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I mainly want to learn languages for brain development. Another reason is because it will be nice to travel and live in different countries and have the ability to speak the native language. ALso, once I learn Spanish, it opens doors for me to learn French or Italian as those are similar languages.

A really good way to learn Spanish is to use the Language Immersion extension for Google Chrome. It allows you to choose one of its supported languages (Spanish is one of them) and a level of difficulty. It then translates words and phrases on webpages you visit to the language, integrating them into the English sentences and paragraphs.

My main issue with Spanish is the conjugation of verbs. It's hard to remember all the rules for the different modos and tenses. But I've found a very useful course on Memrise called 'Easy Spanish | Conjugation'. Its levels go through all sorts of tenses and pronouns. Very useful.

Argentinan people have rounder (or bigger sounds) whereas people of Spain have smaller sounds. This is actually a bit difficult to explain, but Spanish speakers of Spain often speak similarly to the French (as in way of speaking). Their Cs and Ss and Zs are pronounced 'th' rather than 's'.

There's a Spanish television program called 'Extra' in which characters speak relatively slowly. It's also entertaining. It would help learners to get familiar with Spanish-speakers because it is completely Spanish (with some English related humour). You can watch it on Youtube.

'Voy a comer' seems to me that all you are going to do is eat. If you say 'voy a ir a comer' it tells me that you are going to go elsewhere to eat.

So if you use the first one, you're implying that you're only planning to do one thing, whereas with the latter option you are moving.

:amazed:

This has been really helpful! Thanks.

The irregular verbs always annoy me though, like ir.

I think the past tense of that is:

fui

fuimos

fuisteis

fueron

I don't knwo the rest unfortunately.

Gosh! That word gets me every time! It's because is means of or from, but it can be used in situations in Spanish when you wouldn't need them in English. So like the person before me mentioned; 'cerca de' translated to English - you probably wouldn't add an 'of' or a 'from', though it is still optional.

I have a speaking Spanish exam coming up and we've been told that we need to speak as if we are speaking normally, so no random pauses where pauses aren't needed, correct pronunciation etc. Is there anything else I need to be worried about?

I believe 'usted' is used when addressing someone older you as a form of respect. 'Tu' is an everyday word to converse with friends and family. This is what I learned at school.

The only issue I have with online tests are that they aren't really suited to your ability. I mean, I've been learning for a year or so, but I don't know enough to be able to do any sort of test properly.

That's very true. Also, your tone of voice is insanely important! Like que has multiple meanings! It can be used a question or as a part of a regular statement sentence. Be careful of how you use words like these.

Simply, luego means then and despues means after. They generally retain those meanings, and if in any scenarios they are used differently, you'll be able to pick up on those. But most simply they mean then and after.

I've never considered permanently living in a Spanish speaking country - because, OMG, that sounds awesome but I'd be a bit homesick for what I'm used to currently! I'd like to visit maybe even work there for a few months to a couple of years. That would be ideal for me.

It's a machine which knows the definitions of words but not the actual meaning. Obviously Spanish speakers have created phrases and different ways of saying things which when literally translated are incorrect (that's what google does, it literally translates).

Honestly, I'd recommend a Spanish-English dictionary, those things are super useful. I'd also suggest making an account on Memrise.com - it has plenty of courses which would help you out with basics and  other lists of vocab in Spanish.

I love it - I mean sure, English is complicated enough already, ,but it just adds a bit of flavour to the language, to be brutally honest. It's nice having those phrases in everyday conversations! Sorry, I don't currently have an example.

I find revisiting them and using random words in everyday sentences helpful. It's basically recalling them to memory that's hard, so I like making lists of them and just using them.

I used to be able to speak Hindi when I was a child. Now I am out of practice, and cannot speak it, but I can still understand Hindi when people around me speak it and when people on television speak it.

It would definitely help a lot of third-world countries, and places like China would be really high up if they could speak English. They might even overtake America as they are the leading manufacturers.

Was English harder for you to learn than any other language? If English was your first language then do you think it was difficult for someone around you to learn? English is pretty complicated, probably much more than French or Spanish, to be honest. I just want to know what you guys think.

It's really hard when you have a lot going on in your life - as I do. I've sort of given up on French for the moment and am solely focusing on Spanish which I am also learning at school. Makes it so much easier!

That's really interesting. I find myself doing that with words that are similar to, reading them incorrectly and going back to read them again.

I learned Latin for a year a couple of years ago, for no reason other than personal interest. Of course there isn't any real point to it, but I think it's nice to learn about the way people and things used to be.

I once tried to learn two languages at once: French and Spanish. Spanish I was learning at school and French with an online course. I found that I quickly lost motivation for French as I had nobody to speak to. I suggest learning one at a time, but two has pros too, such as learning similar words and such.