Best way to learn Spanish

[jjroth2]

Originally Posted by Isla Verde

Speaking as a current English teacher and former Spanish teacher, I find it odd that a language program would start with reading and writing and leave speaking and listening till later. It should be the other way around, in my professional opinion.

However, the classroom activity with "insurgents" sounds intriguing, if not downright revolutionary !

Well, I'm glad it happened. It's the first time anyone found something I've posted on this Foum entertaining,

[edgeee]

Originally Posted by jjroth2

Well, I'm glad it happened. It's the first time anyone found something I've posted on this Foum entertaining,

Not true, at least for me.

You are entertaining and passionate and educated and intriguing.
We can disagree about many things, but IMO the similarities still shine through at times. This is why i like forums so much. Different discussions go where ever the crowd takes them.

And somehow we all pick a persona of sorts, in various stages of privacy or openness, we take on some serious issues and so far as i know, no one has ever got punched in the nose.

I'm generally against violence in most cases but sometimes i step on toes when i dance too close to the fire. And as usual, i'm guilty again, so

I've started to dabble with self taught spanish - this is gonna kill off about half the few brain cells i still have.
The first thing i learned on my own, just by checking out sites and so on, is that i should always vocalize the words in question. Reading it silently is a waste of a good lesson.

And thanks for the listed links, big help.

[Isla Verde]

Originally Posted by jjroth2

Well, I'm glad it happened. It's the first time anyone found something I've posted on this Foum entertaining,

Do these "insurgents" involved in the classroom activity wear historically-accurate military uniforms?

[Mr. P Mosh]

I don't like novelas at all... but they're a good way to pick up words and sounds cuz they overact too much and pronounce things too clear it's easy to learn from there. :P

[adamathefrog]

Originally Posted by Mr. P Mosh

I don't like novelas at all... but they're a good way to pick up words and sounds cuz they overact too much and pronounce things too clear it's easy to learn from there. :P

I recall many hours of being forced to watch through La Usurpadora. Argh.

I'm pretty sure it helped my brain learn to hear words rather than the "wub wub wub wub" I heard for the first month or two!

adam.

[almot]

I'm cheap - and muy viejo already - so I chose free classes.
Started from website - ilovelanguages - by Tyler Jones. They stopped publishing after Lesson 3, but it's easy to digest. Print and enjoy.

Than BBC mentioned above, the section " Talk Spanish - A video introduction to Spanish" - but their pronunciation is Spain-like, not Mexico-like. Difference is minor, though.

Than borrowed in library DVD course Standard Deviants Spanish - there are 3 levels. Memorizing is easier when spiced with jokes, emotions etc - and they have a lot of that.

After 1 year of very sporadic and relaxed learning I can now talk a little, ask for directions, and many other things that I need, though not all that I need. Like I said, I'm lazy.

When you're over 55, you will NEVER become fluent in any foreign language. Whatever your learn and memorize, will evaporate after few months of inactivity - when you don't use or hear some phrases or words. You will also temporary forget a lot when under stress or didn't sleep well.

[mickisue1]

Originally Posted by almot

I'm cheap - and muy viejo already - so I chose free classes.
Started from website - ilovelanguages - by Tyler Jones. They stopped publishing after Lesson 3, but it's easy to digest. Print and enjoy.

Than BBC mentioned above, the section " Talk Spanish - A video introduction to Spanish" - but their pronunciation is Spain-like, not Mexico-like. Difference is minor, though.

Than borrowed in library DVD course Standard Deviants Spanish - there are 3 levels. Memorizing is easier when spiced with jokes, emotions etc - and they have a lot of that.

After 1 year of very sporadic and relaxed learning I can now talk a little, ask for directions, and many other things that I need, though not all that I need. Like I said, I'm lazy.

When you're over 55, you will NEVER become fluent in any foreign language. Whatever your learn and memorize, will evaporate after few months of inactivity - when you don't use or hear some phrases or words. You will also temporary forget a lot when under stress or didn't sleep well.

You just noted a part that improves learning--EMOTION. Those over 55 years old may not learn as fluidly as those under 55 months old.

But your brain accepts new information much more readily, and hangs on to it more fiercely, when it's accompanied by emotion. Take all that learning that you did--exemplary, by the way!--and use it to have spirited conversation with Spanish speaking friends, talk to a baby, tell your wife how much you appreciate her, and it will become much more embedded in your mind.

[maesonna]

When we learn languages as adults, our optimum learning methods and styles are very diverse and individual, as are our circumstances and motivations. So, if anyone claims “No one can…” or “You can never…“ it is likely that someone else will be able to cite a counterexample that disproves it.

[Isla Verde]

Originally Posted by mickisue1

You just noted a part that improves learning--EMOTION. Those over 55 years old may not learn as fluidly as those under 55 months old.

But your brain accepts new information much more readily, and hangs on to it more fiercely, when it's accompanied by emotion. Take all that learning that you did--exemplary, by the way!--and use it to have spirited conversation with Spanish speaking friends, talk to a baby, tell your wife how much you appreciate her, and it will become much more embedded in your mind.

Great advice, mickisue. Another factor that helps facilitate language-learning is motivation. My English students are all adults, and the ones who do best are the ones who have a definite purpose in mind when they begin to study with me. For example, one student wanted to improve her spoken English because she had been invited to give a scientific paper in English at an international conference in Vienna. Another one is a museum director, and he is often called upon to greet foreign visitors and give them private tours in English.

[almot]

Motivation, yes. Something that forces you use Spanish - but for many expats their life in Mexico doesn't provide a lot of motivation, until something urgent happens, like a hospital, and then he'll forget most of what he learned - because stress and pain affect the memory, especially short-term memory.

Even with all the motivation and emotional factors (be it pleasant emotions or not, doesn't matter for learning) - brain at 55+ is not the same. Memory does not retain same well as when you were 25. And there is no more intuitive and natural learning like when you were 14 or younger. Children's brain digests and retains language effortlessly, for them it's a part of life. For adults it's a hard work - that's why it's important to make it look like a play, and preferably with visual aids, not just listening.

Repetition and practice is the key, not just separate words - entire phrases. Vocabulary evaporates quickly if not intertwined with grammar. Again, practice is a problem for seniors living in gringo-towns without much need to talk to locals (or to anybody at all, with all the digital media these days).

I'm not trying to discourage seniors - learning new things helps against early dementia, no kidding. Just don't get your hopes too high. You will talk - a little. And you will understand - less than you can talk.