It seems a fairly obvious thing to say but if you’re going to move to a foreign country it makes sense to learn the language. When I was at school I learned Latin, French and German, and had the tiniest bit of Italian you could imagine. I never learned Spanish, and I really regret it now as I’d have been streets ahead on moving here.
Still there are plenty of opportunities to learn the lingo, from lessons provided by local town halls, to private group or one-to-one lessons.The best way, of course, is total immersion, but this often is neither possible nor practical, as it involves not speaking or listening to or having any access to your own language for a minimum of three months, though apparently the result is like switching on a light bulb, hey presto you’re practically fluent!
I’d say our language skills are reasonably competant, but I can certainly say more than I understand,though between us we manage in most situations.
When I first came house-hunting here one place I viewed was owned by an English couple who very proudly told me they had lived in Spain for 21 years and had only ever really needed to learn 7 words in Spanish – si, no, hola, adios, cerveza, cafe, gracias. I was amazed, but not in a good way. They had always lived in English-speaking “colonies” and shopped in “English” shops, so had genuinely never learned to speak Spanish.
Accents vary wildly too, as they do everywhere. We lived in one province for 11 years before moving to our current home in a different province 4 years ago. Trying to tune in to a different accent is so difficult – it’s a bit like someone from “sarf Lundun” trying to decipher Rab C. Nesbitt’s fabulous Scottish accent and vice versa!
Deciphering different accents and learning new words and expressions is difficult enough, but then you come up against the “false friends”, the words that sound like one thing but mean something else entirely. For example, if you go for an X-ray there’s a notice advising you to let the radiographer know if you are “embarazada”. This doesn’t mean “embarrased”, it means “pregnant”! Another “almost but not quite right” words is if you want to ask for a chicken in the butcher’s department. “Chicken” in Spanish is “pollo”. If you forget, and ask for a “polla”, especially a large one, you might find the shop staff laughing uncontrollably, as you will have just asked for a large, err, man’s VERY private part also beginning with “p”! Oh well, at least we are trying!
If you need to start somewhere then start with learning how to order food and drinks in restaurants, as this is likely to be where you might spend a good deal of time. Once you’ve mastered the basic words you’ll feel great, and don’t worry about the grammar or about getting things exactly right, it’s a perfect start to getting the hang of a new language.
My advice is to practise every day, even if it’s just the same few words every time, to make sure you get them right. The Spanish people really don’t care if your language is grammatically correct or not, but they DO care that you are making an effort to learn, and are always willing to help you find the right words.
I’ll never be fluent in Spanish, but I don’t need to be. I can get along with far more words thatn I ever thought I’d know, and if I get stuck there’s always google translate.
My life in Spain 
As someone who is trying to learn Spanish I agree with this! It feels wrong to me to move somewhere abroad and not try to learn the language! As my uncle put it when he refuses a job in another country despite them saying he didn’t need to speak the language “I’m not going to expect them to use English just because I’m there!” And to him it just felt very rude and I have to agree! Like you say, you don’t have to be fluent but make an effort at least!
LikeLike