Reading a Spanish Short Story

Question

I have to read a short Spanish story for my class and I'm having trouble getting through it. Does anyone have any tips I can use to get through the story?

Answer 1

Does your teacher allow study groups where you can divide the story up among friends who can translate their portion and then read the translation to the group as everyone else follows along reading the Spanish. We've all been there. Until you have accumulated a basic amount of vocabulary reading is a pain. And being as lazy as I am, I've tried scanning pages into software that converts the image to text then tries to translate it. It turns out to be more work than just looking up the words that you do not know. At least, with online dictionaries, you can just type in the words and see their definition without having to flip through a paper dictionary. (especially if you are like me and stop to look at 6 other interesting looking words while searching for the one that I did not know).

No pain, no gain.

I do the same thing and then forget what I was originally looking for. Reading on my Kindle has transformed my life in this aspect. Just click and the definition pops up. No more distractions! - Nicole-B, Apr 30, 2011

Answer 2

Why are you having trouble? Maybe you know all the vocabulary but the story doesn't appeal to you. My trouble with reading is I don't know the vocabulary. When I first started reading a few stories ago, I listed the unfamiliar words but now I put them in short phrases to help me remember how they are used. Sometimes the words are familiar but how they are used is not. For example I recently listed

juntó lo bastante para comprar

le tocaba la buena suerte

camas de sobra

ofreció tender una cobija en el suelo

me pongo a prepararnos una cena

A few of the single words I needed were

chaquegüe

despensa

gruesa

pillo

When it's a verb I don't know, guinó or gimió, for example, I practice its definition plus the present indicative in addition to noting its conjugation in the story.

Should be "guiñó" - Sabor, Apr 30, 2011

Answer 3

There are several things you can do to improve your reading comprehension. It does require time and patience though.

I would read through the story first and see just how much you can understand the first time around. What is the story about? What is the theme?, etc..

Then read through more slowly. If there are any words you don't understand, try to determine what they are based on the context. Use the words surrounding any "mystery" words to try to figure out the definition.

Next, look up each word you don't know one by one and write down the definitions.

Go back and read through several more times until you can understand. There may be actual phrases or idioms that cause difficulties. If that is the case, look them up in thePhrase Book.

With time and practice, you will be able to read and understand without going through all these steps. Also, as I mentioned above, if you have a Kindle, IPad, etc., these are great for reading comprehension. Purchase or download a few books of interest to you. You can even start out with easy Spanish readers for children. When you don't know a word, you can just click on it and obtain an instant definition. (You must first make sure you have a Spanish/English dictionary on board though, but these are usually free or very inexpensive.)

Buena Suerte

Answer 4

If its about your reading comprehension, this is what you should do:

1. Read the story in your head.
2. Try to make out what it means while your read it in your head.
3. Reread it your second time.
4. Now that you've read it at least two times, try to make out what it means (translate it) from the words you already know the meaning to.
5. So now you can sorta make out what its trying to tell you but you still need to know what the rest is about.
6. Use context clues and your knowledge to figure out the rest.
7. Do this to each sentence and you will surely understand the spanish story so much better.

8. Have confidence.

   If its about your spanish pronunciation, this is what you should do:

9. Study the word close and carefully.
10. Try to say the word at first, and try not to sound too gringo.(:
11. If it doesn't have an accent mark, you're probably saying it right.

12. If it does have an accent mark, it usually means you're suppose to pronounce the letter in a different way or exaggerate a little more on that specific vowel.

    Well that's all I can think of, so I hope this helps.(: Anyways, good luck!

-leenearene3

Answer 5

Because it is about speaking, go to a pronunciation guide and practice on your own, after listening to words and phrases in Spanish. It will require repetition. My favorite site is Forvo.com.

Answer 6

Someone wrote a couple of months ago that she found it better to make note of the words she didn't know and look them up later rather than stop every few minutes to check. That would certainly allow you to get into the flow of the story more.

Answer 7

I find it useful to write out my translation (in longhand or en el teclado) putting the words I don't know/understand in brackets (or color) and skipping a line to fill in definitions later. Often the meaning jumps out from context. After maybe three paragraphs, I pause and look up the unknown terms, and if there are multiple possible meanings, list them all. After I have completed the entire work, I go back and pick out the definitions which fit best - and then re-write the whole thing in correct, idiomatic English.