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

[Larry]

Get a tutor first. You not only have to learn the words, verb congugations, sentence strusture, etc., you have to learn the SOUNDS. This is something people overlook. They assume learning a new language is all about memorizing. It dosent matter how many words you know if you are saying half of them wrong. If you pronounce peso, peeeeeso, it makes no sense. If you pronounce the ll in llamar as L instead of y, it makes no sense.

---Learn and understand sounds first

---Begin learning basic vocabulary

---Begin learning common verbs. Learn present tense, master that and then learn the other tenses.

---Try to understand and accept the difference in sentence structures between Spanish and English.

--Read newspapers and listen to TV and pick up and add more words to your arsenal.

--Converse with people. Dont be afraid to make mistakes. Invite criticism and use it to improve rather than getting discouraged.

Larry

 

[GringoCArlos]

Once I had a basic foundation in spanish , and knew about 200 verbs, it really helped me by watching movies on DVD.

Almost all rental DVD movies can be programmed in the beginning to receive audio in either English or in Spanish, and the other language in subtitles. That way, you can even to start recognizing words you didn't recognize in the street, but connected when you can also read it.

After your Spanish gets better, you can even recognize lousy translation work!

 

[Hillbilly]

I am glad that this thread is still alive. I certainly hope that the Original Poster has been following his thread.

Spanish--Dominican style-- is fairly easy, as long as you do not want to be a lecturer or talking head on Television.

Only five--- Yes, FIVE --------vowel sounds

Ah as in when you sneeze Ah-choo!

Eh, as in E ducation

EE, as in "Eek, a mouse!

Oh, as in those famous Hillbilly last words "Hey, y'all, look at this! Oh sh!t!"

OOH, as in the vaudvilian "ooh, la la!" Or the name of the former UN Secretary General U Thant....You know, that gushing sound uuuuu.....like in ZOO

If you can get you HEAD around that fact, just the five vowel sounds, you have a good start.

That trill in Carro or Arroz can be hard, but it is doable, with practice.

Work on it and it will come.

Even Arnold can speak Spanish

"Hasta la vista, Baby!!"

HB

 

[Larry]

Even Arnold can speak Spanish

"Hasta la vista, Baby!!"

HB

Hahaha! That was funny! Truth is that as my Spanish is improving, I realize how hard it must be to learn English....with all it's bizzare exceptions. Spanish is so much simpler. If so many people can come to the USA and learn English, I can surely learn Spanish.

Larry

 

[Kidd Creole]

I can speak relatively good spanish because that is basically all my family outside my immediate speak but I'm having trouble trilling. I mean I can trill pero when I talk to mi amigos de puerto Rico they can trill a whole lot better than me. why is that?

 

[macocael]

Instead of Spanish TV to start, you can make use of subtitled American films. While the translations are not always perfect, and usually based on Castilian rather than latin American spanish (though not always, I have two different versions of Finding Nemo in Spanish), they can give you alot of help with conversational modes. Music is also a very good way to pick up vocabulary, as you can repeat the lines ad nauseum. An excellent dictionary is Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary, and an equally great pocket grammar is Collins Gem SpanishVerb tables and Grammar.

Grammar is important, I grant you, but if you worry overmuch about speaking correctly, you wont speak at all, you will feel too inhibited. It is better from the very beginning to simply launch into conversation, make mistakes, and focus on getting the sound and rhythms correct. Meanwhile you can study the grammar and eventually correct yourself, as well of course as accepting corrections from others.