Learning Spanish

tk toronto

New member
Sep 7, 2006
237
4
0
39
I know that there are a lot of posts about learning Spanish in the DR and I've seen that people are recommending ALPI, but I work there teaching English, so I don't really want to take Spanish there too. Does anyone know of someone that gives private lessons or a fairly cheap school that I could get lessons from?

Thank, Tonya
 

J D Sauser

Silver
Nov 20, 2004
2,940
390
83
www.hispanosuizainvest.com
I know that there are a lot of posts about learning Spanish in the DR and I've seen that people are recommending ALPI, but I work there teaching English, so I don't really want to take Spanish there too. Does anyone know of someone that gives private lessons or a fairly cheap school that I could get lessons from?

Thank, Tonya

For free: Teach someone English, or what ever you speak.
Believe me, it can work. It's free and you help someone along on top too.


... J-D.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
useless.
only thing a non-professional can teach you is to order a beer. a student, no matter how good will have no idea how to explain you syntax, declination etc. unless we are talking a someone who studies spanish.
sad but true.
miesposo with all his PUCIMM education cannot explain the simplest rule.

if you need to learn proper spanish (grammar rules and all that) take a teacher who is a professor of spanish with degree. or teach yourself with a book.
if you want to learn street spanish get a boyfriend :cheeky: or befriend some dominicans and speak. make mistakes, learn, make less mistakes, learn more.
 

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
8,190
580
0
64
syntax is sentence structure I had to look it up and declination is something to do with astronomy
 

robbie

Bronze
Aug 3, 2006
628
14
0
For free: Teach someone English, or what ever you speak.
Believe me, it can work. It's free and you help someone along on top too.


... J-D.
This sounds like a good idea, along with teaching yourself with newspapers,
watching spanish tv stations... I think there was a thread on this before.
 

jrhartley

Gold
Sep 10, 2008
8,190
580
0
64
declension n. Linguistics. In certain languages, the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in categories such as case, number, and gender

dam now i had to look that up lol
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
declension n. Linguistics. In certain languages, the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in categories such as case, number, and gender

dam now i had to look that up lol

and conjugation :cheeky:
 

J D Sauser

Silver
Nov 20, 2004
2,940
390
83
www.hispanosuizainvest.com
Another great tool are movies on DVD, since many are multi lingual.
Watch a movie once or twice in your language until you remember the scenes and then play it the language you wish to learn. After two or three time in foreign language, try to speak along (out loud!). This is a great way to get better accent and to learn to talk the talk. Just try to choose your movies wisely.
When you read, read out loud too. Always! It completely different than silent reading.

I have never had language tutoring, and while I don't think I speak any of the languages I know perfectly, I seem to get by much better than most I've seen spend big buck with fancy courses and tutoring. But there will be approaches as individual as one can be.

My son, who was born when we lived in Ecuador and raised in Spanish until he was three and we moved to the US, learned a lot watching twice daily re-runs of "Dallas" on TNN. After watching it twice, he came to believe "JR" actually was family and truly suspected I might have an affair with "Pamela", especially since one other "Dallas" actor is a friend of ours and he met him in Dallas and was taken out to visit South Fork. But Gawd, poo ol' boy did he git a Southern drawl when he did tawk! Now, he's 13, lives in Spain with his mother and goes to an English school and has long forgotten about Dallas :D. And after visiting here (DR) three time already, when I call him, he answers: "... y, que'lo'que'e?"... he's already picked up on that Dominican slang too.


... J-D.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
338
63
I teach Spanish on a one on one basis. To do it well you do need to understand the grammar. My husband who is Dominican has no idea what the subjunctive tense is - he just knows when he uses it. I only understand grammar as I did Latin to A level and my first degree was in French and German and linguistics. So I know how to learn a new language. You also need to tailor the classes to the students needs. Some want business spanish some to talk to their maid some to read the papers and some to watch TV. I usually find that after say 20 lessons they are then reasonably able to get by. Also you have to teach proper Spanish and also make them able to understand Dominican spanish too!!! And use different tools. Lesson plans with grammar plus speaking time plus reading kids books plus chatting on msn. I also get them to to work in the colmado so they have to deal with customers!!!

Matilda
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
2,195
113
Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
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
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
2,195
113
Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
I teach Spanish on a one on one basis. To do it well you do need to understand the grammar. My husband who is Dominican has no idea what the subjunctive tense is - he just knows when he uses it. I only understand grammar as I did Latin to A level and my first degree was in French and German and linguistics. So I know how to learn a new language. You also need to tailor the classes to the students needs. Some want business spanish some to talk to their maid some to read the papers and some to watch TV. I usually find that after say 20 lessons they are then reasonably able to get by. Also you have to teach proper Spanish and also make them able to understand Dominican spanish too!!! And use different tools. Lesson plans with grammar plus speaking time plus reading kids books plus chatting on msn. I also get them to to work in the colmado so they have to deal with customers!!!

Matilda

and an other agreement Matilda,
i am german myself,
i passed univercity there,
but i can assure you that even many of the fellow countrymen do not have the big clou about the mother's language's grammar, ha ha.
it is not needed in daily life neither.
luckily, otherwise many would have a prob to order a beer and finally really get a BEER on octoberfest.
Mike
 

chola1978

Bronze
Mar 20, 2006
770
16
0
men i feel like I don't knwo Spanish now..
Matilda care to give me a lesson in grammar.......
My advise is interact here ..look for things that will make you wnat to know more and talk...talk.. even if is bad.....ah and take clase form Matilda she sound like a pro.......
 

Norma Rosa

Bronze
Feb 20, 2007
1,127
58
0
For free: Teach someone English, or what ever you speak.
Believe me, it can work. It's free and you help someone along on top too.


... J-D.

Yes, it can work. Since you are a teacher, may I suggest something that worked for me? I was once very interested in learning Hmong. (We have lots of Hmong people here.) I found a Hmong lady who was willing to meet with me once a week and whenever we met for my lesson, I had a lesson plan already prepared. (I am a foreign language teacher.) I was the student, but I controlled what I was going to learn.
 

tk toronto

New member
Sep 7, 2006
237
4
0
39
Thanks for all the replies. DV, I met a few guys, but we end up speaking in English. I have yet to hang out with anyone that speaks no english at all. So, what happens is, they want to practice ENglish and I speak in ENglish too. I picked up a Cosmo in Spanish to read, but I will try the movie thing too. I know the basic rules and can have a conversation about what I'm doing here or answer questions, but i can't have a full discussion, but I'll try to befriend dominicans that don't speak English.....thanks all...and i'll look into classes
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
2,195
113
Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
an other way to get it is also to spend some months with a non english speaking dominican partner, you will have the discussions and you will learn how to run them, ha ha.
here in bavaro and for sure also at any other sector of the island we have guys who speak a good/acceptable english and give spanish lessons to the expat community, they are no real teachers, but they are used to that job, they give the lessons at your home, so you don't even have to travel, and you will get much more than just basics out of such with the time.
hasta luego
Mike
 

LaTeacher

Bronze
May 2, 2008
852
66
48
tk - i know a fantastic tutor in santiago, and she's pretty considerate about pricing. she doesn't speak english at all so that won't be a problem, but she's got a lot of experience and degrees to back up my recomendation...

PM me if you want her number.