NRiz

No mentor for me. Rather I use the internet to find different learning resources. To keep motivated I use a website called www.chains.cc where you add a link to a chain everyday you complete a task. Websites and forums like linguaholic are nice to hear about different peoples strategies for learning. Also I can discuss anything that I would with a mentor on a forum like this one. It's a wonderful age in time that we're living in.

I think you can find beauty in just about every language. I find it interesting that everyone has their own preferences for what they consider beautiful. The more exotic ones to you might sound beautiful, or you might view them as strange and odd. Personally I think language and linguistics is very interesting and just the fact that we can communicate using different languages fascinates me.

I originally learned in school and I found that I would often progress a lot faster than some of my class mates. I at least always seemed to know the answer to the professor's questions. With that being said, not that I'm done with school and all my learning is self-motivated, I find that I am enjoying learning much more. I'm not slowed down by any students who don't understand concepts, and I can just learn at my own pace.

I started in 7th grade during middle school. Two years of foreign language required in middle school, three years in high school, and one year in college. Nothing besides basic grammar rules and some vocab stuck, so I'm trying to re-teach myself using online resources.

It's not something I specifically look for in someone, but thats probably because I'm not really fluent in anything besides English. I'm sure if I was fluent in another language, I would hope to meet someone else who I could speak with in that language. Also, in general I find intelligence to be an attractive trait, and I think it is an accepted fact that people who speak multiple languages are sometimes more intelligent.

Yo necisito practicar mucho. No entiendo los mensajes aqui.

Haha awesome, thanks for sharing! I don't really have any recipes of my own, but when I'm living on a budget, I've found that I can make a delicious and filling meal out of a can of beans, a can of chicken, and some salsa. Mix it up all together, add some spices and cheese, heat it up a little if you want, or just eat it cold. Delicioso

Being able to speak spanish fluently is definitely on my bucket list. I certainly cannot speak it fluently right now, but I am working towards that goal. I think for anyone who really wants to gain fluency quickly, you will have to live in a Spanish speaking country, or be exposed to it daily.

Spanish is worth learning first and foremost because it is fun! Learning any new language can be exciting, but as an American, I think Spanish is the natural choice for a second language to learn. There are more and more hispanic and latino families settling down in America, and as that population grows the language will become more and more prominent. Knowing a second language gives you a better understanding of the world, and makes you a more attractive candidate for jobs. There are so many benefits to learning Spanish and multiple languages in general.

I'd say it's probably pretty difficult to learn a language just from hearing someone else speak it, at least for adults. Children would definitely have an easier time picking it up, that is how you originally learned your native language afterall. In general though, immersing yourself in a language and culture certainly can help to facilitate learning, but I would use it as tool to use in conjunction with other tools and resources.

Hola amigos! Hablo espanol un poco, y quiero una persona practicar espanol conmigo. Prefiero una persona que habla espanol y ingles. Ayuda mi correct my mistakes.

Has anyone had any success using Pimsleur? I've been using it for about a week and it seems like it will be a great learning tool.

Not sure if this is a suitable topic or not for this forum, but I figure if you're learning a language, you should also spend some time learning about the culture that language comes from. One of my favorite things about different cultures are all the different ways that we can prepare food! What are some of your spanish inspired recipes?

I've heard the program Anki is very good for vocab. I believe its some sort of flashcard program, but I've heard its very useful. Duolingo is alright for vocab too. Duolingo's immersion program is great, you can go through and translate articles, but you only translate the words you know, and you can see how others have translated it.

"For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: Know more about the world than I knew yesterday, and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson

This thread has made me aware that some people don't like other people using abbreviations (or abbrevs  ). I've never really had a problem with anyone using them in a conversation with me, either online or in person. I can understand that an overuse of them might be annoying, but I try not to let little things like that bother me.

I'm another native English speaker! If any non-native speakers want to practice having a conversation, just reply to this message! My name is Nick and I am from Baltimore, Maryland, which is in the United States. Where are you from?

I'm really enjoying Pimsleur! SWIM knows of a single torrent containing all the Pimselur language cds for free. I think it's a wonderful addition to a learning program. It's not the best on teaching you vocabulary, but it teaches you wonderful pronunciation! I'm hoping that using Pimsleur, DuoLingo and Anki together will help me master the language.

I want to learn to speak spanish because I like learning and I think learning another language will be fun. I have taken Spanish courses throughout my education, so I am working on furthering my understanding of the language, as well as my ability to speak it. I want to one day travel to Spanish speaking countries and surprise them all with my skills!

Hola! Me llamo Nico. No hablo Castellano muy bien, pero yo estudiendo. I do speak English quite well though!    I am 24 years old, living in Baltimore, MD, USA. I took Spanish courses in middle school and throughout high school and college, but only the basic grammar rules really stuck. Currently I'm using a mixture of Pimsleur and DuoLingo in an attempt to teach myself the language. Maybe I can add linguaholic to that list now too.

:grin: