Speaking Spanish and confidence

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
For those of you are at the intermediate level of speaking Spanish, remember confidence is an important characteristic of speaking correctly. Equally important is that confidence is very important in order to win the "confidence" of the native speaker audience.

To do this here are a few tips on those bad days when confidence is "low":

1. Study up on vocabulary and areas of grammar where you believe you have weaknesses. There is no way more sure of losing the confidence first and then the interest last of a native speaker by not being able to remember the correct word nor describe an idea adequately.

2. Speak simply and don't stray far from your base vocabulary that you are comfortable with.

3. Remember, Spanish is spoken much more differently in terms of how the mouth and tongue is used than in English - therefore be aware of this when you feel "lazy" and redouble your energy to pronounce and alliterate correctly.

4. Finally, don't let mistakes let you down, even in a current conversation. The audience knows you aren't a native speaker and will typically be somewhat forgiving. In fact, mistakes are excellent learning tools as they stick in the mind long after the conversation and therefore have a less likely chance of repeating.
 
E

Ezequiel

Bronze
Jun 4, 2008
1,801
81
48
Chip said:
For those of you are at the intermediate level of speaking Spanish, remember confidence is an important characteristic of speaking correctly. Equally important is that confidence is very important in order to win the "confidence" of the native speaker audience.

To do this here are a few tips on those bad days when confidence is "low":

1. Study up on vocabulary and areas of grammar where you believe you have weaknesses. There is no way more sure of losing the confidence first and then the interest last of a native speaker by not being able to remember the correct word nor describe an idea adequately.

2. Speak simply and don't stray far from your base vocabulary that you are comfortable with.

3. Remember, Spanish is spoken much more differently in terms of how the mouth and tongue is used than in English - therefore be aware of this when you feel "lazy" and redouble your energy to pronounce and alliterate correctly.

4. Finally, don't let mistakes let you down, even in a current conversation. The audience knows you aren't a native speaker and will typically be somewhat forgiving. In fact, mistakes are excellent learning tools as they stick in the mind long after the conversation and therefore have a less likely chance of repeating.
Click to expand...


Thank you chip!, I replace all the word (Spanish) to (English) when i was reading your post.

Some days i feel so lazy and don't want to speak English :tired:, but at work, i'm force to, some day i feel as if i'm a native :cheeky:.

Just keep practicing, and you will get to the point that it will come out naturally.;)

Make friends with the native population, and you will be force to practice even on those days you feel lazy (personal experienc)
 
S

SKing

Silver
Nov 22, 2007
3,750
183
63
I have also learned that it is better to ask a non-english speaker a question about spanish rather than a bilingual person. In their attempt to explain something to you in spanish, you learn 3 or 4 different new words!!!
SHALENA
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
For me the ability to speak, even my very simple and basic, Spanish with minimal effort inspires confidence and that helps me to try and speak even more in Spanish, perhaps trying out new words and ideas. At my level it's not so much that speaking correctly is important but continuing to make the effort and to keep learning as I go is the key.

Chip said:
For those of you are at the intermediate level of speaking Spanish, remember confidence is an important characteristic of speaking correctly. Equally important is that confidence is very important in order to win the "confidence" of the native speaker audience.

To do this here are a few tips on those bad days when confidence is "low":

1. Study up on vocabulary and areas of grammar where you believe you have weaknesses. There is no way more sure of losing the confidence first and then the interest last of a native speaker by not being able to remember the correct word nor describe an idea adequately.

2. Speak simply and don't stray far from your base vocabulary that you are comfortable with.

3. Remember, Spanish is spoken much more differently in terms of how the mouth and tongue is used than in English - therefore be aware of this when you feel "lazy" and redouble your energy to pronounce and alliterate correctly.

4. Finally, don't let mistakes let you down, even in a current conversation. The audience knows you aren't a native speaker and will typically be somewhat forgiving. In fact, mistakes are excellent learning tools as they stick in the mind long after the conversation and therefore have a less likely chance of repeating.
Click to expand...
...perhaps you meant enunciate - Definitions from Dictionary.com
 
S

SKing

Silver
Nov 22, 2007
3,750
183
63
Also don't rely too heavily on Ads, music (esp reggaeton), or signs....look what I found at the hospital where I am working in NYC!

210yqyt.jpg


Where did they find their translator?!?:bunny::bunny::bunny:
SHALENA
 
Last edited:
S

SKing

Silver
Nov 22, 2007
3,750
183
63
I messed up and forgot to resize the photo...please forgive me!!!
SHALENA
 
C

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
16,772
429
0
Santiago
On the topic of annunciating correctly, I have a good American friend here in Santiago who was laughing as I explained to him the correct way to pronounce in Spanish. I said he may think it is funny to try to get the correct accent, but I said that Dominicans and Spanish speakers in general think anything other than the correct accent is "funny" to them.
 
R

RHM

Doctor of Diplomacy
Sep 23, 2002
1,660
30
0
www.thecandidacy.com
You make a very good point on confidence.

After almost 6 years here my Spanish is still very choppy. In part because I am lazy and also because I have always worked (jobwise) entirely in English here. Thus, I can do absolutely anything I need to do without help and have basic conversations, but I'm still nowhere near the level I should be. Entirely my fault.

Anyway, your point about confidence is very true and explains why my Spanish improves ten-fold after a beer or two.

The trick is to keep learning after you reach different levels instead of becoming complacent and not care if you make mistakes. From now on I'll just pretend I had a beer and see what happens.

RHM
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
annunciating - Definitions from Dictionary.com ;)
Chip said:
On the topic of annunciating correctly, I have a good American friend here in Santiago who was laughing as I explained to him the correct way to pronounce in Spanish. I said he may think it is funny to try to get the correct accent, but I said that Dominicans and Spanish speakers in general think anything other than the correct accent is "funny" to them.
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom