ASK A QUESTION How did you learn to speak spontaneously(without having to translate from your native language)?
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For those who are fluent in two or more languages, how did you proceed to the point where you no longer had to think in your own language in order to reach your second language? Did it just happen? What habits/practices did you do to encourage that development? I am at a point where I can read Spanish, at an almost advanced level(I only have to look up a few words per passage/article), but my speaking and listening are not doing so well...
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First of all I am not fluent in Spanish and have come to the conclusion I will always be a beginner -- oh well. I truly enjoy speaking and having Spanish conversations.
Listening & Speaking without Back-Translating:
Listening:
This technique is for listening to movies (also applies to books on tape and the radio).
- Turn off Subtitles. Do not back translate in your head -- just hear the Spanish words. Also listen when you go to bed with your eyes closed -- you should already know the plot.
I repeat:
Turn off Subtitles. Do not back translate in your head -- just hear the Spanish words.
Why no subtitles? ----- It Distracts From Your Listening and Makes You Think About the English Translation. That Is a No No.
Speaking: (this is the big bug-a-boo)
The Problem:
You haven't read out loud, or talked to yourself out loud enough. This is how you train your mouth and tongue muscles, which takes time. You stumble on pronunciation of words, phrases, and sentences. Until you train your mouth and tongue you cannot make smooth, continuous conversation.
Read Out Loud:
For a hour a day. Repeat over, and over, and over, and over, sentences and words you have trouble with. It is hard work but the only way I know of, and the going will be slow.
Talk to Yourself Out Loud: (So important).
You need to do this all the time. This allows you to put your thoughts and ideas into Spanish, and after time -- the back translation to English will begin to fade-away.
Grammar & Verb Conjugations:
Forget about these when you are speaking out loud -- no time to consider grammar and verb conjugations. Use your ear: what ever sounds good or correct, let it flow and come out. Yea you will make a lot of mistakes, but so-what (you will get better and better with time and practice). I really don't like to open my grammar book (I just love to talk in Spanish and do not like to study grammar), but as I progress I need to study grammar some more.
One Last Point:
If I hear or say -El tiempo empieza ahora mismo para hablar español.- I hear and understand: -El tiempo empieza ahora mismo para hablar español-, my mind does not go to English and hear or understand "The time starts right now to speak Spanish." This is how your mind will begin to function after time.
This is just my opinion -- so take it for what it is worth.
- Great advice, Daniel. - --Mariana-- Oct 25, 2009 flag
- This is excellent, Daniel! - yvonneibe7 Oct 25, 2009 flag
- Nice! - cheeseisyumm Oct 25, 2009 flag
- This is a great answer. Thank you Daniel. - mimirodrigue Oct 25, 2009 flag
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I understand and speak Danish without thinking about it. I lived there for a while, 30 years ago, but do not remember the moment when it became as easy for me to speak Danish as it was to speak English. I can't give a method that guarantees results except that being in an environment where one HAS to do it should bring the desired result. I am having many more problems reaching that point with Spanish and I don't know why. I also can read a lot of things without too many problems but the spoken language I have a lot of problems understanding - it is almost as if what I have learned here on SpanishDict is not the language spoken by my friends or by people on the TV. I have tried private tutors who basically told me to watch TV - which I do every day, but that does not seem to help. I can read the Spanish subtitles when watching a film. What I would like to do is watch a Spanish film with Spanish subtitles that match what is being said. I have been unable to find such DVDs. Anyone have any ideas on how to over come this problem?
- The DVDs I rent also fail to have Spanish subtitles that match what is being said. - --Mariana-- Oct 25, 2009 flag
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I'm am not there, YET! You must try to do everything in the language you want to learn. Take what you read and practice the sentences aloud. Use what you do know in conversation when you speak. I use it with my children and wife---no they don't know spanish but it is good practice for me. I speak like I am a second grader but I am learning. Play games with the words (like bingo, memory, etc.) the more you use it the easier it becomes. Good luck and be diligent!! 
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For me the moment is very clear. I was a sophomore in college and I was taking a senior level literature course with students who had just come back from 6-9 months studying abroad. The amount of reading we had to do was overwhelming me, and then one night I was sitting in my bunk bed wondering how I was ever going to finish reading the novella I had in my hands. It was then I made the decision. I put my dictionary away and didn't pull it back out again. I read the whole novella without stopping to look up a single word. I'm not saying you should never look up a single word, but don't let it be an interruption to your reading. The goal is not to understand each and every word it's to understand el conjunto de las palabras.
- I think that I may try this as well.:) - sunshinzmomm Oct 25, 2009 flag
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The most important thing I guess is that you have to be confident about what you already know - and the easiest way to achieve that is to use it and surround yourself with the language as much as you can. (eg. listening to a spanish radio, even when you don't pay attention consciously; movies as the others had mentioned...) The point is that you should catch the rhythm of the language that you can practice by talking AND thinking in Spanish (basically it's like having a conversation with yourself.)
I cannot really remember what was the case with English exactly because that was a pretty long time ago..Now with Spanish my great break-through was when I spent 2 weeks in the country and actually I was forced to speak their native language. They said (even if they spoke English well) that if I was there I really should practice Spanish, especially that I already had some basic, B1 knowledge... It was quite hard in the beginning, I often had the feeling "ok now im gonna give up and switch back to english", when I had to think about some sentences for a few minutes.. But it was worth all the struggling as I was stunned to see myself getting more and more fluent, day by day. So what I say is: Use it as much as you can, even if you make a lot of mistakes. You would realize and won't make them again: best way to learn.
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The only way to get better at something is to do it and practice, so for speaking and hearing others speak and understanding, that's what it would take. But I envy you though - to be able to read so well, you do know a lot. I would bet if you could arrange a few weeks in a Spanish speaking country where no one speaks English to you, (maybe even with very interactive (no book) lessons,) your learning curve would be very steep!
For the person who wants Spanish films with Spanish subtitles - I have the answer! LoMastv.com has videos of all kinds with subtitles. But it gets even better! You can push a slow button to slow down the speed of the speaking, a repeat and loop to hear the same thing over and over and a dictionary off to the side that gives you the definition and examples in sentences of any word you click on.
It cost $99./year, but there are some free samples to try. So, check it out for free and you can decide if this would help.
- Oct 25, 2009
- | Edited by kittybrougha Oct 25, 2009
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Thank you Kitty, what a great idea!!! Being a student, no matter that I am 33 
, I will have to wait until student aid in January in order to try that!! But I think it sounds awesome!
I believe actually pinpointing a moment-in-time would be impossible. I just had this conversation with my husband. I am afraid that I will graduate not being fluent in Spanish. He believes that I am fluent, just as a high school kid is fluent in their native language. I can communicate somewhat effectively with a native speakers, although I may not sound like the most intelligent speaker.
Buena suerte con tus estudias.
- Try out the free samples and tell me what you think. The introductory video explaining the site and the music video "Fotografia" are the best for beginners. - kittybrougha Oct 25, 2009 flag
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Go live in Mexico.
The answers about the Spanish language movies was good. Listen to Spanish language news, that is a task, but you will learn an upper level vocabulary, though, they tend to speak really fast. Also, read PEOPLE en español. It is an easy and entertaining way to become accustomed to the written Spanish language. I love it.
You can always come to any city on the Texas/Mexico border. It is as close as you can come to enveloping yourself in a Spanish speaking only environment without having to go to a Spanish speaking country. I grew up speaking English only and I have l have learned that I need to speak Spanish.
Gracias
- Oct 25, 2009
- | Edited by mimirodrigue Oct 25, 2009
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My brain does it automatically. It does not matter to him if I am using Spanish or English. One day my brain decided that translating back and forth was a waste of energy and it stopped doing that. Which brings me to the question, the famous question utter by a vice presidential candidate,"who am I and what I am doing here...He was kididng but the problem was that he looked very old, tired and confuse.They lost the election that year.......................................... Of course, the real question is How does the brain work, when comunicating to others. Of course, I haave to make the concious decision about the language I am going to use ( in a partiicular ocasion) but then the brain just takes over. One problem with these is that it makes up words that don't exixs like parkeo for estacionarse,mixear for mesclar and others...................................I am taking the rest of the day off.
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Practice
find a buddy who is learning
and begin to have conversations with them on a regular basis
trying to show them "What you learned" in context with the conversation.
if either of you are confused teach the other one what they don't know. and if they make a mistake let them know after they finished the sentence do not interrupt them.
it can be fun when you are in class and you can talk to your buddies across the room and no one understands you
another way is to take songs that are sung in both english and in spanish and listen to the songs meaning in english (not the words, the meaning) then find the meaning in spanish.
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If you've already got a strong base of vocabulary and grammar it would serve you well to go to a Spanish speaking country. That's what worked for me. If that's not possible right now, try watching movie in spanish with spanish subtitles. After you're comfortable with the plot, turn the subtitles off and watch it with only spanish audio. After that, watch it while repeating key frases in spanish. Also, have spanish talk radio playing as much as possible and read aloud to help your pronunciation. Try reading aloud without translating mentally to english. Then go back to the beginning of the passage and read more slowly, filling in the gaps you missed the first time.
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