Like most languages unless you REALLY need it, don't expect to get nearly perfect at it. Most people who reach that level have a job or live somewhere where its a necessity. If you are just doing it for a challenge or fun, you'll probably reach the middle levels and be satisfied with being able to handle conversations with the locals, but not necessarily at a level to do business or write books.
Spanish is pretty easy in this country. All the media options and the internet make it possible to practice hours each day if you are dedicated. I have never taken a class, but in 7 years have got to a pretty decent intermediate level.
Spanish is pretty easy in this country. All the media options and the internet make it possible to practice hours each day if you are dedicated. I have never taken a class, but in 7 years have got to a pretty decent intermediate level.
Thanks for the responses. My French skills are as follows: understand everything, speak relatively well although I struggle at times, writing skills are fairly poor. My mom is from France and I used to speak French at home all the time. Around 8 or 9 French wasn't "cool" so I stopped using it, but she would still speak French to me which is why I understand it all but am not fully fluent when it comes to speaking it myself. I am considering a few French classes to improve my understanding of the structure of the language as I am sure I could improve rather easily.
I want to learn Spanish for travel reasons and because it is such a common language these days. I do not have many people that speak the language to practice with though. I am in Canada so it is not spoken as much as in the US naturally.
I want to learn Spanish for travel reasons and because it is such a common language these days. I do not have many people that speak the language to practice with though. I am in Canada so it is not spoken as much as in the US naturally.
Just find some people to practice with by IM or email, there are tons of posting boards where you can find people to exchange language skills with. Every city in Latin America has dozens of schools to teach English, every one of those students is encouraged to interact with you.
Its kind of strange, but Mexicans in the US are sort of indifferent towards Americans, almost half hostile/half afraid of them. I have noticed Mexicans in Canada are a lot friendlier. Probably because they don't have such a huge community to fall back on like they do here, nor the growing ethnic war that seems to be brewing here.
The nice thing about all Spanish speakers is unlike French people they actually appreciate your efforts, even if you only say a handful of words to begin with. French speakers when hearing mediocre French usually tell you to just speak English.
Its kind of strange, but Mexicans in the US are sort of indifferent towards Americans, almost half hostile/half afraid of them. I have noticed Mexicans in Canada are a lot friendlier. Probably because they don't have such a huge community to fall back on like they do here, nor the growing ethnic war that seems to be brewing here.
The nice thing about all Spanish speakers is unlike French people they actually appreciate your efforts, even if you only say a handful of words to begin with. French speakers when hearing mediocre French usually tell you to just speak English.
Very true Wolfie. The Spanish spoken varies quite a bit from country to country. What particular type you learn matters. If you learn "Castellano" like in Spain or Argentina be prepared to be overwhelmed talking to a Mexican and vice versa. I have learned Mexican spanish, which is useful since most media stuff is Mexican, but went to Puerto Rico and was hopeless. The pronunciation and slang are vastly different. Until you are close to an expert these twists will drive you nuts. Just imagine if you lived in Canada and didn't speak English so well and then visited Australia. You get the picture of what awaits you with the local varieties.
Haha, I worked for a year with executive level people from Australia stationed in the US. They weren't as bad as him, but nonetheless it was a tough accent to get used to and they had some of the silliest sayings and phrases you can every imagine. One guy was fond of saying "if we get that, it'd be the ducks balls". Now imagine if you were learning English what you would think about that one.
-Slim- said:
what ! you have to be crazy.........what about all the verb tenses etc?
Tu has hablado conmigo., You have spoken to me
Hablaras tu conmigo?, would you speak to me?
Quiero hablar contigo?, I want to speak to you
Hemos hablado hoy, We have spoken today
Ellos hablarian bien , They would speak well
so we have , hablado/hablaras/hablar/hablado/hablarian versus spoken and speak
I am not even getting into la/el/lo/los/etc.....
Plus the accents......
If you want to simply make your point across thats fine but we all know what 'gringo' Spanish is , to master a language Spanish is not that easy at all (of course it could be German that we are talking about or some language where even the alphabet is different :lolBIG: )
and please note that 'hablar' is a regular verb, it could have gotten really ugly if I would have the patience to write an example with an irregular verb
the only thing that can be difficult about leanring spanish is conjugating some irregular verbs but in time youll learn them but everything is pronounced the way its written, and is relatively easy.
At least in comparison to other languages, wolfie
Example: Pronouncing choir in english...give me a break, it should be written quaier
At least in comparison to other languages, wolfie
Example: Pronouncing choir in english...give me a break, it should be written quaier
WildBill said:
The spanish they use in the movies is pretty neutral I think, so yeah you can get killed with slang or accents (for my first 4 months in High School I barely understood 30% of what one of the teachers said, he was from Spain)
Its really funny however when I saw 'Star Wars' dubbed in 'Spain Spanish' , to hear Darth Vader speaking with that accent .....well.....it was something from the 'Dark Side' as well (They do this 'local version' in Argentina too it appears)
I am going to Scotland soon and I have already been warned.......that what they speak might not be even called 'English' specially up north.
-Slim- said:the only thing that can be difficult about leanring spanish is conjugating some irregular verbs but in time youll learn them but everything is pronounced the way its written, and is relatively easy.
At least in comparison to other languages, wolfie
Example: Pronouncing choir in english...give me a break, it should be written quaier
you are right about that, I never know how something sounds until I hear it , on the other side, English does not have accents (which I never really learned well to start with), with French I was always totally dead .....they have more than one accent symbol.
btw Peteep, I am tempted to buy my wife the Spanish set of RosettaStone..............somehow I feel like I can calling Monex to invest in gold or something........not sure if its any good or not.....but now that they offer an online (and cheaper) version I might just get her volume I to see how she does
