alt Hacker NewsI spent my childhood in a rural town but learning Spanish from various teachers from 4th grade through high school. I always did well but focused too much on the process of Spanish such as getting very good at conjugating verbs without knowing what the meant
After several years away from Spanish I picked it back up in college and began traveling and living off and on in Latin America
I remember the first times I started dreaming in Spanish, or the first time I had a screaming match with someone trying to steal money from me. I would unconsciously think of a phrase in English and constantly be trying to convert it to Spanish all day long. It was the most fluent I’ve ever felt
A few months ago I went on a trip to Central America and was worried my Spanish would have been lost after over a decade away. Turns out that quite a bit is still there
Folks regularly compliment me on my pronunciation(which is hugely important and shows that you’re trying, folks give you so much grace if you don’t know the words but are trying)
I also find that I can speak far better than I can listen. I regularly have to ask people to repeat themselves or slow down, which is frustrating to me but what can you expect after not staying sharp?
Last thing: I’ll echo another commenter who said to listen to music. My high school Spanish teacher had us listening and singing shakira. She’d print off the lyrics and we’d sing along. This was hugely valuable for pronunciation and flow. Also, old Shakira stuff is great
Nothing beats the pressure of using a language all day in a place where they don’t speak your language.
I remember meeting a backpacker from another country who spoke English but would only speak Spanish to when we traveled and would pull out her dictionary regularly and make notes in her notebook. I learned that Germans are crazy disciplined and that that discipline pays off. Her Spanish was amazing after only a few months in the country
Replies
> I also find that I can speak far better than I can listen.
That's likely because it is far more "controlled by you". You set the pace, marshal your thoughts, and then carefully speak the line.
With listening you have to deal with a lot of components out of your control:
- Speed of delivery
- background noise
- different speakers means subtly different accents
- a "clock" that starts as soon as they await your reply
> I also find that I can speak far better than I can listen.
Interesting. I'm learning Italian while living in Italy at the moment. I'm much better at listening than speaking. I can eavesdrop quite easily. I am still relatively new to the language so maybe there comes a point where it flips?
> I regularly have to ask people to repeat themselves or slow down
I don't know how true it is, but there is a perception that Spanish is often spoken very rapidly by native speakers. I'm sure this is more true of some languages than others, but I noticed it very early on when I attended a bilingual elementary school for a couple years.
> Nothing beats the pressure of using a language all day in a place where they don’t speak your language.
Nothing beats immersion I'd agree. I found self-studying very difficult because sure I could try and read or listen, but I had no one to really judge my writing/speaking responses back. Or you learn how to speak like a textbook written in the 80s.
> I also find that I can speak far better than I can listen.
I had the same problem when traveling with a non-fluent understanding of the local language. It logically makes sense though - you only need to learn 1 way to say a thing, but theres 100s of ways for someone to respond to you.
> Folks regularly compliment me on my pronunciation
Conjugation/grammar & pronunciation go a long way. You can fill in vocabulary gaps by reaching for similar enough words, describing the thing, or offering up the English word for the thing and get there often... provided you can place it within a decently constructed sentence.
I also find knowing the local way of saying umm/uhh helps a lot so people understand you are slowing down/thinking/struggling for the right words.