5 Tips for Practising your Spanish on Holidays
When planning our holidays in Spain, our destinations most of the times tend to be lovely seaside resorts with lots and lots of other tourists where English is almost as a second language.
Even though hidden resorts and hiking holidays are becoming more popular over the past years, our most popular destinations in Spain are still Majorca (Balearic Islands), Ibiza (Balearic Islands), Canary Islands and Benidorm and so, it can sometimes be hard to find the correct pace to speak Spanish.
As practising a language is extremely important when developing your level and can make such a great difference in fluency, we have some tips that could come handy for you if you wish to improve your level on holidays, and some of these you can even do back home in the UK.
1. Listen to the local radio
Instead of listening to your favourite holiday playlist on Spotify, tune in to your local area radio and try to listen to Spanish songs and the local accent. This is an ideal entertainment for those long hours at the beach and can greatly improve your understanding when talking in real life. If you have an intermediate or advanced level, try to catch the main news subjects and memorise them because it can come really handy if you wish to have some small talk with the locals.
2. Bring some Spanish books with you
There are many Spanish books available for every level where only basic or intermediate language is used. Buy a couple of them before your holidays and again, try to remember what the book is about in Spanish. Even better, try to tell your friends/family/locals what you are reading.
3. Could I say that in Spanish?
Whenever you go shopping, to have a cafe or just generally need to ask something from a Spanish person, stop and ask yourself "Could I say that in Spanish?" or "Can I say most of the words in Spanish?". If the answer is yes then go for it and avoid using English all the times. At first it can feel awkward but you will get used to it and the locals will appreciate it so much.
4. Find rural holiday destinations
If you are struggling to find the confidence in Spanish then it could be a good idea to choose more rural small town for your holidays, often further away from the main airports. In many places you will be literally "obliged" to speak in Spanish as the locals do not speak English, or at least the big majority doesn't. Once you are in the situation where you need information and need to make yourself understood, you will get over of any confidence barriers.
5. Stay with a local host
Stay with a local Airbnb host who is willing to show you around and maybe even introduce some friends and go out together. It is a great way of making new connections and keep in touch to practice your Spanish through Skype/Whatsapp/phone.
