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I'd like to learn Spanish, any advice?
- Thread starter The Last Wizard
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el retorno
Member
I think he was going for "dale".
Fantastic Spanish artist, yes. His paintings are full of stars...
...but you probably won't learn any Spanish from them.
Head of Vengarl
Banned
I've been with a Mexican American for three and a half years now. She primarily speaks Spanish to her parents at home, though she code switches a lot. All these years of being around that, and I don't speak a lick of Spanish. :[ I even took a Spanish 101 class in college but it was bullshit because the professor assumed everyone in the class had taken Spanish in high school, so she zoomed through the basics and I was never able to keep up.
I had a feeling you were gonna make a thread on learning Spanish. Typing from my phone so proper accents are going to be missing. Para las gente que no saben, Yo y el OP habia tenia esta misma conversacion en persona. El me habia dicho que querra ir para Puerto Rico un dia. No le quiero dar mas verguenza pero a el le encantan las mujeres Latinas. 
Best word of advice would be to check out your college's Spanish 101 text book (preferably used), read a lot of Spanish stuff on Spanish news websites and do not be ashamed to practice speaking it with fluent speakers such as me. My brother's girlfriend took Spanish in college and understands it but she's too embarassed to speak it with my family so she speaks to them in English. I will definitely laugh at you since you're still learning. ;D
Lastly, to echo everyone else's thoughts, if there's a Spanish club or something similar in your college, then join it or go check out your college's Salsa club.
Best word of advice would be to check out your college's Spanish 101 text book (preferably used), read a lot of Spanish stuff on Spanish news websites and do not be ashamed to practice speaking it with fluent speakers such as me. My brother's girlfriend took Spanish in college and understands it but she's too embarassed to speak it with my family so she speaks to them in English. I will definitely laugh at you since you're still learning. ;D
Lastly, to echo everyone else's thoughts, if there's a Spanish club or something similar in your college, then join it or go check out your college's Salsa club.
Our Spanish isn't that bad. We're just extremely americanized so our language has a lot of american influences. Anyways, we don't change all the "Rs" for "Ls", just some of them. In this case it would be "Puelto Rico". We also avoid some "S" but we're not the only ones who do that
Anyways OP, avoid Spain spanish, no sane person would use "vosotros". Also, don't use "vos". I never like those two words.
Anyways, we don't change all the "Rs" for "Ls", just some of them. In this case it would be "Puelto Rico". We also avoid some "S" but we're not the only ones who do that
.
Haha see? I like how you sound like, but for someone who wants to learn it wouldn't be recommended
Haha see? I like how you sound like, but for someone who wants to learn it wouldn't be recommended
You can call me anytime
lol
crazy_about_denise
Member
Get a real boyfriend ASAP.
Do not use Duolingo if you are an absolute beginner. It really isn't its purpose and will just completely trick you into thinking you are learning something.
Honestly if you can, take some classes and use the other stuff people provided (Duolingo included) as a supplement. This is especially true of Romance languages. Not a Spanish-learner here (French rather) but I hadn't really broken the bad habit of trying to mind fuck English grammar (or my poor understanding of it) into French grammar. It's harder to do when you want to do most of it online.
Force yourself to be in a classroom setting or find some way to actually speak it with other people, which will make it easier to pick up. But certainly use all the other materials people suggested to improve things like vocabulary.
Honestly if you can, take some classes and use the other stuff people provided (Duolingo included) as a supplement. This is especially true of Romance languages. Not a Spanish-learner here (French rather) but I hadn't really broken the bad habit of trying to mind fuck English grammar (or my poor understanding of it) into French grammar. It's harder to do when you want to do most of it online.
Force yourself to be in a classroom setting or find some way to actually speak it with other people, which will make it easier to pick up. But certainly use all the other materials people suggested to improve things like vocabulary.
youngwerther
Banned
There is a series of books called "English Grammar for Students of *blank*" (the blank being whatever language you are learning.)
They concisely and comparatively explain most grammatical concepts in terms of both English and the secondary language, especially those that you will run into as a beginner. It's a good supplement to reference whenever you are confused about something or just want to do some reading. It will probably help improve your English grammar as well (although learning another language just tends to naturally do that).
I only have the German one, so I can't speak for any other versions, but I like it and here is the Spanish one.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0934034419/?tag=neogaf0e-20
They concisely and comparatively explain most grammatical concepts in terms of both English and the secondary language, especially those that you will run into as a beginner. It's a good supplement to reference whenever you are confused about something or just want to do some reading. It will probably help improve your English grammar as well (although learning another language just tends to naturally do that).
I only have the German one, so I can't speak for any other versions, but I like it and here is the Spanish one.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0934034419/?tag=neogaf0e-20
BananaBomb
Member
learn latin first until you can read vergil fluently then pick up one of those workbooks and blast through it
This is a nice site and easy to use.
http://www.memrise.com/course/79389/learn-basic-mexican-spanish/
http://www.memrise.com/course/79389/learn-basic-mexican-spanish/
For pronunciation, avoid influences from these countries:
- Puerto Rico, OH GOD PUELTO LICO
- Nicaragua
You'll be fine with any other country- be cautious with "american" mexico spanish
No! Best Spanish for Americans. We don't have time for all these bullshit Ss and the like. Like putting Us next to my Os for no reason.
Nathan Muir
Member
¿Quieres comprender castellano? ¿Le gustaría hablar con GAF Bilingüe? Déjame que te cuente cómo aprenderlo:
The best way to learn any language is immersion. They're is simply no substitute if you want to get beyond conversational adequacy into the realm of fluency. Therefore, my recommendation is to plan a trip overseas and force yourself into a sink or swim environment. If you're truly serious about it, you've got to spend some significant time among a Spanish-speaking population. If you're fine with not becoming fluent, then just find a friend who's willing to practice with you. Rergardless of which path you choose, the only way to learn the language is to spend a lot of time working on it, and practice speaking with native speakers regularly. My serious disclaimer before my recommendations for study: If you're not willing to put in significant time, don't bother.
As for the method of study itself, here's what the best course of action is in my opinion. Start by spending a bit of time familiarising yourself with the 1.) phonetics of the language to build a strong sense for the sounds of speech. Why do you I recommend this? I live in Buenos Aires at the moment, and the city constantly has tourists. Some of these tourists bravely attempt to speak with locals in Spanish, but the truth is if you have a thick accent, o si usas diptongos como los estadounidenses, the people here are going to find it mildly irritating. They appreciate the effort, but it's insulting if you don't at least try to get into the sound of the language.
After briefly practicing the phonetics--or even simultaneously--start chugging away with the 2.) grammar and conjugations. Spanish has many more conjugations than English, so it takes time and patience for these to become second nature. I made a cheat sheet when I was first learning Spanish, but the only way to really get them down is to use them. You've got to be willing to make mistakes. Most people won't correct your grammar unless you ask them to, so try to find a friend who's willing to practice speaking in different tenses with you. Finally, once you have a firm grasp on the conjugation and the different sentence structures, continue to acquire a wider 3.) vocabulary, and force yourself to 4.) practice, practice, practice. If you keep a tiny journal in your pocket, you can write down words you don't know or questions you have, then take them to a Spanish friend who can help you out.
Here are some tremendously helpful sources which I used on my path to fluency:
http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm This site has nearly comprehensive lessons to the grammar and conjugations. It is absolutely worth your time to use it.
http://www.123teachme.com/spanish_verb_conjugation This site lets you type in the infinitive form of a Spanish verb, and it gives you all the conjugations in their different forms. Very useful indeed.
¡Que tengas suerte!
Edit: One last disclaimer: Plenty of friends and good-intentioned people have loads of advice on the best way to learn Spanish, but very few actually walk the walk (or perhaps in this instance, talk the talk). Take all the advice you receive with a grain of salt. The above is what worked for me. I'm originally from the U.S., but I have locals here in Buenos Aires ask me for directions constantly, and people only know I'm from the U.S. if I tell them. Basically my point is, you should listen to my advice. ; )
The best way to learn any language is immersion. They're is simply no substitute if you want to get beyond conversational adequacy into the realm of fluency. Therefore, my recommendation is to plan a trip overseas and force yourself into a sink or swim environment. If you're truly serious about it, you've got to spend some significant time among a Spanish-speaking population. If you're fine with not becoming fluent, then just find a friend who's willing to practice with you. Rergardless of which path you choose, the only way to learn the language is to spend a lot of time working on it, and practice speaking with native speakers regularly. My serious disclaimer before my recommendations for study: If you're not willing to put in significant time, don't bother.
As for the method of study itself, here's what the best course of action is in my opinion. Start by spending a bit of time familiarising yourself with the 1.) phonetics of the language to build a strong sense for the sounds of speech. Why do you I recommend this? I live in Buenos Aires at the moment, and the city constantly has tourists. Some of these tourists bravely attempt to speak with locals in Spanish, but the truth is if you have a thick accent, o si usas diptongos como los estadounidenses, the people here are going to find it mildly irritating. They appreciate the effort, but it's insulting if you don't at least try to get into the sound of the language.
After briefly practicing the phonetics--or even simultaneously--start chugging away with the 2.) grammar and conjugations. Spanish has many more conjugations than English, so it takes time and patience for these to become second nature. I made a cheat sheet when I was first learning Spanish, but the only way to really get them down is to use them. You've got to be willing to make mistakes. Most people won't correct your grammar unless you ask them to, so try to find a friend who's willing to practice speaking in different tenses with you. Finally, once you have a firm grasp on the conjugation and the different sentence structures, continue to acquire a wider 3.) vocabulary, and force yourself to 4.) practice, practice, practice. If you keep a tiny journal in your pocket, you can write down words you don't know or questions you have, then take them to a Spanish friend who can help you out.
Here are some tremendously helpful sources which I used on my path to fluency:
http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm This site has nearly comprehensive lessons to the grammar and conjugations. It is absolutely worth your time to use it.
http://www.123teachme.com/spanish_verb_conjugation This site lets you type in the infinitive form of a Spanish verb, and it gives you all the conjugations in their different forms. Very useful indeed.
¡Que tengas suerte!
Edit: One last disclaimer: Plenty of friends and good-intentioned people have loads of advice on the best way to learn Spanish, but very few actually walk the walk (or perhaps in this instance, talk the talk). Take all the advice you receive with a grain of salt. The above is what worked for me. I'm originally from the U.S., but I have locals here in Buenos Aires ask me for directions constantly, and people only know I'm from the U.S. if I tell them. Basically my point is, you should listen to my advice. ; )
IamMattFox
Member
I took two years in high school and four semesters in college and I couldn't tell you the difference between an azul and an anaranjado.
youngwerther
Banned
Yea I took two years of Spanish in high school too and I can't remember even the absolute basics. Same thing with anyone else I know. Language classes here are a joke I think.
I know el is masculine and la is feminine, and that's it.
I know el is masculine and la is feminine, and that's it.
Nathan Muir
Member
This is also a good point. Spain has four dilects--plus some additional variation within these--based on geographical location. "Vosotros" is a bit archaic, and these days it's only found in the Bible, or in Spain. Everywhere else in the world we use "ustedes." As someone who speaks Latin American Spanish, the only major difference in my Spanish and that of someone in Mexico is the use of "vos" instead of "tu."
Bear in mind, however, that anywhere you go in the world, Spanish speakers will understand you regardless of what dialect you use. People here understand "vosotros" conjugations, and people in Spain understand "ustedes." Usually in the U.S. they teach Spanish from Mexico, but If you want to learn the Spanish that most people in the world speak, go for Latin American Spanish. The real difficulty with regional dialects is keying into different pronunciations. Por ejemplo, I speak in the manner of the Porteños, stressing the hell out of double l ("pollo"), but using very little "s" sound when it's not initial in a word. In Spain people use a sound more akin to a lisp than an "s". Those are things you'll pick up the more you learn though.
I think you should take some classes where you are to learn the basics. But if you truly want to learn spanish, go to a country that speaks it and take classes there and get to know the enviroment. I took english classes for like 4 years here in Mexico but in the month I went to Canada I learnt more than those damn classes.
About articles and accents, you'll get it eventually.
About articles and accents, you'll get it eventually.
Nathan Muir
Member
One final point before I jet: It usually takes at least three months of total immersion to reach a level of conversational fluency. It all depends on your current comprehension level with the language, your personal capacity for picking up foreign languages, and your work ethic. You can't really affect your aptitude for languages, but you sure as hell can work your ass off to learn one if you're willing. So no excuses, hop to it. Time's a tickin'.
NeOak
Member
I had a feeling you were gonna make a thread on learning Spanish. Typing from my phone so proper accents are going to be missing. Para las gente que no saben, Yo y el OP habia tenia esta misma conversacion en persona. El me habia dicho que querra ir para Puerto Rico un dia. No le quiero dar mas verguenza pero a el le encantan las mujeres Latinas.
Best word of advice would be to check out your college's Spanish 101 text book (preferably used), read a lot of Spanish stuff on Spanish news websites and do not be ashamed to practice speaking it with fluent speakers such as me. My brother's girlfriend took Spanish in college and understands it but she's too embarassed to speak it with my family so she speaks to them in English. I will definitely laugh at you since you're still learning. ;D
Lastly, to echo everyone else's thoughts, if there's a Spanish club or something similar in your college, then join it or go check out your college's Salsa club.
Puerto Rico is fun. I used to live there lol. You can use it to get a hang of spanish, but be aware that people in the Caribbean speak very fast, so it will take you some time to understand them lol
And allow me to correct:
Para la gente que no saben, el OP y yo habíamos tenia esta misma conversación en persona. El me había dicho que quería ir para Puerto Rico algún dia. No le quiero provocar mas vergüenza pero a el le encantan las mujeres latinas.
Our Spanish isn't that bad. We're just extremely americanized so our language has a lot of american influences. Anyways, we don't change all the "Rs" for "Ls", just some of them. In this case it would be "Puelto Rico". We also avoid some "S" but we're not the only ones who do that
Anyways OP, avoid Spain spanish, no sane person would use "vosotros". Also, don't use "vos". I never like those two words.
Cabron, it is that bad! But you are right in that you aren't the only ones. Dominican Spanish is similar lol.
As for vos, I would use it when I was pissed off. It scared people.
Meraaaa deja la mierda. Eating letters is not nice. You'll get fat!
This thread is fun!
Something I was told by one of my teachers when I was learning english (spanish speaker here) was: "Do not think in Spanish and then translate. Try your best to think in englsh with the words you know"
I really don't know how if that's the right way to do it, but I found it pretty entretaining. I guess you could try the same after you learn a little.
Nathan Muir
Member
Bueno, si no te gusta "vos", es mejor que todos empezamos con "tu." Supongo que todos nosotros en Argentina no saben lo que estamos haciendo.
Wrong, and forgedaboudit! I don't use "vosotros," but "vos" is where it's at. ¡Fuera de aquí con su americanizada español!
And allow me to correct:
Para la gente que no saben, el OP y yo habíamos tenia esta misma conversación en persona. El me había dicho que quería ir para Puerto Rico algún dia. No le quiero provocar mas vergüenza pero a el le encantan las mujeres latinas.
Actually it is:
Para la gente que no sabe, el OP y yo habíamos tenido esta misma conversación en persona. Everything else is right haha.
I always found it interesting that the wiki article makes it seem that Spain doesn't use vos very much. Or is "voseo" a bit different?Bueno, si no te gusta "vos", es mejor que todos empezamos con "tu." Supongo que todos nosotros en Argentina no saben lo que estamos haciendo.
Wrong, and forgedaboudit! I don't use "vosotros," but "vos" is where it's at. ¡Fuera de aquí con su americanizada español!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voseo#Geographical_distribution
edit:
Oh, am I the only one who prefers adjectives to be after the noun?
I don't really like the sound of it when I hear something like "impresionante músico" or "excelente comida." To me it sounds better to say "músico impresionante" or "comida excelente." It flows better, so I prefer having the noun first and then the adjective. Some adverbs also sound better in that fashion, but since they are adverbs they can be placed in different positions.
Nathan Muir
Member
"Voseo" is just a word signifying the action of using "vos," but "vos" is the actual word used in the language.
In Spain they use:
Second Person Informal: Tu
Second Person Plural: Vosotros
Most of Latin America uses:
Second Person Informal: Vos
Second Person Plural: Ustedes
Most remaining countries use:
Second Person Informal: Tu
Second Person Plural: Ustedes
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Voseo is not an americanism per se but an archaism that happens to be in use in America.
That out of the way, I will endlessly mock anybody unable to differentiate S from C from Z and R from L. And that includes Canarians.
That out of the way, I will endlessly mock anybody unable to differentiate S from C from Z and R from L. And that includes Canarians.
（　´​_ゝ`）
How the hell does someone confuse R/L? If anything Y an "ll." （　´​_ゝ`）
Nathan Muir
Member
Archaism means form of speech no longer in use. Vos is used in almost every Spanish-speaking Latin American country, therefore it's not an archaism.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Fair enough. Ancient expression is probably more correct.
Dat caribbean accent.
Vermillion
Banned
I suggest a combination of:
http://www.memrise.com/ (Helps you to increase your noun count)
and
https://conjuguemos.com/ (Helps you to conjugate verbs)
I can't really help for grammar or proper usage of forms... though this may help:
http://spanish.about.com/
And then speak it a LOT. Good luck
http://www.memrise.com/ (Helps you to increase your noun count)
and
https://conjuguemos.com/ (Helps you to conjugate verbs)
I can't really help for grammar or proper usage of forms... though this may help:
http://spanish.about.com/
And then speak it a LOT. Good luck
Don't Argentinians have different informal conjugations similar to vosotros though? Like podés, querés etc. That's a pretty big difference.
edit: Unless you're not in Argentina/speaking their Spanish, then nevermind.
Full disclosure, I'm from Spain.
I often hear (mostly from colombia) awesome words or idioms that I wish we used over here, but I still think that overall we speak the best spanish language. Not because of entitlement or anything like that but because of personal (but probably biased) preference:
- I dislike ambiguity: Almost always one letter has a single unique sound asigned to it. This makes writting spoken words really easy and we very rarely spell out words or names. It isn't perfect, since nobody can tell the difference between b and v, for example... but it doesn't get any better in spanish (Ironically I love the english language for its crazy phonetics and how different it is)
- More information: Tu/Usted and Vosotros/Ustedes are all used in Spain but for different reasons/situations. They aren't freely interchangeable and they convey information, much like our apparently complicated verbs.
Nevertheless if I lived in the USA and wanted to learn spanish I'd turn towards Mexico (the most common) or colombian (personal preference), because well... you'd probably get weird looks otherwise.
I often hear (mostly from colombia) awesome words or idioms that I wish we used over here, but I still think that overall we speak the best spanish language. Not because of entitlement or anything like that but because of personal (but probably biased) preference:
- I dislike ambiguity: Almost always one letter has a single unique sound asigned to it. This makes writting spoken words really easy and we very rarely spell out words or names. It isn't perfect, since nobody can tell the difference between b and v, for example... but it doesn't get any better in spanish (Ironically I love the english language for its crazy phonetics and how different it is)
- More information: Tu/Usted and Vosotros/Ustedes are all used in Spain but for different reasons/situations. They aren't freely interchangeable and they convey information, much like our apparently complicated verbs.
Nevertheless if I lived in the USA and wanted to learn spanish I'd turn towards Mexico (the most common) or colombian (personal preference), because well... you'd probably get weird looks otherwise.
Nathan Muir
Member
Well, it's hardly archaic or ancient given the widespread usage today, so I still can't get behind this. That said, this is more an issue of semantics, so I'll leave it be.
Those are just conjugations for "vos" as opposed to "tu". Sometimes the conjugation differences between the two are as simple as accent changes, but other times there's a difference in the stem change. Still, regardless of which conjugation you use, native speakers will understand you without problems.
Heck, you can even speak with a Brazilian who's using Portuguese and understand what he's saying. With that in mind, the changes between "tu" and "vos" really are minimal, and they present no problems in comprehension.
I suggest you watch movies in spanish and listen to music in spanish, famirialize yourself with the language just learning from books or taking classes won't do. that applies to any language of course, but oh shit it's so true.
¡Buena suerte!
Btw listening to an argentinian girl talk gives me such a hard on, sexiest spanish dialect fo sho.
¡Buena suerte!
Btw listening to an argentinian girl talk gives me such a hard on, sexiest spanish dialect fo sho.
Seriously. Their ll's and y's. oh lawd
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
But it is an ancient word. It comes from old Castillian and is certainly older than alternatives such as Ustedes and Vosotros. Just because it's used across Latin America doesn't mean it's not a very old word.
mario_O
Member
This is so true, I find it hilarious to watch english spelling competitions, it would be ridiculous to have one in spanish.
Nathan Muir
Member
With that logic nearly all of Spanish is "ancient" though, just like any other language with Romantic roots. Of course I agree with you on the history though, and it is older in form by comparison (though with close relation to vosotros).
Nos dijo que estás viviendo en España. ¿Eres un nativo?
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
It is. But since I was making a direct comparision with the alternatives, the description still stands.
Indeed.
Nathan Muir
Member
You guys know what's up. When I decided to get out of the U.S. for the summer, there's definitely a reason I chose to return to Buenos Aires.
Las chicas porteñas son la mejor.
Nathan Muir
Member
Which is why I didn't understand your need to differentiate and call vos "ancient."
Todas las palabras se originaron desde y son castellano.
SteveWinwood
Member
donde est ta et la bibliotech
Bomber Bob
Banned
Always look for free. Not even going to lie to you. Just about anything is better than Rosetta stone. This is coming from the guy who has had a chance to mess with a bunch of their language programs.
Also, Duolingo wont get you far. Don't rely on it, but don't totally ignore it either.
Edit: Want to add to my post. When I say "always look for free" I mean when choosing between Rosetta stone or something for free.
gutter_trash
Banned
If you have Spanish language TV stations and radio available where you are. Stay plugged in, listening to the same radio ads over and over will eventually sink in
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