Using My Spanish Language Skills in Spain

The reason that I chose Barcelona 我想在那里待两个月的原因是西班牙语. In fact, the only reason that I even wanted to study abroad with CEA CAPA 都是因为多年的西班牙语课让我学会了音乐, dance, food, and of course the language that make up the Spanish culture. 我从八年级开始学习这门语言，并在高中最后一年参加了西班牙语的AP课程, for a total of five years. 我没有选择辅修它，因为我认为以商业为重点的化学工程会让我很忙. However, 我通过与委内瑞拉朋友的家人交谈和听拉丁音乐来保持我的西班牙语水平. Now that I spent over a month studying abroad in Spain, 我想和大家分享一下我沉浸在非母语环境中的经历，以及一些建议.

Do you need to know Spanish?

宝博体育前要找到答案的最大问题之一, especially for an extended period of time, 是:你需要说母语才能在那里度过日常生活吗? Now, I cannot speak for everywhere, but here in Barcelona, the short answer is no. 和我一起参加这个宝博体育项目的大多数学生都不会说西班牙语, so they do their internship abroad work in English.

In fact, 由于巴塞罗那在加泰罗尼亚(西班牙的一个自治区)，大多数人除了说西班牙语外，还说加泰罗尼亚语. I don’t speak any Catalan, 但是当有人用加泰罗尼亚语和我说话，我用西班牙语回应时，他们就会切换到西班牙语.

巴塞罗那的部分地区游客很多，所以很多人在商店里说英语是很常见的, 所以你很可能会做任何你想做的事情，而不会遇到太多的语言障碍. However, 有了语言的经验确实会给你带来额外的好处，让你在与当地人交流时感觉更舒服，更融入当地文化. Since I’m proficient in Spanish, my internship abroad is mostly in Spanish (at my request) so that I can practice more, which was one of my favorite parts of my time abroad.

Helpful phrases to know 

If you never took a Spanish class, 仍然有一些常用的短语可以帮助你在西班牙的交流. Of course, there are the basic phrases like por favor (please), gracias (thank you), donde esta… (where is…), and hola/chao (hello/goodbye).

还有一些我学到的其他短语会派上用场，尤其是在点餐的时候. For example, if you’re trying to order coffee like we have in the U.S., it’s important to know that a latte will either be called a café latte or a café con leche. A normal drip cup of coffee can be more difficult to find since espresso is more typical here; however, you can order an americano which will be the closest thing to drip coffee.

When it comes to ordering other food, 你通常可以用手指着你想要的糕点或菜单上的东西. I recommend trying patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy sauce) and ensalada rusa (土豆沙拉的一种版本)因为这些是我在这里吃饭时的最爱.

Differences from Spanish classes

Now for those of you who have taken a Spanish class before, 当你到达巴塞罗那说西班牙语时，你会发现一些事情有点不同. 主要的区别实际上是在会话环境中使用西班牙语. 幸运的是，在来这里之前，我和我的母语是西班牙语的朋友练习了很多对话, however, 这次旅行中，其他只在学校学习语言的学生注意到，他们在课堂上学到的东西需要一段时间才能适应.

一开始我很担心西班牙口音和我习惯听到的委内瑞拉口音相比, but since many Spanish classes focus on Spain, I was surprised at how familiar the accent sounded.

One thing that I wasn’t surprised about, however, was the use of the vosotros form. In our Spanish classes we are taught that to say “you all” we use ustedes. However, in Spain they have a separate form called the vosotros form, which has entirely different conjugations. I noticed this a lot at my internship abroad, but haven’t came across it much when speaking one-on-one with people. My coworkers recommended watching “Money Heist” because that was filmed in Madrid, so it’s great practice for the way that people speak here.

How I practice here

我想说的是，在我来到这里的近两个月里，我的西班牙语水平提高了很多. 我认为不管你到达时的语言水平如何, 你会发现，当你离开的时候，你会惊讶于你的语言技能是如何提高的. It might sound like common sense, but to improve my language skills, I make sure that I push myself to speak the language with native speakers. 不管我对错误的发音或有限的词汇量有多尴尬, I know that the only way to get better isn’t just by listening to others, but by speaking myself. So at my Barcelona internship abroad, 我试着只说西班牙语，甚至下班后和同事一起参加新的活动.

I also attended a Festa Mayor in Sant Cugat; is a local street festival traditional to Catalonia in a town about 40 minutes by train outside of Barcelona. 游行中有不同的团体跳着传统舞蹈，整个城镇的人都来庆祝这个社区. My supervisor told me it was like their version of a Fourth of July parade, only instead of celebrating independence, 他们在庆祝这个紧密团结的社区，并向年轻人灌输加泰罗尼亚文化. By being open to participate in activities like this, not only have I improved my language abilities, 但我也见证了中国文化的独特之处，否则我是看不到的.



Abby Spangenberg is an official blogger for Summer '23, sharing her story in frequent posts on our study abroad blog. A Chemical Engineering major at Ohio State University, she is studying and interning abroad in Barcelona this semester. 所有表达的观点都是她自己的，可能反映也可能不反映其他学生的经历.