One thing that surprised me upon our arrival in Sevilla was how few people spoke English. I’m not one of those people who thinks that the whole world should speak English to accommodate my needs; in fact, I am quite embarrassed that I am monolingual, and one of the first things I did here was sign up for Spanish lessons.
When I told people our plans to move to Spain and they asked me if I spoke Spanish, I usually replied that I took six years of Spanish in the American public school system, so…no. It is similar in Spain – most people take English classes at school, but start at a later age and never get past the basics. It was just that as a major metropolitan area, and one with a high level of tourism from the U.S. and England, I just expected more people to speak English as a rule. But outside the major tourist areas, few people do, and even in the tourist areas, most people’s English is limited to what they need to know for their jobs. Again, I don’t begrudge anyone for this. One saying making its way around the internet (or at least through my feed) lately, is, “You speak English because it’s the only language you know. I speak English because it’s the only language you know. We are not the same.”
So ANOTHER thing that surprised me is how many people wear clothes with English sayings and expressions on them (separate from all the people wearing American sports team clothing. The Lakers and Yankees are particularly popular). Here are just a few I’ve seen:
Keep calm and skate.
There are plenty of fish in the sea.
Time to go and change the world!
School is not a place for smart people
Sometimes I wonder if the people who are wearing the clothes actually know what the words mean!
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