Learning Spanish
Sep 17th 2012 | 12:13 am
#31
Moderator
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 15,149
From: Costa Valencia
Re: Learning Spanish
I wouldn't use songs as a way of learning as in almost all languages the pronunciation of words in songs is much different to the spoken word, letters normally not pronounced are pronounced etc, vowels at the end of words which would normally be silent are often pronounced, it's true in most languages, I was told this when learning Russian and French, and when singing Russsian songs in a choir. Sometimes the TV means goes a bit haywire as well as if the person uses a regional dialect, then they may use shortened forms of the word, especially if they get excited during a news event etc.
Rosemary
Sep 17th 2012 | 3:00 am
#32
Concierge
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 29,804
From: ex ex-pat, in Taunton
Re: Learning Spanish
We had a teacher that used to drill us in all the various verb structures relentlessly, and God was it boring!!
Once we got a hang of the easy one's, then all the irregulars were introduced, and then when we thought we'd cracked it, he introduced the subjunctive! Incredibly boring, but of course now I can see the importance of it all, there was light at the end of the tunnel. But as we've said, that's just one part of the learning process, it has to be done in conjunction with all the other bits, speaking, comprehension, vocabulary etc. I knew a guy that could rattle off all the verb structures, all the tenses, all the irregulars, but could hardly string a sentence together. A good teacher will incorporate all this into their classes.
Once we got a hang of the easy one's, then all the irregulars were introduced, and then when we thought we'd cracked it, he introduced the subjunctive! Incredibly boring, but of course now I can see the importance of it all, there was light at the end of the tunnel. But as we've said, that's just one part of the learning process, it has to be done in conjunction with all the other bits, speaking, comprehension, vocabulary etc. I knew a guy that could rattle off all the verb structures, all the tenses, all the irregulars, but could hardly string a sentence together. A good teacher will incorporate all this into their classes.
Sep 17th 2012 | 3:14 am
#33
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Learning Spanish
At least Spanish does have a verb structure, and I feel that is why English speaking people have difficulties, English has no fixed verbal structure, take the verb 'to want' English has just two forms of the word want, singluar and plural, there is no difference between the word want to mean I, you(S or P), we or they, he/she is the only one to take 'wants', we lost the variations in the past, we did have them, but they just went, which is why so many have problems with languages with a stricter grammatical structure.
Which means English is very easy to speak badly - and very difficult to speak well!
Sep 17th 2012 | 3:24 am
#34
Banned
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,081
Re: Learning Spanish
At least Spanish does have a verb structure, and I feel that is why English speaking people have difficulties, English has no fixed verbal structure, take the verb 'to want' English has just two forms of the word want, singluar and plural, there is no difference between the word want to mean I, you(S or P), we or they, he/she is the only one to take 'wants', we lost the variations in the past, we did have them, but they just went, which is why so many have problems with languages with a stricter grammatical structure.
Sep 17th 2012 | 10:54 am
#37
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 70
From: Alicante
Re: Learning Spanish
Get yourself an imaginary friend who only speaks Spanish and talk to him or her.
You might not be getting everything right but you'll get used to using your own voice to speak Spanish and that's very important.
You might not be getting everything right but you'll get used to using your own voice to speak Spanish and that's very important.
Sep 17th 2012 | 5:32 pm
#38
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,753
From: Alicante province
Re: Learning Spanish
I live in an expat area, so it's easy to not bother with Spanish at all. But I do want to bother and have at least two 'Spanish' days every week.
I switch on Spanish TV and radio and leave it on all day. I go to Spanish places where I won't see or hear another expat, it's surprisingly easy. I buy a Spanish newspaper and read it all the way through, often aloud.
I must admit that after a 'Spanish' day, I switch on Sky News at an early hour in case I've missed something important from the English world. The news from the two worlds are surprisingly different.
I switch on Spanish TV and radio and leave it on all day. I go to Spanish places where I won't see or hear another expat, it's surprisingly easy. I buy a Spanish newspaper and read it all the way through, often aloud.
I must admit that after a 'Spanish' day, I switch on Sky News at an early hour in case I've missed something important from the English world. The news from the two worlds are surprisingly different.
Sep 17th 2012 | 8:34 pm
#41
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,367
Re: Learning Spanish
You'll get used to your own voice, but in all probability it won't be 100% correct. It's very easy to pronounce something incorrectly, but more difficult to get out of the habit and pronounce something correctly. Better to get a "real" Spanish friend, either locally of Skype.
Sep 17th 2012 | 11:45 pm
#43
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 12,053
From: In the middle of 10million Olive Trees
Re: Learning Spanish
Trouble with that is your "friend" is never going to correct you, either with your grammar or your pronunciation. You'll get used to your own voice, but in all probability it won't be 100% correct. It's very easy to pronounce something incorrectly, but more difficult to get out of the habit and pronounce something correctly. Better to get a "real" Spanish friend, either locally of Skype.
You'll get used to your own voice, but in all probability it won't be 100% correct. It's very easy to pronounce something incorrectly, but more difficult to get out of the habit and pronounce something correctly. Better to get a "real" Spanish friend, either locally of Skype.the voice you hear inside your head is not the voice the rest of the world hears, so you need to hear it from outside the head.
Sep 18th 2012 | 1:48 am
#44
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 70
From: Alicante
Re: Learning Spanish
I still talk to my imaginary friend even though I think I'm fluent.
I was suggesting it not as a way of learning, as you can't teach yourself what you already know, more as a way of breaking through the barrier of 'Oh God no, I've got to speak'.
I was suggesting it not as a way of learning, as you can't teach yourself what you already know, more as a way of breaking through the barrier of 'Oh God no, I've got to speak'.
Feb 8th 2013 | 11:38 am
#45
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 26
Re: Learning Spanish
Interesting read... I didn't want to start a new thread so hope ok to add my bit here.
I'm new to Spanish but am about intermediate level at Portuguese. I made some errors the way I went about things when I 'learnt' Portuguese.
One possible mistake I made was learning from cds, often the accents are not what you hear in your local area.
So my thinking is to skip buying any language courses and just have lessons from a local teacher - starting with 3 hours a week and possibly increasing if I think she's good and I have time. Does that sound like a reasonable plan, anybody have any tips for a Spanish newbie?
I'm new to Spanish but am about intermediate level at Portuguese. I made some errors the way I went about things when I 'learnt' Portuguese.
One possible mistake I made was learning from cds, often the accents are not what you hear in your local area.
So my thinking is to skip buying any language courses and just have lessons from a local teacher - starting with 3 hours a week and possibly increasing if I think she's good and I have time. Does that sound like a reasonable plan, anybody have any tips for a Spanish newbie?
