Traveling to Spain?

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hilverchas

Don't worry about it, even if you only knew a few words they DO appreciate you even trying to chat with them in fact in some cases when you get it wrong it can turn out to be quite a laugh.
As for the speed they talk, I give up when my husbands sisters get a chat going, I call it machine gun spanish!! when they see me begin to smile they slow down!!
I have been here for years, sad to say I am still far from word perfect BUT those who are, bless them.
I think kids are the best at learning the lingo, 3 months here you think they ARE spanish!!

dinodino

You don't have it correct, vosotros is the the plural of tu, the familiar you. Usted is the formal singular you and Ustedes is the plural.

There are no hard and fast rules regarding usage --- Tu is y used between friends, members of the family and generally between strangers under the age of Thirty.

If you ask people politely to repeat something a little more slowly they won't be offended -- be sure to say por favor and use the conditional tense -- le seria posible repeitir eso u poco mas despacio? (I'm missing the accents)

(and many people in Madrid speak English and may ask you to speak English if your Spanish isn't that good)

rose1

When speaking to strangers, like asking for directions you would use the word "Usted, or Ustedes" as this is the correct way to address people you do not know. And I am sure they will be only too happy that you speak Spanish even if you ask them to reply slowly, they will not be offended in the least. The Spanish in general are a kind open and obliging nation. You'll love it here.

Felicia

they wouldnt get offended

idk about the first one tough

SUE

Here's the rule, but they're really forgiving of foreigners.

You use the TĆŗ form whenever you are addressing someone you know well, call by their first name, or is younger than you, unless they are, like, the Prince or something. If you happen to be older than the King, also, you would still address him as Ud.

You use Ud. to address anyone you would call by their title...Mr., Dr, Professor, etc. Or any contemporary who you have not been introduced to.

You use vosotros when you are addressing 2 or more tĆŗ s.

And you use Uds. when you are addressing 2 or more people, where at least one is an Ud.

But, as I say, they are very forgiving. We addressed all our professors as TĆŗ, though I'm really sure that they would never have stood for that from the Native students.

biswox

Madrid is a great city and the people is very nice. They would be glad to help you and even answer you in English if they can.
Don't forget when you get here to visit our museums (not only the Prado) and monuments (apart form the King's Palace, another type of monuments, like Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Real Madrid museum, you'll get impressed if you like football). If you have the chance, make trips to other cities near Madrid. There are a lot of cities with monuments and beautiful places to visit. And of course our magnificent food. French food is quite famous, but Spanish food is not worse than French.

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