Understanding Spanish tips.(Good read for all learners)
I'm facing a problem im comprehending Spanish movies because they speak too fast. I can understand slightly complicated things in reading but not even simple things when they speak( except greetings ). Though , I can understand 85% of what Paralee Whitmire says in lessons 3.1-3.15 as she enunciates every word and speaks at a good pace for me. Though after lessons 4.1 onwards i'm blank out 
(understand like 30%).!
My parents have been speaking Sindhi and Hindi at home for 17 years (one of India and Pakistan's languages. I'm Indian btw and i speak english with parents) and I've learnt the language just by listening to them speaking but i can't speak a word of Sindhi but can totally understand . I can speak HIndi though as i studied in school. Is the problem that I need to watch videos of people speaking slowly? Like Children's Spanish videos?
Currently I just finished seeing 7 Spanish Films - Pan's Labyrinth ( brilliant), Alatriste , Los Cronocrimenes , Hable Con Ella ( Brilliant ) , Amores Perros ( amazing ), El Espanizo del Diablo and Volver and didn't understand anything of what they said, English subs got me through those movies. Would it be suggested to watch the movies again and again till i understand it perfect ?
I live in a place where noone speaks Spanish at all ( Dubai ) and the only speakers i find are here. Spanishdict has thought me all I know (Muchas Gracias). Thanks for your help !
5 Answers
I voted you for Los Cronocrimenes. I remember when I first watched it I couldn't understand it either. A native helps but is not necessary. Understanding comes from understanding sentences not words. Listen and write down what you heard, and ask us. You will understand eventually. I recently outspoke a guy that lived a year in Spain and is considered fluent. You'll get there with practice. Write it down, can't stress this enough, and ask us what EXActly it means. A native helps, but better to find someone that doesn't speak much slang and is a bit proper and not gangsterish. But the MOSt important thing is writing it down and really HEAring it not just listening. Gracias. BTW you will never see another movie as good as Los Cronocrimenes. I love that movie SO much. Simply Amazing don't you agree?
I just tried watching some sitcom called "Infidels" with Spanish subtitles and understanding it.. I understood it like 80-90% fine.. I tihnk its better to watch Spanish movies with Spanish subtitles so that the words they say are broken down and comprehendable in a reading form. Since Spanish speakers speak so fast without taking a millisecond break between words its hard to understand them. I, even as a native English speaker, break for a millisecond between every word ( everyone does that except the British ) . I think it's a matter of time before my ears get adjusted to breaking the spanish sentences in the head within milliseconds like we can do with our native language.
As a beginner like you, my experience with watching Spanish movies is that the characters seem to speak too fast and there are so many words yet that I do not understand. Adding to the difficulty are the tenses of the verbs being used.
My approach instead is to go slowly and simply immerse myself in what I can understand or handle. I attend a Spanish class once a week, but I also got myself a few other textbooks in basic Spanish, which I study on the side. I listen to Spanish CDs now whenever I listen to music. I listen mostly to ballads so they'd be slow enough for me to hear almost every word. I also make my own flashcards of Spanish words so I can build up my vocabulary. These flashcards have helped me a lot in my being able to understand words and phrases from the CDs and movies.
I do watch the movies, first with the English subtitles, then if there is, with the Spanish subtitles. For me, I'd be happy to be able to pick up words, phrases, and even short sentences I could understand. However, I will not lead myself to feel frustrated by expecting to be able to understand everything, but I look forward to that day when I already can.
There is a recent thread from Jeezzle, who is very generously sharing his notes on this movie "El Convento", a French movie dubbed in Spanish. Jeezzle painstakingly tried to transcribe a lot of the dialogues from the movie so we can learn with him. This is the link to his thread.
Jeezzle notes: May 2nd. El convento Part 1 + link to watch it
I tried watching it, but my Internet connection is not that fast so the video streams in poorly.
I would suggest that you to try to learn the language at a comfortable pace so you will not feel too frustrated that you are not achieving your goals fast enough. I think that once we feel frustrated in what we're doing, we'd start losing interest and may even decide to drop it altogether. So, maybe you should avoid putting yourself in such situations. Believe in the idea that learning is fun. 
I went to Learning Spanish Like Crazy and paid for and downloaded their CD's. I forget exactly the cost, but I think it was around $170.00 US.
But what I like is that you can listen to them on CD and they are instructional.
I believe they also have videos.
You can go to their website and look at some things for free.
I also use Rosetta Stone, but the price for this is WAY TO MUCH. However, it is very good for learning and for pronunciation.
Here is a link for Learning Spanish Like Crazy:
I think what you need is a native spanish speaker to help you. If you find one, talk to
them in spanish and ask to talk a little slow at first. Also ask for help. (if you need
any) You will probably get the hang of it after a little bit. If that doesn't work, try and
take some spanish classes. I really hope that you learn.
