Huge topic! And one of my faves. I learnt Spanish as an exchange student in my final year of high school and was forever changed by it. I really don’t like feeling like a tourist!! Even now in England with no apparent language barrier I’m reminded of how we haven’t really known a place unless we can speak with locals in their language, preferably living in the culture and daily life. In Argentina I used to look at English expats in bars and think; why bother coming if you only hang out with each other and don’t learn Spanish? Later, living in Samoa, I struggled to learn the language and ended up living quite an “expat” life there and always felt a bit shit about it. Loved Samoa so much (four years there in total) but I would never proclaim to “know” the country or the people. I just visited. In Abu Dhabi I didn’t manage to learn Arabic either, but I made friends with some Emirati women which was at least a bridge. Being on holiday now I’ve thought much about this topic. I am so hungry for history, for story and culture. And so often it’s just “regular people” who can offer you that, usually well away from the tourist areas. I must write a substack about this!!
Please do write about this, Nadine. I'll bet you have some great stories. I haven't been to South America, it was going to be our first stop in the family yacht, but she never left NZ shores. But you remind me of all the Brits who go to Spain and hang out together. I guess its worth it for the weather and maybe the tax, but otherwise, it's just an extension of home. Samoa would be fascinating to live in, but living with the people would have been something I could only have done as a teenager. I like my comforts. I lived on a commune for a while in Auckland, but even there we had our comforts. Funny little story, when I had been back in Holland for a year, a Brit asked me for directions and I really struggled to get back to thinking in English and give him a fairly simple set of instructions. Hope the holiday is going well :)
Huge topic! And one of my faves. I learnt Spanish as an exchange student in my final year of high school and was forever changed by it. I really don’t like feeling like a tourist!! Even now in England with no apparent language barrier I’m reminded of how we haven’t really known a place unless we can speak with locals in their language, preferably living in the culture and daily life. In Argentina I used to look at English expats in bars and think; why bother coming if you only hang out with each other and don’t learn Spanish? Later, living in Samoa, I struggled to learn the language and ended up living quite an “expat” life there and always felt a bit shit about it. Loved Samoa so much (four years there in total) but I would never proclaim to “know” the country or the people. I just visited. In Abu Dhabi I didn’t manage to learn Arabic either, but I made friends with some Emirati women which was at least a bridge. Being on holiday now I’ve thought much about this topic. I am so hungry for history, for story and culture. And so often it’s just “regular people” who can offer you that, usually well away from the tourist areas. I must write a substack about this!!
Please do write about this, Nadine. I'll bet you have some great stories. I haven't been to South America, it was going to be our first stop in the family yacht, but she never left NZ shores. But you remind me of all the Brits who go to Spain and hang out together. I guess its worth it for the weather and maybe the tax, but otherwise, it's just an extension of home. Samoa would be fascinating to live in, but living with the people would have been something I could only have done as a teenager. I like my comforts. I lived on a commune for a while in Auckland, but even there we had our comforts. Funny little story, when I had been back in Holland for a year, a Brit asked me for directions and I really struggled to get back to thinking in English and give him a fairly simple set of instructions. Hope the holiday is going well :)