What's the best route to become a spanish speaker asap.

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carl ericson70

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Nov 15, 2003
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All,

I?ve finally taken it upon myself to learn Spanish. I need some advice as to what?s the best approach; For example, is it best to start off learning commonly used phrases or build a vocabulary base of Spanish words first? I plan to learn over a 1000 words of Spanish and take it from there. Also, does anyone know exactly how many Spanish words does one have to know, in order to hold everyday conversations with native Spanish speakers? Is it something like 3000? IF one dedicates 1 hour per day, 5 days a week; to study spanish, how many months should it take to be able to conversate with spanish speakers?



For newbies is it better to learn to speak Spanish, before learning grammar rules etc..?



Thanks in advance!

CE
 

stewart

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Learn as many words as possible. Then listen to what people say and how they say it.
 

ricktoronto

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carl ericson70 said:
For newbies is it better to learn to speak Spanish, before learning grammar rules etc..?

CE

You can't learn to speak Spanish if you don't learn grammar rules at the same time unless you just mean learn a bunch of nouns and nonconjugated verbs. The rules define how it all fits together.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Formal study is a great help

Basically for anyone over 15 years old the process is one of trying to imitate sounds and learning vocabulary and grammar in a coordinated process.

Yes, total immersion works to a degree.]

Yes, getting into a relationship with a person of the opposite sex ( or same sex if you are of that tendency) is also a good way to learn fast.

However, the process is not by numbers, since most ordinary Dominicans only use maybe 700 words in their everyday life. Teenages use even less.

Learn the tenses, learn the verbs, practice by listening to Spanish language television and radio. It works...

And be patient. It will come to you...

HB :D:D
 
May 12, 2005
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I agree with Hillbilly. Be patient, learning another language isn't a quick thing. I'm in the process of learning myself. I've found that if I don't use what I've learned, I forget it. So practice, practice, practice. I have have a few Dominican friends, and one of them almost forces me to speak to her in Spanish, it works. As far as a good book to learn from, if you are here in the US, I reccommend Spanish for Dummies. It's exactly what its title implies. Also I've found the books Streetwise Spanish helpful learning commom street language and colloquialisms.
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Don't forget a Spanish/English dictionary
Also, Spanish Verbs 101 compact disc is pretty good, nothing but verb conjugations and tenses.
Latin-American Spanish by Hugo, I hear is pretty good.
Music, Television, Movies, Friends, Bars, Restaurants, etc...

Good Luck
 

abe

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buy this...

Rosetta Stone. It's the name of the publisher that uses the system used by the Foreign Service Institute of the US. Yes, for all of us who hold government in high suspicion, please suspend your doubt for a second. This is the method used to teach diplomats in a short time. I used the FSI system to learn French for a Peace Corps assignment well over 30 years ago and I still speak French quite well, despite having almost no occasion to practice.

Learning Spanish is still 80% dedication and 20% the technology, but if you have the first, then use Rosetta Stone.
 

mofi

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I dont' think i would recommend spanish television to a beginner the talk extremely fast, faster then the do in real life conversations and it can be incredibley confusing, and frustrating for a beginner. If i would you i would learn the gramatics, how to read first and maybe a bit of basic writing, and then i would immerse myself with people who speak very little english and are native spanish speakers, listen at the beginning and then start to chime in, my guess is if you can learn quickly you could be speaking pretty good spanish in about 1 year.
 

abe

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structured drills are the answer

Unless the native speakers are willing to tape record some model phrases, immersion by itself is inefficient. That's why a published set of CD's or cassettes gives you the chance to practice in isolation. When you learned your native language you did it through repetition and imitation--language learning is not unlike learnins sports skills. You need to create muscle memory and you need structured repetion to do that. The vocabulary is actually the easiest part.

Think of it as putting up a clothesline; get a strong line with lots of support and clothes pins and then hang up the clothes. The structure of language is the clothesline and the clothespins and the vocabulary is just like the clothes--interchangeable. Without the strong structure line gained through repetition, the clothes will fall off.
 

ricktoronto

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Jan 9, 2002
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Watching novellas or kid's shows in Spanish exposes you to basic non complex Spanish, about equally, frankly given a typical novella's plot line.
 

mkohn

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Jan 1, 2002
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I learned through immersion in the DR.
There was enough repitition that in the first month I was understanding more and responding a little.
I listened to it all day in school, took dictation even though I didn't understand all the words, and learned more and more.
In the afternoons, I hung out with my friends. I think they practiced English, but mostly spoke in Spanish.
I listened to the radio and records in Spanish. What TV we watched was in Spanish.
I returned to the states to attend HS. I placed in to upper level Spanish in HS and went on to get a degree at the University bypassing all the grammar classes. Some say my accent isn't too shabby either.
Not too bad for less than 11 months.
Immersion is doable IMO.
mkohn
 

Hillbilly

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Ah so, Mary-san

You were a baby here and your ear was extremely acute.

Kids pick up languages like sponges..

Old folks need structured practice-- like the tapes and CDs.

And practice, of course...

HB :D:D
 

mkohn

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Hi HB!
I'm thinkin' anybody wanting to learn quickly must be able to take advantage of being young will be able to learn Spanish reasonably quickly.
Tapes are not for me. But that's just me.
Does my husband know what you said about my ear?
:eek:
The best advice I can give to learning Spanish, get started ...
mkohn
 
May 12, 2005
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One more thing that might help, if here in the US pick up a used high school or college spanish language class text book. They really break down the language to its most basic and will help with developing a base from which it would then be easy to expand upon.
 

abe

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I agree, "mkohn"

that the best advice is to get started. It takes a certain inner strength to not be afraid to goof up royally and to feel stupid. But like losing weight, it feels so good when you get to the level you want!
 
Sep 19, 2005
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I have been trying to learn for 4 months now . I noticed a big jump when I found a translation site. I could type any phrase i wanted and see what came out in spanish. You will need to learn a few rules, which I learned via cd set, as to why one word has so many different forms...not like english where the word basically doesnt change much.....



http://www.freetranslation.com/free/

bob
 

Ricardo900

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laurapasinifan said:
I have been trying to learn for 4 months now . I noticed a big jump when I found a translation site. I could type any phrase i wanted and see what came out in spanish. You will need to learn a few rules, which I learned via cd set, as to why one word has so many different forms...not like english where the word basically doesnt change much.....



http://www.freetranslation.com/free/

bob
Hey Bob, here's a nice translation website for you and it also gives various examples.
http://www.wordreference.com/

Also, freetranslation likes to put things in the formal tense, (Usted instead of Tu) kind of impersonal.
 

expatsooner

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Aug 7, 2004
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I think the best way to learn a new language is to have a real need to speak the language.

One thing I have noticed among the people who have moved here is that singles who would like to date Dominicans (many of whom here in SD don't speak English) have a faster rate of improvement in their Spanish skills than singles who are dating non-Spanish speaking or bilingual people.

Among married couples with young children it has been my experience the women learn Spanish before the men because most of the nannies and maids don't speak English and generally the women are more motivated and involved in speaking to the nanny and maid.

So if you can come up with something to provide you with the need to learn, such as advancement at work or a reward trip to the DR when you reach a certain level of profiency ;) , then you will probably make better head way with your learning.
 
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