Sleeper Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hi, I am a new member here and I have something very embarrassing to confess. My native language is in Spanish and guess what!? I'm forgetting it. After so many years living in the United States I find myself using English more and more and the opportunities I have to speak Spanish come so little in between.However, I want to turn my life around and resurrect my Spanish before I completely forget it, and I need some help from the people in the forum. Have you ever experienced forgetting a language? And if so what did you do to resurrect the ability?Also what should be the best method to regain my Spanish speaking ability? Should I start from scratch? What are the best free websites to learn Spanish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannalurnspanish Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 It makes me sad when I read situations like this, because if I knew more than one language fluently I wouldn't want to let it go! That said, what's done is done and now you want to remedy that, so that's a good thing.Having lived in the US my whole life, like most, I'm not fluent in another language, so I can't speak from personal experience. I have heard of similar stories, though. My best suggestion would be to get to using the language more. Watch Spanish tv shows, listen to Spanish music, read books, etc. I would think that doing some studying of your language would also help you regain the vocabulary and skills you lost in that language. I'm thinking talking with others fluent in the language would also be extremely beneficial. In a place like SoCal (where I live) the opportunity to do this exists everyday as you go out in public. Other locations you're not going to be as lucky, but in this day and age the beauty of the Internet allows this. Live Mocha is a great site to use to find other speakers of a language to practice with and brush up on your skills, though they've changed it a lot since I last used it, so I can't be 100% sure what they offer now:http://livemocha.com/ In a quick search I also found this site. I haven't actually tried it, but it looks like it's worth looking into (though may not be free):https://www.verbling.com/Check out this one for general lessons and resources:http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/I'd also suggesting listening to free podcasts (look on ITunes) and looking for videos on Youtube that meet your needs.Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peninha Posted April 3, 2014 Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 I think that the best way for you not to forget your native language is to practice it here on the forum or simply read a book in Spanish, if you do that I'm sure everything will come back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polaroidsredwine Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 I agree. Just continuously work on staying refreshed with the language. Make an effort and devote some time to working in the language so it doesn't stagnate.I used to be darn good at Spanish back in high school, now I'm more inclined to ... well, not be as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianna Jay Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 I am also a new member wanting to "remember" Spanish. It is not my native language and I never fully mastered it, but I used to live in a small town with predominantly Spanish speakers. I picked up the language there and was able to hold conversation in the language. After moving away, I found I never really had the opportunity to hear the language being spoken. I'm trying to get back into it now, not just for me, but for my son as well. He's only a toddler, but I want to speak to him in Spanish so he can learn for himself. These are all useful tips; I guess the best way to bring the language back to life is to be around it more and practice it often. Consistency is key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgaz83 Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 I can highly recommend https://www.duolingo.com/ for (re)learning a language. When I remember to do it, it's very helpful and I learn a lot. The trick is to remember to actually do it daily. With Duolingo, you can start at the very beginning or test out and move onto something more advanced. So you don't have to relearn colors and numbers, for example, and can instead move on to adjectives and pronouns. It's kind of "cutesy", but still very helpful and not at all childish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trellum Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Hi, I am a new member here and I have something very embarrassing to confess. My native language is in Spanish and guess what!? I'm forgetting it. After so many years living in the United States I find myself using English more and more and the opportunities I have to speak Spanish come so little in between.However, I want to turn my life around and resurrect my Spanish before I completely forget it, and I need some help from the people in the forum. Have you ever experienced forgetting a language? And if so what did you do to resurrect the ability?Also what should be the best method to regain my Spanish speaking ability? Should I start from scratch? What are the best free websites to learn Spanish?Using it! Remember that popular phrase... how it goes... ''if you don't use it you lose it''. Well, it turns out that's very truth when it comes to languages. The reason you are starting to forget the language is because you no longer use it. You have to start using it again, if you don't feel like using on a very active way, then at least try to watch more TV shows in Spanish and read more things in that language. That's a nice start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linguetronix Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I would recommend Michel Thomas' audiobooks. Those are excellent to get you started with functional use of the language. Post that, you could work with Duolingo like others have suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czarina84 Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 That's terrible. I'm so sorry you are forgetting your native language. I'm happy that you were able to learn English so well, but it's important to stay connected to your heritage. Most of the native Spanish-speakers that I know have stayed connected by talking with other native Spanish speakers or even just other people who speak Spanish fluently. That's my advice. Find a Spanish speaking community, whether in the flesh or online, and just try to stay connected. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Tal vez te ayude tener que leer mis palabras en español, ¿no crees? Yo te propongo que escribas todos tus posts en esta parte del foro en español para que asi lo practiques. Si quieres chatear en skype conmigo estoy para servirte. Yo vivo en México y pues lógicamente mi idioma nativo es el español. Tú, ¿de dónde eres? ¿Hace cuánto vives en Estados Unidos? No pierdas tus raíces, habla y practica tu español lo más que puedas. Yo estoy para ayudarte en lo que necesites!! czarina84 and anna3101 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czarina84 Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 On 12/7/2015 1:28:06, Paula said: Tal vez te ayude tener que leer mis palabras en español, ¿no crees? Yo te propongo que escribas todos tus posts en esta parte del foro en español para que asi lo practiques. Si quieres chatear en skype conmigo estoy para servirte. Yo vivo en México y pues lógicamente mi idioma nativo es el español. Tú, ¿de dónde eres? ¿Hace cuánto vives en Estados Unidos? No pierdas tus raíces, habla y practica tu español lo más que puedas. Yo estoy para ayudarte en lo que necesites!! It is to nice of you to write this is Spanish. It's a good way to help out. Paula 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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