I've been Learning Spanish

[larkstar]

I'm on day 452 - one continuous streak since I started - May 15th(?) 2020 - something like that - I'm just using the DuoLingo app and I have some books and I've tried a few other apps, sites as Duo is limited and positively poor in many ways but at least it's free and it's been a great way to help develop a daily habit. I wondered if anyone else was learning Spanish.

I have got an offer from someone - a Spanish guy - who wants to practice his English but I'm not quite ready to try and put my own thoughts into words - I can read and write the answers in the Duo app but I'm not yet confident speaking it - I will be - I'm thinking I might try and write in a wordpress blog (I have my own website so I can stick a WP installation on easily enough) so I can practice developing sentences and vocabulary about the kinds of things I might want to say when talking to someone. I have bilingual book for Spanish learners but that is a real struggle to get through. I wouldn't mind connecting with other learners at as similar stage - there isn't a group locally and when I've asked I get responses from language tutors and I'm not interested in that - I want something more informal.

Where are you up to with your learning and what are you doing?

I started learning in Lockdown. It was something I always wanted to do and really helped with the boredom. I tried the app that you are on but found Babbel app was much better. You can get a free months trial or a few if you sign up with different email addresses when trial comes to an end and so on. Download EL PAÍS too, it's a Spanish newspaper, I like trying to work out what is being said and got better as I practised but sadly I stopped learning when I got back into employment. Having five kids too in the house makes it even more trickier but I will start it up again. Just need to make some time to do it.

I had Babbel installed and did start using it but ended up using Duo more but i will go back and try it again - I may well feel differently now I'm a lot further down the line.

El Pais - I will check that out.

Five kids - why not start using a bit of Spanish with them - wouldn't do then any harm and teaching is good way to learn - my 2 kids have finished uni and are both working and living independently - it hasn't stopped me trying to get them interested in learning it - I want people to practice with - I wish I done it 20 years ago and I would have tried it with my kids - sadly my girls are saying they don't have the time and probably aren't that interested now. I do most of my learning & practice from 11pm onwards!

I'm just enjoying the whole process of learning - that's what has surprised me the most - that learning a language in itself is enjoyable. Duo is definitely the reason I have managed to stick to doing something every day but I know it's not a magic bullet - I liked the Spanish with Paul Noble - I got an 11CD set from a charity shop for £7 - I quite liked that.

Unfortunately the only way to improve speaking, is to speak. There isn't some mystical line that you suddenly cross and hey presto, you're at a level where you feel ready to speak. It's just not the way it works.

It's far easier to develop reading, listening and writing language skills, but often we feel paralysed by trying to get the grammar perfect in our heads before the words leave our mouths. Michel Thomas (Paul Noble ripped off his course) always said that the important thing is 'getting it over the net' i.e. using whatever methods and knowledge you have to hand to make yourself understood. Even if you have to go all around the houses to get there!

Your Spanish guy could then correct your mistakes (of which there will be many!). We learn far more quickly from what we get wrong than what we get right. It's counterintuitive from what we were taught in school, but mangling a sentence is far more productive to learning than never getting the words out at all as you're too busy trying to get it 'right' in your head first.

Hire a tutor half of the problems solved.

Go to conversationexchange.com to find an exchange partner. You can start by exchanging emails or text/whatsapp messages. Ask them to correct your Spanish writing in exchange for correcting their English. If you get on with them move up to Skyping/Zooming. If you don't get on with them try someone else. I have two lovely German penfriends from conversation exchange. Just follow usual rules for staying safe online.