SpringBreeze

Movies, TV shows, and music -- that's my motivation. When I'm studying a language, I like to immerse myself in good entertainment using that language. That's how I familiarized myself with Spanish. I got hooked on several telenovelas that would play 5 nights a week. I'd listen to Latin music that I loved. And then I'd hang out with Latin people on the weekend. A year of this and you will have automatically and unconsciously learned some of that language, maybe even become fluent in it.

For me, the hardest is definitely speaking. I cringe when I hear my accent. And I can't take 5 minutes to come up with the right word. But when I'm reading or writing, I can take my time to figure out each word. So, my writing and reading always appears better than my speech fluency. Also, I think my inhibitions hold me back. I don't want to make a fool of myself. When I was studying languages in jurnior high school and high school, native speakers would make fun of me. I guess that has left its mark. I also like getting my message out there all at once without the "uhs". And so I rarely have the patience to stumble around, practicing. So, because of all that, speaking is the hardest.

Really... that's interesting... I never thought of that... Is this still the same with all the reality shows going on now in America. I'm guessing in the past the grammar was decent because scripts had to be written. I also think people cared more about proper speaking and writing in the past than they do today. As an American, I find TV shows do help, but books are much better for grammar. I've picked up many subtitle mistakes in Hindi movies and in Latin telenovelas.

For me, this is definitely the most enjoyable way to learn a language. I especially love when I find a song that I really like. Then I'll listen to it over and over again. And slowly the words will just creep into my head. It also keeps me inspired to learn. The little Spanish I know, I learned mostly from music. But you're right, when it comes to grammer and sentence formation, that's the worst way to go. Also, depending on the type of song, the words used can be more slang / colloquial.

Hi everyone!!! I'm SpringBreeze from Florida. I'm currently studying French, but on my own. I used to study French in high school. But I stopped after graduating. Now I want to start again. I've also studied ancient Greek, Italian, Spanish and Hindi. I never have become fluent in any of these languages. I study more the culture submersion and music than wanting to speak the language. I guess that's because I'm not much of a speaker. Because of that, I'm also much better at reading different languages than speaking them. Can't wait to meet y'all on the forum!!!