No soy un gringo

[squuggy]

I'm thinking about brushing up my Spanish before my Mexian Riviera cruise in October, so I have a couple of questions. Anybody know of a good (hopefully free) online course in Spanish, particularly something that would be an intensive review of tourist vocabulary?

I'm sure it'll be useful to be able to converse with the natives in their own tongue, but how have those of you without any knowledge of Spanish gotten along in PV, Mazatlan, Cabo, and Ixtapa?

[OceanDreamin]

I had no problem at all communicating in English with people in the tourist areas of PV, Mazatlan and Cabo. Learning Spanish would be fun, but totally unnecesary for you to be able to communicate.

 

Have a great time.

[gottago2mexico]

I'm thinking about brushing up my Spanish before my Mexian Riviera cruise in October, so I have a couple of questions. Anybody know of a good (hopefully free) online course in Spanish, particularly something that would be an intensive review of tourist vocabulary?

I'm sure it'll be useful to be able to converse with the natives in their own tongue, but how have those of you without any knowledge of Spanish gotten along in PV, Mazatlan, Cabo, and Ixtapa?

 

You'll find that Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas are more widely English-speaking than Mazatlan and Ixtapa. You still won't have a problem in any of the ports, but a little Spanglish does help to communicate when you are barganing at a flea market, eating at a non-touristy restaurant, or going off-the-beaten-path, like trying to talk to the locals on Stone Island or visiting a museum.

 

You'll find that the free online lessons are mostly very very short, just enough to get you interested enough to buy the real stuff. You can practice by getting a Travelers spanish phrase book at your local bookstore, or if you're really interested, the set of CDs we like to use for learning is Unforgettable Languages.

 

Hope this helps, have a great time!

[pokeysgal]

I've been taking Spanish for several years now, but we'll see whether I'll actually be able to understand anything once I'm down there. :p

 

Anyhow, I've found learnspanish.com to be a helpful site, although I don't know how much there is in the way of "travel Spanish."

[hommebronze]

http://www.rollingrs.com/#archives

 

 

I'm thinking about brushing up my Spanish before my Mexian Riviera cruise in October, so I have a couple of questions. Anybody know of a good (hopefully free) online course in Spanish, particularly something that would be an intensive review of tourist vocabulary?

I'm sure it'll be useful to be able to converse with the natives in their own tongue, but how have those of you without any knowledge of Spanish gotten along in PV, Mazatlan, Cabo, and Ixtapa?

[TravlGrl]

I'm thinking about brushing up my Spanish before my Mexian Riviera cruise in October, so I have a couple of questions. Anybody know of a good (hopefully free) online course in Spanish, particularly something that would be an intensive review of tourist vocabulary?

I'm sure it'll be useful to be able to converse with the natives in their own tongue, but how have those of you without any knowledge of Spanish gotten along in PV, Mazatlan, Cabo, and Ixtapa?

 

I know NO Spanish at all...well, I have learned 'gracias', 'si', and 'no mass' (I don't even know if I'm spelling that right) during my Mexico travels, but have gotten along just fine speaking English. I've been to Mexico 5-6 times over the past 3 years and never felt a need to learn it because the locals are so wonderful with their English. If I hadn't experienced so many English speakers, I definitely would have taken a Spanish travel class like I've done with other languages before going to Europe.

 

So, if you want to take the class for fun, then go for it, and I bet you'll have a lot of fun speaking the locals' native tongue! If it's because you think you'll really *need* to use it, I doubt it.