Inhabitants and state • Location • Landscape and coast • History • Spanish language • • Music • Sports and football • Bullfighting • Children and schools • Also typical Spanish...

Spanish language

Spanish is the official language of Spain (also called Castilian) and is also spoken in South and Middle America (except for Brazil where they speak Portuguese). Besides Spanish, there are 4 other official languages:

- Catalan (in Catalonia / Barcelona, about 17%)
- Gallic (in Galicia, about 7%)
- Bask (in Bask country, about 2%)
- Valencian (on the Baleares islands)

Castilian, Galician and Catalan come from the Latin language and there are all kinds of dialects. The Andalusian (and Nerja) dialect is particularly strong as this area of Southern Spain has been less developed than other parts, and was always mostly inhabited by farmers, many of whom did not receive any education at all. They cut half of the words off and they don’t say ‘s’. It isn’t just difficult for foreigners to understand but also for quite a lot of Spanish.

In Spain you find all kinds of language schools where you can combine your study with a holiday. Also Nerja has 2 language schools: Quorum and Escuela de Idiomas. We went to Quorum in Calle San Miguel and thought it was a really good and nice school.

Google Translate can help you a lot with translations, but remember that a computer always translates literally and this of course can completely change the meaning of the sentence.

The Spanish don't speak a lot of English (including the prime minister!) or other languages and that is even the case with higher-educated people like doctors: 27% speaks a little and only 15% fluently. In tourist's places these percentages are a little higher. An important reason for this is the synchronization of television and also on the radio you don't hear a lot of English. The mixture between English en Spanish is called Spanglish.

Mini dictionary

Hello - Hola
Good morning (till 14:00 hrs) - Buenos dias
Good afternoon (till 20:00 hrs) - Buenas tardes
Good night (from 20:00 hrs) - Buenas noches
See you later - Hasta luego
Bye - Adios
Yes, no, maybe - Si, no, quizas
Thanks - Gracias
Excuse me – Perdona / disculpe
I’m sorry - Lo siento
Please - Por favor
Here you are - Aqui tiene
You’re welcome - De nada

When - Cuando
Why - Porque
Straight ahead - Todo recto
To the right - A la derecha
To the left - A la izquerda
Sales - Rebajas
1 / 10 - un, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez
Help! - Socorro!

How are you? - Como está (usted)? / Que tal?
Very well, thank you - Muy bien, gracias
Do you know where there is x? - Sabe que donde está x?
I don’t speak Spanish - No hablo español
Do you speak English? - Habla (usted) Ingles?
I don’t know - No lo sé
Where are the toilets? - Donde estan los servios / aseos?
How much is that? - Quanto cuesta / Cuanto vale?
What time is it? - Que hora es?

Culinary dictionary