Music Banter - View Single Post

misspoptart · 03-17-2013, 03:26 PM

I'm from the US and I speak English as a native language (of course). I took my first Spanish class when I was 13, and I wasn't particularly good at it.

With Spanish, if you're planning to use it in Spain, make sure you learn the Spanish accent. For some, it is really disorienting to arrive in Spain with a pretty decent knowledge of Latin American/Mexican Spanish and not understand a damn thing. The Spanish accent sounds kinda dumb at first to most English speakers, but I assure you it is both eloquent and much sexier.

In terms of learning, try to get in sitautions where you can only speak Spanish. Do not rely on English for anything, and find a native-speaking teacher, tutor, or friend that forces you to use it. I really started to learn when I was 17, because I got a scholarship to study it for 1 year at the local university in combination with the high school course. The teacher at the uni was Dominican and threatened to fail us if she even heard one word of English in the classroom. Her strategy worked, because we were all struggling at first but it became more and more natural for the class as the course went on. As is the case with any language-learning environment, if the mother tongue can be used, it will always be relied on. So just try to get immersed. It could be better to go to Spain or Costa Rica for example and learn, but chances are you'll meet english speakers and the whole experience will be different anyway. You have to want to speak Spanish only in those situations. so go prepared to meet resistance.

both study abroad programs I participated in were full of English speakers and we all just talked English. needless to say, I learned more at home in Maine with my Dominican nazi teacher

Another option (which also works wonders) is to fall in love with a spanish speaker. Even if brief, your emotional attachment to the language will be heightened, and learning it will become more imperative. Think about the reasons we have a language. Is not the most important one to express ourselves? Aaaaand...do you not feel an uncanny need to express yourself when you're in love? The two things CLEARLY go together. Again, good luck. And you made the right choice with Spanish. It's WAY more useful than German.

03-17-2013, 03:26 PM	#6 (permalink)
misspoptart gimme gimme Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: istanbul Posts: 897	I'm from the US and I speak English as a native language (of course). I took my first Spanish class when I was 13, and I wasn't particularly good at it. With Spanish, if you're planning to use it in Spain, make sure you learn the Spanish accent. For some, it is really disorienting to arrive in Spain with a pretty decent knowledge of Latin American/Mexican Spanish and not understand a damn thing. The Spanish accent sounds kinda dumb at first to most English speakers, but I assure you it is both eloquent and much sexier. In terms of learning, try to get in sitautions where you can only speak Spanish. Do not rely on English for anything, and find a native-speaking teacher, tutor, or friend that forces you to use it. I really started to learn when I was 17, because I got a scholarship to study it for 1 year at the local university in combination with the high school course. The teacher at the uni was Dominican and threatened to fail us if she even heard one word of English in the classroom. Her strategy worked, because we were all struggling at first but it became more and more natural for the class as the course went on. As is the case with any language-learning environment, if the mother tongue can be used, it will always be relied on. So just try to get immersed. It could be better to go to Spain or Costa Rica for example and learn, but chances are you'll meet english speakers and the whole experience will be different anyway. You have to want to speak Spanish only in those situations. so go prepared to meet resistance. both study abroad programs I participated in were full of English speakers and we all just talked English. needless to say, I learned more at home in Maine with my Dominican nazi teacher Another option (which also works wonders) is to fall in love with a spanish speaker. Even if brief, your emotional attachment to the language will be heightened, and learning it will become more imperative. Think about the reasons we have a language. Is not the most important one to express ourselves? Aaaaand...do you not feel an uncanny need to express yourself when you're in love? The two things CLEARLY go together. Again, good luck. And you made the right choice with Spanish. It's WAY more useful than German.