Steve Archibald

Former Barcelona and Scotland striker

Spanish is a very complicated language, you can understand it quicker than you can speak it.

It took me about a year to get to a stage where I could hold a conversation comfortably.

But that's because I took my lessons over time, rather than cram them in after training when I first arrived at Barcelona.

I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to speak Spanish if I was David.

Becks will have to hit the books

He'll have team-mate Steve McManaman to help him out and besides, football is a game of few words.

He'll only need to know a few phrases to start off with.

But I would recommend he concentrate on his football straight away, rather than brushing up on his Espanol.

There'll be lots of pressure on him to perform, especially after such a high-profile transfer.

The last thing you need after a hard training session is a two-hour Spanish lesson!

My advice is to learn the language little by little in your own time. The most important thing for me was to perform well on the pitch.

If David can do that, a lot of other things - including learning the language - become a lot easier.

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