You Will Not Learn A Language When You Get There (At Least Passively)

Psst... Everyone here either speaks English or wants to!

     Too often I see this mistakes particularly among Americans or native English speakers learning a foreign language. We study, we do the boring grammar exercises first and foremost, some useless exercises, maybe a few videos, all but the number one thing that will help us, speaking to native speakers. And of course, our solution is that when we travel to Mexico, or Japan, or wherever, we will only be speaking in that language when we arrive so we will be forced to learn the language and refine our linguistic skills. However after traveling through 50 plus countries now and studying 6 or so languages I can say with confidence this is not the case. 

     The first problem is that English is a universal language. When you land in the middle east at the airport, the pilot will announce in Arabic first, and then English. When you land in China, Chinese then English. I have dual citizenship, when I went to Eastern Europe on my Italian passport, do you think the customs agent addresses me in their native language, tries to speak Italian, or just uses English? Even when you are a fluent speaker, they will detect your accent (not necessarily a native English speaker accent, just the foreign accent) most times and may respond in English. Ok, so what about when I get into the country?

     Most of the tourist things we do will be people who are multi-lingual, your hotel almost certainly will be. Bars, restaurants, again will be multi-lingual at least to some degree, and if they are not, conversing in these situations will only get you what I like to refer to as "Tourist Fluent". Where is the bathroom? Can I have the chicken dish? etc. Which if that is your ultimate goal, that's totally fine... But if you want to go deeper into the language?

     Well of course if you are active learning, you went there for language school, you have a solid program speaking to native speakers, or it is one of the super rare cases where absolutely no English is spoken, you will learn. But don't just casually study at home and arrive thinking it will click, it will get better but the time to learn is long before you leave your home country.

All aboard!

     So.... the easiest way if you just want to be tourist fluent is just about anything, I've used most of the apps, and to get tourist fluent, most will work. 

For more in depth:

• You want the native speaker, I use italki.com, they don't sponsor me or anything, but I enjoy the platform. I do at least one lesson a week talking to a native speaker.
• Set a solid study routine that works for you, 8 hours a day would be great, but we have jobs, kids, etc. What can you honestly do per week? My italki lessons half the time are done in my car between work shifts. Hellotalk is a great app, that I nickname the Tinder of languages, you want to learn Russian, he or she wants to learn English, you match and practice together.
• Make the language a part of your life, change your phones language to French, you will quickly learn how to say turn left at the sign when you've made a few wrong turns.
• Netflix, youtube, music etc, make the language a part of your life with them as well, but pick shows you would watch in English, the genre of music you already listen to in English, a book you would read, or even better already have read in English, so it's things you enjoy, and know you will enjoy in your target language.
  
• Grammar, I left grammar last, because we most times put it first, but it is so boring and mundane and to me kills the lust if you put it first. We need to learn grammar, but first start with basic speaking, making friends, making it a part of your life, as you get better, dive back into the boring stuff.

     Above all realize it's a process, at times you will exceed very rapidly, at times you will plateau painfully, but like all things in life, you push through and it will bring you not only the joy of self-accomplishment, but the ability to speak with fluency, not just tourist fluency in the places you love to visit, vacation, and maybe even live one day.

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Puerto Rico

      For me, when I travel, my constant goal for the next trip is to be the far opposite of the last trip. If the last trip was a desert adventure the next may be a city museum tour, if the last one was hiking in the South East Asia jungles the next one may be a road trip thru New England, you get the point. Spring of 2021 had rolled around and Covid restrictions were still high.  So very unlikely for me, but after just leaving the Caribbean in Jamaica a few months before, it was time to go back! But luckily there are enough difference between Jamaica and Puerto Rico that although climate was the same, the adventure aspect was definitely different. Here's my go to tips on how we enjoyed Puerto Rico and how you can as well as a budget traveler!

• Airbnb is going to go a long way here over the hotels and resorts, it's a much more fun way to experience the culture. We stayed at an old home in Old San Juan with a balcony over looking the street and ocean views on both sides. It had the perfect feel of living there not just visiting there at a much cheaper price than the resorts.
  
  
• Speaking of Old San Juan, while I loved the beaches of PR my favorite part was Old San Juan. As a guy who loves South and Central America old San Juan is a similar experience of course with a little United States flavor. Just walking around seeing the old buildings, trying different food, drinks, and the coffee made for a fun day.
  
  
• We opted for a snorkel tour at Escambron Beach to check out the local sea turtles, as a budget traveler I can definitely say you can easily bring your own gear and do this on your own, but also as a guy that packs light with a carry on only I was happy to pay $40 or so for the tour guide who brought gear and was better at finding turtles than I would have been!
  
                               
  
  
• La Factoria is a tourist spot, but one well worth it, the famous Despacito video was filmed here, so while it's part tourist trap, the drinks are definitely top notch. Due to curfews I can't vouch for the party scene first hand, but I'm confident to say when Covid is over this is going to be a great spot to drink and dance the night away.
  
                            
  
  
• More old San Juan bars, roof top bars (Al Fresco for us), little alley bars, coffee stands, and fun street art.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  mmmmm!!!!

  
           
  
  
• And of course you want to check out Castillo de San Cristobal and Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (check out the cemetery here too!)
  
  
                                          
  
                 
  
  
• We also went further afield with Rocaliza Tours to visit the El Salto Waterfall and do a great hike there, some zip lining, some swimming, and to top it off the tour ends at a family home for a home cooked lunch!
  
  
  
                                                          
  
  
• Spanish helps but is definitely not needed, this is USA and just about everyone speaks English.
  
  
• Speaking of which, this is USA if you are a US citizen coming from the mainland, no passport needed.
  
  
• Prices overall were very cheap, not south America cheap, but north America cheap. Even at La Factoria and upscale restaurants, especially if you compare them to mainland big US cities.
  
  
• La Perla, to see or not to see? La Perla is a fascinating part of town because anywhere else in the USA a beach front area between two historic fortresses would be an expensive upscale tourist area. La Perla is not quite there, some dilapidated buildings, and definitely the feeling you probably shouldn't be there at night. That being said, day time, in a small group, you can check it out. Buy some lunch there and help out the area, because one day, it will rebound and then maybe we $ the budget travelers $ won't be able to enjoy it!!! 
  
                                           
• Take it all in, breathe the ocean, taste the cocktails, dance, practice Spanish and have fun, its a great destination for a budget traveler and a perfect spot for a long weekend, or if you are lucky even longer to explore more!
  
  
  
  

     The first time I went to the Caribbean was close to 20 years ago in the Bahamas. I ended up going twice on Spring Break. I hope one day to go back there because I've learned a lot traveling to not just get drunk and party, but actually explore and learn (don't worry a lot of partying is still done!). Going back to back to the Caribbean for Jamaica and Puerto Rico was a gift. Being in the same region was not at all a repeat trip for me. Because each island has it's own flavor, it's own culture, it's own pace, and the same beautiful climate. We felt the pulse of San Juan, breathed in the air of the beaches, tasted so many great flavors, and discovered a part of the USA I've always known of but never truly knew. Claro, quiero regresar... ¡y te recomiendo que tú también lo hagas!

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