Any tips for a Newbie beginner
Stopping by to introduce my self: Hola
I've just begun my journey to learn Spanish, currently using Rosetta Stone..
Any practice or learning tips from others that have had to start from knowing little to nothing are appreciated.
Copied from my profile: At 48 I've decided to try and learn Spanish, At work I manage several Spanish speaking associates, and recently have begun dating a woman who's native language is Spanish.
So my motivation is both professional, and personal. I have purchased Rosetta Stone, and am trying to supplement my learning with other online resources.
My hopes are to be able to speak and understand Spanish at this time, Writing in Spanish seems more than I want to try and tackle at this...
I'm learning that there really are no shortcuts, those learn in 30mins to ten day courses are creative Marketing. I mean really 10 days.. if that easy wouldn't we all speak Spanish (LOL)
15 Answers
I could have saved you a couple hundred bucks if you had asked for advice before buying Rosetta Stone, LOL. Oh well. I'm curious to know what you think about it though.
The "trick" is to be persistent. It will be hard, and then it will get even harder. Your frustration level at times will go through the roof. Don't ever give up! Stick with it and eventually you'll be telling your friends (while speaking Spanish) about how hard it was at first and that you're glad you stuck with it.
It sounds like you've got several people to practice with, take advantage of that, seriously. Speak as much as you can, ask questions until you're blue in the face. Talk, talk and talk some more. Don't worry about making mistakes. If you're serious about learning Spanish you have to accept two things: (1) You have to talk (I can't emphasis this enough) and (2) You're going to make mistakes when you speak, so accept it and learn from your mistakes. Think of it this way, the more mistakes you make, the more you're learning.
Rosetta Stone alone will not be enough to get you conversational in Spanish. There are a ton of resources available on the internet that are very helpful (and IMO absolutely critical) to help you be successful, both free and paid.
If you want advice about different products (free and paid), feel free to PM me. For now, here's a great page that has links to several resources that will help you learn Spanish without spending a dime.
Great Links to Learn Spanish for Free
And again, to be successful, you have to speak. Granted it can be intimidating at first, but you won't be able to accomplish your goal otherwise. I run Spanish meet up group and I tell people this all the time, but yet they come week after week, never say a word and then wonder why their Spanish isn't getting any better.
Dedicate as much time as possible to learning/practicing and speaking Spanish. The more you do it the more you learn, and the faster you learn.
Don't get hung up on grammar, focus on communicating.
I could could give you a billion tips, but these are the most important I think, and again, feel free to PM me for anything you need, advice, resources, moral support, whatever.
Suerte!
Good luck to you, dmartino! I am a beginning Spanish student as well, and like you, I am using Rosetta Stone as one of my resources. I have almost finished the first level of the program and I have found it enjoyable and feel like I have learned quite a bit from it.
I have also used some of the other resources mentioned, for example, I listen to the Pimsleur Spanish program in my car and I have recently started using the Lingq.com website. Of course, I also use this website.
In addition to all of the above, I have a couple of grammar books with explanations of various grammatical structures and exercises with answers to help you judge your understanding. There isn't, in my opinion, one thing that you can grab and say, "This is going to get me fluent in Spanish." I try to read in Spanish, listen to things in Spanish, speak in Spanish, write things in Spanish, and study the language. And I try to do at least some of those things every day.
Just keep at it. It is slow going. Like you said, nobody is going to learn to speak a language in a matter of days. I honestly expect that I will need to keep putting in effort for years before I will feel comfortable.
Three words: vocabulary, vocabulary and vocabulary. Without a good strong vocabulary you will never be able to break the string of spoken sound into words.
I also agree with rodneyp that you have to talk and listen as much as possible and don't worry too much about grammar. You will make thousands of errors, suck it up and laugh at your yourself and then move on.
Welcome, Dmartino!
At 48 I've decided to try and learn Spanish,
¡Felicidades! I, too, learned later in life and have found it to be very enjoyable and rewarding...keeps the brain active!
recently have begun dating a woman who's native language is Spanish.
Wonderful! You have a private tutor then. This is great motivation for learning a language.
I have purchased Rosetta Stone, and am trying to supplement my learning with other online resources.
I also recommend the full versions of Pimsleur Spanish I, II, III, and IV. They helped me a lot with my pronunciation. I found the disks at the library and copied them for free.
My hopes are to be able to speak and understand Spanish at this time,
Continue practicing and don't be afraid of making mistakes and you'll do great!
I'm learning that there really are no shortcuts,
True, but you're well on your way to success with the resources you have.
I like this website, although it can be difficult to navigate:
http://www.lingq.com/
The idea is to listen and read audio/text at the same time in the target language.
I think it's great, although some people think that it's very important that audio should be listened to without a transcript or, in other words, without knowing what is being said. lol. In my experience, I think that is false.
im also a beginner too, some of our languages in filipino are related in spanish language, hope i can learn a lot better..
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, and advice.
I was asked about my thoughts on Rosetta Stone. 1. Very simple to use. 2. Each lesson builds on the previous. 3.I like being able to hear the words spoken in Spanish.
- It seems to do well teaching nouns, but I'm struggling with verbs past and present tense possessive, etc
- The voice recognition does not seem very accurate, or my pronunciation is worse than I think. I've let my girlfriend and friends at work who's native language is Spanish use the voice recognition and the program corrects them. 6.There is no option for an English translation, You must use logic based on the pictures offered. Everything in the program is Spanish.
Rosetta Stone is not the perfect program, it will not teach me enough to be fluent. But I hope it will provide a structured plan to learn by. I will continue to use Rosetta Stone as a base for my learning, as I begin to use some of the other advice and ideas that the members here have suggested.
Thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply to this "newbies" question.
One thing that can help you is if you create your own flashcard sets to study. There's a link at the bottom of your profile page for that. You can also browse through other flashcard sets by going to Learn > Flashcards at the top of the website. I find that flashcards are really good at helping you learn new vocabulary.
you can use these sites they may help. enter link description here
You have made a good start by providing a comprehensive profile. I think Manity defined a good forum user very well in this post. Buena suerte.
http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/244184/the-good-forum-user
Your question is not unusual, dmartino. You're off to a good start. For more ideas, you can also look through some of the archived questions on this site, including Tips on Learning Spanish
You might also try Duolingo Its similar to Rosetta Stone and is free.
I will concur with the Pimsleur recommendation. I have just finished level I and am already seeing improvements. You can check out a the first lesson at this Pimsleur Spanish review.
I would like to encourage you with these guidelines:
1 Use it or lose it: One of the most important things you soon learn when beginning to learn a new language is that you have to practise and apply what you have just learnt in order to remember it! There is a lot to learn and when you are starting to learn a new language it can be both exciting and daunting... often at the same time! Lol
2.Enjoy using what you know! You can make more progress if you choose to learn a language than if you have to/are forced to learn (eg are expected to learn a language at school) Having the right attitude and motivation can help you to keep learning when others give up around you.. I am sure that research would back me up in saying that if you enjoy what you are learning you are likely to make greater progress and this probably also affects your rate of prgress.
3.Don't be afraid to make mistakes ..but also learn from them, too! We all make mistakes this is a part of the learning process but the biggest mistake we can learn is to fail to learn from our mistakes and keep on repeating the same mistakes we certainly won't learn much if we keep on ploughing the same ground over and over again!
4 Develop a language exchange partnership ... in simple terms, this means finding a native speaker with whom you can practise Spanish on a regular basis. This needs to be a mutually beneficial relationship in which you can offer to help them learn your native language, which I assume is English, while they help you to learn Spanish.. I can see from what you have written that you could have a potentially wonderful opportunity to practise and learn together with your girlfriend and/or work colleagues.
You don't have to be a language or grammar expert to do this you just need a good working knowledge of how to speak your language on a day to day basis...as it is spoken.in the real world!.
I hope this helps you 
Hi Dmartino
This is a good place to ask when you get stuck.
I would also recommend Michel Thomas (audio only CDs) for beginners.
You'll be speaking sentences in minutes.
and
Notes In Spanish (free audio that can be downloaded and the scripts can be bought on-line)
This site from Germany is worth a very long visit or three. It is free.
Welcome to the forum. It is a good learning place to be.
