Me gusta aprender el espanol mucho.
Hi. This year, I just started to learn Spanish. Are there any tips from experienced Spanish speakers that can improve my learning experience? Any comments or suggestions are highly valued. ¡Gracias! -Marwynn(Mario)
4 Answers
Sorry to drag up this old thread, but Pimsleur just came out recently with Level 5 Spanish and I bought it. I've done levels 1 through 4 and have loved it. Not fluent, but I can order a baleada con huevos, chorizo, queso, y crema from the Ideal Discount Market, and I can tell the girl to leave the tamale wrapped in foil. I also got by quite well in Barcelona and Cadaques this summer. I'm a big fan.
High school, community college, university courses are great. I think that MINE is the best. There are also private schools like Berlitz and others. For absolute beginners, there is nothing like the Pimsleur Approach. On the beginner level you merely listen, repeat, follow instructions and answer questions when prompted by the teacher. You DON"T read anything. It is a fact that when English speakers read a Spanish text they pronounce the words as they would in English. THAT causes a problem. For years I taught what was known as TPR or Total Physical Response which is also really great! By the end of the semester the kids are speaking FLUENT but bad Spanish.
Once fluency is attained the grammar bugs can be "sprayed" so to speak- or gotten rid of. I have seen students having studied four years of Spanish and not have a tad of fluency. Some with natural talent manage to do quite well. Pimsleur accelerates fluency. Only with the fluency comes great grammatical accuracy and perfect pronunciation. I am studying Hebrew, and I am fairly fluent within my vocabulary limitations. I have no idea as to what Hebrew grammar is all about, but when I was a child I prattled in Spanish all the time with NO thought of grammar. Was my grammar good? Probably not, but I was quite good at expressing myself and getting what I wanted. My Hebrew speaking friends say my accent and my fluency are good for a beginner. Most of my students probably don't speak with the best Spanish grammar, but then neither does their teacher. But they are gaining fluency.
I bet YOU don't speak with perfect grammar either, whatever your native tongue.(lol)
So whatever system you use, High school, community college, private, Rosetta or Pimsleur. Go after it like a pit bull and keep plugging. (This is the longest I have ever written in English on this site. Whew!!.)
Amor y besos de una profesora a un o una estudiante que me importa mucho y es PORQUE eres estudiante que me importas. (This to rac1) If you think that my consejos have any value and might be profitable to other students, if they can be copied and pasted into other similar threads, please do it.
Welcome to SpanishDict. There are so many threads where this question has been asked. Here are a few.
Tips on memorizing and learning Spanish
Of course, you can find many more just by doing a search. Click on the link and type your search words in the box provided.
There are many community colleges and adult high schools that have good Spanish programs. Mine is one of the best, but then I'm prejudiced. Seriously, you should check one out and follow up with something like Rosetta Stone---hey, Fluencia on this site is not exactly chopped liver. (lol) I put in the "lol" because I'm not sure of what level the sense of humor is on this site. He visitado varios otros y sólo encontré a algunos gruñones y corajudos. No me pude divertir nada. ¡Qué triste!
