<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SERIF" FACE="Palatino Linotype" LANG="0">Hello,<BR>
There is an article in today's "Voz of Galicia" newspaper reporting that workers in the Post Office, Bus Stations, et. al., in Santiago do not speak English, nor do the police, etc. Surprisingly, the report also says that the level of English spoken at the tourism information offices is at the bare minimum and, often, of little help. <BR>
Nevertheless, the article adds, most English monolingual speakers manage to make their needs understood through gestures, drawings and the friendliness and good will of the native Santiagans...As they emphasize :"Ingles no, Comunicacion si."<BR>
It has been reported that around 20% of New York City inhabitants do not speak English, or speak it only minimally (up from 10% thirty years ago); this characteristic of our cosmopolis has spawned a lively business in translating aids.<BR>
There are some electronic translators, barely larger than a credit card, which not only translate the words, and some phrases, but have a sound feature for pronunciation thereof; they cost thirty dollars. <BR>
I am leaving next week for the Camino, starting out in Seville and going by car or so to within 200 kms. of Santiago, on the Via de la Plata route that does not join the Camino Frances, from which point we will walk. My son and his bride and my sister in law Liz have insisted on coming along, a prospect which I do not relish since none of them speaks Spanish and I fear getting stuck translating all the time (I also like to walk alone) . To minimize the unwelcome encumbrance I bought three of those little translators for them, and I must say that they are more practical and effective than I expected. <BR>
Some electronic translators have three, five, or more languages in them; by necessity the range in each language is quite limited; they are also larger, heavier and more expensive. I think that the Spanish-English little ones are best for the Camino.<BR>
Warm regards,<BR>
Rosina </FONT></HTML>