What is that you say? No matter what country you travel to people generally speak English? That is where you are wrong. Ira Riklis knows that Spanish-speaking people in countries of Central and South America as well as in Spain may very well not have a working knowledge of English thus one may be in situations where a little Spanish language speaking ability can make the difference between getting something you want and suffering without.

In Mexican resorts, the desk staff and most of the other higher level customer service people actually want guests to speak English to them because these staff members want and need to maintain their English-speaking skills in order to retain their jobs and continue on the track for promotion within their companies. Other staff such as maids and maintenance workers have very little knowledge of English and the traveler needs to know enough Spanish to communicate his needs. Ira Riklis has found that words like “soap, towels, how to express time when the maid can clean the room, etc.” make the stay more comfortable.

Oddly it seems that fewer people in Spain in the hotel and transportation industries may even make the effort to know and use English despite the many visitors that travel there especially from the U.K. (Spain is an inexpensive holiday destination for Europeans.)

Try to get salt and pepper in the above places without knowing “sal y pimienta”–that’s if you are in a fast food restaurant.