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I am going to be in Madrid for a week or so next summer. Mostly work, but probably also some free time. I have been studying Spanish for a while now, and I got to the level when I am mostly understanding written text, at least up to the newspaper level (though some rarer words are missing, but mostly I get through), but when I listen to the radio it's about 50/50 chance I can understand. I know most people these - especially in tourist places and hotels and so on - would speak English likely, but I think it'd be cool if I could speak Spanish to them - and especially understand them speaking Spanish to me. Any suggestions about how could I increase the likelihood of this happening?
Relevant map.
I had the same experience as @charlesf whenever I was in Spain or talking to Latin Americans. Most people seemed happy to hear me attempt to have a basic conversation in Spanish and were very patient and helpful with vocabulary, except for Catalonians who however lit up with joy when I said a few words in Catalan and then promptly overestimated my ability to understand their language.
That's my problem too - I can squeeze out some basic Spanish phrases (donde esta la biblioteca?) but my capability of understanding the answers goes down quickly. Especially if the environment is noisy, as my hearing is also not what it used to be (it's mostly ok but I could miss some details and when trying to parse a language I am not well versed with, it starts showing).
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