Want to say "I need to practice listening and speaking"

Question

Hi all,

I have tried to figure this one out on my own but can't find a concrete answer. I would like to say "I need to practice listening and speaking."

Would I say:

A) Necesito practicar escuchando y hablando. B) Necesito practicar escucha y habla. C) Necesito practicar escuchar y hablar. D) None of the above?

An explanation of why this is would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

One of the variants is correct. What is your opinion?

JC, just a question. Aren't two variants 'correct' (with only one being what the OP wants to say)? Just curious. - Helado_eclectico, Jan 29, 2014

My initial instinct was to say "escuchando y hablando" because that is what appears to be the literal translation from English to Spanish. However, I now know that literal translations don't always work. The noun explanation makes sense, thanks! - SF345, Jan 29, 2014

Also, do I need to clarify in my questions that I am a self-learner and not just looking for HW responses? I am way past my high school and college years and came up with all of these responses on my own. :) - SF345, Jan 29, 2014

@SF345 You can't use the progressive "speaking - listening" etc as we do in English. - ian-hill, Jan 29, 2014

C is the only correct variant. What is needed is to practice two things (nouns), which must be infinitives. It´s as Ian said - 005faa61, Jan 30, 2014