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My boyfriend speaks another language


earthmama1

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My boyfriend, also my babys father speaks spanish to his family-he is puerto rican and dominican. I only speak english, so it sucks on my end. I know some words but I can not understand what he is talking about when he talking to his family. This really bothers me, not because I think he is saying bad things but because I can not interact with his family because they do not speak english well. I need to learn spanish but I have no idea where to start, and he will not teach me.

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Study With Us on Discord for FREE!

Hi, you might like to look at this link. I really like the way they teach you Spanish in a playful way on that site. There are free self-study courses, games, worksheets, all kinds of useful things. It will get you into the swing of things, and you will be able to surprise your boyfriend and his family with your first comments in Spanish when they least expect it. Good luck with everything!

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Oh I hope you can find people on this site who can help you. Sounds like you're in a tough situation. But I've seen quite a number of spanish speakers here so don't be afraid to ask for help. Goodluck!

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I do find that quite difficult. Try to learn the Spanish language during your free time! I'm sure there are some free online courses in learning Spanish.

And just try to remember patience. It takes time to learn a completely new language, but start off with the basics, practice pronunciation, and study simple sentences.

Eventually, maybe not sometime soon, but eventually, you will speak Spanish fluently.

Good luck!

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Sorry to hear about your situation. I don't understand why he wouldn't want to teach you, though, I think it's wonderful that you are showing interest. Anyway, I recommend just learning online if you really want it. First, we already have a good amount of resources in this forum and there's even a Spanish section where you can get specific help. You might also want to check out some online videos just to get started with. I find watching videos very helpful because this way you'd get to hear the accent and proper pronunciations as opposed to just reading them and pretty much guessing what it really would sound like when spoken out loud.

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I would love that my wife spoke a language I didn't, I really would because she would teach me and I would have an easy time learning it. Go for it, ask for his help, you can learn a whole lot easier.  :wink:

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I think the best way to start learning new language by your own is listening to music. I also started like this with my French. I listened to music and tried to find out words which are sang. After all I checked everything on websites with lyrics. But you must be sure that website is good, no mistakes on it! If you want I can find the website I have used because it was such a great one, never found any mistake there!

best wishes girl and don't worry  :kiss:

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Yes, I agree, listen to music is one of the best ways od learning new language. I'd like to learn spanish that's why I'm listening Carlos Santanas's songs ;) let's share with us this website ;)

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Why isn't your boyfriend teaching you? That doesn't make much sense does it, I think he will be interested in teaching you, in sharing something he has with the one he loves. If he doesn't want to teach you what's the point in learning?

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Why isn't your boyfriend teaching you? That doesn't make much sense does it, I think he will be interested in teaching you, in sharing something he has with the one he loves. If he doesn't want to teach you what's the point in learning?

Gelsemium is totally right. It's kinda weird that your man doesn't want to help you. My husband even encourages me to learn French. My other friend's man (they are also mixed couple, he is Chinese) even forces her to learn Chinese.

@Joanna

this was some US website. I think www.lyriczz.com but there are plenty which you can use. This one is just some example. I used it and for me it was ok. Check it out or find your own perfect one:)  :kiss:

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So sorry to hear about this but I do find it weird that he isn't trying to teach you. There are a lot of spanish websites you could go to. I would also learning about 10 vocabulary words everyday and this strategy helped me a lot because at the end of the week, I knew 70 more words :D. Watch a lot of Spanish movies too! Ofcourse with subtitles and it'll really help you.

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I know how you feel!  My boyfriend also speak another language, he speaks dutch with his family most of the time, so I can't really interact much with them. The best you can do is getting a Spanish course that gets you to speak the language fast or at least learn the basic of the language, a good option would be the Pimsleur course (my favorite) or the ''for dummies'' series.  I think there is a good Spanish course that belongs to that series (for dummies), it comes with an audio CD too.

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Your bf doesn't seem to be quite supportive, lol. Anyway, I think you can start by buying an English to Spanish dictionary, so you can at least know the basic Spanish words first before trying to construct a sentence.

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Maybe you just also talk with him why he doesn't want help you and try to encourage him to do this. I still can't get why he doesn't want you interact with his family. The best way for you will be learning some simple basic words at home like you know "do you want something to drink?" and you will try say it in Spanish. After this basic "course" from him you should use our advises.

first step is to talk with him  :wink:

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That can really be a very difficult situation.  You just get lost in the conversation.  Sometimes, I also feel it's rather rude for people to speak their local language when they know for a fact they have someone around them who do not understand. 

What I will do is just work hard to really learn the language on my own.  Eventually, you can get to practice with them, but at least exert effort on your own to be able to do it. 

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You must feel quite terrible around his family. Have you tried making him understand how important this is for you to speak his language. Maybe he could talk to you in his language when you are both together and he does it in a manner than makes it easier for you to catch on. Otherwise, you may just have to seek external help, like enrolling in a class.

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Well, perhaps you should not care a fig and show him that you can be self-reliant and handle with it all by yourself.There are many ways you can learn foreign language. I follow few blogs and I find an interesting article, you can take an advantage with: http://1stpersonaldevelopment.com/best-ways-learn-foreign-language/

Take care!

Joana

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