I was quite proud of myself actually, but the receptionist kept laughing at me

Are you aware of the U3A group in your area. They run Spanish sessions for all levels, as well as photography and other hobbies.

Didn't work out so well in the Barbers though!

Don't worry Marisol, I'm English and I don't have a clue what he is on about.


He is one of Mitzy's friends so he could well be another hippy or something!

It sounds like most of you have problems understanding spoken Spanish, which is absolutely normal... speaking is not like writing, grammar is not "respected" and words are joined together (you do the same when you speak English, don't you?).

I got used to spoken English listening bbc-radio 4. You can do the same with Spanish. It is free, and you can do near everything with the radio on. Even when you don't pay attention or you understand bugger all, you are getting used to the sounds and the intonation patterns. The most difficult are the first 3 months, when you don't understand enough to make any sense.

But there will be a moment when you understand 30 or 40% what is said, that is enough to follow conversations in my experience. Sometimes you get everything wrong, but still you are interested. From that moment on, the improvement is exponential. You have to do the big effort the first 3 months. I had bad headaches at night here in London at the beginning, when the only Spanish I could speak was by telephone, but it worths it.

Please don't buy the idea that you cannot learn because you are too old... It is more difficult, yes, but it is absolutely possible. And also consider this: People who learn a new skill later in life (specially a complex skill like a new language) are much less prone to develope Alzheimer and other age-mental related issues. So...choose a nice radio program, follow it every day, and remember to thank me next year.

And never be embarrased to speak bad Spanish. People respects anybody who actually is taking the effort to speak your own language, and they will feel happy to help, to be useful. Well, most of Spanish people, I guess. Get out of your "confort zone", go to the bar on your own, chat with the old man who is having a wine, he has the time, and you will make his day. I do that all the time in London, and I always have a nice time, just don't mention Manuel

That's it then I will keep on trying

They're far to clever for the likes of me



Thats right ..... I can often translate written Spanish, and I prepare myself with the dictionary for when I go out to do a specific thing, but when someone speaks back to me at speed then thats when the trouble starts.

Hippy? I resemble that remark!

Understanding spoken Spanish is always harder, but to me it is like tuning your brain in, like adjusting a TV antenna. Listen to as much as you can, and bit by bit, it will start to slow down and make more sense, or at least it will seem that way as your brain speeds.

Wen I was learning Japanese, my tutor said that she was, after some time quite disheartened because she still couldn't understand English worth a damn.

Then one day as she was going out the door, she realise the radio was on, and that she could actually understand what was being said.

One huge problem for a lot of English people in Spain is that they live in an English 'sea' as it were. Because of this they lack adequate exposure to Spanish. This handicaps their understanding of the language, which isolates them further from the Spanish language. and so on, and so on.

Same here Mitzy, I can read posters, instructions, adverts, andthing I can study at some leisure, BUT, when they speak.. it's a different matter..

Exactly! For the life of me I can´t fathom out why some Brits pay to have lessons when all the resources needed are freely available on the Internet.
And as soon as they step outside their door....everything around them is one big Spanish lesson.

If people made it fun rather than an obstacle then they'd get somewhere. Every day I have loads of fun with both languages....I go into the supermarket and start shouting something to the girls like "Be careful this place is full of Guiris!" The staff are struggling not to burst out laughing and the Brits just look bewildered.
Then in my mate Jose Luis's pharmacy (he speaks English) I'll walk in and see Brits I don't know there and start it off in English...."hurry up and serve me you lazy Dago"....and the Brits are flabbergasted.
But I also get caught myself sometimes, usually by Alex in the Ferosan. He can speak a little bit of English....but won't do it cos so many Brits won't even try. So if there's Brits there and I walk in he directs them to me and tells them I'm English....which he knows really pisses me off! So I get stuck with these humanoids while Alex and the other guys are sticking their heads round the aisles and pointing and laughing at me.

So my point is....relax, chill out, have fun.....don´t make it a formal job....make it fun!

Amen bro, amen.

Hello rugbymatt,
i used to be a hippie when i was young, i keep on being a little but just in the way i think

Mitzy still is and he is like 80 or something.

The same happens to me when i read in English i can understand more or less but when i try to speak, then i begin making mistakes, and the more mistakes i make the more nervous i get and so on.
My English is so bad that once, after asking someone where a street was, he said "i am sorry, i don't speak French"
But i keep on trying and if i never manage to speak English, it will be not for lack of trying!