Learn Spanish in Medellin: The Power of Taxis

Let’s discuss a criminally under-appreciated resource that can bolster your language gains. Taxis in Medellin: one of the reasons with which I believe Medellin to be a top destination for learning Spanish.

By Kaveh Paymayesh

November 28, 2021
4:10 pm

Taxis! Oh boy, my 6ft 1 body wasn’t the only thing that I crammed into these yellow vessels…

In total, countless hours of unintentional Spanish practice were packed into the different taxis of Medellin.

They’re dirt cheap, they’re ubiquitous and above all; they’re criminally underrated.

After all, with all the emphasis on proper schooling; what you must do, what you must not – who really thinks that they’re going to end up learning the language in a taxi?

Is it really that straightforward?

Spanish proficiency requires a multi-angled approach

My Spanish is now fluent – C1. I’ve been learning since 2015, a total of 7 years.

Of course, it would be disingenuine to say that my fluency came solely from taxi interactions. No.

However, my Spanish did make some of its most important ground within the context of a taxi. But even cooler, is that my first ever Spanish conversation was held in one.

By the way – the taxi experience is just one reason why I believe Medellin to be an ideal place to learn Spanish.

Here are 7 reasons why taxis, yes taxis, are an awesome resource that should be incorporated into your own Spanish regiment:

Goodbye to the comfort zone

The comfort zone; that place which we naturally gravitate to (unless you’re a seasoned go-getter).

The problem being is that nothing grows out of the comfort zone.

That’s why you can spend years, or even decades in a country, and not even learn the basics of a new language. I’ve seen it happen.

In fact, it’s why I didn’t want to learn Spanish in Spain, even though it’s 8x closer to London than Medellin. It’s too comfortable to scrape by – no – thrive with English.

Medellin taxis – Oh you WILL be pushed out of the comfort zone…

That sounds quite ominous, but rest assured it’s not.

There are two reasons as to how your comfort zone will get owned when in a taxi:

Taxi drivers in Medellin – well, they’re Colombians, even better, they’re PAISAS (inhabitants of the region).
What does this mean? It means that they really love to interact – talking, listening; it’s what they do well.
Sitting silently in a cab whilst you get to your destination? FAT chance mate, Paisas are all about creating a hospitable environment, whether at their home or in their cab.
Those same taxi drivers that love to engage and talk with you – oh yeah, they don’t speak English…

Of the many hundreds of times that I’ve boarded a taxi, maybe 0.5% of the time they have surprised me with English.

So, they love to interact but are about as useful with English as an inflatable dartboard.

Do the maths on that one. It means that you best buckle down on your Spanish basics.

If you’re like I am, it’s easier to slap together whatever Spanish you think you know, than tell the driver that you don’t want to speak. That’s even harder than the Spanish, trust me.

Under those circumstances – you’ll be surprised with how much you can communicate in Spanish.

PS – you don’t actually have to talk to your taxi drivers. I know many people don’t. If you don’t want to, they’ll respect that.

All I’m saying is that you’re missing out… Don’t be that individual – this is Medallo!

You get that 1-1 intimacy

One-to-one attention, doesn’t that come at a premium?

Go to any Spanish school, any institution, and you’ll likely see that 1-1 (or PRIVATE sessions as they call them) are reserved for those willing to pay the most, right?

That’s the beautiful thing about learning Spanish in taxis; they’re intimate, they’re private.

Furthermore, the taxis in Medellin are so cheap that you don’t need to worry about splitting the fare. In the UK – getting a taxi alone is expensive and so I always opt to share.

By contrast, in Medellin, they’re so inexpensive that I always board alone. That means the interactions are 1-1.

What's so good about 1-1?

1-1 conversations mean that you’ll be less worried about your Spanish.

During conversation, you’ll be more willing to make mistakes in exchange for intimate interaction. You’ll be less inhibited.

Three’s a crowd – that’s all it takes to feel the increased anxiety associated with speaking a new language. The difference between talking to one other person is very different to talking to two.

Importantly, in a 1-1 it also means that you’ll have the autonomy to direct conversation, talking about things that are of interest to you. When interested in something, you’ll naturally learn more.

It's so incredibly cheap

Speaking of 1-1, or ‘private sessions’, how much do they typically cost?

Well, they can be very expensive. Especially for students outside of Colombia.

In the UK, the average cost of private intuition is £22/$29 per hour. Where I’m from in London, this fee soars up to £57/$75 p/h.

Before you grill me for comparing taxi rides with formal Spanish lessons from a teacher, hear me out:

Spanish lessons can absolutely be worth the price you pay. A professional teacher is able to cater the learning experience to your individual needs. Their job is to educate you, right?

On the other hand, taxi drivers aren’t even trying to teach you Spanish per se – granted.

But – you are getting plenty of direct and immersive exposure to the language, which is imperative if you want to learn it.

And for that, you are indeed paying very little. The costs for a taxi in Medellin (as of 01/12/2021):

Start at 5,800 COP = £1.08/$1.47
10km will set you back 45,027 COP = £8.38/$11.41

To put that into context – Parque Lleras (south-east) to the Primer Parque de Laureles (west) is only 7.7km and takes 27 minutes.

N.B. – Almost 30 minutes to travel 7.7km! The traffic in Medellin truly does suck!

However…

A half-hour taxi ride costs under $10! That’s 30 minutes of Spanish practice – IF you allow it to be. Make that time productive, the choice is yours.

Just remember: $10 for 30 minutes = $20 for an hour. Compare that to the $75 cost of an hour’s lesson in London. Take full advantage!

You get to do a lot of listening

Colombians are good listeners – but boy, do they also love to talk.

I’m generalizing, of course.

In my experience though, taxistas (as they’re called in Spanish), are often very knowledgeable about their city and country.

With a lot to share, sometimes it’s better to simply keep quiet and listen. Especially, when you’re new to the language.

It provides great Spanish practice with the added benefit of receiving some wisdom, knowledge or advice about the city.

For those that think ‘small talk’ is insubstantial and silly, think again.

Even just listening in, without talking – it’s a productive activity that over time, will make your Spanish comprehension much better.

Heads up – you’re probably not going to understand the majority of what you hear, not at first.

For that reason make sure to pretend you do – learn and include the following affirmations:

You don't feel vulnerable

Learning a new language involves constant exposure to vulnerability. Every time you communicate, you expose your fragile Spanish to those that have a much better command of it.

And that is why many of us are tentative in putting our Spanish out there: for fear of ridicule, embarrassment, or feelings of inadequacy.

In reality, we shouldn’t feel that way – even just simply trying to learn a new tongue puts you miles ahead of most other native English speakers.

This feeling of vulnerability is a huge psychological barrier to progress.

They're literally everywhere

Taxis in Medellin are not hard to find. They’re an abundant feature of the city; an inseparable part of the landscape even.

That’s obviously helpful for a number of reasons; for starters, you’ll never long to find one.

Additionally, appreciate that each one represents a different story, a different perspective of the city.

And with each new interaction, you’ll achieve incremental improvements in your Spanish. Each conversation will leave you a little more prepared for the next.

And it won’t take long for those small gains to become not only recognizable but addictive!

With the affordability of each ride, you have amble access to Spanish practice!

Here’s another big advantage over traditional Spanish lessons – it doesn’t require a dedicated chunk of your time. Rather, you can utilise your commute/transport time instead.

You can even make friends

Please don’t read this with contempt. Sadly, I know back home a lot of people feel that taxi drivers are beneath them.

However, some of the taxi drivers I’ve met in Medellin are amongst the nicest, coolest people I’ve ever met.

I may get slack for this; say what you like. BUT, during my first 6 months in Medellin, when bored, I would hop into a taxi and go somewhere random.

That’s odd, right? Normal folk don’t tend to do that. Well, my Spanish is probably better than yours so maybe it’s not as odd as it is beneficial!

Seriously though, many of my highlights in Medellin have been when I would hail down a random taxi driver, ask them to take me somewhere new, and befriend them on the way.

All of that was just so novel to me. They were completely new experiences that once again gave me the curiosity of a child.

Look at the clip below – the taxi driver that you can hear ended up becoming a good pal. He even invited me to meet his family.

(That’s how you learn a language!)

Apologies for getting my sausage finger in the way
This was filmed in 2016 – I had only been in Medellin for 1 month at the time! As you can see, it doesn’t take long to start immersing.

To wrap this up, I appreciate that not everybody wants to chat to the next taxi driver they see. That’s understandable.

Rather, for those that are motivated to learn Spanish and experience the warmth of the city – this is a fantastic channel to do so.

Trust me, it’s a hack!