I remain convinced the primary reason why so many Americans are attracted to Mexico is in the Gringolandias, or Gringo Expat Enclaves, they will never be faced with what seems to be the overwhelming task of learning Spanish. The British, I am told, do the same thing in the south of France. An intricate and well-organized expat infrastructure awaits the would-be retiree and alleviates the fear of having to master the language. Everything is organized around the monolingual Gringo and negates any need whatsoever to learn Spanish.
Whether this is a good or bad thing is not within the scope of this series, “Begin By Listening.” I think the point is, and most of my readers would agree, if I am going to gripe and complain why something called a “Gringolandia” should even exist, then I should provide an answer or solution instead of criticizing all the time. I have been writing for years about how to go about overcoming the fear of learning Spanish. However, it wouldn’t hurt to go over it again, perhaps in a new and different light.
Two important advantages of learning Spanish, if you plan to retire to Mexico, are:
You could...