Train your ear?
Buenos Dias!
This may seem a little weird, but Is there a way so that I can train my understanding of Spanish? Sometimes I find it very difficult to understand everything that is said, for example, when I'm watching a Spanish film/clip.
I don't usually have this problem when I'm talking in Spanish with a person standing in front of me. Perhaps it's because of the fact that they tend to speak a little faster on film compared to reality. But when all is said, is there anyway that I can improve on my difficulty 
?
¡Gracias por adelantado!
9 Answers
Training your ear is a valid point. The 4 areas of teaching / learning a language are speaking, listening, reading, and writing - listening seems to be most forgotten in any language course, or at least the area that is given the least importance.
Immersion is the only way I know of to train your ear, just hearing a language constantly or as much as possible. Listening on the phone is the most difficult because there are no body gestures to be seen. Films can be difficult due to sound quality and sound effects, and slang. I agree that soap operas are a good listening device for language learning because there are very few, if any any, sound effects and the actors tend to speak their lines clearly and with minimal slang.
Talk shows and news shows are also a good way for listening to a language of study, however, some of them may have difficult accents and slang, so you need to choose accordingly.
Also don´t expect to understand every word in the beginning. This will come in time as your ear becomes accustomed to hearing your language of study.
Actually I think the conversation in films is slower than I find in live conversations. The big difference is that live you can ask for clarification and can create pauses to allow time to think.
Thecureforwhatatfirstseemslikerunonsentenceswithnomeaningistolearnalotofvocabulary.
Without sufficient vocabulary whether something is written or spoken you can not break the letters or sounds into words. If you can't see or hear words then you will always be lost. Vocabulary is King. Grammar is the handmaiden.
I agree it's difficult to understand when we hear people/movies/radio speak quickly. My guess is that it just takes practice, practice, practice (or practise, practise, practise if you live in the UK lol). I think finding the right thing to listen to helps as well, beginning with educational videos and teaching tapes.
I try to watch at least half an hour (or more) of Spanish TV each day, and I find I am "picking out" the words more often as I go along. For me, it helps to watch American movies that are dubbed in Spanish, usually because I've seen the film before and can at least get a grip on what's being said.
Some people enjoy telenovas (Spanish language soap operas), but I don't watch them in English so I'm not interested in watching them (for the most part) in any other language.
I have enjoyed Como Dice El Dicho, which is a telenova, but I think it's more geared towards teens and they speak a little more slowly on the show, and the stories are varied - not just romance.
Here's one more that I watch once in a while, since it's for children and they speak way more slowly: Plaza Sésamo - Sesame Street.
I recently found a TV game show show called "100 Latinos Dijeron" (Family Feud in the USA and Family Fortunes in the UK). Although the host speaks quickly, he repeats himself many times for each question. 100 Latinos Dijeron
One more thing, Fuego, if you fill in your profile the rest of the way, we can better help you here. For instance, in which country do you live? Is English your first language? What level Spanish do you speak - or are you a beginnner? It also helps for us to know a few fun facts about yourself - such as why you are learning Spanish and your favorite sports, hobbies, etc. Welcome to SD and have fun! 
Edit: Here's a whole episode of 100 Latinos Dijeron from YouTube
Gracias por las respuestas, les agradezco!
Training makes perfect, so that's what I'm going to do :D!
Alot of you guys mentioned news readers, so guess that I'm going to start there and then work my way up 
!
The main problem is that when you are talking to someone in front of you you know the context of what is being said A N D the person is talking to you.
In a film the actors are N O T talking to you they are talking to someone else and very often these days the actors have lost the art of speaking clearly not to mention the annoying background "music".
Try going to a live theatre - there the actors know how to "throw" their voice at the audience.
As Julian says news readers are usually among the best for speech clarity. They want you to understand what is being said - just like live theatre.
I will just add that "educar su oído' is the correct way to say "train your ear".
Tengo que educar mi oído.
You can also replace "educar" with "entrenar".
I'd like to see some answers to that as well. I will say I often listen to Latino CNN on satellite radio in my car. I can pick out words and phrases here and there, but I still can't understand the entirety of what they're saying. However, I figure it will at least help me get used to different accents and voices. I also think I'm understanding more little by little, though that may be wishful thinking. Anyway, buena suerte!
This is just a case of getting used to listening to Spanish, but I find it difficult! As a child I reached a good level in French and even though I haven't spoken it for a long time,if I hear French on the TV I can tune in - for example there were major reports from Paris at the time of the massacre at the Newspaper and when they let us hear the French rather than fading it out, I was surprised I could understand. My vocabulary and understanding of Spanish now, is larger than that of French but I know I don't 'tune in' as easily. Listen to news every day - RTVE [in Spain] [rtve]1 has a short bulletin 4 minutes long or you can try BBC Mundo which has short videos or ver taal
Vertaal a Dutch learning site which regularly features segments and other listening exercises. Available in various languages. The benefit of news is, it will often be events you know about, though as you are based in Canada there will be items on Spanish TV you have no idea about!
I don't know what you like but RTVE has loads of programmes and recently they have started adding a transcript and allow you to add subtitles.
Always listen once without subtitles as otherwise your brain will lazily read the subtitles and you will not listen to the Spanish. In class we listen to adverts, and short films even political broadcasts. Once without subtitles with perhaps questions we have to say true or false to, then again and then sometimes subtitles. Mujer desengañada - we listened to this in class - two women having a chat and it was only after discussing the language and other grammar issues we realised it was a party political broadcast. They don't make them like that in the UK.
and here is a link to it on Amara, a site with many subtitled videos where you have the choice of turning the subtitles on or off:
This site has a lot of subtitled videos and other information: ticele
I used to like watching the short films on notodofest but nowadays they all have English subtitles. However, this one is very funny - well worth a watch!
Pipas are sunflower seeds which are a very popular snack in Spain but you have to realise
The girls are not bright
There is a play on words.
If you want to work at it more, find a written article that interests you and read it, read a similar article somewhere else - eg El Pais and El Mundo, check main vocabualry then try listening to a short video on the same topic on RTVE or 20 minutos. The more you listen the more you will understand. Just think how long you listened as a baby before you talked.
My native Spanish teacher, in response to a request for Spanish TV programme to help me develop my listening skills sent me a link in Skype. Here is the website address: www.apenderespañol.org
The stories concentrate two Spanish girls called Lola and her friend Ana who share a flat/ an apartment together.
I hope this helps: )
