tuparientemateo

My biggest weakness is knowing when to use a fancy tense when I am actually speaking it. By fancy tenses, I don't just mean the subjunctive or preterite, I mean the imperfect subjunctive and pluscuamperfecto tenses. When I learned them they just seemed so difficult and worthless, so I never know when to use them. So when I'm talking to a native and I say something, they'll answer back with that tense and make me feel bad because I didn't use it the first time when I started the conversation. :bored:Eh, it could be worse. =)

I've heard this from a lot of people, that they've learned to speak another language from watching movies. I personally have problems with doing that for two reasons. The first is that in movies, the actors talk so quickly and it can be really hard to focus on their every word for two hours at a time. The second is, since I'm not immersed in the culture and advertising of another part of the world, I don't know what good movies are coming out and it can be hard to find a good movie to sit down and be entertained by. I wish there was a way to polish this method of learning languages, because it seems so easy and entertaining. I'm jealous of your ability.

Yes, totally. It's a lengthy commitment to learn any new language to the point where you can fluently speak it. I've had many times where I am afraid to fail at becoming fluent at a language and think that I had wasted all my time and energy to learn an incomplete skill. I still get these thoughts sometimes, but there's a certain point where you've done everything you can, and the rest just has to be experience and practice, sometimes in a different country. By the sound of it, you'll do fine. You're learning two languages simultaneously, that's pretty impressive.

Yes I do. I had a buddy in high school who was bilingual and he was a huge help and great guy. I was in some advanced Spanish classes and whenever I had to write a huge paper (up to 18 pages) he would proofread it for me. He basically ended up saving my A in that class by doing that. I've never actually sought out a friendship just for the language help though, I agree, it seems pretty unfair and wrong. I just coincidentally have a lot of friends who speak Spanish very well and help me out sometimes.

I live in Kentucky and I believe they are cutting it from the curriculum as well (besides knowing enough to sign your name in cursive). However, I think most kids in my area can still look at cursive and be able to read it since it's so similar to print. I think this is why they are starting to cut it, since it's optional and so similar to the more popular alternative. I also think it is a shame like most of you, it's such a beautiful way to write and just adds class to writing.

I think this is a good idea too. There is one flaw in it though. If a student does not know a huge majority of the words that he would want to include, it seems like he is just learning how to use a dictionary because of the constant use, instead of writing a story. I think some vocabulary should be learned first, and then it could be used to make a specified story using it, in order to reinforce and stain the words and phrases into the student's mind. It's still a really fun way to learn a language.

I have tried both and have mixed emotions about them. I love the huge variety of Pimsleur's languages and courses and have found that they work very very well. However, I don't like how basic their conversations are, and how each 30 minute lesson seems to only cover how to say a fixed sentence or two. Languages are very scattered and don't flow with the fixed phrases they seem to teach you. However at a discount, I would agree these courses are a must pick up/try. I do not like Rosetta Stone at all. I tried the free trial and hated it personally.

From my experience, I think the best way to learn Spanish is through, well... experience. I think it's great to learn from some kind of software or written source and cannot hurt you at all. However, practicing and hearing that language being used over and over again is undoubtedly the best way to learn. This could be as easy as going to the gym and using the vocabulary and phrases you have learned with a native speaker, to having full conversations with a coworker who is also learning. I used to take classes with native speakers as the teachers and they would enforce the "Spanish only" rule, and this really helped just because my classmates and I got used to hearing the same things over and over. What do you think is the best way to learn Spanish?

My name is Matt, and I've been fascinated with languages since I was about 8 years old. I have been trying to perfect my Spanish for about 8-10 years now, and feel like I'm finally getting to be pretty fluent at it. I'd love to pick up some other languages through this forum too. I can't wait to start learning and teaching on here. Thanks for having me and see you on the boards.