Our five-part series on Essential Skills for Expats in Mexico, which has been fully revised, enables you to learn about key skills you’ll need to help make your move and settlement here a success.

Every part in the series is cross-referenced with further Mexperience guides, articles, and other resources to help you delve deeper.

By taking time to consider these skills, you’ll become better prepared for a move to Mexico, and the series also shares valuable insights about living styles in Mexico and how you can make the most of your experiences here.

Even if you plan to live in an area of Mexico that is settled by large foreign expat communities speaking English, you will still need to learn some Spanish to get by on a daily basis, and especially if you want to get the most of your experience of being in Mexico.

Spanish is Mexico’s official language, and is spoken by over 450 million people in over 20 countries world-wide. By being able to understand and speak Spanish, you will gain access to the culture in a way that you would otherwise not be able to benefit from by having everyone else speak to you in English.

Furthermore, many of the people you will need and want to interact with regularly may not speak much English, if any at all. On a daily basis these could include the local shop keepers and market traders, the gasoline station attendant, the bank clerk, your maid and the gardener. People who provide essential services on an ad-hoc basis and who also may not speak English include the plumber, the car mechanic, the electrician, or the local doctor.

It’s inconvenient having to ask someone to translate for you all of the time. It’s also good manners to demonstrate at least a modicum of skill in the local language. Spanish is a phonetic language, so it’s easy to grasp the basics and you can start learning right away, with online lessons.

To accelerate your learning, there is no better way to learn Spanish than by immersing yourself in the language among a group of peers, attending a course at a local language school in Mexico. Structured courses offer an excellent way to learn Spanish, alongside other students who have the same desire study, sharing the learning and getting involved locally at markets, banks, shops, and other places where you can exercise the language you’ve studied in the classroom.

If a move to Mexico is part of longer-term plan, and you intend to visit Mexico beforehand, consider mixing learning with pleasure on your next visit by including a course at a local Spanish language school.

Our Learning Spanish guide is an integral part of our Living & Lifestyle section, where you can learn about how Spanish is used in Mexico, as well as the reasons why Spanish is such a great language to learn.

Intermediate and advanced students of Spanish will also find a lot of value by reading our PinPoint Spanish articles here on Mexperience.

Next: Part 2 – Flexibility & Patience

Sometimes it’s because one is “used to” things, especially supposedly simple things, happening differently (usually more quickly) than they might do here in Mexico. Sometimes, the lack of something you really need or would very much like within a certain time frame can lead to frustration, inconvenience—or even loss.

If you plan to live in Mexico, you’ll need to develop a certain degree of flexibility and exercise a generous helping of patience with yourself and with others; not just from time to time, but as a matter of course. If you don’t have a naturally flexible character and cannot come to find the patience in yourself, you might find Mexico to be a very challenging place to live.

Many foreigners who have settled in Mexico and now make this country their home share stories about how they moved away from stressful lifestyles to find a more agreeable rhythm in Mexico. They tell how the process is almost cathartic, but only as and when they accepted how Mexico is and let go of once habitual demands which appeared to plague their thoughts. This transformation is narrated quite well in Tony Cohan’s popular book On Mexican Time.

Foreigners who come to live in Mexico and cannot find peace with how things are here usually begin to display impatience, frustration, and anger which can sometimes even lead to lack of general respect in formal or informal situations. Inevitably, these frustrations fall on “deaf ears” when dealing with most people. Moreover, although Mexicans may not outwardly react to antagonistic behavior, the ultimate outcome in a situation could be made worse for the person exhibiting a low mood, through deliberate obstruction—or perhaps total rejection—of his or her wishes: not because it is impossible to fulfill them, but as a response to what is deemed impoliteness.

Remaining calm, allowing matters to take a natural course, being flexible with your plans and expectations, and exercising patience are noble pursuits anywhere you live, and in Mexico they are particularly helpful in everyday situations.

Being a foreigner in a foreign land means playing by your host’s rules. Given that there exists an estimated one million foreigners living in Mexico full or part-time suggests that the rules are not that difficult to adopt, and may indeed harbor some inner value.

Next: Part 3 – Negotiation & Bargaining

Five hundred years later, whether you’re buying a piece of land, a home, a car, or a kilo of limes at the local market, you will need to exercise some negotiation skills, lest you may pay more, and possibly a lot more, than you need have.

How you negotiate (or bargain) will depend upon the precise situation you find yourself in. In most circumstances effective negotiation will require the use of Spanish — a notable exception being real estate purchases — so a basic conversational level of the language, as described in the first article of this series, is a prerequisite. Most Spanish language schools in Mexico include market trading and negotiation as part of their course material.

There are some places and situations where bargaining is not practiced in Mexico. These include the local Wal-Mart (and similar establishments), department stores, and gasoline stations. Bargaining is not generally practiced at tienditas (family-run corner stores) and it’s not practiced at pharmacies. Restaurants and comedores don’t usually bargain, either; although they might agree to a large group discount if you have a quiet word with the manager or owner before your intended arrival.

Situations where bargaining is practiced (and sometimes expected) include shopping in open-air food markets, flea markets, art and craft markets and fairs; and buying from ambulant vendors on the street and on public transport. If you board a taxi cab that isn’t metered or doesn’t charge a zonal fee, you should always negotiate your price beforehand.

More formal situations where price negotiations are often entered into include the purchase of a vehicle (new or used), the purchase of jewelry or fine clothing from a specialist supplier of these products, the bulk purchase of almost anything from a trade supplier, hand-made furniture bought locally, as well as land and property—whether for purchase or to rent.

When you have lived in Mexico for a while—and especially when you have lived in one place in Mexico for a while—you’ll notice that the prices asked for many local things you buy every day can be very elastic indeed. There are prices for ‘locals’ and prices for ‘tourists’, — whether the tourists are foreign or Mexican. Non-metered taxi cabs which are few in supply may quote you a higher rate when it’s pouring with rain than they would do on a quiet sunny day with several other cabs parked in the rank, waiting for custom.

Mexican traders, like traders everywhere, are opportunists. They will always try to make hay while the sun shines. With some experience of living in a place, you’ll learn what prices should be for things like a taxi cab ride, a kilo of meat or fish, a bagful of oranges, a hat or walking stick, a stack of fresh corn tortillas, and so on.

How? You start talking with people locally, you hear and see what others are being offered and gradually you get to know. Eventually, you don’t even ask the price for many things—you know what it should be and hand over that amount of money. The acid test is to hand over a coin or bank note that requires some change in return and see how much comes back. In fact, this level of local economic intimacy is a gauge for you—the more you buy without the need to ‘negotiate’ the price, the deeper you have become entwined in, and part of, the local community.

Next: Part 4 – Contacts & Networking

In social terms, Mexico is an easy place to meet and make new friends locally.  Mexicans are exceptionally social people.  They are open, some will speak English (possibly quite well), and getting involved socially is never difficult in a Mexican town or city.  Check notice boards at coffee shops, internet cafés, and book shops for advertisements and classified ads to find out what social events are happening locally. Many local groups also have Facebook group pages. In addition to making new local friends, you’ll also find that there are many networks for foreign residents and related social events happening in Mexico.

If you’re planning to work in Mexico, or run your own business here, building trust networks is vital to your commercial prosperity.  You’ll find that Mexicans will be weary of dealing with you if they don’t know you.  You must allow space for a social and non-commercial relationships to kindle before you can move on to business matters.  This process may be hastened if you have been referred by someone who knows you already.  This is a common way of connecting with new people in Mexico: there’s no guarantee that the connection will be right for your needs, but on balance it’s probably better than picking someone at random.

This process of relationship-cultivation and network development is important whether you’re looking for a maid, an electrician or plumber, a builder, a lawyer, a service supplier, or a business partner.  You can go out and seek people to work with at random, but many people who know Mexico don’t do that initially—they always prefer a referral.

Finding someone by chance can sometimes produce surprisingly good results.  By way of example, tradesmen do, on occasion, advertise in the town center.  The advertisement is the person: standing in one of the town’s plazas with a tool box and sign that reads, for example, “Plomero”.  You simply make a personal approach, start talking about what you need, and agree a date and time to call at your house, where the situation is considered, and a price agreed.

This ‘personal’ approach is all part-and-parcel of building your networks in Mexico.  You need to have the confidence to talk with people and ask questions, and be open about your needs and intentions with others. When you find a good plumber, a good gardener, a good carpenter, et al, you’ll keep in touch and, ideally, you’ll give them a bit of work—however small—on occasion, so that when the big job you need doing comes up, the person knows who you are.  Referring a known ‘good contact’ to someone else, helps the person in need, helps your contact to secure more work, and he/she will remember you for referring them.

To start developing your contacts and building your networks in Mexico, you need to get out into the community where you live and get talking with people.  You may already know some expatriates who live locally, and they can offer referrals.  But sooner or later you’ll need to start making your own contacts.  Good places to start include local coffee houses, internet cafés, restaurants, the Zocalo (town center), local shops and boutiques, and local workshops where you may see furniture makers, carpenters, stone masons and others plying their trade. Using online resources like Google and Facebook is also a good way to find contacts and communities of interest locally.

Building contacts and networks in Mexico is a real and tactile activity that is enjoyable, and rewarding.  Although initial contact might be through Facebook or email, there is nothing virtual about developing contacts at a local level here.  The personal aspect of relationship cultivation — meeting real people in real places instead of posting updates on a computer screen — is one of the many nuances which make Mexico an attractive place to be for foreigners who call Mexico ‘home’.

Next: Part 5 – Cultural Awareness

However, some background research into Mexican culture, how its society is structured and in particular learning about the country’s social etiquette, can help you to show up in Mexico better prepared for the road ahead. If you plan to work in Mexico, whether under the auspice of an employment contract or working independently, you’ll also need to familiarize yourself with Mexican business etiquette.

If you’re planning to call Mexico home, it’s worth getting an understanding of how the social fabric is structured. Understanding how the government is structured, the basic principles of the country’s legal and judicial systems, how the police and military operate, how religion is practiced and so on, will help you to get a broad backdrop to this country and its social norms. The Mexperience guide to Society and Culture in Mexico will give you an introduction to all these matters.

Understanding social etiquette is vitally important when you are in the throes of adopting a foreign country as your home. Behaviors which appear irregular to you may be quite normal in Mexico; and vice-versa. You can avoid potential embarrassment and upset by becoming familiar with local social etiquette. Understanding how social classes are defined, the formalities of language use in everyday situations, the expected use of professional titles, the appropriate way to greet people, how to dress, dinner table manners, giving gifts, time-keeping and a miscellany of social etiquette practices are examined in some detail on the Mexperience guide to Social Etiquette in Mexico.

If you plan to conduct business in Mexico, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with a further set of rules—those concerning business etiquette. As we alluded to in part four of this series, doing business in Mexico is distinct to doing business in the USA, Canada and western Europe. Our guide to Business Etiquette in Mexico, which is combined with our guide to Social Etiquette, provides a good primer for beginners. If you’re planning to work independently in Mexico, you might also read our Guide to Working and Self Employment.

Moving to a foreign country to live is challenging enough. Adopting that country and embracing its culture and ways is a life-skill that requires a degree of presence and observation, patience, understanding, and acceptance. In these respects, kindling your relationship with Mexico will be like kindling a relationship with any other. Perseverance and tenacity will also be required, because even in laid-back, easy-going cultures with a great climate, life is difficult sometimes.

Today, an unprecedented number of Americans and Canadians—and increasing numbers of Europeans—are not just talking about moving to Mexico, they are actively pursuing those plans.

Foreigners who come to Mexico without the open mindedness, flexibility and patience required to adopt a foreign country will almost certainly find themselves increasingly frustrated, agitated—perhaps even becoming angry—and probably end up leaving.

For those who come to know these lands, and who are willing to assimilate the culture with its foibles and graces in equal measure, Mexico provides foreign residents with one of the most unique and rewarding living locations the world has to offer.

Next: Return to the Introduction