yong321

The Spanish translation "ir al grano" for "cut the cheese" seems to be for "cut to the chase" instead.

ILoveOrangeSoda, Thanks a lot. The RAE Web page you showed is exactly what I want. So, the year after which Spanish dictionaries are supposed to sort words like Chávez and then Cruz instead of Cruz before Chávez is 1994. Good to know.

Spanish or traditional Spanish treats ch as a single character, which is sorted after c. Is this still widespread practice? Do most Spanish dictionaries still do that nowadays? In a discussion forum on Oracle database, I was told "Hace años que la RAE eliminó la "CH" como letra" (See discussion "Ordenar C y CH" at http://www.forosdelweb.com/f100/ordenar-c-ch-1154750/ ). So I'm guessing the trend is to not sorting ch after c. Also, I'm interested in finding the "official" announcement from RAE that they stop treating ch as a single letter.

For those that like to learn the vocabulary through some word analysis instead of by rote memory or simple repetition, etymology combined with mnemonics is a good method. Here's an example: tromper to deceive, to cheat; (reflexive) to be wrong. Cognate with trumpet. According to A. Brachet, an etymologist, this word means “properly to play the horn, alluding to quacks and mountebanks, who attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying; thence to cheat”. You may also create a mnemonic if the word sounds like the name of a politician you don’t trust. To balance that joke, though, also learn the less common word berner, which has the same meaning. This of course does not mean repetition is not needed.

Regarding confusion when studying multiple languages at the same time: I learn three Romance languages at the same time. My experience is that they help more than confuse each other. So I think it's worth it. But if your experience is opposite (i.e., confusion is more than mutual help), focus on one first, at least postpone the second language until you're far better at the first one than the second. Chinese and Japanese are not that similar. So I expect help more than confusion; the latter, if any at all, may arise in reading hanzi / kanji. But even in that case, you're unlikely to get confused because one has tone and the other does not.

Hi Shawncfer, > 1st, has anyone else had this issue? And if so, what have you done to go around it? Definitely. Trying to remember and forgetting the words is something everyone has experienced. But just as impossible to remember all, it's impossible to forget all. > 2nd, does anyone else have any other methods for going about learning vocabulary in text? There are two groups of people: (A) those who prefer rote memory and (B) those who prefer word analysis. Group A like to use flash cards, write new words on sticky paper and paste them around the house, read or listen to the same material repeatedly, etc. Group B like to check the etymology of the new word and/or think of a mnemonic to help remember the word. No doubt many people are between the two extremes. I personally prefer the second method. (See http://yong321.freeshell.org/lsw/) When I see the word, for example, derrotar ("to defeat"), I look up its etymology and realize its root is cognate with rout (as in "rout the enemy"). That helps a lot. But some words definitely can't rely on their origin to help, especially those from Arabic (unless you know Arabic). Then I spend some time thinking of a mnemonic for it. If you have some specific words, maybe we can discuss how to memorize them.

Learning Spanish Words Through Etymology and Mnemonics http://yong321.freeshell.org/lsw/ Learning Spanish Words Through Etymology and Mnemonics makes use of etymology to help you remember Spanish words, and failing that, suggests a mnemonic. Combination of these two approaches in one book separates it from other books on the market. The amount and depth of etymology is carefully chosen to be practical and not overwhelm an average reader. The suggested mnemonics aim to help an educated English-speaking person. An adult or young adult who likes learning vocabulary with some word analysis instead of rote memory will find this book to be helpful and a joy to read. With about 3000 words selected from 15000 in the Real Academia Española corpus sorted in frequency order, this booklet can be used either as a dictionary or for leisure reading.