Learning spanish
 

BBC do an excellent interactive Spanish course and it is free. Search on BBC site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/

Hi everyone,

Based on my experience of learning various foreign languages i came to few conclusions that may be of use to you guys.
I am french, with spanish parents, so i learned french and Spanish at the same time.
Through the french education system i did about 8 or 9 years of english at school and uni. I was incapable of putting two sentences together.... Until i met my husband, moved to the UK and had to learn.

When we moved to Brazil, i had to learn Portuguese fast. I did it through formal accelerated classes, lots and lots of grammar. Still, close enough to Spanish that it did not bother me.

Now I am learning Russian... Here my approach is very far from formal classes. I did two years or russian evening classes in 2010 / 2011 and realised i could spend ten years and not be able to say anything. The grammar is a Nightmare.
So, before our trip to Mongolia in 2014, i found a russian teacher and did about ten one to one sessions, concentrating on what i needed, forget about grammar. Babies do not have grammar lessons when they learn to talk!

So my approach now is to concentrate on specific vocabulary and verbs, some range of sentences and learn to move words and verbs around those set sentences. The fact is, when travelling, you are always saying more or less the same thing: talking about bikes, mechanic problems, hotels or campsites, safety, food and drinks, directions, ferry or bridge to cross a river, talk about you, etc....
There are limited amount of verbs and words that you really need. Then keep it simple when building a sentence. It works.
With my ten sessions i was able to sort out lots of problems during my Trip to Mongolia in 2014 (we broke down a lot in the Stans and Russia with one of our bikes!)

Now i am going a little bit further with Russian, as i plan to cross Russia this summer, and i like to talk to the locals... And yes i try to learn some of the conjugations of verbs ( those i absolutely need!) for the pronouns i need.. So i ignore for example the familiar Pronoun ты ( and verbs' conjugations!) as i always use the formal polite pronoun вы, when addressing people. Why clutter my brain?
I will never be fluent or good in Russian, but with my current approach, with very limited lessons and work, i can get by and talk to people and understand what they tell me. That is all I need. And it is very efficient.

давай
 

давай........even a very common word is complicated to use !!!!
Russian Podcast - Davai (Let's, Come on, Sure)


Davai.....

My $0.02:

www.duolingo.com

I have learned spanish before here and there. Whenever I travel to a spanish-speaking country I use the above website to get back into practice and I find it very helpful yet very simple. I use the web version, though I'll note that there is an app too (my coworker prefers using the app more). Really a great practice tool; the only downside is that they don't teach much about the grammar, so it is meant a little more for people that have some foundation.

The hardest part I personally have with learning the language is being able to hear what people are saying in real time. Seeing words is easier than hearing them for me. So in addition to Duolingo (which has listening parts), I listen to spanish language podcasts on my commute each day. I'm not trying to understand everything, just get my ear used to the cadence, etc. It helps.

That's it...I mean, er...eso es todo.

Great point and mirrors my experience as well. I can speak fairly well, usually can get my point across. But I have a HELL of time understanding their responses. Add to that regional accents and dialects and I'm lost if the conversation goes on for more than a few lines. Frustrating as hell.

Some people have an AMAZING ability to "hear" and comprehend a foreign speaker ... I am clearly not on of these lucky folks. I often tell someone to speak to me as if they're talking to a 7 year old kid. IT WORKS!

But constant work/practice works best. I often try to speak Spanish here in California, but some REFUSE to speak to me in Spanish, instead speaking in their limited and poorly accented English doh. I think they sense I'm not really "Fluent" so they resist Spanish in some cases.