Tenerife forum

[angell]

I really ought to make an effort and properly learn spanish. While the baby is still a baby its not so bad (although I'm sure Jenny wouldn't miss the doctors appointments!) but I know I really need to be at least semi-fluent by the time school rolls around.

So I have about 3 years. I'll need it. I am very bad at foreign languages. I have books, CD-roms, podcasts. I have basic spanish and can get by in the shops and things, but I learn best visually. Yet still I am struggling.

I appreciate I have to pay for lessons. But from someone who has a very hard time with learning languages - please - does anyone have any advice? Where to go, learning techniques etc....

Thank you in advance
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[apollo]

I dont know whats the best way you find to learn, personally I find it easier seeing it written down as opposed to hearing it.

What about setting yourself 2 or 3 verbs each week to learn.
Learn the breakdown, eg:

HABLAR (TO SPEAK):

Yo..............(i)..............Hablo
Tu..............(you...........Hablas
El/ella.........(him/her)....Habla
Nosotros.....(us)............Hablamos
Ellos...........(they)..........Hablan

If you can make yourself work on 2 or 3 breakdowns like that it could be a start. It would make forming a sentence easier as you already have the basis of it.

Perhaps learning things such as objects, animals, colours etc you could draw up or print pictures and write the word next to it

eg:

"COCHE"


Except not such a big pic maybe.....

Best of luck
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[Chris_and_Leanne]

Thats really good idea thanks Apollo, maybe we all as a forum could start a thread in the spanish section and put a photo with the spanish for it next to it and then it broken down like you explain, then it would help us all and if Melders was to be on true form and post some of his funny pics we will all be remembering and speaking spanish in no time !

Another idea I had was to think of a skill or something you can offer and swap it for free lessons. For example I am doing a skill swap with a spanish teacher for holistic therapies...

Good luck Lea x
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[rob]

Good idea apollo but please learn the nouns with their genders i.e. NOT..... "COCHE" but "El COCHE".

When I was learning conjugations of every day verbs I wrote lists and stuck them up in commonly used places so that I had to keep seeing them. For example above the sink, on the bathroom mirror, It works!
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[apollo]

Sorry, didnt occur to me to put the el/la/los/las etc. Wasnt thinking
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[funky]

So Apollo, what is the Spanish for "Pimp My Ride" anyway?

And is the boot filled with amps and speakers?
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[andyfowles]

[apollo]

Ha ha, not my car unfortunately! I just typed in corsa (first one that came to my head) to google and it was on the images page.

chuckle!
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[lisaloo]

Hi

I am trying to learn too and finding it hard to learn just from books and CDs, I have found a website called Livemocha and it has lessons with pictures and words, putting sentences together with the appropriate conjugation of verbs etc and I have found it really useful. Everyone learns differently and this is quite repetitive but it seems to reinforce each lesson adding vocabularly and more difficult grammar in each lesson.

Have a look it won't hurt. I am not promoting this site in any way, I am just enjoying using it thats all

[angell]

Thank you all for your advice - I think I'll try everything! I too learn best visually so I think I will enlist help to stick up signs everywhere (the help is to ensure I get it right lol!) and I will also check out that site. Thanks
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[jenny]

Moved your thread to the appropriate section

Everyone learns differently so you need to find the way that suits you.

In order to get used to hearing Spanish I recommend you watch Spanish television in particular children's programmes that are not too complicated if you are at the basic/intermediate level. You can move on to films and news when you get more fluent.

To practice what you learn, you could go each week to a Spanish shop and ask something different each time. You could start off in a supermarket and ask something like "¿Donde está la leche?", then following the directions go and find it (don't ask for something your are standing next to!!!). Then move on to more complicated things as you get more confident.
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