Spanish Lessons

I hope to learn some basic Spanish phrases before setting off on el Camino de Santiago. I have never been good with languages and gave up a long time ago. I think that part of my brain was damaged at birth. Having said that I think it's so wrong of us English speakers travelling to foreign countries and expecting the locals to speak our language. Can you imagine walking down Grafton Street in Dublin and being approached by someone speaking German, French, Spanish or any other language (other than English). We would think they were mad. We expect them to address us in English. Yet when we go abroad we rant on in English to the locals and expect them to respond in English. If they don't we criticise them for not being able to communicate with their tourists. I have witnessed people speaking English more slowly or with what they think is a local accent to try and communicate. they are still speaking English, how daft is this?.

So I will, out of respect to my hosts in Spain, attempt to learn some of the basic phrases required to secure accommodation, food, directions etc..

I am looking for on line courses, ideally free ones. If anyone knows of a good beginners course please send me a link through the comments section below. Looking at reviews many courses appear to start out well but then suddenly fail when students feel they are not making any progress. I have already browsed a couple and will see how they work for me. 

http://www.spanishdict.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/