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Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by lynnxa
(Post 7846128)
and the American spillchucker doesn't help:frown:
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Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by jdr
(Post 7846136)
Mine is alright, cos it don`t work :confused: :rofl:
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Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by montgomail
(Post 7845933)
Well it's my mother tongue and I have to think about "practice" and "practise"!
It helps if you remember that in both these cases, the "c" is used for the noun and the "s" for the verb. Thankyou so much. |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
The problem is in defining fluency. Fluent and accurate is the aim. You can learn from other people by immersing yourself in the native speaking arena, but should those examples be using poor grammar, you will at best be fluent, but ungrammatical.
Imagine learning English from chavs and pikeys. Not a pretty concept. If you learn the grammar of a language, you can better understand why things are said the way that they are. Look how many English can't even use their own language correctly. |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by Tele Addict
(Post 7845910)
I always knew it was usted but the verb didn't make any sense to me. The picture I've got now is you are at the table and you are telling the waiter to go and ask the barman for a drink for you. I've never heard it though and I've asked my wife who's a native and she says she's never heard pedir shoehorned into this role.
pedir - to ask for what do you say if a waiter comes up to you for your order & you have already ordered? around here we say 'he (hemos) pedido' = I (we) have ordered it's what I was originally taught by my spanish teacher (a sevillana), what I hear in bars & restaurants, and what I frequently come across in text books for teaching spanish - of which I have quite a lot :confused: - genuinely |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by bil
(Post 7846206)
The problem is in defining fluency. Fluent and accurate is the aim. You can learn from other people by immersing yourself in the native speaking arena, but should those examples be using poor grammar, you will at best be fluent, but ungrammatical.
Imagine learning English from chavs and pikeys. Not a pretty concept. If you learn the grammar of a language, you can better understand why things are said the way that they are. Look how many English can't even use their own language correctly. I don't claim to be fluent in spanish - but I can chat about everyday things on a daily basis perfectly comfortably I have studied grammar - and am still studying - my spanish is a mix of 'street' & 'correct' - a bit like my english! I know how the tenses work and will use them all where appropriate when writing- but comfortably use probably half of them in conversation but what is fluent? I'm OK with medical stuff in both languages - but it's something which interests me Food - pretty good in spanish - though I can't claim to know the spanish word for everything - but I probably couldn't name a lot of fish in english, either! I couldn't go to a garage to get a car repaired & discuss what is required - but then I couldn't do that in english - I know nothing about cars! in both languages there would be a lot of pointing & talking about 'that thing that does this' and so on.............. so no, I wouldn't claim to be fluent in spanish but then - am I fluent in english:eek: I still can't decide what constitutes fluency |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by lynnxa
(Post 7847251)
I've been thinking about this fluency concept
I don't claim to be fluent in spanish - but I can chat about everyday things on a daily basis perfectly comfortably I have studied grammar - and am still studying - my spanish is a mix of 'street' & 'correct' - a bit like my english! I know how the tenses work and will use them all where appropriate when writing- but comfortably use probably half of them in conversation but what is fluent? I'm OK with medical stuff in both languages - but it's something which interests me Food - pretty good in spanish - though I can't claim to know the spanish word for everything - but I probably couldn't name a lot of fish in english, either! I couldn't go to a garage to get a car repaired & discuss what is required - but then I couldn't do that in english - I know nothing about cars! in both languages there would be a lot of pointing & talking about 'that thing that does this' and so on.............. so no, I wouldn't claim to be fluent in spanish but then - am I fluent in english:eek: I still can't decide what constitutes fluency I agree with you. My husband and daughter have been on the 123teach you suggested(excellent by the way). My husband has finished his first year of learning and our daughter dosent know too much but the two of them together on that site was great. Guy was helping her with his limited knowledge and she was learning from him. So there you go.:D |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
[QUOTE=lynnxa;7847251]I've been thinking about this fluency concept
I don't claim to be fluent in spanish - but I can chat about everyday things on a daily basis perfectly comfortably I have studied grammar - and am still studying - my spanish is a mix of 'street' & 'correct' - a bit like my english! I know how the tenses work and will use them all where appropriate when writing- but comfortably use probably half of them in conversation but what is fluent? I'm OK with medical stuff in both languages - but it's something which interests me Food - pretty good in spanish - though I can't claim to know the spanish word for everything - but I probably couldn't name a lot of fish in english, either! I couldn't go to a garage to get a car repaired & discuss what is required - but then I couldn't do that in english - I know nothing about cars! in both languages there would be a lot of pointing & talking about 'that thing that does this' and so on.............. so no, I wouldn't claim to be fluent in spanish but then - am I fluent in english:eek: I still can't decide what constitutes fluency[/QUOTE I consider my self to be fluent in both languages, for me fluency consists of being able to understand and be understood all of the time. If I find myself in a medical situation, for example and dont understand what a certain procedure is, the word and meaning might be alien to me and to many other native speakers, but fluency still exists. Not all doctors know all the embroidery terms, but they are still fluent speakers. I would class fluency not so much as knowing all the words in any language (an impossible task), but not having to think about what you are saying, when it just flows. Like driving a car, if you have to sit and think ,Clutch, gear etc, you are not quite a driver. I find that most of words I dont know or cannot explain what or where they are, I dont know in either language. I also know a lot of words for example spleen/bazo in both languages, but would not know what shape, or what its function is in the human body. I do know you can live without one, but that is about it. I would have to ask a doctor in both languages to explain. But I am sure that this happens with Germans in Germany too. People often ask me about fish, I may know the name in Spanish but I could not point to one to save my life. |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
What is the word in English for "the metal posts attatched to thick rope to direct people or prevent them from entering certain areas".
They are usually seen indoors, in theatres, art galleries and statley homes. A tempory movable barrier, is the best description I can think of. Cheers |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by JLFS
(Post 7847473)
I consider my self to be fluent in both languages, for me fluency consists of being able to understand and be understood all of the time. If I find myself in a medical situation, for example and dont understand what a certain procedure is, the word and meaning might be alien to me and to many other native speakers, but fluency still exists. Not all doctors know all the embroidery terms, but they are still fluent speakers. I would class fluency not so much as knowing all the words in any language (an impossible task), but not having to think about what you are saying, when it just flows. Like driving a car, if you have to sit and think ,Clutch, gear etc, you are not quite a driver. I find that most of words I dont know or cannot explain what or where they are, I dont know in either language. I also know a lot of words for example spleen/bazo in both languages, but would not know what shape, or what its function is in the human body. I do know you can live without one, but that is about it. I would have to ask a doctor in both languages to explain. But I am sure that this happens with Germans in Germany too. People often ask me about fish, I may know the name in Spanish but I could not point to one to save my life. |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Originally Posted by JLFS
(Post 7847497)
What is the word in English for "the metal posts attatched to thick rope to direct people or prevent them from entering certain areas".
They are usually seen indoors, in theatres, art galleries and statley homes. A tempory movable barrier, is the best description I can think of. Cheers |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Years ago I remember being told the percentage of vocabulary that the average person knows in their MOTHER TONGUE and it was surprisingly low. Only somewhere in the region of 7%.
But when you factor in all the technical vocabulary in a language (medical, anatomical, scientific, informatical, botanical, etc, etc) it's not really surprising. So you can be fluent in a language despite only knowing less than 10% of the vocab. |
Re: Spanish Lessons!
Again, it's all down to how you define it.
I'd say a good grasp of all the tenses, a good knowledge of grammar, a decent vocabulary, and most of all, when talking to native speakers, you can grasp fully what they are saying. |
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