A Nubie, scubie!

[AltoHombre]

Ok, so I'm in the camp of buy it but then don't use it. I took a course at the local college as an audit and the book we used was "Como se dice". very good. I have a copy of several computer programs most of them are not very good. I've used spanish in a week (liars :-). The other good choice, which I expect to take this fall, is through the local adult learning courses offered by our local primary education schools. I think what's really going to work for me, is going somewhere that everyone speak Spanish, and just immersing myself in it.

[MidLifeCrisis]

I took French for 3 years.. and then forgot almost everything except learning the conjugation of verbs.. which helped a lot when I began to learn Spanish. I started a company in So. California in 1995 and I primarily hired non English speaking employees. I had to learn Spanish and went to college for 2 semesters to learn more. It was great learning the words but just because you learn the words doesn't mean you are going to really learn to speak and understand others while they speak unless they are talking to you like you are a dolt.

I now have a company with 4 employees that are fluent in Spanish - one of them (the Nanny) only speaks Spanish.

Some of you that know me know that I am just starting out in my SOTB search. The toughest thing for me right now is communication even though I have been speaking Spanish for years!

I use "translate.google.com" to help understand emails and while I am in msn chat.... but you have to have a basic understanding of Spanish to really utilize that or you are going to sound stupid.

What is working for me.. even though I have a more than fundamental understanding of the language.. is actually speaking it! With one of the girls here.. and my daughters nanny.. I only speak Spanish so I can get into it. You know when you got it when you don't begin to translate it in your head!

And... who better to listen to here on this site than Jim... a former school teacher and someone that is learning a new language at 62... frickin amazing!!

[Jim]

MLC,

You're right about it being a breakthrough when you stop translating. This is called thinking in the language and it is a gigantic step to getting good at communicating. Translating is an impossibility in spoken speech. You need to pass over words you don't understand to try and get the meaning of a sentence.

People don't naturally understand this and they try to translate. No one's mind is that quick.

Thanks for the compliment. Using my mind is a necessity in retirement but progress is slow.

[rpcv]

Originally Posted by Jim

rpcv,

Translating Spanish songs is helpful and loads of fun. Thalia, Shakira, Paulina Rubio, Juanes, Mana. I've also seen them all in concert. Great idea.

Shortcut to the future...use the verb ir (to go) + infinitive

(Yo) voy a hablar [I am going to talk...I will talk], (nosotros) vamos a buscar [we are going to look for...we will look for]

Now you can use the future.

Shortcut for the past...use the verb acabar de [to have just] + infinitive

(Yo) acabo de hablar [I have just talked...I talked], (nosotros) acabamos de buscar [we have just looked for...we looked for]

Now you can use the past.

Thanks! This is very helpful! Much better than my current approach which is usually to say something like, " Ayer, yo hablo con mi hermana"...