{"id":794,"date":"2013-06-18T15:55:47","date_gmt":"2013-06-18T15:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=794"},"modified":"2013-06-18T15:55:47","modified_gmt":"2013-06-18T15:55:47","slug":"things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_tlL0fnykzSY\/TK5lv7WMb1I\/AAAAAAAACwY\/tis7DWR_zQ0\/s1600\/64081_10150101814448298_830903297_7405548_4129771_n.jpg\" width=\"259\" height=\"173\" \/>Get a Foreign Language Haircut<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The first time I got my hair cut in Spanish was a scary business. I was used to asking for a bit of extra length on top and nicely shaved in at the back and side in the UK (no, I am not much of a follower of fashion now that you ask).<\/p>\n<p>However, when I was confronted by a South American barber for the first time my limited vocabulary led to me mumbling something about not wanting it shorter than it already was. The situation wasn\u2019t helped by the fact that I was in a country where mullets are still seen as a reasonable hairstyle option and I had a horrible vision of spending the rest of my trip looking like a backpacking Billy Ray Cyrus. Thankfully, he appeared to be a mind reader (the barber, not Billy Ray) but I wonder what other everyday situations could get us in a lather when a foreign language is involved.<\/p>\n<p><b>Eating Simple Food<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A guy I met in Ecuador said that he had spend a week travelling round Chile and hadn\u2019t eaten a thing in the first three days because he couldn\u2019t speak a word of Spanish. This was an exaggeration I am sure but it is easy to end up finding it tough to eat anything when you don\u2019t know what to ask for or what the menu says. Self service supermarkets and buffet style restaurants are probably the best bet if you want to take your time and not have to say very much. Of course, if you <a href=\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/\">learn with Listen &amp; Learn before you head off<\/a> then you can eat like a king.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get a Foreign Language Haircut The first time I got my hair cut in Spanish was a scary business. I was used to asking for a bit of extra length on top and nicely shaved in at the back and side in the UK (no, I am not much of a follower of fashion now(\u2026)<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12 text-right\">\n\t \t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-xs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\">CONTINUE READING &raquo;<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[23,21,22],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language-learning","tag-language-experience","tag-learn-spanish","tag-spanish-lessons"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I) - Listen &amp; Learn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I) - Listen &amp; Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Get a Foreign Language Haircut The first time I got my hair cut in Spanish was a scary business. I was used to asking for a bit of extra length on top and nicely shaved in at the back and side in the UK (no, I am not much of a follower of fashion now(\u2026)        CONTINUE READING &raquo;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen &amp; Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-18T15:55:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_tlL0fnykzSY\/TK5lv7WMb1I\/AAAAAAAACwY\/tis7DWR_zQ0\/s1600\/64081_10150101814448298_830903297_7405548_4129771_n.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\",\"name\":\"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I) - Listen &amp; Learn\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_tlL0fnykzSY\/TK5lv7WMb1I\/AAAAAAAACwY\/tis7DWR_zQ0\/s1600\/64081_10150101814448298_830903297_7405548_4129771_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-18T15:55:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-18T15:55:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_tlL0fnykzSY\/TK5lv7WMb1I\/AAAAAAAACwY\/tis7DWR_zQ0\/s1600\/64081_10150101814448298_830903297_7405548_4129771_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_tlL0fnykzSY\/TK5lv7WMb1I\/AAAAAAAACwY\/tis7DWR_zQ0\/s1600\/64081_10150101814448298_830903297_7405548_4129771_n.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen &amp; Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e374acb890d7d8ff832ab9000b12bcec\",\"name\":\"Robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6e7377b5c33c414b6535e0a7b650743?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Robert\"},\"description\":\"I moved from the UK to South America to save the rainforest but ended up saving myself from a boring career in banking instead. I have now worked online as a freelance writer for almost a decade, covering every subject from Bitcoin to golf and from backpacking to the smelliest kinds of cheese. Languages are my favourite subject, as they are fun to write about and I can pass on useful information too. Despite knowing approximately 3 words in Spanish when I first boarded a plane here, I have managed to survive, although with the occasional cringe-worthy misunderstanding along the way. My first Spanish classes were in Ecuador, where I also discovered what really happens to water when it goes down a drain on the equatorial line. After that, I started travelling South America and picking up as much of the language as I could. I am now married to a Bolivian and my daughter has Spanish as her first language but speaks English like a bonnie wee lassie from Braveheart. We travelled to Europe for a spell but we feel more at home here, with a laidback lifestyle and nice weather. Much of my Spanish I learned on the hoof, working in a bank in Spain and desperately trying to explain credit card charges to immigrants whose Spanish was as limited as mine. I also tried running a shop in Bolivia, which threw me in at the deep end. Nowadays, I work on my PC while learning new words from musical geniuses like Los Aut\u00e9nticos Decadentes and Celtas Cortos. My interesting career path really comes in useful at times as a freelance writer. I sometimes wonder if there is anyone else out there whose CV has UK mortgage underwriter and Bolivian pig farmer owner on it. If there is then I would love to hear from them. There is nothing better for me than settling down to type something fun that might educate or entertain the people who read it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/admin\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/robert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I) - Listen &amp; Learn","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/things-that-could-get-really-complicated-to-accomplish-in-a-foreign-language-part-i\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Things That Could Get Really Complicated To Accomplish In A Foreign Language (Part I) - Listen &amp; Learn","og_description":"Get a Foreign Language Haircut The first time I got my hair cut in Spanish was a scary business. 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