then you don’t have any exposure to Spanish for the rest of the week.

So, to sum up, it’s OK to have fun while learning Spanish. In fact, it’s not just OK. This is what you should do.

And it’s also OK not to spend hours on it daily. It’s good to get as much exposure to the language as possible, but this doesn’t mean you should spend hours doing exercises that don’t bring you any joy. You can have Spanish in the background while you’re doing other things (here’s the Spanish for the Camino playlist on Spotify), you can watch Spanish TV for as long as you like… but remember to spend 10-15 minutes really focusing on the language.

Listening to music and watching TV are quite obvious, but there are many other things you could do to incorporate Spanish into your daily life and boost your learning.

Incorporate Spanish into your daily life | 

8 ways to incorporate Spanish into your daily life

Still on music and TV

Listening to Spanish música in the background is OK, and so is watching Spanish films and series. But there are things you can do to maximise the experience:

• Find the lyrics to your favourite songs and sing along, out loud (you’re more likely to remember things if you say them out loud, according to research).

• Keep pen and paper cerca (nearby) and write down any words you recognise. You can later check in a dictionary if you got them right. There are many free online dictionaries. I like to use WordReference.

• Take a very short clip of your favourite show and use it as a dictation exercise: listen as many times as you need and try to write everything down. Check with the Spanish subtitles how well you did.

Yep! Writing things down helps with your memory too.

Use your hobbies

Cocinar (cooking), deportes (sports), crafts, fishing… or the Camino. It doesn’t matter what your hobby is. Find a website on your chosen topic in Spanish. Or a YouTube channel. Or a book… whatever you prefer. Games, such as la Oca, are great too. And enjoy!

Use everyday stuff

• Are you going to do your grocery shopping? Try writing your shopping list in Spanish. Does any of the items you bought have Spanish on their label? Read it and compare it to the English version.

• How many times a day do you check your phone? You can use it to your advantage. Go to your móvil‘s settings and change the language into Spanish. Every little helps.

Get creative

• Do you keep a diary or do journaling? Do some of it in Spanish. You don’t have to write long texts or complicated sentences. Start with a few words; it could be as simple as a list of things you did that day, such as ‘trabajo (work), compra (shopping), paseo (walk), cena (dinner)’. As you learn more, you can start creating your own simple sentences. Remember: they can be as long or short as you like and they don’t have to be perfect.

• Are you the creative type? Try things like blackout poetry or collage in Spanish. Blackout poetry (or found poetry) is a form of poetry where you select words that catch your attention from any printed text. To ‘get rid’ of the words you don’t want, you normally use a black marker, hence the name blackout poetry. I’ve only recently started doing this, as part of my Italian learning efforts and I am amazed by how much I’m learning. All you need is a page of text in Spanish, a marker and your creativity.

A couple of examples of blackout poetry and collage, so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about.

How many of these are you going to try? You know what they say: the more the merrier. So, go on! Try them all and see which one suits you best. Or come up with your own ideas and share them with us in a comment. You never know who you might inspire.

Today’s Spanish words

For the pronunciation of cena, check Where did you stay?

¡Buen Camino!

3 reasons to learn Spanish before the Camino |

This is a frequently-asked question in Camino groups and forums. The answer?

Some people will tell you that a smile is enough. And the truth is you will survive. But this is also true: by not learning any Spanish you’ll be putting yourself at a disadvantage.

First of all, you’ll be going through rural areas, where finding an English speaker can be challenging, if not impossible.

Secondly, things don’t always go according to plan: accidents happen, we get sick, a number of things can go wrong. And if they go wrong when there’re no English speakers in sight… well, who wants that added stress?

Finally, most pilgrims asked agree that knowing even very basic and limited Spanish gave them a richer, fuller experience on the Camino. And the majority of those who didn’t learn any ended up regretting it.

If you’re still not convinced, keep reading and learn the top 3 reasons why you should learn Spanish before your Camino… and learn some Spanish while you’re at it.

1. Peace of mind &  freedom

Picture this: you find yourself in an emergency. Your phone’s battery is dead. There are no English-speaking people around. What do you do? The situation is stressful enough as it is. You don’t want to add the worry of not being able to communicate what you need.

A smile will take you a long way. True. But it’s not always enough. There are situations when you might need at least some basic knowledge of Spanish. You never know when phrases like necesito un médico (I need a doctor), no me encuentro bien (I’m not feeling well) or ¿dónde hay una farmacia? (where is there a pharmacy?) might come in handy.

Spanish is not only for important, urgent needs. How about spending the night in a small village where nobody speaks English? It could be a looong and lonely evening. That’s what happened to Kelli on the Camino Francés.

Imagine being able to communicate your needs without having to rely on a translating app on your phone or on finding someone who can speak English or who can translate for you.

You could even become a Camino angel for other pilgrims who didn’t think learning Spanish was important!

2. Respect & connection

Making an effort to use the local language shows respect for your host country. And Spanish people are generally pleased if you have a go at Spanish. Give it a try and you’ll experience a warmer welcome.

Even basic greetings such as hola (hello), buenos días (good morning) or buenas tardes (good evening) can open doors that would remain otherwise closed. Polite words like gracias (thank you) and por favor (please) will go a long way too.

In Spain, people acknowledge each other with hola or the greeting of the time of day.  Even relative strangers. And we will say hasta luego (see you later) or a clipped version of this at parting. So remember to greet before launching into asking a question. This applies in shops, doctors’ waiting rooms, elevators, before ordering food or even a café con leche at a bar… everywhere. 

Anyone who tried their Spanish on the Camino, no matter how limited it was, will tell you this: they got a much better reaction from the locals. 

Of course, the better your knowledge of Spanish, the better chances at making deeper connections with the locals and knowing what’s going on around you. OK. So, you find yourself in a small village where nobody speaks English.

If you’re the “a smile is enough” type, chances are you’ll spend the evening by yourself.  You’d love to know what that festival is about or why people are wearing strange clothes, but communicating with these people is too hard. You’re missing an opportunity to learn about local traditions, history, culture.

And this brings me to the next reason to learn Spanish before the Camino.

3. Broaden your mind

We all know the Camino can be a life-changing experience, a wonderful opportunity to become a truer version of ourselves, find answers, heal, etc. But why limit the experience to learning about ourselves? There are people on the Camino who have never been to Spain before. Their “knowledge” about Spain is in many cases full of stereotypes and misconceptions bearing little resemblance with reality. They spend days, probably weeks, walking through Spain. Yet, they go back home full of the same stereotypes.

I see this every now and then in Camino-related Facebook groups. There’s one case in particular that caught my attention: This couple was sharing their journey along the Camino Portugués. Neither the husband nor the wife knew any Spanish. Every day, they posted pictures of their stage, with their comments. Every day, at least one of the pic’s descriptions showed a couple of things:

• they were interpreting things through their own pre-conceived ideas of Spain. Some of these were way off the mark.

• because they were not talking to any locals, they went back home convinced that their wrong assumptions were true. Their distorted vision of Spain was reinforced.

In essence, maybe the Camino was a very spiritual experience for them, but they missed the opportunity to broaden their minds, to learn about Spain and its culture.

3 reasons to learn Spanish before the Camino and countless benefits.

Today’s Spanish words & phrases

¡Buen Camino!