Spanish-speaking DUers, I need your advice.

[liberalhistorian]

I took Spanish both in high school and college. I was never good at all with languages, but I had to take one. I still remember a good deal of what I learned, although the grammar is what I have the toughest time with, which is true, for me, of all languages.

My son, on the other hand, (he's 12) is very good at languages. He's especially interested in Spanish because there are several students in his school whose families are Mexican immigrants and he's very interested in talking to them and learning about them. There is also a large and growing Mexican and Hispanic population where I live (Painesville, Ohio, near Cleveland), due to the presence of several nurseries that employ them; the immigrants who've done well have even started Mexican supply stores and restaurants here.

We've decided that we want to study Spanish and learn it together. But we want to do it on our own, not in a classroom. I've long since discovered that the best way for me to learn things that are especially difficult for me (I got out of having to finish the language requirement in college due to my learning disability and the fact that it took me three tries to pass the first class, since once it got heavily into grammar I was totally lost), is to do it on my own time without any pressure of graded work and tests. Studying it with my son will help a great deal, also, since he'll be able to help me and we can do it together. And there are certainly enough places around here to actually practice speaking it.

I know that there are many books, tapes, and programs out there designed for individual study of languages. The Borders Books in my are alone have a whole section devoted just to language books, tapes, and programs, and combinations thereof. So my question for those of you in the know is what program would be best for my son and I? What would work best for both of us learning it together? I'd appreciate any feedback, thanks!

[TioDiego]

1. Watch the Spanish Channels on TV

You will be amazed at how easy it is to learn.

[liberalhistorian]

4. There's a local laundromat and dry-cleaners

that a lot of the Mexican immigrants use, and they often have the Spanish channels on. Since we don't get them at home, that probably would be a good idea to hang around there for awhile.

[ant]

2. go out into the community

Maybe you can become friends with a newly arrived family - help them learn english while they teach you spanish. Or maybe there're places where you could do volunteer work? When I was in high school I volunteered to help spanish-speaking kids learn english.

(Spanish was my first language so I really have no clue what to recommend as far as books/tapes go - I really think you just need to immerse yourself and keep a dictionary handy.)

[liberalhistorian]

6. That's a good idea, I could talk to

the priests at the local Catholic church where most of the immigrants attend services and the church added a Spanish mass a few years ago. They would probably be able to recommend both places to volunteer and a family that might need help learning English.

What country are you from, if you don't mind my asking? How long have you spoken English? I'll bet it was hard to learn at first!

[ant]

11. I was born here

...but my parents are Colombian, so when I was young I spent a lot of time traveling back and forth. My parents both speak english pretty well (they had been in the states for a while before I was born), but they have thick accents. They never spoke english at home because they didn't want us picking up their accents, so until I started pre-k I didn't speak any english at all. I learned it all at school. I was so young, though, I picked it up pretty quickly. I don't even remember NOT speaking english. Now I actually worry about losing my spanish!

Anyway, talking to the local church is probably a great place to start. Buena Suerte!


Edited for capitals where there should be no capitals...

[ugarte]

3. Do you want to be fluent or just learn Spanish for gringos?

No language can be learned in isolation. If you don't want to be in a classroom, get a native-speaker as a tutor. You must speak to a live human being, while simultaneously getting a grip on the grammar. To truly learn a language you must have both: live practice and a decent book.

In my experience, tapes and CDs are good for memorizing phrases, but that is not the same thing as actually becoming fluent.

Que le vaya bien!

[nannygoat]

5. LH, I second TioDiego's advice, plus

it would be really great if you and your son could go to Guatemala or Mexico for an immersion course (that's what I did shortly before helping migrant and seasonal farmworkers with legalization paperwork back in 1987). A friend of mine has just returned from Guatemala with her 14 year old daughter--they had both gone to study even though my friend already spoke some Spanish. It was a good experience for both of them.

Here's a good site about Spanish language immersion programs:
http://www.studyspanish.com/schools/guatemala.htm

If you do something like that, though, when you come back you really need to find an outlet for practicing several times a week (find yourself a conversation partner who speaks Spanish but wants to learn English, volunteer at a local organization that serves Spanish-speaking folks, etc.)

The thing about language learning is that you have to get past the fear--the fear of making mistakes or feeling like a fool. I have always been treated with respect by Spanish-speaking folks who were usually delighted that I was trying to communicate with them. It's been a very rewarding experience for me.

¡Buena suerte!

[liberalhistorian]

8. Muy Bien, Nannygoat,

y gracias para tu ayer! Geez, I hope that was grammatically correct, lol! I'll check out the link, I know my son would certainly enjoy that.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

16. psst

instead of "ayer" (which means yesterday) I think you meant "ayuda" (help) :D

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Engage in conversations.

Join a group which will be understanding of your situation and which will help. Your pronounciation will improve when you hear how the words are suppose to sound. Also, you'll pick up the phrases, not just words. I get myself in trouble because I think English, and then translate into Spanish. But the more I'm around other latinos, it comes back very quickly. Unfortunately, there aren't very many opportunities where I live.

[liberalhistorian]

9. That's the thing I have the most trouble with,

speaking another language requires a different way of thinking and mental processing, and it's especially hard the older you get and the more set your brain is in your own language.

[bearfan454]

10. Aprende las cosas facil primero,

Come los dias de la semana, tus numeros, los meses del ano, los colores, y vocabulario como dog - perro, cat - gato, enero - January,
azul - blue, verde - green, etc. My Grandparents came over here from Spain and used to talk to us kids in Spanish. I also took it in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Also College Spanish 1 and clep test for Spanish 2 at UT. That is Castillion Spanish. Many slang words here for TexMex Spanish. PM me for more info...bearfan454

[readmylips]

12. Watch Spanish TV programs....

like American tv, some spanish programs are good and others vulgar. I began to watch some of the spanish tv programs to refresh my learned-at home spanish. I learned spanish from my grandfather, who was a teacher in Puerto Rico.

[xJlM]

13. I took four years in high school

Primarily because the teacher was young and pretty hot looking, but I learned Castilian spanish pretty well. But that's totally different from the Tex-Mex I had to try to speak when I moved to Texas. Then, when I got quite a bit older, I had to re-learn it all over again as a supervisor who needed to communicate with our diverse workforce here in America.

The best way for you to really help your son would be to immerse yourself again in speaking the language, and give him work in vocabulary and grammar. It will be work, but it can be done.

[Pocho]

14. STOP SPEAKING TO WHITE PEOPLE

I also had high school Spanish classes, two years worth. Estrid Miller was the most influential teacher I've known, for it was from her that I learned empathy for the world's downtrodden and so adjusted the course of my life. However she managed to cram nothing of the language into my head although gifting me with straight D- grades throughout her travail. That was only because she was some sort of a communist and my father was on strike the entire period. What I thought I did learn was from Leo Pena, a seat mate from a Spanish speaking family. He taught me to swear, or so he thought. His grades were also D's.

It was with no more than a quick phrase book when first we immigrated as expatriates to Mexico 16 years ago. That helped with such as finding a toilet. There were classes, books, and tapes since. I thought at the time that they helped but in retrospect discovered it was not very much.

Even Leo Pena was wrong, his heritage aside. He just translated American swears word for word to Spanish. That's not the way it's done. Mexican swears would mean nothing across the border to our north and visa versa. Languages are the carriers of cultures, and can only be really understood from within the particular culture. They are best and perhaps only really learned by being a part of the culture.

I am often asked on amateur radio by gringos to the north "Are there a lot of Americans there?". My joking answer is usually "Yes, but you can avoid them if you try." The substantiative truth behind that quip has been the key to learning the language, and the sincere advice derived from it is to stop speaking with white people.

The best suggestions in the posts above are those which advocate establishing close personal relationships with those of a Spanish speaking culture, becoming even in slight degree a part of what they've lived. That's not as hard as might be seemed even in the US, and it offers learning not only the surface elements of their language but also its underlying essence.

[liberalhistorian]

15. Great post, Pocho,

gracias! You are, indeed, correct in your thoughts about language and culture.

[_NorCal_D_]

17. Hmm,

the only place I learned Spanish was in the classroom. I guess my advice would be to hear it often and use it often. Living in California (over 50% Hispanic population), I get plenty of opportunities to practice it with Latin American students or at Mexican restaurants when I go to get my lunch burrito. Find someone willing to communicate in Spanish with you, and you can likely learn more with them than you could in any overcrowded classroom.

Another thing you could do is simply watch Galavision or Univision (Spanish TV stations)whenever you have free time. I sometimes listen to Spanish news radio when i'm driving, and this also helps a great deal.

I hope this helps!

:bounce:
B-):thumbsup:

[SPICYHOT]

18. if you really want to learn

then you have to talk with spanish people, so you can learn the hearing fonetic and accent. After you got that, you need to memorize the vocabulary, then when you have some words you can start repeiting what you hear from the spanish channels. If you can get in this level then you can learn some grammar. To learn any languages you should learn to speak first then to study it.
I also speak several languages myself, not of them learn at school, but from music television and from kids, talking with kids helps a lot!, they won't laugh and they will repeit the word till they hear it well.
Buena suerte!