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My conversational Spanish is poor, but I can convey my desires, in the wild... I mean, how hard is it to say; "una Medalla, pollo, arroz con habituelas", Then, every 5 minutes, to say; por favor mas cervesa."?

You forgot, Buen Provecho

Y..donde esta el bano?

Yea after a few of those beers you going to need el baño.

I been speaking English for so long that my Spanish is getting rusty. Where I put that oil can?

I know a lot of gringos who don't speak any Spanish and get along just fine, even in Mayaguez, but especially in Rincon.  My hubby doesn't speak it much at all but if he has dealing with taxes, etc there's always someone he can speak English with. He counts on me a lot to make phone calls and stuff like that.

Personally, I'm taking this opportunity to become bilingual. I have a tutor come weekly to my home, (a student from the college), and I speak Spanish to nearly everyone even if they speak English back to me.  I would regret not using this opportunity of living here to learn the language. I make it a point to practice over coffee with my Puerto Rican friends and chat with my neighbors (we're the only Americans in the neighborhood). And my kids are learning too.

That being said, I usually switch to English at the doctor's office, dealing with insurance or government stuff and paying bills.

Wow, seems like you learned spanish really fast!
Learning english when I was young was no problem for me but spanish is sooo hard for me!
We speak german at home, I don't want my daughter to loose the language she rose up till she was 7 and I don't work with puertoricans so I find it pretty hard.
Btw, I live in Myz. too!

My wife is 57 and she is learning pretty good with the Fluenz course. She still won't let me speak to her in Spanish but I hear her practice her lessons and she is doing good and the complexity is going up. Last thing she is studying is past tense like "fui" (i went) and "estuve" (i was at). Her pronunciation is very close or right on the spot. What she has learned so far she can speak it, understand it, read it and write it.
Fluenz course is the way to go.

No I don't speak Spanish and it does make life harder here. My husband goes with me to all my Doctors appointments because the receptionist don't speak English.  Shopping I can do by myself as long as I don't need to ask for anything.  Then they find someone who speaks English so it usually works out, unless it's a small store then not so much. I think the biggest hurdle is Doctors, utilities, hospitals,  labs, those places I just take my husband.

I speak just a little (I can order food and make appointments). I took a 6 week class at work that didn't help much at all, because the teacher was awful.

My husband and I have been looking for Spanish classes in San Juan metro, but they seem to be either really expensive or pretty sketchy! If anyone has any ideas about legitimate ones, I'd love to hear ideas.

I overestimated my abilities and underestimated the need for Spanish to find work here. The straw the broke the camel's back? When they wouldn't hire me to edit English documents because "no dominas español!"

In general, English is spoken more on the coasts; here in the interior, people struggle with it. One also finds it more in professional or US industrial (pharma) settings.

It took me a few years to find courses. I ended up learning most of my Spanish on the street and job. I took a couple sessions at ISLA The approach seemed solid to me, but teacher abilities did vary, and the continuity from one to another was not perfect. ***

We have spent time in PR each year for a good many years.  Our Spanish is not the best, but we get along ok.  I think that if you really want to integrate into a community, you would need to be able to speak Spanish fairly well.   

When we first started going to Guanica (in the 1990's), very few people spoke English.  These days there are many more.  We have met Puerto Ricans who have spent their working years in the north and have come home to retire.  They are overall very welcoming and friendly. 

In short, you can get along just fine with English, but it doesn't hurt to try and learn as much Spanish as you can.  Most people will help you if you try.

A person never know when an emergency situation or legal situation may occur and there are no English speaking people around to understand. It could result in jail, injury or death.

Please remember that the majority of the people in Puerto Rico that try their English with you are not obligated to do so. It is a curtesy not a right, so learn Spanish and you can then help each other and deal with any situation that may come your way.

Remember the joke?
What do you call a person that speaks three languages?
What do you call a person that speaks two languages?
What do you call a person that speaks one language?

Someone with advancing senility?

I'm trying, Rey. I have been studying every day, but learning a !anguage at 67 is not as easy as it was when I was in college. I have never had the opportunity to practice Spanish in conversation, so, except for some vocabulary words, it all had slipped away until I started studying again. I can yell "Ayuda!" Maybe someone will come to my rescue.😊

Try yelling "auxilio!"

Not yelling at anyone, just reminding people that it is important.
Make friends with a local that is bilingual, you use Spanish, they respond and correct you in English.

You be surprised how loose their English gets and how friendly they become after a beer or two (your pay).

Sometimes all you need is an explanation of how a particular word is used. For example: poder has two basic meaning (power as in power of god) or (can as I can or can not dance). Using a word in context makes all the difference. Lots of things can confuse you and prevent you from moving forward, a friend that can explain it can make all the difference and allow you also to pronounce the words correctly. Do not be too concern with the sound of B or V, to many of us in PR we can't tell the difference in the sound.