RCI European Cruisers - language question

[angiemom]

I only speak English but I am thinking of booking the Liberty Barcelona-Cannes-Livorno-Civitavecchia-Barcelona cruise next year. I would try to learn a few phrases in each language...but if I wanted to concentrate on one, which language would be most useful while touring? Spanish for Barcelona, French for Cannes or Italian for Livorno & Civitavecchia? Advice is appreciated.

[Gator0178]

I only speak English but I am thinking of booking the Liberty Barcelona-Cannes-Livorno-Civitavecchia-Barcelona cruise next year. I would try to learn a few phrases in each language...but if I wanted to concentrate on one, which language would be most useful while touring? Spanish for Barcelona, French for Cannes or Italian for Livorno & Civitavecchia? Advice is appreciated.

 

 

We were in the Med last year (best trip of our lives). We spent a few days in Rome before and after the cruise, but also went to Spain and France.

Everyone in Europe speaks English. Now weather they speak to you is another story. You will pick up plenty of phrases quickly when you are emersed in that country. But, to answer your question I would learn the language of where ever you will spend the most time and therefore get the most use.

[barb in ga]

I learned a little Italian a couple of years ago for a trip and found it very easy, more so than French or Spanish. I'm pretty comfortable with "tourist" level French, as I studied it in high school and try to keep refreshed by visiting Paris every other year.(A good excuse to keep going back-I need to practice my French)lol!

 

The true language of Barcelona is Catalan, which is a good bit different from Spanish, but most people will understand Spanish as well. You can find multi-lingual pocket-size phrase books that cover all three(Rick Steves has one)

 

I love the challenge of learning a few words in every language when I travel--the people always seem pleased that I have made the effort. Please, thank you, hello, goodbye, where is the toilet are important to know wherever you go.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

Barb

[Janet524]

I only speak English but I am thinking of booking the Liberty Barcelona-Cannes-Livorno-Civitavecchia-Barcelona cruise next year. I would try to learn a few phrases in each language...but if I wanted to concentrate on one, which language would be most useful while touring? Spanish for Barcelona, French for Cannes or Italian for Livorno & Civitavecchia? Advice is appreciated.

 

English is widely spoken, especially in tourist areas. I've found that smiling and saying, "hello", "please", and "thank you" in the language of the country you are visiting goes a long way.

[April-in-NC]

I spent a summer studying in Europe during college (best summer EVER!!!) and travelled all over during the weekends.

 

I found that most people spoke English, especially those who lived/worked in touristy areas.

 

We always appoached people who we were going to ask for help and started with "hello" in the local language. Almost immediately they would switch to English, even before we asked. :D

 

Other classmates weren't as successful as we were and we found they usually started the conversation in English, so we figured that if we made an honest attempt to learn key phrases they were much more willing to help us out by answering our questions and doing so in English.

 

Please, thank you, and a smile will go a long way with most people, regardless of the country you are in.

[Girl_from_Ipanema]

I'm an American living in Europe and aside from learning how to say, "hi, do you speak English?" and "Thank you" learning a few phrases isn't going to be of much use because you can't actually converse in the language.

 

Let's face it, if you ask in the local language where the bathroom is and they answer you in the same language, does it actually help you? Probably not.

 

That said, pretty much everyone, except seniors speaks English, especially in the cities and tourist areas.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I heartily agree that the most important thing is showing a bit of respect and friendliness. It takes next to no time to learn "Excuse me, do you speak English?" in another language.

 

I have lived in four European countries, and whenever tourists approached me for help, I willingly bent over backwards to help them ... if they at least tried to communicate in the local language first. If not, depending on my mood and depending on how badly they really needed help, I would sometimes shrug and say "Sorry, I don't understand" in the local language.

 

NOW, all of that being said, let me return to your original question. ;) If you want to take the time to learn a bit more of a language, I agree that Italian would be your best bet. It has very few exceptions to its pronunciation rules, unlike French which has more exceptions than rules! And, as was mentioned, Catalan and Spanish are not the same thing. Besides, you will have more port time in Italy.

 

In bocca al lupo e buon viaggio!

(Good luck and have a good trip)

 

~La croisiere

[screwcork]

Having English as your mother tongue you are in a very lucky situation! Being Norwegian I had to learn three foreign languages in school (English, French and German). Later I also had to learn Spanish since I lived (and worked) there for three years. Having said that, I would concentrate on one language only, and I would recommend Spanish. This is the third most spoken language in the World and is much more widely spoken than French and Italian. Good luck with your studies!

 

Screwcork

[steamboats]

You definitely won´t have a problem getting around with English. Sure it´ll be nice to learn some basic words like "hello", "bye", "thank you" or "please" or the mentioned question.

 

I´ve learned three languages at school, English, Latin and French. I´ve added Italian too. Anway I´m out of practise (except for American but that´s what I´ve learned mainly after school :rolleyes:). So I do understand quite a bit (even in Spanish). But when I speak I do speak English.

 

Nice story: Years ago we´ve been to Sorrento. We´ve visited a place we´ve stayed the year before. The owner invited us to his weekly pizza party. It was a mix of Italian and English (he used to be a bus driver in England). So in English he invited us for Wednesday, in Italian for Thursday. O.k., Italian is his mother language and we showed up on Thursday - being one day late :D!!

 

steamboats