Greene is British so writes in British English which is slightly different then American English. This mostly results in a few words spelled differently. The novel was first published in 1940 which means the language is also a little antiquated. As the story takes place in Mexico there are a few Spanish words used but it is not at all necessary to speak Spanish to understand their meaning as it is clear from the context of their use. There is a lot of dialogue in the story and well as the internal thoughts of the characters. The language flows very easily and the story moves quickly.