I'm learning Spanish right now - something I've wanted to do for a long time. I've also been more motivated now that we will probably be getting a lot of Hispanic kiddos in our home. I've ordered a program called "Rocket Spanish" to help me learn, and have been using the very few free helpers on the internet. Although I have definitely made progress, I'm feeling pretty frustrated at this point.
Anybody have any pointers??
My only advice is, I imagine, pretty useless to you at this point, which is...go live in a Spanish speaking country for awhile (or Arizona, lol). My only possibly useful advice is use it a lot. Find some Spanish speaking moms and plan playdates. When I was in Guatemala, I think I learned more Spanish from the kids than anyone else because for some reason, I was less afraid to make mistakes with them, and they were more willing to correct every little thing, instead of just ignoring me when I didn't make sense. :)
ReplyDeleteSadly, I used more of my Spanish in the last 2 weeks we were in Tucson than I did the rest of the time we were there...because we had garage sales!
Thanks Julie! I'm frustrated mostly with verbs. Also all of these estoy, soy, esta, ahhhh! I'm not sure my mind can fit a second language in it! :)
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the Estar vs. Ser dilemma is a common one for sure. I have actually come to believe that some of the verb tenses in Spanish (and the way things are worded) make more sense than English. But of course, your main goal, I'm guessing, is to be able to be conversational, not "study" the language, so as long as you can make sense, more or less, you'll be good.
ReplyDeleteCartoons are good sometimes, especially ones you know well in English (like getting episodes of Blue's Clues on DVD and watching them in English for awhile, then watching them in Spanish...)