I'm frustrated by my inablity to learn Spanish

I believe that learning Spanish will make anyone's life in Spain far more rewarding, not to mention convenient, but if someone has difficulty learning the language, or chooses to live in the dark and not even bother trying, that's up to them.

Couldn't agree more.Roberto, I really get a buzz from having a 'chat in Spanish' to my new Spanish friends who are so patient with me, that it makes the months of effort really worth it. I'm not learning to speak Spanish to deal with officials, I'm learning it so I'm not exempting myself from so much of what goes on around me, but I could get by just as easily if I didn't want to put in the effort.

I would say that I don't know of any of the local English people here that would ever expect the Spaniards to be able to speak to them in English , so wherever the writer is based there must have a very different type of 'Englishman abroad'.

I think the right thing to do is to hang around with Spaniards although I do understand it can be a tricky sometimes. Talking from my experience, I had been living in the UK for 10 years and the first year I was there I was with Spanish people all the time. After wasting a year I realised I had to change my attitude and be more brave and speak to Brithish people. I still kept in contact with my Spanish friends but I also tried hard to meet English people and I think I suceeded, so much that now in Spain I find hard meeting Spanish people. New people I have met down here so far are lovely British people, I am not complaining at all.

Ana

I am slowly starting to pick up the Spanish, getting basic phrases etc. I have the Micheal Thomas CDs, like with any CDs there are loads of limitations, but I find that I make myself listen to them for a few mins every time I get in the car. It helps that if you spend any time in Spain you will be forced to start picking up some Spanish, can only ask your friends so many times to translate!

I think it gets harder as you get older to learn a new language.  Both John and I learnt French at school, and I can still remember lots of French words (I'm not going to admit how many years ago that was!!).  We live in a Spanish community, so we have to know the basics, as most people here don't speak any English.  After a year, we can both read the papers and watch Spanish TV and understand most of it, however because Murcians don't pronounce the ends of words, we do sometimes find it difficult to know what people are saying to us.  They usually realise this when they see our blank faces!

We have also been going to free Spanish lessons at the local college, which is quite challenging as our teacher doesn't speak a word of English!  I do think though that, slowly but surely, we are improving.

Sue

Suemac

I think that is the right attitude to have. Learning a language takes a whole life, you have to notice how you improve and speak it even though you make mistakes as people will understand you anyway.

Ana

The secret to learning any language is to find what you feel most comfortable and relaxed with. Some people prefer a textbook approach - Teach Yourself, Berlitz etc - some people prefer using some sort of language guru - Michel Thomas, Paul Noble etc - some people prefer trying to pick it up, though I found this never worked for me.

I would advise thinking of as many ways as possible and trying them one by one until you find the one you're most comfortable with.

Ange

I'm agree with Angela about using/trying as many different ways as possible.  Have just discovered that I posted in Feb 2009 on this thread, but along with what I was doing then I have added a few more things.

I didn't find that the Michel Thomas was very useful for me.  I have a private tutor who comes to the house (only £10 an hour - but stays for an hour and a half - but only charges for an hour!!!; meet up every month with a Spanish group (in England); joined busuu.com  where you can do on line exercises and have them corrected by Spanish speakers -  and you can also have a wide choice of people with whom to speak; (this is free, but you can also pay a small amount of money to upgrade) and when I come to Spain (three times a year - each time for a month) I join the local Spanish conversation classes there. 

I think that the answer is to work towards good communication rather than total perfection!!

Hi abbbb1

I think that the answer is to work towards good communication rather than total perfection!!

Totaly agree with that,

For my part I found listning to linquaphone 'all talk Spanish'  cd's a great help, firstly I got them from the local library to see if they worked for me, then was able to pick up a full set of 16 from ebay for £23 to bring over with us.

Steve

Hello.

I bought a linguaphone course and realy enjoy it.  I practice on the locals who realy help even if i do amuse them.

The problem i have is i live in the north so my spanish is now turning to a mixture of spanish (castillian) and catan with a bit of English mixed in.  I must sound hilarious.

I am getting by though.

I was once told a bit of effort and a smile gets you a long way. 

It is not easy but good luck to everyone trying.

Caz

My wife and I use Rosetta Stone which I find very good and we try to get our eldest daughter who is 12 and fluent to speak more around the house so that we pick it up, also as we are on an English urb  we decided against English TV and have the Spanish freeview box so that we are not totally hearing English all day - be suprised how much that helps.

 Personally I believe the best approach is "total immersion" which is how many of the Spanish learn English.  Ok, it's intense but you'll be amazed at what you learn on a two week course speaking Spanish the whole time.....good luck ;-))

My inability to speak Spanish is topped only by my inability to pass a driving test.  The two most vital things you need when living in rural Spain.  But hey, we've been here 4 years now, so I guess we are doing ok

And it's not for the want of trying to learn Spanish.  We have shelves full of well-read 'learn Spanish' books, cassette tapes galore, and we took private lessons before we moved here (and I have Italian blood in my veins which doesn't help a bit).

I can read Spanish pretty well, have no problems with verbs (apart from the conditional tense), and can communicate with my neighbours, but my ears simply cannot interpret the most part of their replies .  Asking anyone local to 'habla mas despacio' is met with consternation.  The Andalucians we know find it impossible to speak slowly.

Add to that, as Techno said, sometimes the Spanish have problems encountering a foreigner pronouncing a very simple word, even when they repeat it back to me exactly the same as I think I've pronounced it (could be my 'English yokel' accent I guess).

Talking to anyone on the telephone is a nightmare as you can't use gestures (a good standby).  And another problem is, that when I find someone who speaks English, they want to speak to me in English all the time, rather than let me try out my Spanish on them.

As I said, it's not for the want of trying. But as I work long hours most days on the internet, writing in English and talking mainly to Americans, 'getting among the Spanish' isn't that easy, apart from in our local bar, where it doesn't matter if your Spanish is bad, as everyone shouts to be heard above the music anyway.

So I really feel for the OP (and hope he has had some luck learning Spanish by now).

What I need is one of those babelfish things off of Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy.  So if anyone has invented one, please let me know

 When we eventually get back on track (5 - 8 years after our nightmare Turkish investment) we plan on selling our casa by the sea and moving inland to a Spanish village where the only spoken language is Spanish.......should be fun and it will be one sure fire way to plug our gaps LOL ;-))

Hi Jazil (and others)

As you probably picked up from my post on "Good news in Spain", John and I live in a small Spanish town called Jumilla, which is in northeast Murcia, over an hour from the coast.  With around 25,000 inhabitants (some of whom live in pueblos in the campo), obviously there are some people who do speak English, however we always assume that people can't and speak in Spanish to them. As others have said, we can understand written Spanish fairly well by now, and we usually manage to make ourselves understood, but once somebody replies in rapid Spanish......!!!  I can follow what is being said up to a point and then I assume that my eyes must glaze over as the person speaking to me asks "No entiende?" and I reply "No entiendo!"

We go to free Spanish classes for two hours a week in term time, however our teacher doesn't speak any English, so we take a dictionary and grammar book with us in case we can't understand something.  We don't cover conversational Spanish as it is a mixed ability class, with a lot of immigrants - mainly from north Africa. 

Watching Spanish TV helps a lot in understanding spoken Spanish.  It's a great life here in Spain and now that we have retired I think it is good for us to be facing a bit of a challenge by having to learn another language.

Jazil, have you had any thoughts on whereabouts you would like to live once you sell your casa by the sea?

Sue

Hi Sue

We're not too sure really, we'd need to do lots of homework.....still we have plenty of time ;-))

Right now our bolt-hole is in Lo Pagan in San Pedro del Pinatar and it's great but.......it's very seasonal and many things close down during the winter months.  Also in order to live out here permanently we'd need some land, and a much better internet connection but at the same time we want to experience life in a Spanish pueblo but have a city within say 30/50 kilometres.  We've thought about some of the villages around 45 minutes from Barcelona (as we both love Barca) however no decision has been made as yet.

Another place we like is old Mula which is still in the Murcia province........decisions, decisions........

There are a few good courses out there. Some have already been mentioned. Probably the best two are Michel Thomas's and Paul Noble's.

Michel Thomas's has been out for years and is very popular. Paul Noble's has only recently come out and my husband bought it. Having listened to both, I prefer the latter because the language is explained in a simpler / more effective way and a native speaker gives the pronunciation, so it helps improve your accent far more than Thomas's, I feel.

Among other ways of learning Spanish I have found that the free site (busuu.com) is excellent.  It takes you though exercises; you can listen to pronounciation, and it is a build up method of learning .... (there is a large choice of languages).  At the end of each part there is a test to check if you have learnt the relevant section.  As you move on you can have your work marked by Spanish speakers and also talk to a Spanish speaker - there are loads of speakers from whom to choose.  If you want to upgrade into podcasts etc, then there is a charge.

There is also Berlingua at Dona Pepa.  They do classes; conversation only classes and remote learning internet sessions

Why not learn Spanish the same way as I did. Every possible occasion visit a Spanish bar, preferably away from the costas. Drink enough to loose your British inhibitions and in a short period of time you will be able to communicate although if you are above a certain age you will never speak Spanish perfectly.

I was 50 + when I started, I am now a 72 year old Spanish speaking alcoholic.

Alant, that is the best solution so far.

Thanks for giving me a laugh.

I was 50 + when I started, I am now a 72 year old Spanish speaking alcoholic.

Priceless - pmsl - Thanks excellent reply but wth a very valid point :)