{"id":9946,"date":"2013-09-12T11:32:28","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T16:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=9946"},"modified":"2021-08-23T10:55:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T15:55:17","slug":"travel-to-colombia-without-speaking-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/travel-to-colombia-without-speaking-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel to Colombia Without Speaking Spanish?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you gone totes cray-cray? According to Education First\u00b4s<\/a> survey of 54 countries whose official language isn\u00b4t English, Colombia comes in 50th place for the level of English spoken<\/strong>. So… if you’re going to Travel to Colombia, you\u00b4ve got to hablah a bit of Es-pan-ol, to even think about coming here, right?<\/p>\n

Not so fast, fellow Gringo! Let\u00b4s not jump to too many conclusions straight off the bat. And, let\u00b4s try to keep the mixing of metaphors down to a dull roar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"San<\/a>
This is what you\u00b4ll be stuck with. The heart bleeds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

First up, why not head to Colombia\u00b4s own Caribbean paradise<\/strong>? Due to its English Puritan history,\u00a0natives of the San Andres archipelago, particularly in Providence<\/a>, are down with our English lingo. As well as Spanish and a local kind of creole, you\u00b4ll find English spoken in this island<\/strong> with its one-of-a-kind culture, duty free shopping, and waters of seven colours. OK, well shades of blue. So, I\u00b4m afraid, you poor sod, that if you want to avoid Spanish as much as possible, you\u00b4re going to have to just grin and bear sipping some ridiculously sweet cocktail on a Caribbean island hideaway<\/strong>. Boo hoo.<\/p>\n

If that has just crushed you, hold your horses a bit! There are other options around. Sticking to the Caribbean, you\u00b4ll find the old pirate city (Captain Jack! Giant Squid!) of Cartagena. Now, Cartagena (or Cartage\u00f1a<\/a>, which is actually the correct pronounciation) just happens to be the tourist capital of Colombia<\/strong>. The locals, being coste\u00f1os (who, as we all know, RULE<\/a>) weren\u00b4t slow in cottoning on to that fact and have gone about picking up the English required to interact with us gringos. On occasions, you\u00b4ll kind of wish that some of the pushier souvenir pushers didn\u00b4t; but, generally, you\u00b4ll be able to get around Cartagena\u00b4s storied walls without too many wild gesticulations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Keira<\/a>
Keira Knightley!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other major cities, particularly Bogot\u00e1 and Medell\u00edn, aren\u00b4t too slack when it comes to speaking English. Luckily enough, the glitzier, partayier areas of Colombia\u00b4s two largest cities also happen to speak the most English. The closer you get to Zona T in Bogot\u00e1 or Parque Lleras in Medell\u00edn, the more English you\u00b4ll find spoken<\/strong>. Sad for you: you might just have to do some fancy partying. Your holiday so far sounds like it\u00b4s going to suck!<\/p>\n

We won\u00b4t lie to you, though. The further away you get from these four English hubs, the likelier it is that you\u00b4ll have to whip out that Spanish phrase book and point<\/strong>. However, even then, you will survive. You will survive. As long as you stay in hostels, I know you\u00b4ll stay alive. It\u00b4s generally safe to assume that there\u00b4s a bit of English spoken by the staff of the bigger hostels<\/strong> in almost any tourist town you\u00b4d want to go to; and of course, sticking to the gringo trail will bring you in contact with backpackers who have managed to pick up Spanish. In my experience, buy them a beer, and they\u00b4re pretty likely to help you out. Here are some tips <\/a>on how to start a conversation with this rugged breed of traveler.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"En<\/a>
Daaawnday airstar Macdonaldso? – Image from Deviantart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

From there, I\u00b4m afraid you\u00b4re on your own. Unless you book a tour with an awesome company. I hear See Colombia Travel<\/a>\u00b4s pretty good. They\u00b4ve got a sexy new website<\/strong> too, so it appears.<\/p>\n

But, then again, why not have a go at learning some Spanish? You probably know a bit if you\u00b4re a Cypress Hill or Dora the Explorer fan already. We\u00b4ve got some hints on how to learn even more<\/strong> with some Spanish songs here<\/a>, and common Colombian-only phrases here<\/a>. Who knows? By the end of your travels here in Colombia, you may just be able to go home and impress everybody with your \u00a8Oooonar sir-vay-zar, poor far-vor.\u00a8 I know I\u00b4d be impressed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you gone totes cray-cray? According to Education First\u00b4s survey of 54 countries whose official language isn\u00b4t English, Colombia comes in 50th place for the level of English spoken. So… if you’re going to Travel to Colombia, you\u00b4ve got to hablah a bit of Es-pan-ol, to even think about coming here, right? Not so fast, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":9948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[35,19,3,115,1806,626,4,70,112,66,1632,12,69],"tags":[2735,251,356,2882],"yoast_head":"\nTravel to Colombia Without Speaking Spanish? - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/travel-to-colombia-without-speaking-spanish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Travel to Colombia Without Speaking Spanish?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you gone totes cray-cray? According to Education First\u00b4s survey of 54 countries whose official language isn\u00b4t English, Colombia comes in 50th place for the level of English spoken. So… if you’re going to Travel to Colombia, you\u00b4ve got to hablah a bit of Es-pan-ol, to even think about coming here, right? 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