Learning a foreign language

[KillersWhoArePartying]

Hey guys, I noticed a lot of you seem to write in perfect english even tho it is not your first language.

I'm currently learning Spanish and have gotten pretty good at it actually, but I'm studying abroad in Spain next semester and I need to get reallyyyy good before I get there this summer so I don't fail my classes  I'd say I'm at a low intermediate level, I just took 2 years of it in college and am almost done with rosetta stone, I also use duolingo quite often and am currently staying with my family in Mexico for a little under a month to get some more practice in. I can definitely have a conversation in it but I'd like to get to the point where it just flows completely naturally like English does.

Does anyone here care to share their experiences in currently learning or successfully becoming fluent in a different language than the one you grew up knowing?

[rawbrit]

Ashley O might help you

 

[redacted statement]

apps and courses are one thing but I'd say the two biggest helps will be: interaction with native speakers and consumption of media.. the first one you seem to already have in the bag, regarding media, I only know english this well because I've been a Western media / pop culture junkie since I was like 5 or 6.. cartoons, movies, video games, MUSIC, later in life YouTube - they're all a huge part of my english skills.. also - time, it takes plenty of time.. I had Russian in school for like 6 years and I'm still garbage at it.. I can for the most part understand what people are saying but I can't reply myself and when it comes to grammar I'm just completely worthless.. I've also picked up quite a bit of Korean though it's still in the early stages.. I can read hangul and I know a bunch of words / phrases but that's about it..

[IUSM]

As a native French speaker, I would say that it is easier to learn English as it is more mainstream: I use English a lot at work, most films and TV series can be watched in English, etc.

For Spanish, it is a bit more complicated even though you can find many Spanish films. If you live in the US, don't you have a few friends of Latin descent that could help you practice Spanish?

If you like politics, you can also try to follow the news in Spanish - I find it useful to practice.

Spoiler

I am saying all that but unfortunately, my level of Spanish is nowhere near fluent, unfortunately.

 

[IUSAtonight]

Learning a language is all about practise. As the others said, it's easier with English because you read and hear English pretty much every day, through movies, tv, music and the internet. It seems like you're in an already good skill level and communicating with native speakers will help a lot, although it's not that easy to hold a conversation if you're not comfortable enough with the language.

Until recently i was learning German and watching videos and some movies/tv helped me a bit. I was also looking up German translations of songs i know and it helped me remember words meanings. And it's easier to find content in Spanish than other languages, besides English. There's s lot of it.

I really like Spanish. I would like to learn either sone Spanish or Portuguese at some point

 

[DexWillBeThere98]

Native Spanish speaker here. Hi.

Look, it's not easy, that's for sure. I sucked at English up until I was 12 years aprox, but after I started watching PLL, hanging in Power Rangers Forums and Twitter, I learned it. I obviously can write, but if I take a grammar test, I will probably fail cause I never cared too much how to form it, it comes naturally now. I remember one day in English class level A (which was the one with the one who were better in English), out teacher ask us to put the sentence in order. 98% of the class got one way, 1 girl another, and I did another. I was the only one that got it right, I got so f**king happy...

Anyway...

My brother's wife knows a lot of Spanish, but her pronunciation isn't perfect. I know it never will, but damn if she's good at it. She even know a lot of Peruvian slang thanks to my brother. And they speak Spanish at home all the time. Thing is, you're going to Spain. Let me tell you something. If you hear Mexican people talk, and then go to Spain, you ain't gonna understand ****. I know this, because when people from Spain comes here and you listen to them talk, it's really hard to understand them most of the time. And some words are used differently there. Kinda like the USA and UK, so be careful. I recommend you watch a Spanish TV Show. Check Netflix. It will help. But Spanish it's kinda hard to learn, specially with all the ways to conjugate a verb. Good luck.

[KillersWhoArePartying]

1 hour ago, DexWillBeThere98 said:

Native Spanish speaker here. Hi.

Look, it's not easy, that's for sure. I sucked at English up until I was 12 years aprox, but after I started watching PLL, hanging in Power Rangers Forums and Twitter, I learned it. I obviously can write, but if I take a grammar test, I will probably fail cause I never cared too much how to form it, it comes naturally now. I remember one day in English class level A (which was the one with the one who were better in English), out teacher ask us to put the sentence in order. 98% of the class got one way, 1 girl another, and I did another. I was the only one that got it right, I got so f**king happy...

Anyway...

My brother's wife knows a lot of Spanish, but her pronunciation isn't perfect. I know it never will, but damn if she's good at it. She even know a lot of Peruvian slang thanks to my brother. And they speak Spanish at home all the time. Thing is, you're going to Spain. Let me tell you something. If you hear Mexican people talk, and then go to Spain, you ain't gonna understand ****. I know this, because when people from Spain comes here and you listen to them talk, it's really hard to understand them most of the time. And some words are used differently there. Kinda like the USA and UK, so be careful. I recommend you watch a Spanish TV Show. Check Netflix. It will help. But Spanish it's kinda hard to learn, specially with all the ways to conjugate a verb. Good luck.

Muchas gracias aunque me das miedo jajaja. Sí, mis primos aqui me dijieron que el español en España es muy diferente y díficil de entender para ellos. Gracias por la recomendación, voy a ver una serie de España en mi tiempo libre. Yo sé que la pronunciación puede ser diferente, especialmente en palabras como "gracias" o "zapatos" y en México coger significa 'to ****' y en España es como 'to take'. 

Además, he traducido este forum utilizando auto-translate de Google Chrome. Espero que me ayuda leer fácilmente. Pues, he escrito esto sin Google Translate, ojála que no hay muchos errores 

[Hannah]

On 6/15/2019 at 8:57 PM, IUSM said:

As a native French speaker, I would say that it is easier to learn English as it is more mainstream: I use English a lot at work, most films and TV series can be watched in English, etc.

For Spanish, it is a bit more complicated even though you can find many Spanish films. If you live in the US, don't you have a few friends of Latin descent that could help you practice Spanish?

If you like politics, you can also try to follow the news in Spanish - I find it useful to practice.

  Hide contents

I am saying all that but unfortunately, my level of Spanish is nowhere near fluent, unfortunately.

 

Definetley can relate to this too as a native french speaker. 

[DexWillBeThere98]

22 hours ago, HuffingAndPuffingOnStage said:

Muchas gracias aunque me das miedo jajaja. Sí, mis primos aqui me dijieron que el español en España es muy diferente y díficil de entender para ellos. Gracias por la recomendación, voy a ver una serie de España en mi tiempo libre. Yo sé que la pronunciación puede ser diferente, especialmente en palabras como "gracias" o "zapatos" y en México coger significa 'to ****' y en España es como 'to take'. 

Además, he traducido este forum utilizando auto-translate de Google Chrome. Espero que me ayuda leer fácilmente. Pues, he escrito esto sin Google Translate, ojála que no hay muchos errores 

Sí. Lo de coger es un ejemplo perfecto de uso diferente de palabras. Y sí, el acento puede ser difícil de entender. Lo es más en persona que en televisión, así que igual, cuidado.

Estuvo bien lo que escribiste, para no haber usado GT. En serio, estuvo perfecto, excepto por una pequeña parte al final, pero está muy bien hecho, en serio.

Buena suerte en su viaje, y verás que las jergas las aprenderás en un toque. Así pasa. Pero igual, en serio es diferente. Hay este Youtuber que vino a Perú e hizo un video (lo que me recuerda, mientras que en México pronuncian "videos" sin acento, en España los llaman "vídeos" con acento en la i, por si acaso. O los DVD's, en España los pronuncian tal como las letras están en español, DeUveDe) sobre la jergas peruanas y cómo puedes decir varias cosas. Es divertido de ver, por si te interesa.

 

[dark_wolf]

I learned English & Spanish when I went to London/Madrid. But I've gotta admit, I loved the english language since I was a kid (thanks to music (Madonna & Britney mostly)) so it was easier for me to learn it. And my love for foreign languages intensified at school.

Entonces, creo que para aprender una nueva lengua, tienes que amarla, porque cuando tenemos pasión por cosas, es muy facíl.

[Alexanda]

On 6/14/2019 at 2:53 AM, HuffingAndPuffingOnStage said:

Hey guys, I noticed a lot of you seem to write in perfect english even tho it is not your first language.

 

First of all, pressure is not good and second: English is way easier.

Look into the spanishmusicscene and listen to spanish music.

And don't be afraid to speak to spanishpeople. Good luck.