Understanding spanish when spoken..
What is a good way understand Spanish when I hear it? I'm going to school in PR next year and I can very easily read spanish and when I speak it I understand it but then when I turn on a Spanish show I can't understand it all that well. What are some ways that can help me understand Spanish weather than when it is just written down? I need ALL the suggestion I can get! Thank you!
7 Answers
Once you arrive you will hear the spoken language.It is no different than when you go to any other country. in a day or so you will "tune your ear" to the sounds and pronunciations, soon you will be parroting what you hear,
No preocupes Bailey.
Practice, practice, practice.
Watch the Destinos Video Series over and over. It's a great series that will really help a lot.
All the answers I have seen here are very good ones, and I would also add that if it is possible, find someone either in person, or audio chat that speaks the language well.
I have made my biggest gains in understanding the spoken language when I have been surrounded by those that spoke the language, and by asking them questions.
The lessons I have started taking on this site are very helpful.
Spanish like all languages has it share of slang, and different dialects which can make it difficult to understand when heard. Hope this helps. And don't give up. I have been trying to learn Spanish for 55 years, and though I have a long way to go to fluency, there do come breakthroughs along the way.
Buen suerte.
Consider how you learned English. You've heard it for a couple of years before your could understand and speak it. You'll probably learn how to speak and understand Spanish a lot faster than you think when you arrive.
Buena suerte!
Well, I would just keep watching Spanish movies - many DVDs have Spanish language options, and I generally turn on the Spanish subtitles as well. I think it really is just a matter of practice - the more you listen to spoken Spanish, the more it will make sense to you!
I agree with everything said thus far. I have also found it helpful to sit down from time to time and transcribe (not translate) shows as I watch them, often rewinding as necessary in order to keep up (due to the dialog moving faster than I am able to write). It seems like this little trick has helped tremendously in "tuning my ears" for Spanish.
Practice is the only way that I know of to become a better listener. When I started out, I watched a lot of telenovelas on Youtube, and when I didn't understand something (which was often), I would back up, play it again, and try to figure it out. I think that helped me get used to the way different people vary in the pronunciation slightly. I also let Spanish language radio play in the background a lot, even if I wasn't really listening, so that I could get used to the sound of the language.
The other advice I have is to make sure to listen to Spanish from many different places. Regional accents very a lot, and if you only listen to the Spanish of northern Mexico, for example, the Spanish of Cuba is going to sound like Greek to you (and I'm assuming you don't happen to speak Greek).
