Well, there are plenty of people that live in Santiago that don’t speak Spanish. For the most part you will be able to pick up things very quickly as it is a Romance language (Latin based). It’s recommended that you get a phrase book and try and practice basic things. Try and find a native speaker to practice your accent if at all possible.
If you do speak Spanish, prepare yourself. Chilean Spanish is full of slang and words that you will find are not used in any other Latin American country. Combine that with a manner of speaking in which letters are dropped and you will wonder if Chileans are even speaking Spanish. After the initial adjustment period, you will find that once you can speak Chilean Spanish, you can speak Spanish with anyone. For the most part, you will find it difficult to find locales in which English is widely spoken unless you are in Providencia or Las Condes. You may find that even though someone understands English, they might not like to speak it. Chileans are very proud and rather than speak English and be wrong they would rather not speak.
| < Prev |
|---|
