| Barcelona |
Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 08:48 PM UTC
Hi Julie,
A lot of people speak English, don't worry about language. French is less frequent.
Kind regards,
Bart
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| Barcelona |
Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 08:54 PM UTC
If you do the hop on hop off bus tour of Barcelona, it is spoken in a few languages, plus the booklet you get given is in english.
If you get the chance to visit Monserrat, its amazing up there.
Have a wonderful trip
Nicola
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| Barcelona |
Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 08:55 PM UTC
I lived in Barcelona and it isnt necessary to speak Catalan. If you just speak Spanish that is great. Many people speak English as well.
Monserratt is a wonderfull place. There are also many neat beached(Sitges was my fav) and many other great finds. There are busses. I never(in my life) took a tour so I am not much help on that matter.
Take a boat to Majorca...its a great side trip as well.
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 09:13 PM UTC
Everybody in Barcelona speaks Spanish, so if you can get by in Spanish you will be fine. Otherwise English is your best bet, although only young people and those working in the tourist industry can speak English.
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| Barcelona |
Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 09:32 PM UTC
I think you can perfectly manage in english
It's a real pitty you'll miss the Diada de Sant Jordi (St George Day) it's the 23rd.
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 09:42 PM UTC
Yes, it's a pity about April 23-rd. Firstly i was planning to come on this particular day, it's my birthday and this trip is the present :) anywhere ... i'm glad i'm coming to Barca through all the difficulties and doubts i had.
Thanks for your replies!
Julie.
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| Barcelona |
Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Tue April 20, 2004 10:29 PM UTC
Hi Julie,
It's not necessary to take a tour to Figueres. You can do it on your own on the train. Very easy. About a two hours as I recall. The Dali museum is fantastic and well worth the trip. You can pick of the train in the middle of town, from the station Passeig de Grącia.
Cristina
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 05:52 AM UTC
My experience is that VERY few people spoke English. If you ask for directions, they are nice, and try to help, usually in rapid Spanish with a bit of sign language thrown in. But as far as speaking the language, forget it. We did manage, of course, and I'm sure you will, too.
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 03:56 PM UTC
I found it helpful to be able to ask in Catalan whether the person spoke English - more a courtesy than anything else, and I usually found people were willing to help
One BIG mistake was to buy a combined Barcelona Guide book and Phrasebook without checking first and - you've guessed it - the phrasebook was Spanish not Catalan. Those publishers should be shot!
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 08:22 PM UTC
If you have a LOT of time, by all means learn Catalan. (a language one small area of Spain speaks...wish I had the time). Certainly that will make the locals feel good.
Keep in mind, Barcelona is the closest big city to the French border and is VERY cosmopolitan so many languages will be spoken. Tourists from Scandanavia, UK, USA and much of Europe often speak some English so it isnt like youll be on Mars. I am bi-lingual and speak Spanish fluently so it was no problem back then. Now 26 countries later I am learning Russian because ill be spending alot of time there in the future. The more languages the better;-)
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Language and tours in Barcelona Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 08:39 PM UTC
I totally agree - the more languages u know, better u feel visiting and travelling different countries.
I can speak well Russian and English, a little French, understand Polish, so my next challenge would be Spanish (including Catalan) and Italian ... i have an idea to speak 7 langues, great number :))
Julie.
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| Barcelona |
Pravda! you do speak a few languages;-) Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 08:50 PM UTC
Yessly vas moszjena,,err TOCHNO!(my Russian is phoenetic lol) I went to your homepage and you speak Latvian, Russian, Polish, Swedish, french(and obviously English) You are a one-woman language armada!
Dont let a little Spanish get in your way,,,LOL
I will look and see a good site where there is better information for booking and email it to you if I find a good one.
hasta luego and do svedanya
Mike
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| Barcelona |
Re: Pravda! you do speak a few languages;-) Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 08:56 PM UTC
Try
http://www.shop.viator.com/brochure/featured/
CITY/BARCELONA/02
There is a trip from Barcelona to Manserratt for $56USD round trip...and many others.
Mike
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Pravda! you do speak a few languages;-) Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 08:58 PM UTC
Make that Montserratt...my fingers are dyslexic LOL
Good luck
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| Barcelona |
Re: Re: Pravda! you do speak a few languages;-) Posted: Wed April 21, 2004 09:04 PM UTC
Gracias/Spasibo Mike!!! za pozelanija i informaciju ... Russian is tough to learn i guess, though i needn't do that, cause it's my second native language apart from Lithuanian :)
Julie.
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| Barcelona |
Starting to Catalan; - ) Posted: Thu April 22, 2004 08:29 AM UTC
First lessons in catalan:
Com puc arribar a (+ name of place?)= How can I get.. ?(asking for directions)
Parla angles ? =Do you speak english?
Quant val una T-10 (phonetically "te deu") = How much is a T-10 card? ( public transport cardfor 10 trips)
Quina hora es? = what time is it?
Do you need any more translations? just ask! The problem will be if they answer in catalan...
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