yeap,
exactly right,
it is not a perfect spanish UNI degree spanish you'll need to come by.
i learned it on latin streets and i would say i come along with 'my bad street/beach education' very well, i read any spanish paper and have any spanish conversation and understand them for sure fully, even that i may have funny effects in some pronouncings of course, but hey, i am the stranger, that's fine.
of course if somebody wnna get a perfect spanish to be prepared to amke a degree at a latin UNI, then the only way would be a pro-course.
otherwise,
take the daily life as your tutor,
talk talk and talk and then talk,
and of course do not forget to listen aside of that, too, sometimes.
JD,
i am completely on your explained level/way,
have just one Q left.
!!!How was Pam!!! ???
my godson is born in germany,
12 yrs old now,
3 weeks before him been born his til today best girlfriend Lea,
also in germany,
but those lifetime/grown up friends of us life since before that date most time of the year on the spanish speaking Isle Marbella,
so that girlie been growing up since birth with german father, russian mother, on a spanish Isle and since in school with the need of the english language.
if she's doing well?
heck, with the little dozen of languages i can communicate myself i just can be jelous on that!
and my godson?
they are together during every year for many weeks,
he's visiting over there during his school breaks, she's visiting there, too, he never been in any spanish course, but try to have the last word in a spanish spoken discussion with him, ha ha.
the best way ever and always to learn a language of a region is to be there, to communicate with the people there, make your huge talking/spelling/grammar mistakes over some years, and one day you realize that you really can speak and read a language.
without the daily practice a few months UNI course would not be worth the bucks.
Mike