Question about language

[aquaman]

I am wondering if there is anyone on the forum who has either moved to Aruba full time, or for extended stays, who only speak English and if that has been a real difficulty.

Be really interested to hear from anyone on this

Aquaman

[Andrea J.]

john, maybe lizzardo will reply.
she and her husband are now in usa, but i think english is/was their 1st and only language.

you know liz right?

also too, angela munzenhofer , another forum member might be able to answer or you could PM her.
and also member photosbyjulia might be able to comment.

[ITIE]

Hi Aquaman! We have now moved to Aruba permanently and we only speak English. My mother language is Italian and my husbands is English. I can understand a little bit of Spanish. If you do not have kids I think is easier. We have a son and he goes to a local Dutch school, he is young so for him there will be no problem learning Dutch, Spanish and Papapiento. We find difficult helping him with his school work as it is in Dutch and also all correspondence from the school is in Dutch but thanks to Babelfish it is not a major problem. We love our life on the island despite all the usual small problems! No country is perfect but for us Aruba ticks nearly all the boxes. If you want to live there, do not let someting as small as a language stop you, plenty of classes you can take. Life is too short, enjoy it!!

[aquaman]

HI Andrea,

Yes I know Liz and hope she will respond. I am also hoping to hear from some others to get a larger base of input. As you know, we own there and for the most part have not experienced any big issues with language. Sometimes we hit a snag with the trades people, but that has been it.

Curious to see what responses are posted

A

[Andrea J.]

i too am interested in hearing the opinions.
hope you are recovering from your accident well.....or should i say getting well?.
think of you often!

Originally Posted by aquaman

HI Andrea,

Yes I know Liz and hope she will respond. I am also hoping to hear from some others to get a larger base of input. As you know, we own there and for the most part have not experienced any big issues with language. Sometimes we hit a snag with the trades people, but that has been it.

Curious to see what responses are posted

A

[Niqi]

I have spent a lot of time on the island and have not had major difficulty w language, and I only speak english. I stay w my boyfriend who is a native, and I can usually understand most of the things I need to without him by context. Most locals speak at least 4 languages so I dont think it will be a problem if you only speak English. I am leaving in just a few weeks to spend some time down again, and I personally am not worried about it....Hope this helps

[Niqi]

And I forgot to say...I'm going to work really hard on my papiamento ( my small knowledge base) and try to learn a lot while I am there!

[lizzardo]

It never bothered me. I learned ways to deal with the language issues and
found people on the island who would translate things if I needed it.

Most people are very considerate and if they know you are american will speak english to you. Most of the Arubans and Dutch speak all the languages and
don't see it as an issue to talk in english when in groups if you are there.

But it depends on the person. My parents (who were in their 80s) could not understand english spoken with an accent. It might have been their hearing too