on Spanish

[Traveler]

admittedly, Spanish is not a requirement for seeking a wife in Colombia or any other country.  obviously there are many on this board with varying levels of Spanish from nearly none to fluent. and persons of all levels apparently have achieved their purpose of getting a girlfriend, fiancee, whatever.   there appears to be plenty of Colombian women willing to meet a guy from the States regardless of language skills.

However, whether you are just traveling to Latin America or ESPECIALLY looking for a wife.  do YOURSELVES a favor, learn some Spanish.  I'm sure there are plenty of community colleges or universities in your area that offer continuing education classes in Spanish.  one course of 10 weeks or so twice a week will give basic vocabulary and conjugation of verbs.  then when you travel you can actually put into practice what you have learned.  it makes learning that much easier when you understand the structure and you can put some sentences together.

between visits, take another course and then write emails to your girlfriends in Spanish to get more practice.  if you use a translation computer program and you know a little Spanish you will be better able to see if what was translated is actually what you meant to say.

[Edge]

... in response to on Spanish, posted by Traveler on Jun 18, 2001

of a no-brainer that this whole process is easier if you learn to speak Spanish.  You will be going to a Spanish speaking countries.  I, like Pete E. has advised, do not advocate waiting around to learn it if you can go right away, but many men have plans in the future to go.  Then you will do much better if you start on learning now.  I have a friend who has been going to Cali off and on for the last year every three months or so.  He always tells me when he gets back that he needs to work on his Spanish.  He is getting there, but he does not go to a school where he can learn the grammar, so the learning is going slow for him.

I have been advocating learning Spanish as part of one's "homework" since I started posting here because I know it helped me tremendously with my fiancée.  Also, talking with her almost every day helped me to learn.  I still have a long way to go to be fluent.  I look forward to having my own teacher under the same roof as me.

Learning Spanish will also enable you to talk to her relatives, like her parents, who almost always will not know how to speak English.  There have been some posts lately of guys that unfortunately, got hooked up with the wrong type of latinas.  I think if you can talk to a person's parents and check out how they live and talk to other relatives you have an idea of what kind of person your novia is.  The parents are much less likely to be involved in any type of subterfuge.  

Speaking Spanish is another tool you can use so you do not get taken advantage of.

It is going to take awhile to learn so it is best to start now. Generally, the hardest part of any endeavor is the beginning.

[JunFanTX]

... in response to Re: It is kind...., posted by Edge on Jun 19, 2001

...while I respect each person's opinion, as long as it agrees with mine...:-), I cannot imagine going to Colombia without knowing any Spanish.  It has made this whole process much easier for me in many ways.  My advice is to learn as much Spanish as you can either before, or along the way....

Later,
Mike

[Pete E]

... in response to on Spanish, posted by Traveler on Jun 18, 2001

I agree completely but would like to add one thing.Don't let not speaking spanish stop you from going,or even delay you going if you can go now.I got by fine with the interpreters,my electronic translater and meeting my wife who spoke some english.It is a real asset to have,but you can get by without it.
We had a dinner around Christmas in Cali and there were 3 guys(gringos) and 3 ladies and I was the only one who didn't speak spanish.Sometimes we go next door to visit my wifes Mexican friend and I will be the only person who does not speak spanish.I guess I am a little lazy,and there is that saying about old dogs and new tricks.I told my wife if we lived in Colombia I would have to learn spanish,but since we live in the US she has to learn english.It is also her full time job,she doesn't have to work.Spanish would be most helpfull when I talk to her relatives.
Also My 10 year old step son picked up english faster than my wife.

Pete