Learning Spanish poll questions

[Marianopolita]

I grew up in Denmark with Danish and English as a strong second language as my mother is English. Then German I started learning early in school and was strong in German and lived in Germany from I was 19 to 21. So I thought I was good at languages but in fact I was never strong in grammar and I was lazy. I realized this when I started learning Spanish as a hobby in my mid twenties. Now after 15 years here in the DR I still don’t feel I am fluent in Spanish. I have kind of given up. I just relocated from Santo Domingo to Las Terrenas and in September go back to Denmark for a long time and will just be visiting Las Terrenas when I come back and not planning to use Spanish anymore professionally as I closed my business in Santo Domingo.

Learning a language is a challenge and one key aspect is not to skip any part of the learning process no matter how much you know. Grammar is a key component and to be able to speak even at the most basic level you need grammar knowledge. If do not you have it can be tough and you never truly advance. You may be able communicate but not with a full or strong command.

 

[Marianopolita]

Comprehension easy. I simply dont understand Dominican spanish. They dont use all the syllables in the words and its simply a nightmare trying to understand them.

Understanding Spanish in the DR is a challenge if you are not used to Caribbean Spanish. Start listening to Dominican journalists, doctors, educated teachers and other professionals. You will have a totally different perspective. Different sociolect = different speech.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Learning a language is challenge and one key aspect is not to skip any part of the learning process no matter how much you know. Grammar is a key component and to be able to speak even at the most basic level you need grammar knowledge. If do not you have it can be tough and you never truly advance. You may be able communicate but not with a full or strong command.

Very true. But also age is a factor. For us old farts, it's much more difficult. Kreyol was relatively easy because it's grammatical structure is sooooooooo simple.

 

[Marianopolita]

Grammar is a hardest part. Spanish is a little easier for me as my native language is French, but it still takes a lot of practice to be fluent.

You are right. Nothing else to add here other than I have seen so much improvement over the past three years with your Spanish. Just keep doing what you are doing. Study the grammar, read, and practice at every opportunity and you will get to the level fluency you desire to have.

 

[Chirimoya]

Writing, for sure.

Some times I see a word in a newspaper and say to myself " dang ! THAT is how it is spelt ?!??!? "

That happened to me. I've known Spanish from an early age but was not taught it formally until the age of 16. When I finally saw some words in writing I was surprised too. 'La nevera' for example. In my head, it was always 'la anevera'. 'La azotea' was 'la sotea' in my head. Cebra and cero still surprise me. I think it's fairly normal for people who have only learned a language aurally. Now my spelling in Spanish is better than that of many native speakers, even well-educated ones.

I voted for grammar as the most challenging. Even at my near-fluent level, I still get gender, conditional, and subjunctive wrong sometimes, or at least have to think twice before saying/writing something.

 

[aarhus]

Learning a language is a challenge and one key aspect is not to skip any part of the learning process no matter how much you know. Grammar is a key component and to be able to speak even at the most basic level you need grammar knowledge. If do not you have it can be tough and you never truly advance. You may be able communicate but not with a full or strong command.

I am happy with my level now for what I need to do going forward.

 

[Andre14615]

Understanding Spanish in the DR is a challenge if you are not used to Caribbean Spanish. Start listening to Dominican journalists, doctors, educated teachers and other professionals. You will have a totally different perspective. Different sociolect = different speech.

I understand but I need to understand my Uber driver, my cleaning lady, doorman, etc. Sometimes I'm just so lost and I have a good grasp of basic Spanish.

 

[aarhus]

I understand but I need to understand my Uber driver, my cleaning lady, doorman, etc. Sometimes I'm just so lost and I have a good grasp of basic Spanish.

Very good point.

 

[Marianopolita]

I understand but I need to understand my Uber driver, my cleaning lady, doorman, etc. Sometimes I'm just so lost and I have a good grasp of basic Spanish.

Yes, and typically that sociolect is hard to understand.

Just ask as much as possible for people to repeat what they are saying and slower if possible to train your ear. It does help. You will start to get a feel for the rhythm, flow, starts and stops when people speak and chopped words.

 

[Andre14615]

Yes, and typically that sociolect is hard to understand.

Just ask as much as possible for people to repeat what they are saying and slower if possible to train your ear. It does help. You will start to get a feel for the rhythm, flow, starts and stops when people speak and chopped words.

Gotcha!

 

[Marianopolita]

Very true. But also age is a factor. For us old farts, it's much more difficult. Kreyol was relatively easy because it's grammatical structure is sooooooooo simple.

Yes, but you are living in a Spanish-speaking country and trying to learn. You a have little advantage. Even for some basic conversational Spanish. Practical application of the language. Correct me if I am wrong but knowledge of Kreyol won’t help.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Yes, but you are living in a Spanish-speaking country and trying to learn. You a have little advantage. Even for some basic conversational Spanish. Practical application of the language. Correct me if I am wrong but knowledge of Kreyol won’t help.

Kreyol doesn't help but having had Latin and French does from a grammar perspective. I just mention Kreyol because it was so simple and Spanish is so difficult. Of course at 65, I'm down to 5 working brain cells and I can't find 6 of them, so there's that.

 

[Marianopolita]

Kreyol doesn't help but having had Latin and French does from a grammar perspective. I just mention Kreyol because it was so simple and Spanish is so difficult. Of course at 65, I'm down to 5 working brain cells and I can't find 6 of them, so there's that.

You say Spanish is difficult to learn but there are other languages that are much harder. Spanish ranks in the top ten easiest languages for English speakers to learn.

 

[NanSanPedro]

You say Spanish is difficult to learn but there are other languages that are much harder. Spanish ranks in the top ten easiest languages for English speakers to learn.

Ok, let's caveat that. Hard for me!!

 

[Marianopolita]

That happened to me. I've known Spanish from an early age but was not taught it formally until the age of 16. When I finally saw some words in writing I was surprised too. 'La nevera' for example. In my head, it was always 'la anevera'. 'La azotea' was 'la sotea' in my head. Cebra and cero still surprise me. I think it's fairly normal for people who have only learned a language aurally. Now my spelling in Spanish is better than that of many native speakers, even well-educated ones.

I voted for grammar as the most challenging. Even at my near-fluent level, I still get gender, conditional, and subjunctive wrong sometimes, or at least have to think twice before saying/writing something.

I am quite surprised by this since you have had exposure to the language for a long time even though the formal piece came at the age of 16 and going forward.

Yes, grammar is a challenge but to compare not only in Spanish. French and German grammar are very difficult for students who study these languages. However, going back to Spanish it is intense.


Your challenges with Spanish grammar are in the top ten per se. The subjunctive is a course on its own to master it in my opinion.

What is challenging about the gender of articles?

If you go by the rules you will be right 97 to 98 percent of the time if you are not sure.

 

[Chirimoya]

Articles are not the main problem unless I'm formulating a sentence and say the article (usually default masculine) before I've chosen the precise noun, and then my options are limited or I'm forced to make a mistake. My more common mistake is defaulting to the masculine pronoun or adjective even if the noun is feminine.

 

[Marianopolita]

Articles are not the main problem unless I'm formulating a sentence and say the article (usually default masculine) before I've chosen the precise noun, and then my options are limited or I'm forced to make a mistake. My more common mistake is defaulting to the masculine pronoun or adjective even if the noun is feminine.

Okay I understand this and I have heard the inclination and error a lot with learners. Although I hesitate to make native speaker vs bilingual vs foreign language comparisons this is one area where I do find the brain is wired differently so to speak. It is very unusual for native speakers to use the wrong gender of the noun, it is possible with bilingual speakers but a strong bilingual speaker will be like the native speaker in my experience and foreigners will err a lot as they learn and eventually will improve if they keep practicing, accept correction, study on their own and practice their language skills which includes reading in Spanish. Reading is an absolute must in order to improve.

 

[Marianopolita]

A great article on the topic. The challenges of English speakers learning Spanish and other languages.

Five reasons English speakers struggle to learn other languages

It's not just grammar stopping Brits from learning languages like German, Spanish, and French.

qz.com

 

[Marianopolita]

Thanks to all those who partipated in the Poll.

Although it is a small sample size the constant challenges that learners mention when learning Spanish are grammar and comprehension. Grammar knowledege is necessary to speak correctly and even with a good basic command or better many people have trouble understanding the locals wherever they go in the Spanish-speaking world.

I think regarding grammar you have keep studying. Understanding and knowledge do not come overnight. Make a note of what concepts challenge you and focus on them to improve. Yes, the subjunctive is a challenge but it does not have to be. There is a lot of logic to its usage.

Regarding comprehension. The more exposure you have the better it gets. You still may have challenges but in general exposure and practice help with comprehension.

Good luck and keep enojoying this beautiful language. 👍