coolandhot

How long did it take you to learn how to speak and understand Spanish? How often did you practice and study?

Lalaguayaba

You can 'book-learn' Spanish, but until you are in a situation where you have to speak Spanish every day, you won't get it. The immersion is important to how your brain handles the acquisition of new language skills.
I never took Spanish in school, I was a French and Latin kind of gal, but the firm foundation I had in those languages made learning Spanish fairly easy. My experience was basically having to speak Spanish @ work--any professional kitchen in a major city is likely to have mostly Spanish-speaking staff. Since they want to learn English, its a very give-and-take learning atmosphere. After about four years of that, I was frustrated with my lack of a proper framework, i.e. grammar, so I finally took a class @ the local community college. After that, since I basically spent twelve hours a day with folks from El Salvador, Honduras, Columbia, Guatemala, and Mexico--that was my first immersive experience and my staff was totally impressed that I learned how to speak correctly with them.
So, let's see...4 years of hearing it (ear training is NOT a joke--Sp is a very liquid sounding language compared to English,) six weeks of intensive Spanish--two classes per week @ four hours a pop, plus a minimum of two hours of daily study--and then I recommend you move someplace where no one speaks English.
From my experiences with both French and Spanish, you can study all that you want, but it really won't do any good until you are living and breathing in that language. I'd say I studied French from 8-21, but it didn't really sink in until I lived there...and then only after about six months. By that time you start dreaming and thinking in the language, and have an excellent command of the language. But fluency is not the same as it being your native language! No matter how much studying is applied, you will never have as perfect a grasp of any language than the one you first learned to speak.

I am fluent in several languages, but that doesn't mean that I get all the jokes, or have absorbed all the history that is inherent in a spoken language. Imagine a person who speaks fluent Modern English, but its not their native language...and then they try to read Shakespeare. I mean, I know a lot of native English speakers who have problems with the Bard!!

When I'm in a Spanish-speaking country, I still watch American movies, satellite t.v., etc. So when I'm in an Anglo country, I watch Spanish movies, futbol games, etc. And try to read a news-based website at least daily; CNN or BBC en espanol is perfect--that way you can clairify and learn new words by comparing the context of the English-lang articles.

?Claro? Have fun learning!!

Cheers.

tallman33

Thanks for all that great information about your personal learning history. I think it can take a while to learn Spanish. It helps if you watch Spanish movies, TV, and read Spanish news. Luckily, there are a lot of Spanish speakers in the United States.

vla

If you immerse yourself by going to a Spanish country you can pick up the language pretty fast. Few months.

If you can't afford that, then surround yourself with everything Spanish, food, music, movies, television. And practice at every opportunity.

You should be able to master basic conversations in less than a year. But it all depends on desire, necessity and circumstances.

Laura

I have to reluctantly admit that after several years of traveling to and living in Spanish speaking countries my Spanish is not near perfection nor fluency yet. I know I should watch more Spanish movies, listening to Spanish audiobooks or read Spanish books, but what I find profoundly depressing is that movies and books that were translated from English to Spanish, are so much better in the English version. The Spanish version lacks originality and creativity, and I literally have to force myself to watch the Spanish version of a movie if that same move is also available in English, because I haven't found anything original or interesting in the Spanish language yet.

Do you know of any INTERESTING Spanish movies, books, etc. that were not translated to Spanish from English but were made/written originally in Spanish?

__________________
Laura

Lalaguayaba

Pan's Labyrinth, Anything by Pedro Almovodar, like Y tu mama, tambien--are all available either currently on cable or through Netflix or Blockbuster. Almovodar's movies are funny, raunchy and well-acted, and you'll see actors like Penelope Cruz in their native language.


Enjoy, cheers!

tallman33

Thanks for the movie tips Lalaguayaba! I'm going to try them out, and see if my Spanish is good enough.

Nosfer

how do you call those serials they have? telenovelas? they can be pretty useful if you want to start learning spanish. i think you could learn the basics really fast... 2-3 months, but if you want your grammar to be perfect then you definetely have to study a lot more and make dozen of exercises.

seashore

What are the serials? I don't recall hearing anything about them before.

Lalaguayaba

Telenovela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is easy to find these kinds of shows on any Spanish-language station at all hours of the day. They are characterized by high melodrama, serious quantities of make-up and a really emotional soundtrack. It's the standard, over-the-top complicated soap opera model that makes them so popular all over the world--just really convoluted plots and sub-plots. The language is easy to understand through the actions of the characters.

Cheers.

Nosfer

well ... endless movies about life in spanish countries... with numerous episodes, usually love stories... we've got many of those in my country... mainly they're in italian but i've seen several ones that are in spanish, and if you listen carefully to what they say you could improve your spanish like that.

seashore

I'm not a big fan of soap operas and such, but I suppose they can be a helpful way to learn the language.

Lalaguayaba

I'm not a fan of them at all, they just seem really silly and overly melodramatic; I'd much rather just watch one of my favorite DVDs with the Spanish soundtrack turned on--that way I already know what the plot is, who the characters are--and just go with learning new vocab for the situations.
Watching soccer on the Spanish channels is also awesome--they get so much more animated than the Amercian or British presenters.

Cheers.

panman

That's true. I hear them screaming goal sometimes.

Nosfer

well for most of europeans football is like a religion. That's why the commentary is nicer and... there's always a pleasure watching Barcelona or Real Madrid play also, i like watching matches from Argentina's league... now those surely have a lot of fans.

themark

What do you mean that football is like a religion? Who takes it more 'religiously,' Europeans or Latinos?

Lalaguayaba

That they will defend their team's honor with their shouts and fists if necessary; spend all possible free time watching matches, regardless of which timezone they are held in, wear all the jerseys, sing all the songs, and eat and drink appropriate national foods--I'm fairly sure that's what Nosfer meant by 'religion.' In D.C., Aussie/N.Z. matches usually fall in the middle of the night--I know of several pubs that open back up, or never close so that they can show matches at 2 or 3am. Euro games usually fall in the morning or afternoon, so its not unusual to head out to the bar @ 8am for games that you can't get at home.

I'd be hard pressed to say which continent is more gung-ho about cheering--its not a good idea to be wearing the wrong team colors in certain towns after matches in any country. There's a lot of drinking, and not a whole lot of thinking after a team's win or loss.

Football hooliganism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Despite the negativity--its still the best game on the planet, or at least the most popular, and my 2nd favorite after college basketball.

Cheers.

Nosfer

yeah, that's what i ment by 'religion' and well in the US and Canada football it's not too well developed, but in all other countries Football comes in 1st place. actually almoust all matches are at night, about 9:30 PM but in the US then it's another time.

with "wearing wrong team colors" it's not a big deal... but if you're going to another town to cheer for your favorite team, and you begin insulting those locals, it's pretty sure they'll gang on you. try to be peaceful where you go

lee

That sums it up nicely!

In my experience in Panama they watch football (soccer) a lot, but don't get quite as exited/drunk/loud as in Europe or Argentina.

coolandhot

It's hard to imagine people fighting over sports teams. Of course, that is like religion, because people fight over religion a lot. There's even been many wars over it!

zhinghur

Yeah, I have been to India for a year and found "Cricket" a religion there including few of its neighboring countries. Just imagine countries in Asia like India with billion population watching Cricket.

I wonder which sports owns the max. no of spectators ??

Is it Football or Cricket ??

My votes goes to Cricket.