The hard part is that you have many vowels. In Spanish there are only five. Understanding is often done by elimination. If I can't discard a word because I can'

The hard part is that you have many vowels. In Spanish there are only five. Understanding is often done by elimination. If I can't discard a word because I can't tell if it's bar or bore or beard or bird or bear or beer, unless context helps, I'll simply stall. That's why I consider native teachers to be the most powerful advantage. At school they insist too much in grammar, that's important, but the foundation is how the language sounds. I hate movies with original language and subtitles. I've used them with subtitles also in English with great results to learn. But nothing can replace a teacher that corrects your pronuntiation as you speak and repeats the right sounds as many times as you need. Also when I'm watching a movie for pleasure, I like to watch and listen, not to read.