# [2009] Whats the fastest way to learn spanish ?



## easyrider (May 8, 2009)

So what do you think ? Can a person learn spanish fast ? About how long to be fairly good at it ?


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## falmouth3 (May 8, 2009)

I guess it depends on how adept the individual is at learning languages.  There was just an article in our paper about self-teach methods.  They liked the Berlitz method, followed by Rosetta Stone.

Sue


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## Passepartout (May 8, 2009)

What Sue said... Some people seem to be able to learn languages more easily than others. It's easier for the young than some of us, ahem, seasoned folk. 

We went on a week Elderhostel 'Learn Spanish' trip a few years ago. The drills helped. I listen to some taped lessons before we go to a Spanish speaking country. This helps get the ears tuned to hear it. My problem is lack of practice. When we're at home I don't turn on Spanish TV. My work brings me in contact with some Spanish people, but they all want to practice English with me. I think I have enough Spanish to keep out of jail, but to sit and have a comfortable conversation about wide ranging subjects with a native Spanish speaker? Nope. 

I think I'd like to take an immersion program for 2-3 weeks, living with a family in either Mexico/S.or Central America where no English is spoken. "Course, there's nothing wrong with a couple of weeks there anyway whether one learns anything or not.

Jim Ricks


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## lizhecht (May 8, 2009)

*Work in a store for a week*

When I was in high school, I did an exchange program. They put me in a store for a week. I mostly stocked the shelves and swept the floor, but one day the manager left me alone for the afternoon, so he could run an errand.

Reading all the cans and boxes, listening to people come and go, and having to answer questions myself was an amazing lesson in language. 

I recommend, studying it in a class for a year or so, then go on vacation for a month. Not to a timeshare in little Miami (Cancun), but somewhere like Honduras or Costa Rica and stay in a small town where you are forced to speak to people. That or go on one of those volunteer projects helping some community in Guatemala. You will move from repeating words to speaking in more than present tense by the time you go home.


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## EAM (May 8, 2009)

Immersion  plus standard grammar and vocab lessons and a dictionary.  If you have to learn a language you will.


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## geekette (May 8, 2009)

Well, this might be too obvious, but Use It.  The best way to really learn is by doing.  Find some folks that are fluent (or close enuf!) and practice with them on occasion.

GOOD LUCK!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 8, 2009)

I just started participating in an informal group that meets weekly near my house to speak Spanish.  I connected with them through www.meetup.com.

******

I've been taking night school classes for one year, and have done a fair amount of additional study.  Right now I can pick up a Spanish language newspaper and understand about half of what is written without a dictionary.  If it's a story about something where I have a lot of context available (such as a report on an sporting event) my reading comprehension is 90% or more.

My writing is still very fractured for anything that isn't elementary Spanish.  My speaking abilities are awful.  And my oral comprehension totally blows.  I I turn on Univision I'm lucky if I can understand one word in ten, and then what I do pick up aren't the significant words. If I turn on Sabado Gigante I do a bit better. If I watch a Spanish-language newscast I can pick up more, because there is more context available.  Also because news is mostly reporting facts, news language is generally simpler than the high drama of a telenovela.

But those issues are mostly related to lack of practice with the oral language.  That's why I decided to get involved in the meetup group.

*****

I've communicated a bit by e-mail with a high school foreign languages instructor in Canada who speaks several languages.  FWIW, from his experience teaching Spanish he feels that for most students learning Spanish is easy in the beginning stages.  But after grasping some of the basic elements, students reach a plateau where it starts to feel as if they are marking no progress and the language seems overwhelming.  But if they soldier on across that plateau, it opens up for them again.  

I'm certainly on that plateau.  

*******

One of the fascinating issues is learning a different perspective on the world.  Language is intricately tied to culture, and how things are expressed in language is an expression of that culture.

Contrasting the two languages, English is all about me; that is English puts a lot of attention on the person who is speaking.  Spanish is much more about you; the focuse is much more on the listener and the audience.


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## easyrider (May 8, 2009)

Has anyone used Rosseta Stone ? Holy Moly the lessons are spendy. I tried to recapture some of the spanish I learned 30 + years ago with a $30.00 CD from Office Depot but it was so boring.


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## bogey21 (May 8, 2009)

If you live in Texas as I do, go to work at MacDonald's.  Except for the people at the register who are bi-lingual, Spanish is all that is spoken.  

George


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## falmouth3 (May 8, 2009)

easyrider said:


> Has anyone used Rosseta Stone ? Holy Moly the lessons are spendy. I tried to recapture some of the spanish I learned 30 + years ago with a $30.00 CD from Office Depot but it was so boring.



I have a friend who is a consultant who had a longish assignment in the French-speaking region of Switzerland.  She bought Rosetta and at first she thought it was pretty good, but then abandoned it and continued limping along with what she knew.


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## falmouth3 (May 8, 2009)

> I've been taking night school classes for one year, and have done a fair amount of additional study. Right now I can pick up a Spanish language newspaper and understand about half of what is written without a dictionary. If it's a story about something where I have a lot of context available (such as a report on an sporting event) my reading comprehension is 90% or more.



My grandmother learned to speak English using night school to start and then she continued with the newspaper and a dictionary.

Sue


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 8, 2009)

I've also been thinking about connecting with someone from Mexico or Central America who wants to learn English and swapping my English assistance for their Spanish assistance.  

Maybe something such as we converse; they try to speak in English and I try to speak in Spanish, and we both help each other through the rough patches.


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## easyrider (May 8, 2009)

I found the Rosseta Stone Spanish cd's at www.cheapestsoftwareanywhere.com 

It seems like its just the software without the box or manual. The price is right. WSU has a spanish class through out the summer, seems spendy. No groups for my area.


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## Conan (May 8, 2009)

I think what works best depends on your learning profile.

Rosetta Stone has you look at a picture 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




while they say the word. That doesn't work for me.


I learn best with my ears alone. I've had good success with Pimsleur CDs which are purely aural.


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## geoffb (May 8, 2009)

Rassias method is the fastest.


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## buceo (May 8, 2009)

In a word, no.  If you grew up learning 4 other languages; then as an adult adding one more may be "fast", but for the rest of us it is brutal.  There's learning phrases, very simple verb conjugation and then there is social conversation. Two different worlds.

Take a series of classes,  two nights a week, study at least 30mn per night otherwise. Additionally order all the added study aids you can, then do immersion.

Good luck.  I've given myself 10 years to learn Spanish and I'm on year 3 and I'm not sure I will make it ( I don't work as hard as the above prescription) .  I'm probably as bad as any body except for the countless numbers that give up.


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## missmarie (May 9, 2009)

*more ideas*

I have been learning from a conversational spanish college text, along with free itunes podcasts, and "People" magazine in espanol. I also download spanish music. May I recommend Julietta Venegas, Reik, Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Lola Lolita Lola , and Los Lobos. (Linda Ronstadt Mariachi if you are hard core). Combine all that with taking every opportunity to speak with spanish speakers on the street ( luckily I live in Southern California,
and frequent Arizona). Never under estimate the value of old school flash cards and the pocket dictionary! With deligence, it can be done. I was tempted to purchase Rosetta Stone, but it is so expensive and you hit a wall when you need help with Ser vs. Estar, Cual, como and cuanto.


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## x3 skier (May 9, 2009)

*The Beeb*

The BBC has a series of Spanish Lessons that I found helpful as a starter. You can download them and study as you want.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/

But nothing beats *having* to speak a language to communicate.

They have several other languages as well.

Cheers


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## tonyg (May 9, 2009)

Just press 2.


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## easyrider (May 9, 2009)

tonyg said:


> Just press 2.



very very FUNNY !! :rofl: 

I broke down and bought the watered down verion of 1 2 3 Rosetta Stone latin america. I find it amusing that there is a spanish for Spain and a spanish for Mexico. English in America is the same as the UK and Austraila, isn't it ?


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## DeniseM (May 9, 2009)

easyrider said:


> I find it amusing that there is a spanish for Spain and a spanish for Mexico. English in America is the same as the UK and Austraila, isn't it ?



Nope...maybe not as different and between Spain and Mexco, but lots of differences - especially slang.


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## falmouth3 (May 10, 2009)

A couple of words immediately come to mind in US English and British English.  Here a jumper is kind of a dress worn over a blouse.  There it is a cardigan sweater.  A fag is a cigarette in England.

Also, they don't have cookies, they have biscuits.  A jacket potato is a baked potato.  Potato chips are crisps  and on and on.  But you can certainly understand people from England and they can understand you.  It's just every once in a while there is a disconnect over words or phrases.

And they often use S's where we use Z's.  BTW, A Z in England is a Zed and and H is pronounced Haych.

Sue


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## jschmidt (May 10, 2009)

From what I have observed, Spanish cannot be that hard to learn.  When I was in Mexico last year even the very little children were speaking Spanish.   

Buena Suerte!


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## Ellis2ca (May 11, 2009)

*How long does it take to be fairly good at SPANISH?*



easyrider said:


> So what do you think ? Can a person learn spanish fast ? About how long to be fairly good at it ?



Believe it or not... *** I *** have a way for you to learn about 
4000 cognate words in Spanish in about one hour...  (a "cognate" 
word is a word that has the same ROOT in two or more languages...
in this case, Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Rumanian,
Catalan, and maybe a few other languages...)

It is not A LIST of words.  It is a way to learn hundreds of words with A RULE that shows you how to recognize or guess the meaning of hundreds of words in Spanish...

And it is really very simple, but not obvious... You will learn it eventually, 
but you can learn it much faster if you study my rules.. it works with almost all words that have the same SUFFIX ("ending") in English... so they RHYME... 

In fact, they rhyme so much that I WROTE some AMAZING COGNATE 
POEMS... here is a sample of one:

I'm not good as PROFETA 
So I'll try it as POETA
Shout about it in GACETA 
I announce it with TROMPETA
Toussier's Cognate Words is here...

Now you  start on new PROYECTO
Get a dose of INTELLECTO
You'll speak Spanish soon CORRECTO
Or some other DIALECTO

For this method NECESARIO
Study short VOCABLULARIO
It might help increase SALARIO 
You'll be linguist HONORARIO...

etc...  This poem has about 10 stanzas

And here is another:

To speak Spanish and English is of great IMPORTANCIA
It is something you need in many CIRCUNSTANCIA
I've a method that shows there's a great ABUNDANCIA 
Spanish words which you know each and every INSTANCIA 

It also has about 10 stanzas...

But my best and longest poem (about 80 stanzas) is UNBELIEVABLE... it is 
A JOKE, or a LONG STORY, which I wrote in poetry and it is AMAZING.   

Excuse me for blowing my own trumpet, but that is the only way to describe this poem.  I will tell you what a famous Russian linguist wrote to me about my third and greatest amazing cognate poem so you will believe me that it is amazing:
===========================
Hi Ellis,

How marvelous are your poems! You have discovered a new and efficient way to teach languages. It is an interesting experiment in teaching languages. As a linguist, I am interested in it very much.

With admiration, Best regards,

Sebastian Shaumyan
Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Yale University 
============================

Anyways... I wrote all this to tell you: Spanish is very easy for you to 
learn... a lot easier than Russian or Chinese, because you already will 
recognize THE ALPHABET, and you will already recognize about 7000 
words in Spanish...  That HELPS  A LOT!!! 

So... GO AND READ MY FIRST TWO POEMS Here:

http://www.amazingcognatepoems.com

And if you like these first two, write to me and I will give you a special deal on my entire system.  (if they don't erase this post because it is "advertising...") - Ellis


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 11, 2009)

easyrider said:


> So what do you think ? Can a person learn spanish fast ? About how long to be fairly good at it ?



What do you mean by "fairly good at it"?  Enough to get by as a tourist?  Enough to read a Spanish language with 75% comprehension?  Enough to exchange pleasantries and make simple requests?  Enough to carry on a conversation about the day's events with a native Spanish speaker?  Enough to carry on a torrid affair and express your love, passion and excitement and share your inmost thoughts?  Enough to be able to pick up and relocation to village in Peru where no one speaks English?  Enough to defend yourself with the policia in case you are in an accident?


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## ebmom (May 11, 2009)

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this, but if you have a Nintendo DS, there is a really fun game that teaches Spanish called "My Spanish Coach".

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=my+spanish+coach

It looks like it's also available for PSP.  Maybe not the best way to learn, but it's fun, and especially great for those of us that took Spanish years ago and need a refresher.


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## easyrider (May 11, 2009)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> What do you mean by "fairly good at it"?  Enough to get by as a tourist?   Enough to exchange pleasantries and make simple requests?  Enough to carry on a conversation about the day's events with a native Spanish speaker?   Enough to be able to pick up and relocation to village in Peru where no one speaks English?  Enough to defend yourself with the policia in case you are in an accident?



Really, who I need to understand are the non english speaking fishing guides, bar tenders, bar flys and the folks at the resorts. It would be nice to never have to defend myself with the policia but nicer still if I could.

You must have read my mind about Peru. It would be cool to be there to mark the end of the Mayan Calender in 2012 and order a bucket of cervesas or to head to Costa Rica to catch a big ole fish.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 12, 2009)

easyrider said:


> Really, who I need to understand are the non english speaking fishing guides, bar tenders, bar flys and the folks at the resorts. It would be nice to never have to defend myself with the policia but nicer still if I could.
> 
> You must have read my mind about Peru. It would be cool to be there to mark the end of the Mayan Calender in 2012 and order a bucket of cervesas or to head to Costa Rica to catch a big ole fish.


That helps. That's probably my goal, as well.  

The issue that I find with all of the "simple" tools above is that they don't really help with idiomatic usage. You can't really communicate in day-to-day conversation without a good grasp of idiomatic usage.  

I don't think I can begin to count the number of times I've put together a phrase that I thought was perfectly fine based on definition and even sample usage, only to have native Spanish speaker tell me that no one would ever say that in ordinary conversation.

A good illustration might be a non-native  English speaker using a phrase as "that's a lot of many".

****

There really isn't any substitute for an immersing yourself in the language, ideally to the point at which you have no choice but to express yourself in Spanish, and getting to the point where the words that form in your mind to express are in Spanish rather than English.  

For example, you look at the menu in a restaurant and the words that come to mind are not "I would like …" but "Me gustaria …" even though it's a totally norteamericano restaurante.


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## easyrider (May 12, 2009)

ebmom said:


> I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this, but if you have a Nintendo DS, there is a really fun game that teaches Spanish called "My Spanish Coach".
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=my+spanish+coach
> 
> It looks like it's also available for PSP.  Maybe not the best way to learn, but it's fun, and especially great for those of us that took Spanish years ago and need a refresher.



THANK YOU !! Bought this today. It looks like it may work.


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## MelBay (May 13, 2009)

> From what I have observed, Spanish cannot be that hard to learn. When I was in Mexico last year even the very little children were speaking Spanish.



Thank you for making me laugh out loud.


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## EJC (May 17, 2009)

easyrider--Thanks for posting the link for www.cheapestsoftwareanywhere.com  I ordered Rosetta Stone levels one and two for $79.99.  There were no written manuals or documentation with the disks that arrived--which was not a surprise.  The install disk didn't work with Vista's automatic prompts.  Fortunately, the Rosetta Stone site had directions for installing on a Vista computer.   Following those directions resulted in a successful installation.


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## easyrider (Jun 8, 2009)

Rosetta Stone is working out but the gavoucho that works for us says that its way to proper and doesnt reflect curent slang. He says its tourist english.

My bad, Im the gavaucho way ? He's the chicano. He may be messing with me.


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## charlietuna (Jun 8, 2009)

*fastest way to learn spanish*

just move to arizona,newmexico,texas,california


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## CalifasGirl (Jul 1, 2009)

Hey, I hope you know that being called a gabacho or a güey isn't particularly flattering, but your Chicano friend is probably just teasing you. If you want to get him riled up, you can always call him a pocho--Americanized Mexican who knows very little about his/her own Mexican culture.

I live in Royal Oaks, which is next to Watsonville. I go into stores where people don't speak English very well. I might as well be in Mexico! It's a good thing that I took Spanish in high school. I also speak another language in addition to English.

It takes about 5-7 years to learn a language well enough to communicate, so don't get discouraged! The key is to practice, practice, practice. Watch cartoons in Spanish if they are available. After all, cartoons are for kids still learning the language. If you can find Sesame Street equivalent stuff in your area, that's best. Sometimes your station airs SAP, so check if it's available.


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## nyparadigm (Jul 1, 2009)

Personally, I just married a Mexican.  After 20 years, give or take, that seems to have done the trick.

Chris


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## kwilson (Jul 2, 2009)

Yo hablo mucho Espanol, pero yo no comprehendo nada.


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## Stricky (Jul 2, 2009)

I have just started using Fluenz. Very cool so far. I was surprised how much I learned in the first 2 hours.


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## pjrose (Jul 5, 2009)

DS took two years of Spanish in high school, earning B grades I believe.  His college requires 3 semesters, and he started over with Spanish I, earning a C.  Then he got a D+ in Spanish II.  I doubt that he's prepared to move on, but next term he has to take Spanish III, which does not require a C or even C-.  

According to DS, the D+ is the result of "a bunch of annoying memorization" (which is not his forte - he's very analytical- but toughies).  According to Mom, "get over it and do better next time or else".  

I've emailed the professor for recommendations (Rosetta Stone or ??).  Are there any TUG recommendations?


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## jamstew (Jul 5, 2009)

kwilson said:


> Yo hablo mucho Espanol, pero yo no comprehendo nada.



Yo tambien! The most useful phrase I learned was "Habla mas despacio, por favor!" That's one I've remembered for about 50 years


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## Marcia3641 (Jul 5, 2009)

tonyg said:


> Just press 2.



LMAO!!!!!!:rofl: :hysterical: :rofl: :hysterical:


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## CalifasGirl (Jul 9, 2009)

pjrose said:


> DS took two years of Spanish in high school, earning B grades I believe.  His college requires 3 semesters, and he started over with Spanish I, earning a C.  Then he got a D+ in Spanish II.  I doubt that he's prepared to move on, but next term he has to take Spanish III, which does not require a C or even C-.
> 
> According to DS, the D+ is the result of "a bunch of annoying memorization" (which is not his forte - he's very analytical- but toughies).  According to Mom, "get over it and do better next time or else".
> 
> I've emailed the professor for recommendations (Rosetta Stone or ??).  Are there any TUG recommendations?


If he got a D+ in Spanish 2, he should take it again. He's not ready for Spanish 3. I found the Spanish language very formulaic compared to English. You just plug in the correct ending to the root/base of the verb in order to conjugate.

Try learning Korean or Japanese with different alphabets and sentence structures! In Korean, you learn "hangul" (Korean alphabet) and "hanja" (Chinese characters). In Japanese, there's not only the Japanese alphabet, but "katakana" for foreign words, and "kanji" (Chinese characters), too. Three different alphabets! Then in both languages, the last word is the verb. Subjects and objects can go in any order, but the verb is always last. Not sure about Japanese, but in Korean, conjugations are based on your personal relationship with the person you are speaking to, NOT subject-verb agreement. Therefore, the only four conjugations are formal, polite, informal, and intimate. These conjugations are also dependent on things like gender and age. Things can get very confusing!

Again, not everyone is good at languages. Some people cannot get it no matter how they try. For instance, I can't tell you how many engineering students struggle with English composition. They love math and are whizzes at it, but try to get some of them to write an essay, and they pale with dread. Spanish is the same thing except it's a different language. Some students give up Spanish and try American Sign Language. I don't know if it's easier, but it's at least in English, so you just have to memorize movements to your sentences, I guess. (I was interning as a counselor at a community college, so I saw quite a few students struggling with English there, and it's their first language!)


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## John Cummings (Jul 9, 2009)

jschmidt said:


> From what I have observed, Spanish cannot be that hard to learn.  When I was in Mexico last year even the very little children were speaking Spanish.
> 
> Buena Suerte!



Of course they were speaking Spanish. It is their native language.


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## pjrose (Jul 9, 2009)

CalifasGirl, Thanks for your post.  I agree that he should re-take it, and the professor and I are working on convincing him to do so.  His grades are borderline in terms of keeping a scholarship so he really can't afford to mess up again.   Retaking it will also replace the D+ which would help!

I'm very good with languages but I can't imagine trying to learn Korean, Japanese, or Chinese!


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## John Cummings (Jul 9, 2009)

I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.

Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.

In any event, I learned enough to satisfy my girlfriend that I could converse with her family. A year later we were married in Culiacan Sinaloa Mexico and we lived there for 4 years. It was well worth all the effort as we have been very happily married and will be celebrating our 45th anniversary in August. I am very happy that she insisted I learn Spanish as it opened up a whole new world to me. I am much closer to my wife's family than my own. Along with the language, I also learned the culture. The biggest joy I have in Mexico is talking to the people and the many good friends we have made in our travels there. I have worked in Vera Cruz, and started a business in Mexico. Our son played baseball in Mexico and was on the Mexican All Star team that competed in the International Olympic tournament. Apart from this, I have had so many fascinating experiences in Mexico and Venezuela that would never have been possible if I hadn't learned Spanish and the culture.

When searching for a place to retire, I considered Mexico. My wife said absolutely not under any circumstances. Actually I agreed with her. I won't elaborate as that is another subject.

I lived in Venezuela for 2 years where I was the manager for Computer sales and service for an American computer company. I had a lot of interaction with Spanish speaking people from all over South America and Spain. There were some differences between Spanish in Venezuela and Mexico especially in the name of food items and of course slang terms. There are also some differences with people from Spain ( depending on region in Spain ) in pronunciation. However, I have no trouble conversing with any Spanish speaking person. The thing you have to careful about are the colloquialisms. Some saying may be common in one country but get you in trouble in another. Actually the hardest to understand are people that try to speak Spanish and are not fluent in it. I find it harder to understand some English speaking people from England than Spanish speaking people from Spain. When we lived in SE Florida we also associated with Spanish speaking people from many countries. Our Spanish language church had many people from different Spanish speaking countries in our parish. Mi comadre ( god mother of our son ) is from Puerto Rico.

The only way to be successful is to work hard at it everyday. If you do master Spanish and understand the culture, it will open up a new fascinating world for you.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jul 9, 2009)

John Cummings said:


> The thing you have to careful about are the colloquialisms. Some saying may be common in one country but get you in trouble in another.



"Coger", p.ej.?


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## BocaBum99 (Jul 9, 2009)

*Why learn Spanish when it's this easy to translate?*



John Cummings said:


> I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.
> 
> Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.
> 
> ...



Estoy hablando con fluidez en español, escuchar, leer y escribir. Empecé a aprender que hace 46 años cuando vivía en Phoenix. Tuve una muy fuerte motivación para el aprendizaje del español. Mi novia fue mexicana y ella vive en Mexico. Se establece el derecho de que si cada vez que quería casarse con ella, tuve que aprender español para poder comunicarse con su familia. Con ese incentivo, yo paloma en el mismo. Nunca tomó clases formales. Fui a la biblioteca y tiene algunos diccionarios y libros en español. Las 2 cosas que se concentró en la primera fueron el vocabulario y la gramática. El español es mucho más lógico que Inglés. He leído en español periódicos y revistas. Yo también tengo un montón de ayuda de amigos de habla hispana y compañeros de trabajo. También solía ir a Nogales Mexico todos los fines de semana y en la práctica. Me pareció más fácil de aprender de los niños, ya que tienden a hablar más claramente. Pasé mucho tiempo y trabajo duro en ello. Al principio, tuve que traducir cada palabra. Me pareció leer español de ser el más fácil. Haciendo uso de la palabra era más fácil la comprensión de alguien más. Cuando se habla, yo diría lo que sabía que alguien me habla pueden usar palabras o frases que no conocía. Por otro lado, tengo amigos mexicanos plantearon en los EE.UU. que pueden entender muy bien español, pero no puede hablar. Es bastante fácil de aprender a leer si usted comienza a leer las cosas que usted sabe algo al respecto. Viendo la televisión es una buena manera de aprender. TV fue un gran factor de aprendizaje de Inglés a mi esposa. Sugiero ver programas de noticias o deportes donde se puede reconocer lo que están hablando. 

Aunque el español es un idioma muy lógico, hay excepciones a las normas, tanto en la gramática y el género. Todos los sustantivos en español son masculinos (el) o femenino (la). Generalmente un sustantivo terminado en "a" es femenino, sin embargo, esto no siempre es cierto. 

En cualquier caso, he aprendido lo suficiente para satisfacer a mi novia que yo podía conversar con su familia. Un año más tarde nos casamos en Culiacán Sinaloa Mexico y hemos vivido allí durante 4 años. Se merece la pena todo el esfuerzo que hemos sido muy felizmente casado y será la celebración de nuestro 45 aniversario en agosto. Estoy muy contento de que ella insistió en aprender español ya que la apertura de un nuevo mundo para mí. Estoy mucho más cerca de la familia de mi esposa que el mío. Junto con el idioma, también aprendí de la cultura. La mayor alegría que tengo en Mexico es hablar con el pueblo y los muchos buenos amigos que hemos hecho en nuestros viajes allí. He trabajado en la Vera Cruz, y comenzó un negocio en Mexico. Nuestro hijo de béisbol jugado en Mexico y fue en el All Star equipo mexicano que compitió en el torneo Olímpico Internacional. Aparte de esto, he tenido tantas experiencias fascinantes en Mexico y Venezuela, que nunca habría sido posible si no hubiera aprendido español y la cultura. 

Durante la búsqueda de un lugar a la jubilación, he considerado Mexico. Mi esposa no dijo absolutamente bajo ninguna circunstancia. En realidad yo estaba de acuerdo con ella. No me extenderé ya que es otro tema. 

Yo viví en Venezuela por 2 años cuando yo era el gerente de ventas de PC y el servicio para una empresa de informática de América. Yo tenía un montón de interacción con personas de habla hispana de todo América del Sur y España. Hubo algunas diferencias entre el español en Venezuela y Mexico, especialmente en el nombre de alimentos y, por supuesto, términos de argot. También hay algunas diferencias con la gente de España (dependiendo de la región en España) en la pronunciación. Sin embargo, no tengo problemas para conversar con cualquier persona de habla hispana. La cosa que tienes que cuidado con los coloquialismos. Algunos dicen puede ser común en un país, pero te en problemas en otro. En realidad los más difíciles de entender son las personas que tratan de hablar español con fluidez y que no están en ella. Me parece más difícil de entender algunas personas que hablan Inglés de Inglaterra que la gente de habla español de España. Cuando vivíamos en el sudeste de la Florida que también se asocia con personas de habla hispana de muchos países. Nuestro idioma español iglesia había mucha gente de diferentes países de habla hispana en nuestra parroquia. Mi comadre (la madre de dios nuestro hijo) es de Puerto Rico. 

La única manera de tener éxito es trabajar duro en ello todos los días. Si lo hace maestro de español y entender la cultura, se abrirá un nuevo mundo fascinante para ti.


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## BocaBum99 (Jul 9, 2009)

*Then, you can just say the same thing in German....*



John Cummings said:


> I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.
> 
> Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.
> 
> ...



Ich bin fließend in Spanisch Sprechen, Hören, Lesen und Schreiben. Ich lernte sie 46 Jahre alt, als ich lebte in Phoenix. Ich hatte einen sehr überzeugenden Grund für die Spanisch lernen. Meine Freundin war in Mexiko und lebte sie in Mexiko. Sie nach dem Gesetz, dass, wenn ich wollte nie heiraten, hatte ich, um Spanisch zu lernen, so konnte ich mit ihrer Familie. Mit diesem Anreiz, ich Taube hinein. Ich habe nie eine formelle Klassen. Ich ging in die Bibliothek und habe einige Lexika, Bücher und Spanisch. Die 2 Dinge, die ich auf der ersten waren Wortschatz und Grammatik. Spanisch ist viel mehr, als Englisch. Ich habe gelesen spanischen Sprache Zeitungen und Zeitschriften. Ich hatte auch viel Hilfe von Freunden und Spanisch sprechende Mitarbeiter. Ich auch, um auf Nogales Mexiko jedes Wochenende und Praxis. Ich fand es einfacher zu lernen die Kinder, da sie im Allgemeinen zu sprechen eindeutig. Ich verbrachte eine Menge Zeit und harte Arbeit auf sie. Am Anfang hatte ich jedes Wort zu übersetzen. Ich fand Lesung Spanisch zu den einfachsten. Sprechen war leichter als jemand anderes Verständnis. Wenn man, würde ich sagen, was ich wusste, dass in der Erwägung, dass jemand zu mir sprechen können Wörter oder Sätze habe ich nicht gewusst. Auf der anderen Seite habe ich mexikanischen Freunde, die in den USA, die sich sehr gut verstehen, Spanisch, kann aber nicht sprechen. Es ist relativ leicht zu erlernen ist zu lesen, wenn Sie beginnen Lesung Dinge, die Sie wissen etwas über. Fernsehen ist eine gute Möglichkeit zu lernen. TV war ein wichtiger Faktor bei der meine Frau Englisch lernen. Ich schlage vor, gerade Nachrichtensendungen oder Sportarten, bei denen Sie erkennen können, was sie reden. 

Obwohl Spanisch ist eine sehr logische Sprache, gibt es Ausnahmen von den Regeln in der Grammatik und Geschlecht. Alle spanischen Substantive sind entweder männlich (el) oder weiblich (la). Generell ein Substantiv endet in "a" ist weiblich, was jedoch nicht immer der Fall ist. 

Auf jeden Fall habe ich gelernt, genug, um meine Freundin, die ich könnte sich mit ihrer Familie. Ein Jahr später waren wir verheiratet Culiacan Sinaloa in Mexiko, und wir wohnten dort für 4 Jahre. Es war gut wert die Anstrengung, wie wir sind sehr glücklich verheiratet und feiern unseren 45. Geburtstag im August. Ich bin sehr froh, dass ich sie darauf, Spanisch lernen, wie sie eröffnet eine ganz neue Welt für mich. Ich bin sehr viel näher an meiner Frau, als meine eigene Familie. Zusammen mit der Sprache, der ich auch gelernt, die Kultur. Die größte Freude habe ich in Mexiko ist im Gespräch mit den Menschen und die vielen guten Freunden haben wir in unseren Reisen gibt. Ich habe in Vera Cruz, und ein Unternehmen in Mexiko. Unser Sohn spielte Baseball in Mexiko und auf der mexikanischen All-Star-Team, in das Internationale Olympische Turnier. Abgesehen davon, habe ich so viele interessante Erfahrungen in Mexiko und Venezuela, die nicht möglich gewesen, wenn ich noch nicht gelernt, Spanisch und der Kultur. 

Bei der Suche nach einem Ort, den Ruhestand zu gehen, ich Mexiko. Meine Frau sagte nicht unbedingt unter allen Umständen. Ich bin mit ihr. Ich werde nicht näher als das ist ein anderes Thema. 

Ich lebte in Venezuela für 2 Jahre, wo ich war der Manager für Vertrieb und Service für eine amerikanische Computerfirma. Ich hatte eine Menge Interaktion mit Spanisch sprechenden Menschen aus ganz Südamerika und Spanien. Es wurden einige Unterschiede zwischen dem Spanisch in Venezuela und Mexiko vor allem in den Namen von Lebensmitteln und natürlich auch umgangssprachliche Begriffe. Es gibt auch einige Unterschiede mit Menschen aus Spanien (je nach Region in Spanien) in der Aussprache. Allerdings habe ich keine Probleme im Gespräch mit einem Spanisch sprechenden Person. Was müssen Sie aufpassen, sind die Umgangssprache. Einige sagen, kann in einem Land, sondern Sie erhalten in Schwierigkeiten in einem anderen. Tatsächlich am schwierigsten zu verstehen sind Menschen, die versuchen Spanisch zu sprechen und nicht fließend ist. Ich finde es schwer zu verstehen, ein wenig Englisch sprechende Menschen aus England als Spanisch sprechende Menschen aus Spanien. Wenn wir lebten in SE Florida wir auch im Zusammenhang mit der spanisch sprechenden Menschen aus vielen Ländern. Unsere Spanisch-Sprachschule Kirche hatte viele Menschen aus anderen spanisch-sprachigen Länder in unserer Gemeinde. Mi comadre (Mutter Gottes von unserem Sohn) aus Puerto Rico. 

Der einzige Weg, um erfolgreich zu sein, hart zu arbeiten ist es jeden Tag. Wenn Sie Master-Spanisch und zu verstehen, die Kultur, es öffnet sich eine neue faszinierende Welt für Sie.


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## BocaBum99 (Jul 9, 2009)

*Or even Japanese.....*



John Cummings said:


> I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.
> 
> Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.
> 
> ...



私はスペイン語で話すのに、リスニング、リーディング、ライティング午前堪能。私は46年前に私はフェニックスに住んでいたが習い始めた。私はスペイン語学習のための非常に説得力のある理由だった。彼女は私の恋人だったメキシコのメキシコに住んでいた。彼女は、私は彼女の家族とのコミュニケーションがスペイン語を学ぶには、法律を、これまで私は彼女と結婚することを示した。インセンティブとは、私はそれに鳩。私は、正式なクラスをしたことはない。私は図書館に行って、いくつかの辞書が、スペイン語の本。私は最初に集中的な語彙や文法の2つのことだった。スペイン語英語よりもはるかに論理的です。私はスペイン語の新聞や雑誌を読んでください。私もスペイン語圏の友人や共同からの援助の多くが仕事。私もノガレスメキシコに下がる毎週末、練習するために使用します。私としては、もっとはっきり言う傾向があることを容易にする子供たちから学ぶことを発見した。私はそれには多くの時間と努力を費やした。最初は、私のすべての単語を翻訳しなければならなかった。私はスペイン語は、最も簡単に読んでいた。簡単に言えば他人よりも理解された。話すとき、私は誰かが私に単語やフレーズを使用することもありますそれは知りませんでしたが、どのように言えば知っていると思います。その一方で、私はお友達とメキシコ、米国では非常によく理解することができます提起されているがスペイン語を話すことはできません。場合にはかなりのことについて何か知っているのを読む読書を開始することを学ぶことは容易である。テレビを見て学ぶことが良い方法です。テレビが大きな要因私の妻で英語を学習した。 I 、または彼らが何について話している場所を認識することができるスポーツニュース番組を見てお勧めします。 

言語はスペイン語は非常に論理的ですが、文法、男女両方のルールにも例外はあります。すべてのスペイン語の名詞のいずれか（ ）エルまたは女性（ラ）男性です。常に真実ではない一般的には、名詞に"は"女性である終わるしかし、このです。 

いずれにせよ、私は十分に私のガールフレンドは、私は彼女の家族との会話を満たすためにできることを学んだ。その1年後には、メキシコのシナロア州クリアカン結婚され、私たちは4年間住んでいた。それも相当のすべての努力としては非常に幸せと結婚して8月に私たちの45周年を記念することにします。私は彼女が私には全く新しい世界を開いた私はスペイン語を学ぶと主張満足している。私は妻の家族に近いよりも自分自身。の言語に加えて、私もその文化を学んだ。私の最大の喜びを持っているメキシコの人々と私たちの旅で作成したが、多くの良い友達と話をしています。私はベラクルスでは、働いているとメキシコで事業を開始した。私たちの息子、メキシコでプレーし、野球のオールスターチームは、メキシコの国際オリンピック大会で競っていた。もし私がいないと文化スペイン語を学んだこれとは別に、私はメキシコ、ベネズエラがされてできることはなかっただろうにもたくさんの魅力的な体験をしている。 

引退するときの場所を探して、私はメキシコ検討した。私の妻は確実に、いかなる状況下ではないと述べた。実際に私は彼女に同意した。私は、別の話題には華やかなことはありません。 

私はベネズエラで2年間は、私はアメリカのコンピュータ会社のコンピュータの販売およびサービスのマネージャーだった住んでいた。私は南アメリカ、スペイン全土からスペイン語圏の人々との相互作用をたくさんしていた。ベネズエラ、メキシコでは食料品やコースの名前を中心にスペイン語の用語俗語の間にいくつかの相違があった。 （スペインの地域）の発音に応じてまたスペインの人々といくつかの違いがあります。しかし、私はトラブルはスペイン語を話す人と会話している。を慎重にされているのcolloquialismsのことです。いくつかという1つの国でよく見られるかもしれませんが、あなたの別のトラブルになる。実際には困難を理解する人々が話すスペイン語に堪能されていないし、それを試している。私はそれよりもイングランドスペイン語からスペイン語圏の人々からいくつかの英語圏の人々を理解しにくくして下さい。フロリダ州の時に世にも多くの国からのスペイン語圏の人々に関連付けられている。私たちのスペイン語の教会の教区内で別のスペイン語圏の国から多くの人々がいた。私たちの息子のミcomadre （神の母）プエルトリコからです。 

唯一の方法で成功するために大変なことで日常の仕事をされています。スペイン語を行う場合はマスタと文化を理解、それはあなたのための新しい魅力的な世界を開きます。


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## BocaBum99 (Jul 9, 2009)

*heck, why not Arabic?*



John Cummings said:


> I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.
> 
> Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.
> 
> ...



 انها بدأت قبل 46 عاما عندما كنت أعيش في فينيكس. كان لي سبب قوي جدا لتعلم اللغة الاسبانية. صديقتي وكانت المكسيك وعاشت في المكسيك. وقالت إنها وضعت قانونا وإذا أردت أن أتزوج من أي وقت مضى ، كان لي لتعلم الاسبانية حتى أتمكن من التواصل مع عائلتها. مع ذلك حافزا لي سقوطها. أنا لم يجر قط اي رسمية الطبقات. ذهبت الى مكتبة وحصلت على بعض القواميس ، والكتب والأسبانية. 2 ركز على الأشياء التي كانت الأولى في قواعد اللغة والمفردات. الأسبانية أكثر منطقية من الانجليزية. قرأت باللغة الاسبانية في الصحف والمجلات. كما أنني حصلت على مساعدة كبيرة من الناطقين بالاسبانية والأصدقاء وزملاء العمل. وأود أيضا أن تستخدم لتهبط الى المكسيك نوغاليس كل عطلة نهاية الأسبوع والممارسة. لقد وجدت أنه من الأسهل أن نتعلم من الأطفال لأنهم يميلون إلى التحدث بشكل أكثر وضوحا. قضيت الكثير من الوقت والعمل الجاد على ذلك. في البداية ، كان لي لترجمة كل كلمة. لقد وجدت في القراءة الأسبانية أن تكون أسهل. وتحدث هو أسهل من التفاهم شخص آخر. عندما تحدث ، وأقول ما كنت أعرف شخصا في حين تحدث لي قد تستخدم الكلمات أو العبارات لم أكن أعرف. وعلى الجانب الآخر ، ولقد أثار المكسيكية الأصدقاء في الولايات المتحدة يمكن أن نفهم الأسبانية جيدا لكنه لا يستطيع الكلام. ومن السهل لتعلم القراءة إذا كنت تبدأ قراءة الأشياء التي كنت تعرف شيئا. مشاهدة التلفزيون هو وسيلة جيدة للتعلم. التلفزيون كان عاملا كبيرا في زوجتي تعلم الانجليزية. وأقترح في مشاهدة الأخبار أو البرامج الرياضية حيث يمكنك نقر ما يتحدث عنه. 

وإن الأسبانية هي لغة منطقية ، وهناك استثناءات لهذه القواعد في كل من قواعد اللغة والجنس. الأسبانية جميع الأسماء إما مذكر (جريدة) أو أنثوية (لوس انجليس). عموما اسما في انهاء "" الأنثوي ، ولكن هذا الأمر ليس صحيحا دائما. 

على أي حال ، لقد تعلمت ما يكفي لتلبية صديقتي التي يمكن التحدث مع عائلتها. وبعد سنة كنا متزوجين Culiacan سينالوا في المكسيك وعشنا هناك لمدة 4 سنوات. انها تستحق كل هذا الجهد كما كنا زوجية سعيدة جدا ، وسوف تحتفل بالذكرى السنوية لدينا 45th في آب / أغسطس. أنا سعيد جدا أنني أصر على أنها تعلم الأسبانية لأنها فتحت عالما جديدا بالنسبة لي. وأنا أقرب إلى عائلة زوجتي من بلدي. جنبا إلى جنب مع اللغة ، كما أنني تعلمت الثقافة. اكبر فرحة لي في المكسيك هو التحدث الى الشعب والعديد من الأصدقاء الذي أحرزناه خلال رحلاتنا هناك. لقد عملت في فيرا كروز ، وبدأ العمل في المكسيك. ابننا لعب البيسبول في المكسيك ، وكان على كل نجمة المنتخب المكسيكي في المنافسة في البطولة الاولمبية الدولية. وفضلا عن ذلك ، وكان لي العديد من التجارب الرائعة في المكسيك وفنزويلا والتي من شأنها أبدا وكان من الممكن لو لم تعلم الأسبانية والثقافة. 

عندما تبحث عن مكان للتقاعد ، فكرت المكسيك. وقالت زوجتي ليست مطلقة في أي ظرف من الظروف. في الواقع أنا اتفق معها. ولن أخوض في تفاصيل فهذا موضوع آخر. 

كنت أعيش في فنزويلا (2) لسنة حيث كنت مديرا للمبيعات وخدمات الكمبيوتر لشركة الكمبيوتر الاميركية. كان لدي الكثير من الناطقين بالاسبانية والتفاعل مع الناس من جميع أنحاء أمريكا الجنوبية واسبانيا. كانت هناك بعض الخلافات بين الأسبانية في فنزويلا والمكسيك وخصوصا في اسم الغذائية ، وبالطبع عاميا. كما ان هناك بعض الخلافات مع أناس من أسبانيا (اعتمادا على المنطقة في أسبانيا) في النطق. ومع ذلك ، ليس لدي أي مشكلة التحدث مع أي شخص يتحدث الأسبانية. الشيء الذي يجب ان تتوخى الحذر هي العامية. وقال بعض عام قد يكون في بلد واحد ولكن هل يحصل في مأزق آخر. في الواقع أصعب أن يفهم الناس أن يحاول ان يتحدث الاسبانية بطلاقة ، وليس في ذلك. أجد صعوبة في فهم بعض الناس يتحدث الانجليزية من انجلترا من الناطقين بالاسبانية من أسبانيا. عندما كنا نعيش في جنوب شرق فلوريدا ونحن أيضا المرتبطة الأسبانية يتحدث الناس من كثير من البلدان. لدينا لغة الأسبانية الكنيسة الكثير من الناس من مختلف البلدان الناطقة بالاسبانية في الرعية. مي comadre (والدة الإله ابننا) من بورتوريكو. 

السبيل الوحيد للنجاح هو العمل بجهد فيه كل يوم. إذا الماجستير الأسبانية وفهم ثقافة ، سوف يفتح العالم الجديد رائعة لك.


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## BocaBum99 (Jul 9, 2009)

*my kids are partial to Romanian.*



John Cummings said:


> I am fluent in Spanish speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I started learning it 46 years ago when I lived in Phoenix. I had a very compelling reason for learning Spanish. My girlfriend was Mexican and she lived in Mexico. She laid down the law that If I wanted to ever marry her, I had to learn Spanish so I could communicate with her family. With that incentive, I dove into it. I never took any formal classes. I went to the library and got some dictionaries, and Spanish books. The 2 things I concentrated on at first were vocabulary and grammar. Spanish is much more logical than English. I read Spanish language newspapers and magazines. I also got a lot of help from Spanish speaking friends and co-workers. I also used to go down to Nogales Mexico every weekend and practice. I found it easier to learn from the children as they tend to speak more clearly. I spent a lot of time and hard work at it. At first, I had to translate every word. I found reading Spanish to be the easiest. Speaking was easier than understanding somebody else. When speaking, I would say what I knew whereas somebody speaking to me might use words or phrases I didn't know. On the other hand, I have Mexican friends raised in the US that can understand Spanish very well but can't speak it. It is fairly easy to learn to read if you start out reading things that you know something about. Watching TV is a good way to learn. TV was a big factor in my wife learning English. I suggest watching news programs or sports where you can recognize what they are talking about.
> 
> Though Spanish is a very logical language, there are exceptions to the rules both in grammar and gender. All Spanish nouns are either masculine ( el ) or feminine ( la ). Generally a noun ending in "a" is feminine, however this is not always true.
> 
> ...



Sunt fluent în spaniolă vorbire, ascultare, lectură, şi de scris. Am început de învăţare este 46 de ani în urmă, când am trăit în Phoenix. Am avut un motiv foarte diferită de învăţare spaniolă. Prietena mea a fost mexican şi ea a trăit în Mexic. Ea a stabilit drept că, dacă am vrut să mai însura cu ea, am avut de a învăţa limba spaniolă, aşa că am putea comunica cu familia ei. Cu acest stimulent, am porumbel în acesta. N-am mai luat nici un oficial clase. Am mers la bibliotecă şi am unele dicţionare, cărţi şi spaniolă. De 2 lucruri am concentrat asupra a fost la prima gramatică şi vocabular. Spaniolă este mult mai logică decât engleza. Am citit în limba spaniolă ziare şi reviste. De asemenea, am luat o gramada de ajutor de la prieteni şi spaniolă vorbind co-lucrătorilor. Am folosit, de asemenea, pentru a merge în jos pentru a Nogales Mexic in fiecare weekend şi practică. Am găsit-o mai uşor, pentru a afla de la copii, deoarece acestea au tendinţa de a vorbi mai clar. Mi-am petrecut o gramada de timp şi de muncă la ea. La început, am avut de a traduce fiecare cuvânt. Am găsit lectură spaniolă a fi cea mai uşoară. Vorbind a fost mai uşor decât înţelegere pe altcineva. Când vorbeşte, aş spune că ceea ce am ştiut întrucât cineva vorbind cu mine ar putea folosi de cuvinte sau fraze care nu ştiam. Pe de altă parte, am prieteni mexican ridicat în Statele Unite, care pot înţelege foarte bine limba spaniolă, dar nu pot vorbi ea. Este destul de uşor de citit, pentru a afla dacă începem lectură lucrurile pe care le stii ceva despre. Uite la TV este o modalitate buna de a invata. TV a fost un mare factor de la soţia mea de învăţare engleză. Vă sugerez să uiţi de ştiri sau de programe de sport, unde puteţi recunoaşte ceea ce vorbesc. 

Deşi spaniolă este o limbă foarte logic, există excepţii de la normele gramaticale şi de la ambele sexe. Toate spaniolă substantive sunt fie masculin (el) sau feminine (la). În general, un substantiv se termină în "a" este feminin, însă acest lucru nu este întotdeauna adevărat. 

În orice caz, am invatat suficient pentru a satisface prietena mea pe care am putea sta de vorbă cu familia ei. Un an mai târziu am fost căsătorit în Culiacan Sinaloa Mexic şi am trăit acolo timp de 4 ani. A fost bine merita toate eforturile ca am fost foarte fericit căsătorit şi va sărbători noastre 45th anniversary, în august. Sunt foarte fericit că a învăţa limba spaniolă am insistat ca ea a deschis o nouă lume pentru mine. Sunt mult mai aproape de soţia mea de familie decât a mea. Odată cu limba, de asemenea, am învăţat de cultură. Cea mai mare bucurie am în Mexic este să vorbesc cu oamenii şi de mulţi prieteni buni ne-am făcut la noi în călătorii acolo. Am lucrat in Vera Cruz, şi a început o afacere în Mexic. Fiul nostru a jucat în Mexic de baseball şi a fost pe mexican All Star echipa care a concurat în turneul Olimpic Internaţional. In afara de aceasta, am avut aşa de multe experienţe fascinante în Mexic şi Venezuela, care nu s-ar fi fost posibil dacă nu am avut de învăţat spaniolă şi cultură. 

Când caută un loc de a retrage de pe piaţă, am considerat Mexic. Soţia mea a spus absolut nu, în nici un caz. De fapt am fost de acord cu ea. Eu nu va elabora ca asta este un alt subiect. 

Am trait in Venezuela pentru 2 ani în care am fost director de vânzări şi service de calculatoare pentru o companie americana computer. Am avut o mulţime de interacţiune cu oamenii vorbind spaniolă din întreaga America de Sud şi Spania. Au existat unele diferenţe între spaniolă în Venezuela şi Mexic, în special în numele de alimente şi articole de curs argou termeni. Există, de asemenea, unele diferenţe cu persoane din Spania (în funcţie de regiune din Spania), în pronunţie. Cu toate acestea, nu am nici o problema cu conversing orice persoană vorbitoare de limba spaniolă. De lucru pe care trebuie să aveţi grijă despre sunt colloquialisms. Unii spun poate fi comună într-o ţară, dar te probleme într-un alt. De fapt cel mai greu de a intelege sunt oameni care încearcă să vorbesc spaniolă şi nu sunt fluent în el. Îmi este greu să înţeleg unele persoane vorbitoare de limba engleză din Anglia decât spaniolă vorbeşte oamenilor din Spania. Când am trăit într-SE Florida de asemenea, asociate cu spaniolă vorbind oamenii din mai multe ţări. Noastre de limba spaniolă biserica au avut mai multe persoane din diferite ţări spaniolă vorbeşte la noi în parohie. Mi comadre (mama lui Dumnezeu de fiul nostru) este din Puerto Rico. 

Singura cale de a fi de succes este de a lucra din greu la ea în fiecare zi. Daca faci master spaniolă şi să înţeleagă cultura, se va deschide o noua lume fascinantă pentru tine


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## John Cummings (Jul 9, 2009)

*Many errors in the translation.*

Boca, Your translation of my post into Spanish contains many grammatical errors. In fact it is horrendous. By the way, how would you translate it if spoken rather than written? When speaking Spanish, I do not translate at all but instead think in Spanish.


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## CalifasGirl (Jul 10, 2009)

John, I think Boca used something like Google translator. Its word-for-word translation makes errors since language isn't that simple. Once you stop translating in your head and speak by memorized words that are natural to you, you know that you have attained fluency. I can speak by thinking in Korean, but I lack vocabulary. I could be fluent if I learned all the vocabulary necessary to be a fluent speaker. As for Spanish, I'm not quite there yet. My boyfriend knows colloquial Spanish, while mine is more academic, so when we end up in places where no one speaks English, it's funny how we end up covering knowledge that the other doesn't have. When he struggles, I take over. When I struggle, he takes over. Together we make a good team, although we both need more practice and instruction in Spanish!

PJRose, I'm in favor of students taking over any Ds or Fs to increase their GPAs. Some schools in our area refuse to allow students to make up their Ds, which takes them out of the 4-year college track since their GPAs are so low. Some high schools require a 2.0 in order to receive a diploma, so some students who receive Ds can't even get a diploma by the end of high school.

Learning Chinese characters is tough. Talk about memorization! It's a hieroglyphic alphabet, so you need to memorize each character.


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## pjrose (Jul 10, 2009)

CalifasGirl said:


> PJRose, I'm in favor of students taking over any Ds or Fs to increase their GPAs. Some schools in our area refuse to allow students to make up their Ds, which takes them out of the 4-year college track since their GPAs are so low. Some high schools require a 2.0 in order to receive a diploma, so some students who receive Ds can't even get a diploma by the end of high school.



DH and I have both been college profs for 20+ years, and often advise students to do this, especially if there's a subsequent course for which they might not be prepared.  It's important for the student to eventually learn the material, and if it takes a little longer or some more work, that should be fine.  Too bad it often isn't allowed.


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## Ellis2ca (Jul 13, 2009)

*Every once in a while there is a disconnect...*



falmouth3 said:


> I's just every once in a while there is a disconnect over words or phrases.
> 
> Sue



Hear them down in Soho square,
Dropping "h's" everywhere.
Speaking English anyway they like.

Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
This verbal class distinction by now should be antique.

An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him,
The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him.

One common language I'm afraid we'll never get.
Oh, why can't the English learn to... set agood example 
To people whose English is painful to your ears?

The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.

There even are places where English completely disappears. 

Why, in America they haven't spoken it for years!

Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
Norwegians learn Norwegian 
the Greeks have taught their Greek. 

In France every Frenchman knows his language fro "A" to "Zed"...

... The French never care what they say, actually, 
as long as they pronounce it properly!

Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning.

And Hebrews learn it backwards, which is absolutely frightening.

But use proper English you're regarded as a freak.

Why can't the English, 

Why can't the English learn to speak?!!

- Ellis Toussier
(from "My Fair Lady..."


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## CalifasGirl (Jul 15, 2009)

pjrose said:


> DH and I have both been college profs for 20+ years, and often advise students to do this, especially if there's a subsequent course for which they might not be prepared. It's important for the student to eventually learn the material, and if it takes a little longer or some more work, that should be fine. Too bad it often isn't allowed.


I am amazed that schools don't realize the repercussions of not allowing their students to make up D grades. When students can't take a D grade over, they usually end up with an F in the next sequence. If they're lucky, they might end up with a D or a C grade. This is pretty much what I am seeing in the Monterey Bay area.


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## Helene4 (Jun 25, 2010)

My DH figures he needs 2 words to get by:
Cerveza
Bano
   LOL!


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## Kagehitokiri2 (Jun 25, 2010)

total immersion

i had great experience with >
http://www.berlitz.us/Programs-Serv...-Face-Instruction/Berlitz-Total-Immersion/82/

this is the best academic offering im aware of >
http://www.miis.edu/academics/language/custom


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## DeniseM (Jun 25, 2010)

Please note that this is an old thread that was brought out of mothballs by a spammer.  That post has been removed.


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## deedman (Jun 25, 2010)

fastest way to learn spanish is to get a job in landscaping.

edit: to make sure noone thinks I was being insulting, I worked in landscaping during college for 4 years and credit my fluency to this and not my required language classes.


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## easyrider (Jun 25, 2010)

The Roseta Stone Spanish program has helped me understand what is being said to me. My ability to speak spanish because of the Roseta Stone Spanish program has improved but only enough to sound like an American.


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## bjones9942 (Jun 26, 2010)

I've taken a night class on Mandarin a couple of times lately and did a little research on the 'immersion' language courses.

Here are a few to be had (cover multiple languages):

Fluenz [http://www.fluenz.com]
Pimsleur [http://www.pimsleur.com/]
Rosetta Stone [http://www.rosettastone.com/]
Foreign Service Institute Language Courses [http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php]
Fluenz and Rosetta Stone are pricey.  Fluenz is my favorite as it has a video teacher.  Classmates said they liked Pimsleur.  FSI courses are free, but dated.

There are also several language learning podcasts and tons of websites - just google 'learn' and the language.

Xai Jian!


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