Post: #26

(11-12-2010 07:27 PM)manilaguy Wrote:  IMO, the tough part to consider is the "Half-Life" of a language, meaning the inherent decay of your language skill in respect to time not spent in exposure. Just like muscles, if you don't use it.. you lose it. So f*ck me, i have to budget 20min on my already packed day to get this goal checked off..

BE WARNED! SPANISH IS HARD!!

Unless you want to remain speaking like a fifth grader, then that's a different story.

Spanish isn't hard to practice if you live in Miami. Everyone I work with speaks spanish and half the guests we have speak as well. If you think Spanish is tough though, try Portuguese. I'm starting to pick up Spanish pretty fast from knowing Portuguese and hearing so much spanish and asking questions.

Post: #27

You know when you eat at ethnic restaurants and the server doesn't speak good English so communicating is a pain and somewhat embarrassing, so you scream in your head "LEARN ENGLISH!!!" yeah something like that is how you sound like if you dont speak good Spanish.

The language of Spanish is not hard to understand. However, what is hard is keeping it good working order (en buena forma) and growing your command of it, especially if you have a life or have other interests unrelated to Spanish.

I've met people whose Spanish sounds elementary even having studied Spanish for many years because they didn't put-in the effort to maintain it, they are apart from those run of the mill "time to learn Spanish!" students whose motivation typically lasts for couple of months at most and usually mess up their tenses often stumbling on verb conjugations (learn subjunctive tense!) and are at a perpetual loss of words.

The caveat is that one should evaluate if they really have the commitment and drive and understand the requirements to learn a language -- which is a lot -- if you're an adult.

-----------------------
Portuguese is easier if you've already learned Spanish as it is not that different structurally.. I recommend the FSI from Spanish to Portuguese found in the military website.

Post: #28

If you want to learn quickly immersion right off the bat, the biggest key is practicing and making mistakes and have someone who will correct you, its hard to understand grammatical texts until you have a base of understanding. Watch tv, read newspaper talk to people stay away from others that speak your language and immerse yourself. Take intensive classes as well and in a few months you will be conversational

Post: #29

(11-15-2010 12:43 PM)clr Wrote:  If you want to learn quickly immersion right off the bat, the biggest key is practicing and making mistakes and have someone who will correct you, its hard to understand grammatical texts until you have a base of understanding. Watch tv, read newspaper talk to people stay away from others that speak your language and immerse yourself. Take intensive classes as well and in a few months you will be conversational

I agree completely, especially with ".. and have someone who will correct you". Often this means dropping cash on a language school either here states-side or abroad.

Vale la pena.

Post: #30

(11-14-2010 10:01 PM)whosyourdaddy Wrote:  two things:

1. If you want to learn a language properly, university/textbook instruction is the way to go. Otherwise you'll always make mistakes.

This is a great way to study a language for 4 years without speaking it.

Getting actual speaking practice can have you conversing in a few months. You do NOT need perfect grammar to be social.

Post: #31

(11-16-2010 10:50 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  

(11-14-2010 10:01 PM)whosyourdaddy Wrote:  two things:

1. If you want to learn a language properly, university/textbook instruction is the way to go. Otherwise you'll always make mistakes.

This is a great way to study a language for 4 years without speaking it.

Getting actual speaking practice can have you conversing in a few months. You do NOT need perfect grammar to be social.

Rosetta stone or pimseleur, plus being in-country is how i'm learning

Post: #32

(11-18-2010 04:11 AM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  Rosetta stone or pimseleur, plus being in-country is how i'm learning

Hey,

I found Pimsleur to be WAY better than Rosetta stone, although native material is WAY better than Pimsleur.

Rosetta stone, even the advanced levels, just allows you to point and describe a scene.

Las mujeres están charlando
El hombre está perdido

It seemed pretty useless to me, wheras Pimsleur gives you immediately useful conversational langauge.

Of course, Pimsleur focuses on business so much that it's not really the best either.

To learn how people actually talk, the best way is to speak to them. After that, native materials are way better than language-learning guides.

I think the only use for Pimsleur or whatever is to start out from a VERY basic level, since it gives you guidance and presents real bits of language. But once you have the basics, I would abandon that stuff ASAP.

Post: #33

Guys- try livemocha.com. In my opinion, head and shoulders above anything else

Post: #34

(01-01-2011 06:27 PM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  Guys- try livemocha.com. In my opinion, head and shoulders above anything else

i hear a lot about livemocha.com and i signed up for the free course initially, to try it out. anybody else have a good experience with this....i mean other then just the fact that you get to talk to real, live spanish chicks while you learn?

Post: #35

(02-02-2011 06:21 PM)rinestone Wrote:  

(01-01-2011 06:27 PM)bigbootyluvr Wrote:  Guys- try livemocha.com. In my opinion, head and shoulders above anything else

i hear a lot about livemocha.com and i signed up for the free course initially, to try it out. anybody else have a good experience with this....i mean other then just the fact that you get to talk to real, live spanish chicks while you learn?

Never tried livemocha.com but one thing you have to be careful of with language partners is many will try to mooch off you to practice their English and don't give you shit to practice their language. After a couple experiences with this I default towards people with crappier English who force me to communicate with them. This worked well for Mandarin and Portuguese and I am sure it will for anything else.