Is "autodidacta" a valid Spanish word for "self-taught"?
According to several sources, the Spanish word "autodidacta" means "self-taught" In my response to the question "Where did you learn spanish? I've answered "Soy autodidacta." So far, three Spanish speakers say they don't understand what I'm trying to say. I believe I'm pronouncing the word correctly, does anyone have a reason no one, so far, seems to know the word?
5 Answers
I will bet if you said:
Me he enseñado.
they would understand better what you were saying.
Hardly anyone but a linguist would use the word "autodidact". For some reason, it's just not popular!
La incomprensión que recibes con tu respuesta tiene que ver con la educación de tus receptores. Una gran cantidad de personas tienen un vocabulario muy restringido y además no leen, que es la única forma de ampliar el vocabulario, según mi opinión.
Como dice Difuso, "soy autodidacta" es completamente correcto, sin embargo puedes decir "he aprendido por mi cuenta", que además de ser correcto también puede ser perfectamente entendido por todos.
"Soy autodidacta" es completamente correcto aunque es posible que la pregunta "Where?" despiste un poco
The corresponding English word is autodidact and if you said "I am an autodidact." to a typical native English speaker, they wouldn't know what you were talking about. Many would assume you had some kind of medical condition.
That is the term, (double click on it to get a link and hear the pronunciation) autodidacto(a)
but I believe the problem is it is not used frequently and they might not know what it means... 
