Many Spanish people would love to learn English, but the current system means that only those that can afford it have the chance.
The fact that my four year-old son seems to be turning out bilingual (a far from automatic process, by the way, when your parents have two different nationalities) is a source of amazement and envy to the Spanish people we know. Some of them, half-jokingly I hope, remind us how much money we'll save in English classes later on.
The assumption is that if they're to have any chance of success in life, everyone has to speak English – something that is perhaps debatable, but which Spaniards wholeheartedly believe. In the 90s, dozens of dodgy English-language schools were set up throughout Spain and duly ripped off the locals, though thankfully the industry is now more regulated.
Friends of ours send their children off to English-speaking countries for months at a time, fearful that otherwise the kids will be left behind in life; others struggle to put them through bilingual schools; Madrid's local government has recently set up a system of so-called "bilingual" state schools, which people are desperate to have their kids go to, even though in many cases the "bilingual" teacher is actually a fifty-year old Spaniard who's done a one-month refresher course. "Bilingual" is the buzzword. But, for many historical and social reasons, it's not working yet, and it's likely to be a long time before Spain is producing bilingual people with the same efficiency as, say, Germany, the Netherlands or the Scandinavian countries.
What might the reasons be for all this frenzied language acquisition? The reason it's so frenzied is that most of the Spanish middle-class see it as a complement to Spain's rapid drive to modernity, which began under an unwilling General Franco in the 1960s, but which really picked up speed after his death. Spain has become "modern" remarkably quickly, and becoming international is part of that. In other words, Spain is still playing linguistic catch-up.
The problem is that bureaucratically, Spain, even as it struggles forwards, is anchored to the past – to Francoist and pre-Francoist systems that it is not in the interests of those in power to dislodge. This makes it hard for non-Spaniards to enter the state system, meaning that really strong English language skills can only be acquired by those who can pay for them. The mass of Spanish people have to make do with all the Anglicisms which have entered the language, much to the disappointment of the Spanish Royal Academy: the words rock, jazz, marketing, best seller, overbooking, whisky and hundreds of others are used by Spaniards in preference to their Spanish equivalents. But be careful about the last one: "whisky" is phonetically rendered as the somewhat tricky "güisqui".
In conversation
Speaking your language
¿Por qué los españoles están tan entusiasmados con el inglés? – Why are the Spaniards so keen on English?
Si prefiere, podemos hablar inglés/español – If you prefer, we can speak English/Spanish
Ya se utilizan muchas palabras ingleses en castellano, ¿verdad? – Lots of English words are used in Castilian, aren't they?
¿Usted cree que es realmente necesario hablar inglés para competir en el mundo moderno? - Do you really think it's necessary to speak English to compete in the modern world?
Si quiere, podríamos hacer un intercambio – usted me enseña español, yo le enseño inglés – If you want, we could do an exchange – you teach me Spanish, I'll teach you English
