I am ashamed to admit that when it comes to learning languages the Brits can be pretty lazy…. and the reason? We simply expect that everyone else in the world should speak English. No matter which country you are visiting a common scenario is to overhear a Brit speaking (in English) to a local person, and then, when the local person doesn’t understand, repeat the same words again but in a much louder voice! It’s all a bit embarrassing really.

Having said that, when it comes to speaking in loud voices, then the Spanish should probably lead the world. In a recent study commissioned by the World Health Organisation Spain was declared  the world’s second noisiest country, beaten only by Japan. I rather suspect that one of the main differences between Spain and Japan might be that the Japanese people themselves are quite quiet and reserved by nature, the noise in their country really originates from the traffic, building works, electronic machinery and night life. In Spain a recent poll carried out by AECOR (the Spanish Association for Acoustic Quality) it was revealed that the biggest noise-related nuisance for people are their neighbours, with 90 per cent blaming the poor noise insulation of their homes!

In a restaurant scenario for example, you might be forgiven for thinking that a large table of Spanish diners might be having a wholesale argument with one another, whereas they are, in fact, simply holding several loud conversations all at the same time! Only 60 km from our door, in Portugal, the difference is quite noticeable – you can enjoy a meal in relative calm and quiet without the highly animated pandemonium of Spain!

A possible explanation is that approximately two million Spaniards suffer from hearing loss, which could be why everyone appears to be shouting all the time. I know for example that Angela suffers from slightly impaired hearing and I often find myself complaining that she shouts when using the telephone in our office. In the future this could get even worse as the so-called ‘i-pod generation’ are already being forced to visit hearing specialists, and are likely to suffer hearing loss around 20 years before their parents or grandparents ever did! A sobering thought.

I am ashamed to admit that when it comes to learning languages the Brits can be pretty lazy…. and the reason? We simply expect that everyone else in the world should speak English. No matter which country you are visiting a common scenario is to overhear a Brit speaking (in English) to a local person, and then, when the local person doesn’t understand, repeat the same words again but in a much louder voice! It’s all a bit embarrassing really.

Having said that, when it comes to speaking in loud voices, then the Spanish should probably lead the world. In a recent study commissioned by the World Health Organisation Spain was declared  the world’s second noisiest country, beaten only by Japan. I rather suspect that one of the main differences between Spain and Japan might be that the Japanese people themselves are quite quiet and reserved by nature, the noise in their country really originates from the traffic, building works, electronic machinery and night life. In Spain a recent poll carried out by AECOR (the Spanish Association for Acoustic Quality) it was revealed that the biggest noise-related nuisance for people are their neighbours, with 90 per cent blaming the poor noise insulation of their homes!

In a restaurant scenario for example, you might be forgiven for thinking that a large table of Spanish diners might be having a wholesale argument with one another, whereas they are, in fact, simply holding several loud conversations all at the same time! Only 60 km from our door, in Portugal, the difference is quite noticeable – you can enjoy a meal in relative calm and quiet without the highly animated pandemonium of Spain!

A possible explanation is that approximately two million Spaniards suffer from hearing loss, which could be why everyone appears to be shouting all the time. I know for example that Angela suffers from slightly impaired hearing and I often find myself complaining that she shouts when using the telephone in our office. In the future this could get even worse as the so-called ‘i-pod generation’ are already being forced to visit hearing specialists, and are likely to suffer hearing loss around 20 years before their parents or grandparents ever did! A sobering thought.