"I thought the Spanish for hello was ‘Bonjour’" - A year abroad as a monolingual student

I'm sure we can all relate to a time where a conversation became stilted due to a language barrier - whether that be on holiday trying to ask for directions or at home trying to welcome visitors from other countries and finding you can't quite understand each other.

A language barrier is not always necessarily a bad thing - it can help you learn to find other ways to communicate with someone such as their body language and gestures, or it can even inspire you to learn a new language so that you can communicate with a wider variety of people in the future.

Emily Barlow, BSc Psychology

Recently, I spoke with Emily Barlow, a friend of mine from university, about her experiences as a monolingual speaker who spent time abroad in Spain for her placement year. I met Emily four years ago and at the time, she had little interest in spending time learning another language - we did have moments where she would let me teach her some basic Welsh and Spanish, but these 'lessons' had a tendency to end in tragedy (and, of course, fits of giggles at the comical errors made.)

However, after spending nearly a year in Spain, Emily returned with a newfound respect for the Spanish language and I'm beginning to feel confident that in the next few months we will start working on improving our language skills together.

Although "Emily in Spain" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as a popular TV series we all know and love (neither does it have the rhyming...or the romance), keep reading below to find out about Emily's experiences navigating a new country being a monolingual English speaker!

Routes: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself first, your name, what you’re currently doing?

Emily: My name is Emily, I’m 22 and I just graduated from Aston University with a upper second class degree in Psychology. I am about to start a PGCE at the University of Birmingham.

Routes: Last year, you spent your placement year in Spain - was Spanish something you were learning as an extracurricular?

Emily: It wasn’t, upon arrival I knew no Spanish bar some basic phrases from duolingo which wasn’t ideal - I wish I had some prior knowledge beforehand. I think learning Spanish properly as an extracurricular before moving would’ve been interesting and would’ve helped me out during my time there. I did start to learn a bit of Spanish while I was out there, but due to Covid-19 my Spanish lessons got cut short so I’m back to square one.

Routes: What made you choose Spain of all places?

Emily: I was deciding between doing a UK placement or an abroad placement, I wasn’t too fussed on which country I went to but I did want to have the experience of going abroad because once I started my career, this might be something that I wouldn't be able to do. I wanted to go abroad for the year, see a new culture and the teaching job that I was doing happened to be in Spain and I was very pleased with that opportunity.

Routes: Did you learn some of the language before you left?

Emily: I was doing some duolingo about once a month so when I arrived I knew some very basic phrases and my granddad sent me some apps and websites to help me learn Spanish quicker. I wish I’d taken more time to learn the language properly before going because I think it would’ve made a difference to how quickly I settled in.

Routes: How was it, living in a Spanish city with a language barrier?

Emily: It was difficult at times - I wasn’t in a big city, I was in a small Spanish town so a lot of the residents didn’t speak any English - this is something I definitely should’ve looked into before going. In the beginning, it was quite difficult for me to make friends and I was working in a school with children who didn’t know much English and none of the teachers really spoke English either, so I had to take matters into my own hands.

I messaged an academy that taught English in the local area and ended up being able to teach there as well so I managed to make some new friends through that - also, because they spoke English as well as Spanish, they were able to help me improve my language skills so that was a nice experience for the whole year.

Routes: What job did you do whilst you were there?

Emily: I was teaching English in two primary schools and two high schools so I was teaching from the ages of 3-16. I had to go in everyday and plan the lessons, but i didn't have to mark anything or set homework.

Then, because I had spare time and made friends with people from the English academy, I picked up some hours there doing a similar job, working with children which was a fulfilling experience.

Due to the pandemic, all their classes had to be moved online which meant I could still teach with the academy remotely from England so I'm still working for the academy now a year later.

Routes: What were your favourite things about living in Spain?

Emily: I was in a really small town so I got to know the culture quite quickly and got to try all the different local foods that they ate (there weren't a lot of supermarkets that would sell the typical food I would usually buy so I had to step out of my comfort zone quite quickly and be willing to try new things). So I really enjoyed being able to try a completely different cuisine and found some new dishes that I loved, such as patatas bravas and gambas pil pil!

The town I lived in was about an hour away from Madrid so I used to travel there every weekend to explore a new area of Spain. I got to know the city culture a lot better too - I especially enjoyed the tapas bars and sangria.

Overall, my favourite thing about living in Spain was being able to experience an entirely new culture - and the weather helped! I was mostly there during the winter season so it was cold but it wasn't rainy like it is in the UK.

Routes: How has your time there made you feel about the language? Is it something you could see yourself learning?

Emily: I did learn a bit of Spanish while I was living there but by the time the pandemic came about, I had to stop my lessons so I do wish I had continued with that. If I had continued with it until the end of my placement, I might've been more active and wanted to keep learning but because my lessons ended so soon and I was sent back to the UK, I didn't see any need to continue. I do really wish I could speak a second language and I would like to have the opportunity to start learning Spanish again.

A quick trip to Germany - bit colder than Spain we think!

Routes: If you were to go again for a year, is there anything you’d do differently?

Emily: When I arrived in Spain I thought the Spanish for hello was ‘Bonjour’. So I do wish I'd taken more time to learn the basics, even just enough that I'd be able to order in a restaurant and read a menu because that was one of the biggest challenges when I got there. I constantly had to take extra time to translate menus using Google so if I could do it again I would definitely spend about 6 months beforehand properly learning some basic but necessary language skills. However, although I do wish I had taken that initiative before I went, at times it was quite a fulfilling experience to jump in the deep end and have to figure it out as I went along. Google Translate was my best friend.

Routes: Do you have any advice for anyone about to do their placement year abroad without prior knowledge of the language?

Emily: Even if you just learn some basic knowledge before you go, it’ll be so helpful when you get there - I’d recommend using something like duolingo, even for 20 minutes a day in the month leading up to when you leave.

Of course, it’s different reading it on a screen and then hearing it in real life, because I could pick out some words from the little language preparation I had done but still not understand what people were saying. If you can dedicate some time to learning before you leave, it can make a big difference on how quickly you settle in.

After living abroad and having this experience, I have a greater appreciation for people who dedicate time to learning other languages - and because the opportunity to learn foreign languages is so readily available now in school and higher education, I would definitely recommend that people take those opportunities while they can!

Routes: One last question, when we were in first year together, I gave you a list of numbers in English and said to translate them into Spanish for a bit of fun; do you remember what you put for the number 22?

Emily: No...

Routes: You put ‘dos dos’ - you knew two was dos and saw two 2’s and came to your own conclusion from that… Do you think you can tell me what the Spanish for 22 is now?

Emily: Veintidós!!

~~~

As always, a massive thank you to Emily for chatting to us! It's so lovely to hear that her year abroad has sparked an interest in another language and we hope to hear about her progress in the future! I, for one, will not be giving up until Emily can count to 100 with ease and order at the restaurant when we travel to Spain next summer.

As for our readers, we hope this article inspires you - whether that be to pick up a new language, choose one as a GCSE/A Level option or to chase a dream to live abroad. Feel free to share your own experiences with us in the comments!