Where should I go?

February 13, 2012 6:34 PM

Where can I travel for a month in latin america without any knowledge of Spanish?

I'm a 21 year old student who will have some free time at the end of this coming summer and would like to spend it traveling. I have nearly the whole month of September to travel and would love to spend it in central / south america.

2 problems with this plan. Limited funds and extremely limited Spanish skills. Where would be the best place for me to travel that would allow be to both feel comfortable and use a relatively small amount of cash?

posted by aleatorictelevision to Travel & Transportation (21 answers total)

Brazil
posted by zeikka at 6:35 PM on February 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Panama!
posted by jennstra at 6:38 PM on February 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Belize
posted by shoesietart at 6:40 PM on February 13, 2012

English is the official language of Belize, and though it is not the first language of most Belizeans, most people speak at least basic English.

I am (perhaps wrongly) presuming that you don't have any knowledge of Portuguese, either? My experience of Brazil is that most people's second language, after Portuguese, is Spanish and English is a third language.

The South American countries where I have found the highest percentage of English speakers are Argentina, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:40 PM on February 13, 2012

Oh, lord, how did I forget Panama! jennstra is absolutely right. It's a great destination for English-language monoglots.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:42 PM on February 13, 2012

Where are you located now? If you're a native speaker of English, especially if you grew up in the US where Spanish borrowings are ubiquitious, learning a little Spanish isn't difficult. Mi casa es su casa = my house is your house, etc. With half an hour of effort you should at least be able to master basic greetings, numbers, and maybe a handful of useful expressions.

Also, when you say "traveling", what do you have in mind? With limited Spanish, it's true that you probably won't be bushwhacking your way through the remote wilderness. I studied Spanish for five years and still had trouble getting very far off the beaten track in Peru due to language barriers. But, honestly, if you just want to go chill in Costa Rica or do the typical backpacking thing, you'll probably be fine. I met heaps of clueless Brits and Aussies with no background in Spanish at all who did it.
posted by Sara C. at 6:43 PM on February 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Ideally I would explore a main city for a few days and then head either to a small(ish) town on the beach or in the mountains to get some hiking / swimmimg / relaxing in. Not looking to get too far off the beaten path, just want something fun and simple.
posted by aleatorictelevision at 6:55 PM on February 13, 2012

I've seen non-spanish speakers traveling all over South America. Like Sara C. said, don't expect to bushwack anywhere but capital cities should be fine if you fall in with the American travel groups.
posted by Che boludo! at 7:10 PM on February 13, 2012

The Atlantic/Caribbean coast of Nicaragua has quite a lot of English/Creole speakers- I spent about ten days there in January and several villages had more English (technically creole, I guess, but we could understand each other pretty well) than Spanish speakers. There are some beautiful small islands off the coast there.
posted by MadamM at 7:26 PM on February 13, 2012

I would go to La Paz, Baja California, in Mexico. It's gorgeous in the summer, and not too crowded. It has a sizeable population of American retirees, so you will always be close to someone who speaks English. And I've heard good things about their hostels.

Full disclosure: I'm from Tijuana and I've never been to La Paz, but my parents honeymooned there and my husband went about 3 years ago. I would also recommend Ensenada (where I have been), but that might be too touristy for you.
posted by cobain_angel at 7:28 PM on February 13, 2012

In preview: ignore my comment, I didn't see you'd asked for south/central! If so my recommendation is Belize as it meets most of the recs for La Paz.
posted by cobain_angel at 7:29 PM on February 13, 2012

I really think you can't go wrong with Belize for the kind of trip you describe. Of course I am biased because I love love love Belize.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:33 PM on February 13, 2012

San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
posted by Sal and Richard at 7:35 PM on February 13, 2012

As long you are good at making yourself understood using gestures you'll be fine. Most people in big cities (and smaller touristic destinations) should be used to dealing with people that can't speak Spanish.

However, if you find yourself spending more money than expected in the informal market you are probably being charged the 'gringo' tax. Without knowing Spanish I'm not sure how you could deal with that.
posted by Memo at 7:39 PM on February 13, 2012

I traveled all over Mexico with only basic Spanish. I was with a couple of fluent Spanish speakers, so that definitely helped when we went off the beaten track, but whenever I was out on my own I found that most people were eager to have the opportunity to practice their English with me, and those who didn't were generally very patient and helpful. Crime is a problem in urban areas, as it is anywhere, but if you take reasonable precautions and bring a phrasebook, you'll be fine. It was a lifechanging experience, really. I utterly recommend it.

I went to Mexico City, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guadalajara, some mountain villages where my traveling companions had family (this was really where the native speakers were essential), Palenque, and a wonderful tiny Pacific beach town called Barra de Navidad, about an hour or two south of Puerto Vallarta (where there are lots of English speakers). The resort towns--Acapulco, or the Maya Riviera, will have lots of English speakers. Friends of mine in California go down to Cabo San Lucas with barely any Spanish and they do fine.

Memail me if you have any questions!
posted by elizeh at 7:44 PM on February 13, 2012

Backpacked in hosteling circles for three months through Peru (lima, Cusco, Arequipa) Bolivia (La paz, Sucre, Potosi, Salt Flats), Chile (Santiago, Valpo and Atacama) Argentina (Salta, Cordoba, Mendoza, Buenos Aires). I know Spanish enough to get by.

The MAJORITY of the other backpackers didn't know much more than "Donde esta?' and 'queiro bebida'. It wasn't the most 'authentic experience', but I think most had an amazing experience.
posted by sandmanwv at 8:12 PM on February 13, 2012

Belize! Though admittedly, not much on the "city" front, if you're looking for a sort of big city to play around in and explore. It is, however, full of extremely beautiful places and things and blue water and islands...but then again, I'm biased.

I would say that September is quite a long ways off-- even just flipping through a conversational phrase book for ten minutes every day and playing some Spanish language cds would go a very long way towards teaching you the basics. If you put slightly more time into it or took a non-credit class in the beginning of the summer, you should have a decent chance at conversing in basic Spanish-- certainly enough to get you around most places.
posted by jetlagaddict at 9:01 PM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

French Guyana or Falkland islands.

But seriously: Go to Colombia. 10 years ago I would have recommended Brazil but now: Go to Colombia. Feel free to send me a PM if you need some tips and advice.

Colombia - The only risk is that you want to stay... (T-Shirts from the Colombian Tourist Office)

You won't need Spanish or Portuguese for traveling. Hook up with the Crowd in the Hostels. More important than language skills is common sense to avoid problems. And start learning Spanish ASAP. 100 words can make the difference.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 3:36 AM on February 14, 2012

Seconding elizeh - but adding San Cristobal which is a lovely little town in the mountains in Chiapas they have lots of travellers there and there seem to be lots of english speakers around. I went travelling around mexico for a month with my partner for a month and we ended up staying there for nearly 2 weeks because it was so relaxed.
posted by pmcp at 4:35 AM on February 14, 2012

For what it's worth, I've heard that Belize is not one of the cheaper destinations in Central America. It might meet your budget anyhow, or it might be worth it to you for whatever reason to pay a premium to be in an Anglophone culture. But, really, you should be able to get by in at least the touristed areas of most Latin American countries with the level of Spanish you could easily pick up from listening to Pimsleur tapes in the car every now and again.
posted by Sara C. at 7:38 AM on February 14, 2012

You can do Argentina without much Spanish. Many of the kids on my foreign study there hardly spoke any. I'd check out Buenos Aires for a few days and then decamp to Bariloche for some hiking.
posted by Aizkolari at 8:44 AM on February 14, 2012 [1 favorite]