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<B>Greetings, Ali:<BR>
<BR>
Prof. Tom is absolutely right in the sense that if you learn good Spanish anywhere you will have no trouble in Spain. I am of hispanic ancestry, a teacher of languages and have lived in Spain. Most of Spain, except for Andalucia, does use the "seseo" or "th" lisp, but that will have little effect on your understanding or being understood.<BR>
The only misconception I'd like to correct is that in Spain it's not a question of dialects. Spain has four distinct, legally recognized languages, all of ancient lineage, with their own rich literature and poetry. The only exception is Basque, which has a rich oral tradition but did not have a written alphabet until the latter part of the 19th century, I believe.<BR>
in case you're interested, the four languages are:<BR>
Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Gallego (spoken in Galicia where Santiago is located) and Basque. Variants of Catalan are spoken in Valencia, the Balearics and the Canaries). Pardon the pedantry but I'm a language maven.<BR>
So, habla espanol, and enjoy! <BR>
Sandra in New York preparing to do the Camino</B></P></FONT></HTML>