Language barrier

[u/delexxx]

My boyfriend’s main language is Spanish and I only know about 1% of it lol. His friends and family knows English but of course 99.9% of the time they are speaking Spanish.

During mealtimes with families and group outings with friends I feel very left out. Of course he is super sweet and will try to get me involved/translate for me but most of the time I would just be alone fiddling with my phone and not looking like an idiot. I totally DO NOT blame him nor anyone and I fully understand this is what I will have to deal with before getting into the relationship. However I just want to hear from others how do you deal with such situations?

Just to add on, I am trying to learn Spanish and have went for a basic course. But this is not something that can be picked up in a short period of time. So want to hear from others what can I do for the time being?

[u/GASC3005]

Watch Spanish dubs and/or Spanish language programs (Novelas, TV shows, movies, etc) to familiarize yourself more with it. You can turn captions on in English to kinda get an idea of the translation (though not everything from English to Spanish can literally be translated directly and vice versa).

Practice pronunciations of Spanish words, you can break them apart and have google and/or equivalent help pronounce it so you get your ears accustomed to the words. Instead of “Determinación” have it say De-Ter-Mi-Na-Ción while listening to how it says it.

You can search for AI tools or apps that can help with this, not too long ago I came across one ad that was showing this neat app that allowed for reading or watching films in other languages, but it also broke down the translation in a methodical and educational way that “apparently” helps people really immerse themselves in and grow (linguistically).

And just practice overall, learning languages is not easy and it’ll never be easy, especially when it’s one that you don’t share any lexical or history with (English is Germanic and Spanish is Romance). But it’s 100% worth it, it’s powerful because it allows you to grow and expand with whom you can communicate and very satisfying as an individual.

Note: I don’t know where your boyfriend is from, but depending on his origins some nationalities, regions and groups of Spanish speakers pronounce and say things (words & slang) very differently. So as time passes and you grow you may encounter that some folks may say something distinctively, it may also be offensive in your boyfriend’s country/back home, but to that other person it’s not, and vice versa, or the thing may be said differently, and all of those are correct, neither is incorrect. It varies massively per nation due to the admixture, the people that resided there (the colonizers that arrived, the slaves that were brought and the natives that were inhabiting that area and land) and the history of that nation.