Suggestions for increasing fluency

Question

I'm doing two lessons a day at the moment, and my brains getting a bit scrambled, but it's OK. I'm learning a lot of new words (the flashcards are great), but I'm not sure I can use them. Is there a place to go to practice basic translation (english into Spanish, and back)? Or discussion (I'm only on lesson 1.8, so I don't know much Spanish yet).

Muchos Grácias!

Answer 1

Im not that fluent right now, but I hope I will be when I get to High School. Good Luck

you can download spanish podcasts..they are really helping me out. i like Spanish survival guide. they are free too. - v0l7119, Jan 28, 2010

Thanks. I checked out the Spanish survival guide podcasts. - just4karns, Jan 28, 2010

Answer 2

If you really want to increase your fluency, I suggest you slow way down. Two lessons a day is an insane pace if you are new to the language. To learn a language you have to practice, practice, and practice some more. I would do one lesson per week and certainly no more than two lessons per week, personally. You have to give all those new sounds, words, and patterns time to sink in.

The game section of the "Answer" forum is a great way to force yourself to practice a little bit - plus folks will correct your errors for you, which helps you learn even more.

Watch familiar films with the Spanish language selected and Spanish subtitles turned on. If the film is familiar you already know what is going on so you can get a lot from context. This will really help you develop a feel for the rhythm and pronunciation of the language, plus get a sense of how the verbs are supposed to sound, without having to stop and conjugate in your head or on your fingers

Point taken. Someone else suggested two a day. It's fun, but I won't expect too much. I'll get onto the podcasts and the children's books. It'll slow down anyway, when my job starts. - just4karns, Jan 28, 2010

Answer 3

Hi, Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you´re really going at it! Here are some ways I increased my fluency (such as it is!):

Try getting books from the library to read. Start with the really easy "board books" written for 2 year olds. Like the ones that just list opposites or colors. By the time you get to the 2 level of lessons, you could try easy reader books like Frog and Toad. (If you have a decent library, the children´s librarian can help here).

Start participating in some of the games here. Every day there is a "word of the day" -- you try to write a sentence. Today the word is "profundo", meaning deep. So you could write (for example) "El lago es profundo." It doesn´t matter if its not a complicated sentence. It just gets your brain into putting words together, and the adrenaline of actually posting something you wrote in Spanish will help it stick. Plus, people will often help you out by correcting any mistakes. You can also try Carlos-F´s present tense conjugation game.

If you have kids (or access to kids!) teach them some phrases, so you can practice on them. For example you could teach them colors and then play games involving finding certain colors. That way you can speak a little without being stressed out.

Have fun -- we´ll be watching for more posts!

Answer 4

Pretty much everyone starts out where you are. It may seem like you're not progressing, but it's good to get a solid foundation. My advice to you would just be to keep studying and know that the basic stuff you're learning now will help you out later.

Answer 5

You really need some Spanish friends. I wonder where you live. I live in an area where all the stores speak Spanish mainly. I was just at the beer store (blush) and the female clerk was flirting with me in Spanish. She knows I am learning Spanish so she won't let me speak in English.