How much of a problem is the language barrier in your daily life as an expat?

[Cruz009]

I have been here for over a year already, and I am still confused about the usage of 'para' and 'por'. Pretty much sum up how difficult the language is, especially for daily conversation.

 

[ShoeMakerLevy9]

https://effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/language-difficulty/

(Language difficulty according to the Foreign Service Institute)

Now the scary part is that, from a linguistic point of view, Spanish ranks among the easiest languages for a native English speaker; in that list you'll also find Germanic languages like Dutch or Swedish and other Romance languages like French and Portuguese.

All languages are incredibly difficult to master, but, while all of them will give you a really hard time most of the languages that exist are way easier than Spanish: examples of really difficult languages: Arabic -any of its dialects-, Mandarin, Japanese, Greek, Hindi, etc.

Bear in mind English received a massive influx of French words -of Latin origin- after the invasion of the Normands in the year 1066. It is estimated that around 50% of the lexicon of the English language are words of Latin origin.

I guess the mistake many people make is thinking of language learning as if it were something that takes a few hours a week; it takes probably as much as getting a Ph.D to truly master a language, provided you were not born in a bilingual household which is a life hack.

 

[HenryHoneyBalls]

In Argentina they use lots of English words too, often incorrectly which I find amusing. A full, top, country, shopping, luquear, flashear etc. Panqueques has to be my favorite though.

 

[ShoeMakerLevy9]

"Cringe" is a good one too. Don't know if you heard it yet.

 

[HenryHoneyBalls]

"Cringe" is a good one too. Don't know if you heard it yet.

Ha no actually. To be fair in English we sometimes use Spanish words incorrectly. In Ireland sometimes people say “No problemo”. I dont think Spanish speakers would ever say this.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

In Argentina they use lots of English words too, often incorrectly which I find amusing. A full, top, country, shopping, luquear, flashear etc. Panqueques has to be my favorite though.

When I was getting married the wife to be kept going on about the Cat-ering, saying the first bit like Cat the animal.

I thought it was some kind of religious rite we had to go through.

Took me a couple of months to realise what she was going on about “ohhh you mean the Caytering”

 

[Ceviche]

"Cringe" is a good one too. Don't know if you heard it yet.

"Cringe" is used a LOT here

 

[Ries]

I find the generational differences in the language here to be amusing sometimes.
over a certain age, they buy le-VEZ pants. Younger people have Leave-eyes.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

"Cringe" is used a LOT here

Is it pronounced Crin heh?

 

[ShoeMakerLevy9]

Indeed. "Crin" sounds pretty similar to the English version and the syllable "ge" sounds like "he" as in "hehe".