"I am trying to speak spanish better..."

Question

Dime si esta correcto o incorrect.

Can you tell me if this is correct or not? I'm trying to say "I am trying to speak spanish better, but I think I need to study in a foreign country to improve".

"Estoy tratando hablar Español mejor, pero pienso necesitar estudiar en el país extranjero mejorar".

Gracias , Feliz Navidad!

"Dime si está correcto o incorrecto." - --Mariana--, Dec 24, 2012

Remember, amigo---Spanish is capitalized in English but not in Spanish. - --Mariana--, Dec 24, 2012

Answer 1

I'm still learning too but my suggestion would be:

Trato de mejorar mi español pero creo que necesito estudiar en un país extranjero para mejorar.

Much better than mine! One question. You don't think "mejorarme" would be better than "mejorar"? - Esteban3304, Dec 24, 2012

Brava, Kiwi! - francobollo, Dec 24, 2012

gracias chicos. Esteban I guess you could say - trato de mejorarme el español - better ask a native speaker ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012

After reading all the posts regarding this question, I now think that the sentence you listed in your answer is the best way to say it. Since "mejorarse" is commonly used regarding health issues, I think using it here would be a distraction. - Esteban3304, Dec 25, 2012

kewl bananas :) happy I could help! - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 25, 2012

Answer 2

"Mejorar" is a transitive verb, so we must say "...... to better (something)."

Hey JC - you're quite right that it can be transitive but I think it can also be intransitive and not need an object.

This is from the Collins dictionary:

Mejorar intransitive verb

[person]

(in skill etc) hacer progresos

(after illness) mejorar(se)

[health, weather, work, quality] mejorar

[production, yield] aumentar

[business] mejorar, prosperar

? to improve in sth hacer progresos en algo ? to improve with age/use mejorar con el tiempo/el uso

Now that you mention these examples, I agree. It also might be an interpretation of grammar terms as in do we treat a reflexive pronoun as a direct object or not. Where is Lazarus when we need him? - 005faa61, Dec 24, 2012

true that lol, no one knows their grammar quite like Laz! :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012

Answer 3

I don't think the progressive tense is required here, so I just used the present tense of your verb "tratar". When one says "I think", one is often invoking the "subjunctive", (pienso is usually followed by "que" in Spanish), therefore I used "sea". Here's my best try, although I am not great at Spanish. I decided to add "me" to your "mejorar", since you are trying to improve yourself.

Trato a hablar español mejor, pero pienso que sea necesario estudiar en el país extranjero para mejorarme.

I'm afraid I disagree with that Esteban - pienso que, creo que are phrases that affirm what you believe to be true (whether they are or not is not important) so they are followed by the indicative mood. In the negative form, 'no pienso' takes the subj - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 23, 2012

also (sorry I hope you don't feel I'm picking on you :( ) but just for future reference 'tratar a' is to treat but 'tratar de' is to try to ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 23, 2012

Thanks for the refresher, Kiwi. I'm not offended. Mistakes are great for learning. - Esteban3304, Dec 24, 2012

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012

Answer 4

"Mejorar" is a transitive verb, so we must say "...... to better (something)."

I see two possible structures here:

"Trato de hablar español mejor, pero creo que necesito estudiar en un país extranjero para mejorar mi uso del idioma."

"Trato de hablar español, pero creo que necesito estudiar en un país extranjero para mejorarme."

Of course there are many different ways to form these these two structures.

I would use the first variant because the second could possibly indicate bettering ones self rather than ones ability to use a language and when we use "mejorarme" it is usually about our health.

Hey JC - can't mejorar be intransitive too? - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012

MC; according to RAE it can be, but I can´t remember ever hearing or using it as intransitive. I guess it´s one of those "that´s how we say it" things - 005faa61, Dec 24, 2012

ok, that's interesting, thanx JC :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012

Thanks, Julian! - --Mariana--, Dec 24, 2012

why did you use "Trato de"? - ScottyBlanquito, Dec 24, 2012

Hola Julian. It's good to be back at SpanishDict. I think this statement, although the speaker is talking about himself, really contains a generalization. So one might naturally use "es necesario" instead of the verb "necesitar". - Esteban3304, Dec 25, 2012

Answer 5

why did you use "Trato de"? - ScottyBlanqu

I can´t explain this because I don´t think there is any rule behind it, although a gramarian might be able to tell you. This is just a case of common word grouping - it´s how the language is used. We don´t say "trato hablar"; we say "trato DE hablar."

Brava, Kiwi! - francobollo

If you want to say "well done," we say "bravo" as in "bien hecho." We don´t conjugate it for gender. Of course if you want to say "¡Kiwi, eres bien brava," then we conjugate, but this is not saying "well done."

and if 'estoy' brava then everyone better watch out, jeje ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 24, 2012