For those of you that live in Cancun, I know it is useful to learn, but not a necessity. I was wondering how did you learn Spanish? How long did it take you etc?
A lot of expats don't speak very good Spanish at all, myself included. Those that do usually either spoke it before they came or picked it up through work. I can generally understand what people are talking about and have a big vocabulary of Spanish words, but when it comes to responding in real time using correct grammar and tenses then it's beyond me. I think that's similar for many longer term expats. I've been here 8 years and I don't think my Spanish has improved since year 3.
I didn't speak any Spanish when I arrived in Mexico in May 2006. There were a couple of things I had going for me that helped me learn a lot, and quickly: 1) I took Latin in college. I don't think that Latin in and of itself helped much (despite the fact that Spanish is a Romance language), but drilling verb conjugation and the act of memorizing was burned into my brain. 2) I lived in the outskirts of Cancun, and my then-boyfriend worked all day, leaving me to explore. I had to learn because where I lived nobody spoke English. Watching Spanish TV with English subtitles helped. I learned maybe 80% of what I know now within the first 5 months of living in Mexico. I'm fluent now. I chalk most of it up to not living where other Anglophones lived, and not spending most of my free time with Anglophones.
I took 7 years of Spanish in middle and high school back in Virginia which taught me fluent but formal Spanish. I did all 4 years of university in Cancun and had only Mexican friends during that time, so that taught me to speak like a real Mexican haha Like other posters said, it's not a necessity to learn Spanish to thrive in Cancun, but it has really helped me to fully enjoy the whole living abroad experience. Can't imagine living here without being able to understand all the jokes
I am decent, but not conversational. We almost have our mortgage paid off here and once we do, I think were going to make the trip abroad, and I want to really learn spanish, so i think living in Cancun will help. Thanks for all the info.
Honestly, I think it's tough to really learn Spanish in Cancun unless you consciously create a life in which you are forced to speak Spanish during most of your interactions. There are just so many Mexicans who speak English beautifully and fluently that it is easy to default back to English. I think I would have had a tough time learning in Cancun if my language skills weren't already advanced and I didn't speak only in Spanish at home.
