Learning with understanding
I am presently enrolled with a college in my country and one of the courses I have to do is Spanish. I sat my first exams last semester and failed and I am presently going to redo the course. The problem for me is pronounciation firstly. I get very nervous when i have to go in front of the class and speak in spanish mainly because I am not comfortable with the pronounciation as yet. Nevertheless the pace was too fast for me to really catch up with the others. I am trying my best but i need help. Will you be able to help me achieve my goal in passing this course.
Thanking you in advance Therese Cummings
3 Answers
Welcome to Spanish Dict, Therese. Everyone learns at a different rate, and some people "freeze" under pressure. Don't be so hard on yourself. Just decide that you will do your best. Figure out how you learn best....is it through listening and repeating? reading? workbooks? practicing with others? Well, all of this is available here because there are folks here who are in the exact same boat that you are. We're all trying our best to increase our language skills, whether in Spanish or English. Be sure to avail yourself to the free lessons under the "Learn Spanish" tab. Continue to post your questions in the forum. Use the flashcards. I recommend the wonderful flashcard series that has been posted by ingeteacher, a Dutch woman who is learning Spanish.
Don't compare yourself to others. Just keep plugging along and take joy in the little triumphs and gains that are sure to come your way if you put in the time and the effort. For your "freezing" problem, practice a pretend conversation. Also, work on the basics of pronounciation. Spanish is very straight-forward once you understand the phonetics. Mimic spoken Spanish. Find someone to talk with on Skype or at your school. You can do it.
Is that the only Spanish class available? Can you major in Spanish at that college? Are classes available that concentrate on composition and literature, rather than conversation? Are there more basic classes available? It sounds as if you are in one of those small colleges where only one course in Spanish is available per quarter/sememster so you have to take that course or none. So if Spanish 3 is the only course available that term you have to take it, even though you would be more comfortable in Spanish 2. And, of course, next term only Spanish 4 will be offered so forget about ever going back to Spanish 2.
I would suggest that you join the chat sessions here. They are less intimidating than standing in front of the class and if you choose not to participate you can still eavesdrop on the others' conversations and pick up pronunciation. Things here are more of a learn-at-your-own-pace setting.
If you are patient you can do it really well.
Since you are having problems with pronunciation, then be more alert as to pronouncing well.
For instance, you know how to pronounce "mesa" but when it comes to say it in front of the class or quickly you detect yourself pronouncing it wrong.
Do this with the words that cause most troubles to you to pronounce them better.
mesa - usually is pronounced as Mai- sah, and you catch the error.
So write and read the following MEH- sah
By reading that pronunciation "key" like that, it will help you be more fluid when you speak.
