Is it necessary to learn Spanish in order to live in the DR?

[pyratt]

We all know anything worth hearing is said in the Queens English! True?.

Your title asked if learning Spanish was NECESSARY to live in the DR....here in the states many Americans cringe at the immigrants who come to the U.S. and refuse to learn "American" English (as opposed to the Queen's Lisp)

As a matter of respect, I speak (or try to) Spanish when in Spanish speaking countries..."respect".

I think you should try getting by on the Queen's English...and paying a Queen's Randsom for everything. The one thing I've noticed is by TRYING to speak the lingo cuts beer prices for this GRINGO....

Cheers mate

 

[sabra]

Is it necessary to learn Spanish in order to live in the DR?[/B]

Y E S:bunny:
sabra

 

[Chirimoya]

The one thing I've noticed is by TRYING to speak the lingo cuts beer prices for this GRINGO....

Now there's an incentive!:cheeky:

 

[dv8]

i noticed that many people have problem with speaking. i do not. i have problems with understanding. i can read in spanish no problem. will make an attempt at writing with various results. i speak with no fear or shame that i'm making mistakes. but to understand? hard.
sometimes i cannot make out even one work especially if a speaker is:
uneducated and very poor (use of slang, mispronounced words, grammar mistakes)
old (no teeth = no sense)
children (but them i cannot understand even when they speak polish)

 

[cuas]

Some people thinks that if they come to certain areas of the USA they do not need English but what about when they go to the hospital and the nurse needs to ask another patient to translate/interpret.
I work for the city in the Bronx. Our union asked us not to translate because we are not paid for the service. Still, administration asked us to "volunteer". They have interpretation services but nobody uses it because the co-workers (we) are there.
It is not funny when you are very busy and your co-worker ask you to help with a client that do not speak English and you find out that he/she does not have job and are on Public Assistance, doing nothing the whole day. Sometimes young people, waisting their life.
Here in the Bronx I see people asking for directions in Spanish in the bus, trains, on the street. They do not ask me because I look African-American, I let them struggle and then I help them. So maybe they learn their lessons that they need to at least understand the language where they live.

The same in DR. Learn the language or learn the basic if you live permanently there. I was married to an African-American and when he was making me angry I was letting it go with my sister on the phone in a calmly voice. He never suspected that I was talking about him. I told him that I was planning to move out with the children. He thought I was playing. I planned everything while he was in the house and when every thing was ready I moved out.

Learn the language.

 

[Africaida]

I was married to an African-American and when he was making me angry I was letting it go with my sister on the phone in a calmly voice. He never suspected that I was talking about him. I told him that I was planning to move out with the children. He thought I was playing. I planned everything while he was in the house and when every thing was ready I moved out.

Learn the language.

How about that as an incentive? LOL

 

[belgiank]

I think the question should be "is it respectful to learn Spanish"

For God's sake, you live in their country. So you should adapt yourself, and not the other way around.

After 7 months I get by in Spanish and get a lot more respect and friendliness. Never mind all the mistakes you make... You learn by using it

 

[davethebodyguard]

Just came back from DR yesterday. Spent first week in Bavaro and second in Quisqueya. Big difference, in Bavaro i do not need to know any spanish there is always someone around who is willing to help out the gringo who doesn't know spanish. In Quisqueya i had to pull out every spanish word I knew and some i made up to get throught the week and i was very frustrated with myself by weeks end. Location makes a big difference in what you need to know and why. Bavaro is a pretty safe place for me but not so in Quiqueya being the only gringo in town and majority spanish speaking people i learned more spanish out of neccesity in one week than i had in all of my 5 previous visits to the country. I still cannot speak the language but i can understand alot and can do more then order beer now.

 

[Chirimoya]

Quisqueya as in the Santo Domingo barrio or Ingenio Quisqueya in SPM?

 

[jrhartley]

I dont speak much in English so I dont get much practise in Spanish either.... I have tried speaking Spanish a few times but people just seem irritated rather than thrilled that I attempted it .
Maybe I just tried it out on the wrong people but I cant even get past habla ingles without getting strange looks, as if I am speaking swahili

 

[Expat13]

I dont speak much in English so I dont get much practise in Spanish either.... I have tried speaking Spanish a few times but people just seem irritated rather than thrilled that I attempted it .
Maybe I just tried it out on the wrong people but I cant even get past habla ingles without getting strange looks, as if I am speaking swahili

I agree with this 100%

Many times I read that it is always best to get over your reluctance or personal lack of confidence in your Spanish skills, and just "go for it"- the locals will appreciate your attempts, and patiently try and understand you beyond your mistakes.
I honestly cant remember this type of experience (outside of friends), yet definitely have experienced what jrhartley states above.

 

[SantiagoDR]

......I still cannot speak the language but i can understand alot and can do more then order beer now.

Beer and pretzels? lol

A lot also depends on who you are speaking to, as I said before, when in a group, some don't understand me, while others repeat the exact same thing I just said to the ones that don't understand me.

I usually think: But I just said that!


Don

 

[MikeFisher]

Some people thinks that if they come to certain areas of the USA they do not need English but what about when they go to the hospital and the nurse needs to ask another patient to translate/interpret.
I work for the city in the Bronx. Our union asked us not to translate because we are not paid for the service. Still, administration asked us to "volunteer". They have interpretation services but nobody uses it because the co-workers (we) are there.
It is not funny when you are very busy and your co-worker ask you to help with a client that do not speak English and you find out that he/she does not have job and are on Public Assistance, doing nothing the whole day. Sometimes young people, waisting their life.
Here in the Bronx I see people asking for directions in Spanish in the bus, trains, on the street. They do not ask me because I look African-American, I let them struggle and then I help them. So maybe they learn their lessons that they need to at least understand the language where they live.

The same in DR. Learn the language or learn the basic if you live permanently there. I was married to an African-American and when he was making me angry I was letting it go with my sister on the phone in a calmly voice. He never suspected that I was talking about him. I told him that I was planning to move out with the children. He thought I was playing. I planned everything while he was in the house and when every thing was ready I moved out.

Learn the language.

if your Union for your Nurses/hospital job tell ya to not translate b/c that' not in your job description means to ME, and that's only MY personal opinion expressed, to send our Union and the administration Gubmin to He$$, b/c it's been a while that i had to listen to such human beeing denying 'advised' behavior/orders, even that i experience a bunch on weekly bases.

to be in that business is not just a profession,
luckily some comply to their Oaths.
Mike

 

[MikeFisher]

hi Dave,
while you stayed in Bavaro/Punta Cana you did not stay nor visit the "dominican" side of the area, you spent your time at the tourist places like at Steve's, at the Jellyfish, in El Cortecito etc.
this is not an attack, but it's a fact.
aside of welcoming my customers in the morning before the boats leave offshore i do mostly not speak any english all week/month long, i speak german with my buddy who just left here, when one of our wifes is present we speak spanish of course, but the english language in Bavaro/Punta Cana is restricted to a few typical tourist and '''never learning expats''' spots. for the rest of the area it is very different. the ones you find in Veron or here in my town in Cabeza de Toro who try to speak english to a visitor are a few and most of them are the Sankies or Beach Vendors which i would not recommend to be the company for the Eve, each's own taste respected of course from my side.
in Quisquea (the only Quisquea i know is the north part of San Pedro de Macoris, i know there are much more with that popular name which describes the whole nation, but i do not know myself the others) you are of course in a different world lifewise, there you will find the same number of Locals who speak english, the same ones who work during the month here in Bavaro/Punta Cana and spend every 2 weeks the long off weekend there with their wifes and Kids, but of course you will not find the same dozen of typical/exclusively tourist bars to hang out with other tourists or the so numerous in Bavaro never spanish speaking "tourist" expats.
it is 2 different worlds, right.
Mike

 

[MikeFisher]

I agree with this 100%

Many times I read that it is always best to get over your reluctance or personal lack of confidence in your Spanish skills, and just "go for it"- the locals will appreciate your attempts, and patiently try and understand you beyond your mistakes.
I honestly cant remember this type of experience (outside of friends), yet definitely have experienced what jrhartley states above.

how you make friends, and i mean FRIENDS, in the first place if you do not speak a understoodable language understood by anybody around you in the first place?
i would guess Suahelii would not bring up too many neighbours to the Veranda for a sunday afternoon BBQ.
Mike

 

[MikeFisher]

Beer and pretzels? lol

A lot also depends on who you are speaking to, as I said before, when in a group, some don't understand me, while others repeat the exact same thing I just said to the ones that don't understand me.

I usually think: But I just said that!


Don

that's right Don,
it is the same with the "dialects" we have in any language.
some people understand you better and others get a hard time.
in my home country germany,
the one where the beers & bretzels are common,
we speak some so very different dialects that one does not understand an other on some ocassions and at least some get a hard time to understand the neighbour on others. and that's between people of the same country.
sure such is changing over times,
but my parents til today and for the rest of their time speak only our hometown dialect, they understand much but speak very little of the ""official"" German language teached in school.
and the dialect thingy we have in all languages around the globe,
each area has it's own way of pronounciation and specific wordings and in some cases even so hard that a 'good' word in one area maybe a 'bad talking' in an other area, even that the official language of both is the same. like some posters above mentioned that they are more comfo in understanding or get understood in the spanish of some south american country's spanish than in others, it depends the way you learned your own spanish. i read/write/speak/understand/discuss/fight etc spanish here on the Island, at any spot, i feel very comfo with the spanish of til today known colombian friends, i have a very hard time with the Argentinian variation even that i have several argentinian friends down here, i am very comfo with people from spain but i have trouble with several Mexicans on their slang.
but such thingies in case of dialects/slangs are anyways the minor stuff, in the details, the point is to learn spanish in the first place.

i do not see it as a point of respect to the country i visit/live in, i see it as a Need for myself to come around and communicate in what ever situation with who ever maybe involved, without the dependency on a translator or beeing 'fenced off' the neighbourhood i live in.

i would personally not want to live in the neighbourhood of any place anywhere of the planet where i am not a real neighbour/not understood/just an exotic bird for a while or such.

Mike

 

[Gabriela]

Not learning Spanish is expensive

I also have a tin ear and bad memory for learning language, so am one of the few non-Spanish speaking Dominicans on the planet. But because of my Dominican relatives, I know the cost. First, personal relationships. When language limits your ability to communicate with anyone--relatives, home help, employees, lawyers, etc., you will pay for your ignorance. Lost relationships, lost property, perhaps even your life. My cousin pays Dominican for everything from food to electricity. If she runs a business, her staff get away with nothing. Personally, I've been swindled out of millions of dollars of property because language is more than just words. It's power. Without Spanish, you are without power.

 

[thomasj]

Personally I cannot identify with the mindset that contamplates moving to a country without learning its language.
Learning Spanish when moving to this country is particularly important since the local impression is that every foreigner is rich and therefore welcome prey for exploitation and exorbitant charges for goods and services which have no fixed prices. This is even true for hospital, medical and dental and legal services where the persons charging the fees should know better.
Moving here without knowing the language be prepared to pay heavy tuition for learning how not to be exploited. Even the most experienced expat will occasionally be caught unawares being cheated or taken advantage of.
Since this country also attracts "undesirable elements" from all over the world, do not be surprised if some "experienced and knowledgeable" countryman of yours offers to take you under his wings, offers to show you the ropes, pointing out seemingly profitable investments and in the process relieves you of your hard earned money.
Beware of love relationships with the opposite sex. They are most often based on money.
If you want to move to this country bring lots of money and be very, very careful of everyone.
Good Luck

 

[jrhartley]

its called being adventurous! its a good job colombus didnt only go where he could speak the language (maybe not a good example ...but you know what I mean)

I dont actually need to speak to that many people....I didnt speak to many in my own country

 

[Vacara]

its called being adventurous! its a good job colombus didnt only go where he could speak the language

Too bad he didn't end up in some places of CentroAmerica, where they would have made him "enchilada".