Which is harder? Speaking or understanding Spanish
Hola todos,
When talking to native speakers, which would you say is the most difficult. Making yourself understood or understanding spoken Spanish? Por mi parte, I think understanding Spanish is at least twice as difficult as talking. Que opines?
4 Answers
Listening and understanding are more difficult for me. I spend a lot of time saying "Más despacio, por favor" y "¿Otra vez?"
Fortunately, I have understanding friends who are patient. I'd like to record a brief conversation. Most of them don't have English as a first language and I'm sure our conversations are quite amusing. Between my Spanish, their English and the combined Spanglish, it has to be hilarious at times.
Listening and understanding are far more difficult as you do not know in advance what is going to be said. When you are talking you form the sentence and know what you wish to communicate. Since the native speaker is intimate with the language they can more easily figure out what you are saying despite the mistakes.
Have you ever spoken to a Spanish speaker who is learning English? The grammar and pronunciation is not 100% but you can generally understand them. Its the same for English speakers learning Spanish.
Just my two cents.
By the way, not all Spanish speakers talk the same. I have a lot of trouble understanding people from La Paz but almost no trouble with people from Mexico City. The speed, cadance and clarity are completely different.
I agree with you. I'm having no problems at all with my spoken accent, but if I hear something spoken in Spanish I have to listen to it a few times before I get it - mind you, I am a beginner!
I think that it is definitely harder to understand than to be understood. However, sometimes when you speak in Spanish and someone is not expecting you to, they look at you like they can't understand you!
