4 ms·

Spanish! Been learning for about 4 months and just had my first opportunity to speak a lot, stayed with a spanish speaking family for 4 days. It went much worse

Spanish! Been learning for about 4 months and just had my first opportunity to speak a lot, stayed with a spanish speaking family for 4 days. It went much worse than expected, I couldnt understand anything and spoke so slowly that I only had a few oppirtubities to join the conversation. So I hope by the end of 2025 ill be a little more fluent. Using a program called learncraft spanish currently and its been very very effective imo. Recommendations for learning strategies are welcome!

aunty_helen 2y ago
4 months and you’re already starting to understand and able to join in some? That sounds pretty good tbh. I’ve been partially avoiding learning whilst mostly living in Spanish speaking countries for the last 6 years. Concerted effort is key but don’t beat yourself up about having difficulties listening, native speakers have the whole dictionary to pull from whereas you only have a few words and phrases with basic grammar. It helps to be around other people that are learning or have learned as there’s a lot of cracks to fall into between a direct literal translation. These are obvious for bilinguals but can’t be appreciated by native monolinguals. Try asking someone to go on a fecha with you to the movies. And don’t worry about being slow, find good people with patience.
- DontchaKnowit 2y ago
  Thank you! that is encouraging. I have been making a very concerted effort to learn. typically at least 2 hours of studying a day. My girlfriend is Spanish speaking actually, but she almost never speaks Spanish with me. I may need to convince her to turn up the Spanish a notch so I can get more practice.
luca_aurelia 2y ago
In-person Spanish teachers are pretty affordable in many Spanish-speaking countries — in my experience, often around 20 USD / hour. I was in Argentina for three months this year and got one-on-one lessons for two hours a day for $800/month. One-on-one lessons are super fun because you can do whatever sounds interesting to you, and doing it in a Spanish-speaking country means it’s automatically in the target language. I would get ice cream with my teacher, go for walks, watch movies, read short stories, listen to music, browse meme pages, etc. They can also go with you to turn errands like renting a car into learning experiences, or help you specifically prepare for an errand you need to run. Not to mention all the other benefits of immersion, and it gives you an excuse to travel.
- DontchaKnowit 2y ago
  unfortunately I live in the middle of the USA, immersion is not much of an option and lessons aren't cheap
treetalker 2y ago
Glossika. Also, the best grammar reference for English speakers is "A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish" by John Butt et al. Spanish is extremely pattern-regular and maps to English very well once you "see the Matrix" and learn the tricks. Happy to help — if you like, let me know your contact info and I can get in touch back-channel.
- DontchaKnowit 2y ago
  agreed I have been honestly very surprised at how consistent and logical Spanish is, especially compared to English.
Tainnor 2y ago
In my opinion, Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS) are the best way to retain vocabulary - provided you use a good deck (the vocabulary ordering should make sense and, IMO, example sentences are key). I use Anki but there are many alternatives. Otherwise, immersion through Spanish media helps - you can listen to Spanish music or watch movies/series in Spanish (initially with English subtitles, maybe later with Spanish ones).
ntsdav561 2y ago
I am using dreaming spanish - https://www.dreamingspanish.com/faq https://www.dreamingspanish.com/faq It has the sort of content that can be used to supplement other Spanish learning approaches. It has videos suitable for all levels.

aunty_helen 2y ago

4 months and you’re already starting to understand and able to join in some? That sounds pretty good tbh. I’ve been partially avoiding learning whilst mostly living in Spanish speaking countries for the last 6 years. Concerted effort is key but don’t beat yourself up about having difficulties listening, native speakers have the whole dictionary to pull from whereas you only have a few words and phrases with basic grammar. It helps to be around other people that are learning or have learned as there’s a lot of cracks to fall into between a direct literal translation. These are obvious for bilinguals but can’t be appreciated by native monolinguals. Try asking someone to go on a fecha with you to the movies. And don’t worry about being slow, find good people with patience.

DontchaKnowit 2y ago
Thank you! that is encouraging. I have been making a very concerted effort to learn. typically at least 2 hours of studying a day. My girlfriend is Spanish speaking actually, but she almost never speaks Spanish with me. I may need to convince her to turn up the Spanish a notch so I can get more practice.

luca_aurelia 2y ago

In-person Spanish teachers are pretty affordable in many Spanish-speaking countries — in my experience, often around 20 USD / hour. I was in Argentina for three months this year and got one-on-one lessons for two hours a day for $800/month. One-on-one lessons are super fun because you can do whatever sounds interesting to you, and doing it in a Spanish-speaking country means it’s automatically in the target language. I would get ice cream with my teacher, go for walks, watch movies, read short stories, listen to music, browse meme pages, etc. They can also go with you to turn errands like renting a car into learning experiences, or help you specifically prepare for an errand you need to run. Not to mention all the other benefits of immersion, and it gives you an excuse to travel.

DontchaKnowit 2y ago
unfortunately I live in the middle of the USA, immersion is not much of an option and lessons aren't cheap

treetalker 2y ago

Glossika. Also, the best grammar reference for English speakers is "A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish" by John Butt et al. Spanish is extremely pattern-regular and maps to English very well once you "see the Matrix" and learn the tricks. Happy to help — if you like, let me know your contact info and I can get in touch back-channel.

DontchaKnowit 2y ago
agreed I have been honestly very surprised at how consistent and logical Spanish is, especially compared to English.

Tainnor 2y ago

In my opinion, Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS) are the best way to retain vocabulary - provided you use a good deck (the vocabulary ordering should make sense and, IMO, example sentences are key). I use Anki but there are many alternatives. Otherwise, immersion through Spanish media helps - you can listen to Spanish music or watch movies/series in Spanish (initially with English subtitles, maybe later with Spanish ones).

ntsdav561 2y ago

I am using dreaming spanish - https://www.dreamingspanish.com/faq https://www.dreamingspanish.com/faq It has the sort of content that can be used to supplement other Spanish learning approaches. It has videos suitable for all levels.