Monterrey - Post Report Question and Answers
How much of the local language do you need for daily living? Are local language classes/tutors available and affordable?
Spanish is very useful here. No domestic staff will speak English, and Mexican neighbors/colleagues prefer to speak Spanish, even if they speak English. Basically, professionally and socially, Spanish is the default and it will be isolating if you don't speak it. - Feb 2021
Spanish language classes are very expensive ($30 usd or more an hour). Lots of people speak English because they spend time in the States or went to Bilingual schools . - Sep 2018
It is helpful to have about a 2 level of Spanish. - Aug 2015
Most places will have a little English, but the better your Spanish, the more successful your tour will be. - Mar 2014
Spanish is probably essential, although many people do speak some English. - Oct 2012
A little. I speak Spanish pretty well, but even so, many times at the restaurant or grocery store people would switch into English (of their own accord).A lot of people in Monterrey have lived in the States and/or studied English their entire lives. Regarding speaking Spanish, if you took Spanish in high school, there are going to be a lot of vocabulary words specific to Mexico that are unfamiliar. It can help to hire a local tutor for a short period of time to help out with that. However, I tried taking lessons for longer and was really dissatisfied with them (they were rather pointless - going over basics that I already knew - when I'd specifically said several times I needed help with advanced grammar, and also expensive. I had this experience in three different language schools). - Oct 2010
It's important to know Spanish. You might find one or two people who know English at the grocery store, but the majority of the city only knows Spanish. It is very frustrating and hard to communicate here if you don't know a little bit of Spanish. - Jul 2010
Many people speak English, but its best to know at least a bit of Spanish. Dealing with normal house/life stuff (bills, repair people, deliveries, shopping, etc) is almost always in Spanish. - Jan 2008
