How are you guys getting on with Spanish lessons?

[WeLuvIbiza]

Last time I looked in a few of you were starting Spanish classes at night school etc.

How are you getting on? Have you kept it up and are you planning further classes?

We have not yet started the home study course I received for my bday last September But tonight we are going to get stuck into the joys of Spanish

 

[stivi]

muy bien!

i only started two months ago and i really learned a lot until now! of course, already speaking french and italian helps a lot, but still i'm really happy how things develop!

(to the spanish peeps and to all who are actually learning spanish - the hardest thing for me at the moment is the use of past time...i sometimes struggle if i have to use perfecto, imperfecto or indefinido...)

 

[Barbie]

I did an 8 week beginner course last year and then started a year long course at Thames University in September so I'm half way thru term 2. I really enjoy it, the teacher is really good and makes it fun. In fact I've just come back from my class now.

The only thing I will say is you've to keep at it and keep practicing, hence why poor Sil and Ferd often get random e-mails from me describing what my family look like

Some of it I find frustrating (whose idea was it to have feminine and masculine ) but the more you do it the more it makes sense.

If I pass this year then I am going to move onto the GCSE course next year - I'll probably pass it when I'm about 50

 

[MBourner]

I'm a year into my home study course and into chapter 2 now LOOOL!

Kinda gave up when I got back from Ibiza (I blame the ibiza blues) but now doing 20mins a night ready for August

M

 

[silvia]

muy bien!

i only started two months ago and i really learned a lot until now! of course, already speaking french and italian helps a lot, but still i'm really happy how things develop!

(to the spanish peeps and to all who are actually learning spanish - the hardest thing for me at the moment is the use of past time...i sometimes struggle if i have to use perfecto, imperfecto or indefinido...)

nostrum, you'd be suprised to see how close are french and catalan. I always say that catalan is closer to french than to spanish
And I can't help with the past time, I need to check my old grammar books cos I use it by intuition

I did an 8 week beginner course last year and then started a year long course at Thames University in September so I'm half way thru term 2. I really enjoy it, the teacher is really good and makes it fun. In fact I've just come back from my class now.

The only thing I will say is you've to keep at it and keep practicing, hence why poor Sil and Ferd often get random e-mails from me describing what my family look like

Some of it I find frustrating (whose idea was it to have feminine and masculine ) but the more you do it the more it makes sense.

If I pass this year then I am going to move onto the GCSE course next year - I'll probably pass it when I'm about 50

MI MADRE TIENE EL PELO MARRÓN

 

[Morbyd]

Some of it I find frustrating (whose idea was it to have feminine and masculine )

Try having 3 genders (feminine, masculine, neuter) and 8 different endings for any word in each of the three I wish they spoke Spanish out here!

You're definitely right about the practice... use it or lose it, as they say. It's been over 18 years since I last picked up a textbook and my former fluency is a distant memory. Learning/living in another language doesn't help either.

 

[grego]

(to the spanish peeps and to all who are actually learning spanish - the hardest thing for me at the moment is the use of past time...i sometimes struggle if i have to use perfecto, imperfecto or indefinido...)

nostrum, you'll have it mastered in no time.

re: the past, i struggled with it until i re-learnt all 3 together again, so i was able to compare them to each other.

there are several other ways when they are all used, but this how i best understand them, in short.

perfect is easiest to get, it relates to actions that link to the present - e.g. has visto? (have you seen?) he estado (i have been) etc etc

preterite/indefenido is only for actions that began and ended at a specific point in the past - e.g. fui al cine (i went to the cinema) lo dije (I said it)

imperfecto is harder to get but once you do get it, it becomes obvious when it should be used.

it applies to any action in the past that is continuous, no matter whether it lasts for 5 secs or 500 years. e.g. cuando era jóven (when i was young).

also, it is used to describe feelings/emotions/descriptions in the past - e.g. era bonita (it was pretty)

also it is used to describe customary/repetitive/habitual actions - e.g. me levantaba a las siete (i used to get up at 7am - [as in every day or regularly])


btw - for english speakers the most difficult tense in european languages is the subjunctive as it is rarely used in english, however, you should have no problems due your french/italian.

 

[grego]

Learning/living in another language doesn't help either.

i did french a-level but would struggle to put a sentence together now due to learning spanish.

 

[stivi]

thanks grego - perfect explanation! (basically almost exactly the same as my books and my teacher says) 8) we're working on it right now, so i guess in a while it won't be that hard anymore.

 

[Morbyd]

i did french a-level but would struggle to put a sentence together now due to learning spanish.

My biggest problem now when I try to speak Spanish is mixing halfway similar words from Russian. Yo/Ya is the biggest problem. Cuando/Kogda gets me too for some reason. I forget the others but there're a couple more. Really annoying

 

[silvia]

My biggest problem now when I try to speak Spanish is mixing halfway similar words from Russian. Yo/Ya is the biggest problem. Cuando/Kogda gets me too for some reason. I forget the others but there're a couple more. Really annoying

I have the equivalent to Proficency in French. I had a really good level, spoken, written and understood. Then I spent six months in the UK, at the begining I had serious problems mixing french with english. Now, my french is very poor. I can read it but find quite hard to speak and understand

 

[stephen]

the disadvantage we british have when learning another language is that we have absolutely no idea about the grammar and structure of our native english. kids here know all the ins and outs of cristiano and catalan before they start learning english.

i learned most of my spanish grammar from getting the kids to explain to me how their language worked and then inevitably turning it round to say 'it's exactly the same in english'

btw morby i know exactly what you mean about forgetting. on my recent world tour of catalandia i could just about get by in spanish catalonia but couldn't remember a word of french when we got to perpignan and beyond. luckily 'cassoulet' is the same in french, catalan, spanish and english! (though 'beer' differs markedly....

 

[Morbyd]

the disadvantage we british have when learning another language is that we have absolutely no idea about the grammar and structure of our native english.

Same goes for Americans. I think, at some point, most well-educated people know what the verb tenses, part of a sentence, etc. are called. But the percentage of people over 25 who actually remember all that is probably neglible!

luckily 'cassoulet' is the same in french, catalan, spanish and english! (though 'beer' differs markedly....

mmmmm cassoulet 8)

I make a point of learning the local word for beer before travelling to any country By the way, I found out over New Years that the Mexicans don't use the word cana for draft beer. I had to resort to phrases like "una cerveza, pero no en la botilla"

 

[silvia]

on my recent world tour of catalandia

PMSL @ Catalandia


(how was it, btw?)

 

[grego]

the disadvantage we british have when learning another language is that we have absolutely no idea about the grammar and structure of our native english. kids here know all the ins and outs of cristiano and catalan before they start learning english.

i learned most of my spanish grammar from getting the kids to explain to me how their language worked and then inevitably turning it round to say 'it's exactly the same in english'

exactly, most brits have no idea what the perfect tense is or the future perfect. i only know from knowing what they mean in spanish and working back.