Aprendiendo espanol en Dallas, Estados Unidos

[tantric superman 4668]

Any of your folks who have learned Spanish as adults have any tips?

I figure it needs to be a multipronged attack.

1)Some sort of daily app (Duolingo?)

2) Reading and translating spanish

3) TV watching spanish shows

4) Conversational group

5) A bunch of trips to Mexico.

Any recommended classes/tutors/groups in the Dallas area?

[Knoxtnhorn 6309]

The more immersion; the better.  Yes, that generally goes without saying, but I learned MUCH quicker working at a Mexican restaurant in college than all the hours I've spent watching Spanish-language tv.  When dealing with actual people and conversing, my brain had to try.  When I watched tv, my mind would just gloss over words/phrases I didn't understand.

[tantric superman 4668]

Yes.  The Mexican attorneys I worked with suggested either moving to mexico or finding a mexican girlfriend who spoke no english.

[That Guy 1028]

I’m gonna run the latter past the wife. She keeps asking me to try new things. Dammit, babe, I’m just trying to learn a new language!

[RDCanecutter 26898]

16 hours ago, tantric superman said:

Any of your folks who have learned Spanish as adults have any tips?

I figure it needs to be a multipronged attack.

1)Some sort of daily app (Duolingo?)

2) Reading and translating spanish

3) TV watching spanish shows

4) Conversational group

5) A bunch of trips to Mexico.

Yes. Also, speaking Spanish with random people, getting into Spanish-language music that you play constantly in the background, and making friends with somebody like a cleaning lady who just moved here from Guerrero but who loves to spread gossip about other people in the building. (I personally found "befriend the cleaning lady" to be as effective as spending a month or two in Mexico, because in Mexico you're always planning out your next sentence, but Cleaning Lady Gossip forces you to react on the fly.)

But yeah, more is better than less. The downside of adult learning is that you will seldom get the effortless native accent that children do, but on the other hand, maybe you can work a vague French accent into your Spanish. Folks dig French accents.

You really need to shovel tons of Spanish into your brain without worrying about results. If you do this, at some point-- a few months, a couple of years, whatever-- you'll get that "Walk through the door" moment, where somebody's talking or a song is playing, and you'll ask yourself "why is that guy singing/talking in English?" but HE'S NOT, it's SPANISH, and you just KNOW it, weyyy.

[Celery Man 21098]

today's verb is gustar

[RDCanecutter 26898]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

today's verb is gustar

Casi toda la música de Manu Chao sirve pa' las clases de español.

OP needs to slur his words properly. English consonants are like somebody banging to heel of a dress shoe on a table. For the Espaneesh, back off of them, I mean, some of them, like [d], you are better off almost dropping.

EG. say you call somebody "hijo de puta." If you pronounce it all precisely, it comes across like "son of a bitch." Drop the d and make it "hijo e puta," now you're sayin "sumbitch." Little things.

[Zepol87 9341]

I didn't really no shit until I moved to Monterey for 3 years. Great time, go abroad of you can. 

[Zepol87 9341]

Jesus Christ *know 

[RDCanecutter 26898]

Practice the Preterite and work out your psychoses with Nena Daconte.

 

 

[iodeac 138]

This might be a long post but after working around a bunch of Hispanic coworkers in 2017, I set myself to finally learn Spanish. I took a year of it in college back in 96 and loved it, but never continued with it like I should have, so I basically just threw myself into it about 5 years ago. I'm not 100% fluent on a native speaker level but can understand almost any conversation and hold my own. Here's some of what helped me:

Duolingo is a good entry level app, they make it user friendly and non-threatening for first-timers. It's good for vocabulary but will never help you become fluent by itself. I also disagree with some of the changes the app has made over the years.

Find a Meetup group. Being in Dallas, there should be plenty and it's a great way to meet new people. Here in Charlotte there are at least three just for Spanish, and I had my own for about 4 years in a neighboring town and decided to end it this year.

Try to buy an old Spanish textbook or maybe a workbook online. It's one of the tools I used to teach myself grammar, tenses, etc.

Change your phone settings to Spanish ASAP. I did this five years ago and it helps a ton.

Try to listen to a bunch of Spanish music. I love the Cafe Con Leche playlist on Spotify. Watch movies and series on Netflix. I really liked Distrito Salvaje for example.

Podcasts are great. I started with Notes in Spanish and I still listen to it. They have podcasts at the beginner, intermediate and advanced level. The Españolistos podcast from Spanishland is great too. No Hay Tos is a good one too, but there are tons more out there.

Maybe enroll in an online program. I love Spanishland School, the owners are amazing people and they do immersion trips to Colombia. I went in early 2020 before the pandemic hit and didn't want to come back.

The most important thing is that you have to and I mean really have to practice. Find opportunities to speak to people in Spanish whenever you can. Keep in mind that if you're at a restaurant or other place of business they might not be as conversational as you'd like because they have jobs to do, but at least try. It really does go a long way.

On that note, you should also think about private classes once a week or so. Italki is great and I have a tutor I'm really good friends with, when I go to Bogotá next week we're actually going to meet up. Really looking forward to it.

If you have the money, I would also look into Baselang. For about $150 monthly you have access to an unlimited number of classes with lots of different teachers. Other than moving to a Spanish speaking country, it's probably the next closest thing to immersion. Having a few sessions a week will really make you improve fast.

The most important thing and the thing I feel holds people back the most is that you absolutely cannot be afraid to make mistakes. I know lots of people who are really smart but have held themselves way back simply by being perfectionists and/or being afraid to make mistakes. It's part of the process, and literally noone is going to make fun of you for making mistakes.

Feel free to pm me with any questions. I'm still kicking myself for not majoring in Spanish and studying abroad. Spanish is probably one of my favorite things now and you can probably tell I'm pretty passionate about it. Good luck, it's a really rewarding journey. Also, the first time you dream in Spanish it will blow your mind.





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[InkaUtexas 26906]

1. Watch Novelas

2. Listen to Spanish Radio

3. Duolingua is good. 

4. Get a maid who does not speak english

5. Fuck said maid. 

Or move to Latin America. 

[Quagmire 2148]

Can I just skip to the maid fucking part?

[RDCanecutter 26898]

6 hours ago, Quagmire said:

Can I just skip to the maid fucking part?

El guiguiti.

[InkaUtexas 26906]

6 hours ago, Quagmire said:

Can I just skip to the maid fucking part?

Si mi hermano. Lo que usted quiere. 

[RDCanecutter 26898]

If you say "como SEA" while rolling your eyes, it's the same as saying "what-EVARRR." I got that from a telenovela.

[williemackgarza 1827]

Tryna be a peachy cool arrow, I see.
Salud

And for the love of god, “catchy” is not a spanish word.
U catchy the cervezas? U catchy the machete?
Wtf does that word mean ? but my white boy friends always us it at the mexico deer lease talkin to the ranch cowboy

[RDCanecutter 26898]

1 hour ago, williemackgarza said:

And for the love of god, “catchy” is not a spanish word.
U catchy the cervezas? U catchy the machete?
Wtf does that word mean ? but my white boy friends always us it at the mexico deer lease talkin to the ranch cowboy

If it's from "catch" they are unknowingly speaking Norman French to the ranch cowboy. Everybody likes a French accent.

[immamac 44382]

Go to spanish classes - my mom used to teach spanish to adults and kids. I can see if she knows a place where you can go. 

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

On 12/21/2021 at 7:26 AM, Knoxtnhorn said:

I learned MUCH quicker working at a Mexican restaurant in college

Well -- that was at least how I learned how to swear in Spanish!

[Knoxtnhorn 6309]

1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Well -- that was at least how I learned how to swear in Spanish!

Yep.  Mostly swear words, trash talk, and friendly banter.  

[RDCanecutter 26898]

On ta el OP? What did you learn so far? You best not be half-steppin on me son.