Getting there

Expand Your Spanish

TRAVELLING hopefully is better than arriving, Robert Louis Stevenson said long before travelling was made easy.

Whether you agree or not, you will sometimes need to get from A to B, and a minimal amount of Spanish will help to prove Stevenson right (or wrong).

So if you want a taxi, go to the head of the rank and ask:

Are you free?…¿está libre?

If the driver is free, it’s not superfluous in Spain to say Buenos días, Buenas tardes or Buenas noches on entering before launching into:

I want to go to…..quiero ir a/me lleva por favor a (followed by your destination)

How much is that? (at journey’s end).....¿cuánto es? or ¿cuánto le debo?

If you need to ring for a taxi on any of Spain’s Costas you can probably conduct the entire conversation in English. All the same it’s as well to know how to do it in Spanish:

Could you send a taxi to (wherever you happen to be)….¿puede mandar un taxi a…

As well as the hoped ­ for, “Si, en seguida” (straight away) be prepared to be told the number of the taxi that will pick you up.

For a local bus, it’s always best to have change, as the driver also doles out tickets and might, if he or she is not having a good day, refuse to change a banknote.

For trains and medium or long ­ distance buses and coaches:

I’d like a single to …..quiero un billete sencillo a... (followed by destination)

I’d like a return ticket…..quiero un billete de ida y vuelta

How much?.....¿cuánto es?

When does the train/bus/coach leave…..¿a qué hora sale el tren/autobus/autocar?

The train/bus/coach will be late…..el tren/autobus/autocar llegará con retraso

How long does the journey take?.....¿cuánto dura el trayecto?

Having mentioned that a local bus driver also does the job of an Englishspeaker’s bus conductor, remember that the driver is ‘el conductor’. Meanwhile a bus conductor is ‘el cobrador’ or ‘el revisor’ but Daniel Barenboim is ‘un director de orquesta’.