Some Bits Are Easier & Some Bits Are Harder

Question

My experience, in learning a new language, is that it is easier to speak, than to read, and hardest of all to listen. I suspect that it is the same for everyone. I was just reading an article an in context it was not difficult to guess what asumir means in context, but if I was speaking I would never have known what to say - but speaking is easier as you can control your own sentences to just use words that you know.

Also I have found it much easier to learn conjugations, as they are repetitive, than to learn new vocabulary.

As somone pointed out to me yesterday, for the different size of stones in English we can say, a grain a granual, grit, a stone, a rock, a pebble, a boulder, .... AHH !

Answer 1

I agree. For me writing is the easiest, then reading, then speaking, then listening.

Writing is the easiest in my opionion because you have time to look over what you wrote for corrections, something that you obviously cannot do in conversational speaking.

Reading is somewhat easy as you can suppose the message of a sentence by context, also it helps me learn how the sentence was put together and what tenses were used and why...

Speaking is a whole different world than writing is. My Speaking Spanish uses easier formats than my writing does, an I tend to unconsciously avoid hard sentence stuctures to avoid embarrasing myself. Sometimes, I will think of what I have to say first, correct it in my mind, and then spit it out, only to realize 5 minutes too late that there were still errors in what I said...

And listening, oh boy. I'm lucky to catch a few words here and there. I just wish they'd all talk a lot slower....

Sometimes I listen to my friends speak and realize that it is so far from a textbook that it is not really recongnizable - Stig345, Jun 19, 2012

What Roger says is true. The language spoken in the street is generally not very grammatically correct and is full of idiomatice expressions and slang. Talking is easier because even though you are making mistakes no one is paying attention to them. - gringojrf, Jun 19, 2012

In a conversation the focus is on the topic not the grammar. Occasionally I screw up bad enough to get a laugh but generally my mistakes are overlooked as the point is understood. - gringojrf, Jun 19, 2012

Answer 2

For those who are having problems with learning vocabulary, try the web site www.memrise.com. This has helped me tremendously.

Answer 3

Great topic!

It's funny how people differ in the learning process. Personally, I found vocabulary to be really fun and a breeze. because I created hundreds of flashcards and then read lots of books. However, for the longest time I was overwhelmed by the idea of actually putting a sentence together and speaking!

After a year of Skype lessons by a Spanish-speaking tutor and a year's 100% immersion in Guatemala I can speak with almost anyone-- The tutor gave me the proper grammar by the book, etc., and the people gave me the colloquial way of speaking and the idioms.

I find that really interesting. As I have only learnt by Skype - our experiences are so different. - Stig345, Jun 22, 2012

You are very lucky ! - Stig345, Jun 23, 2012

Answer 4

So tonight I speak with my friend who says he passed a basic English test when he came to my country. He has been here now for four years and holds a conversation and understands 90%.

So to improve to that standard he has been totally immersed 18 hours a day 7 days a week for 208 weeks. That is a lot of hours. 26,000 +

So I'll complain when I'm not fluent after so many hours

Hey Roger I hope I don't offend you but is English your mother tongue? If not it is very good but I would suggest - tonight I 'spoke' to my friend who 'said' that he had passed ... :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jun 20, 2012

Yes, I'm just drunk and doing my spanish lesson at the same time - Stig345, Jun 20, 2012

Ahahah well, that's one way to do it. ^ :-) - BradyLabuda, Jun 20, 2012