Learning a New Language
 

Living in Miami and dealing with Spanish-speaking folks as much as I do, I've decided it's prudent to learn the language.

What's the best way to go about learning a new language this late in life?

The obvious answer would be to take up residence with a Mexican but last I checked Joe Perez's hacienda is filled up and I need to learn more than just how to order XXX amateur Latina films on pay-per-view.

Rosetta Stone will make the Latinas moan.

Move to Mexico

Watch Mexican soap operas. Listen to Mexican radio stations. If single get a Mexican girl friend. Rosetta Stone.

If they have Cuban soaps, radio stations, etc. use them instead, Cuban dialect and accent is different than Mexican Spanish.

Keith

eat taco bell

This, the key is immersion. You're just memorizing a set of codes/symbols so if you only let yourself use those codes you'll memorize them a lot faster.

Drive a pickup to home depot and just circle the parking lot. You'll learn it.

go to a siesta

Unless you're going to contribute, stay out of my thread. Your first three suggestions were neither helpful nor funny and now you're just embarrassing yourself.

woah bro, I'm just trying to help you bro

Thanks homies. This won't be too difficult seeing how I live in Miami and I'm seeing a Latina.

The last thing I want is to speak Spanish like I do German; having to translate everything in my mind instead of just thinking in the new language.

I would actually like to see this thread be serious if anyone has good advice. I think we all know immersion is ideal. The problem is unless you are truly able to pick up and move, full immersion is impractical.

This is good advice and it is very easy to follow for Spanish in this country. What about something like German or Arabic which are not quite as common. How many hours should one dedicate per week if say you plan to visit a country in 6 months to a year and would like to be able to converse with locals on a basic level. My job offers me the opportunity to do 6 month - 2 years tours abroad as well as offering a 16 week sabbatical with 20% pay that I plan to use for world travel. I would like to pick up at least one more language before I die but I feel like building the basic language skillset is the hardest part.

Ryan,

My German is good enough to get by and understand bits and pieces of conversation but I couldn't give a speech or hold a really intellectual conversation. I dated a German girl for a short time when I lived in Ireland and I got a little better during that time through just being around her (I had all the basic conjugation, vocabulary, etc already down).

Languages are like muscles, you don't exercise them and they get weak. If today I was asked for directions by German speakers, I'd be lost but I could still ask to see his wife's tits.

I am registering for a Spanish course at a nearby university.

1. Unless you pirate rosetta stone don't waste your money. It is garbage.

2. Registering for a class is a great idea. It is very nearly impossible to learn a language without being able to practice conversation. Talking builds muscle memory and is key to fluency.

3. Spanish has to be the easiest fucking language to learn. So many people speak it. Problem is I bet there is a lot of slang, or English-Spanish hybrids. I don't know what you are looking to do with the language, but if you want to use it professionally make sure you avoid falling in to bad habits that you might get from people in your area.

4. Watch and read the news when you get your fluency up (you can do it now, even if you don't understand it. It will help learn the rhythm of the language and the more you listen the less "fast" it will seem) This is a good way to get proper Spanish if that is what you are going for. TV shows are good too, as well as movies. Radio for in the car.

5. There are without a doubt tons of free online resources, flash cards, etc...

Source: Farsi Linguist

holy fuck.
ok...mexicans aren't the only ones who speak spanish (vale?)
if miami, then cubans are more predominant than mexicans..unless you liv ein homestead.

both mexicans and cubans can't speak spanish for shit...

colombians and venezuelans are your best bet if you want to learn shit properly.

mexican is not a fucking race...

No shit. It is a nationality though, which is how it was used in this thread.

One of my co-workers is learning Russian, he listens to Russian radio stations via the internet. I suspect that you can also find video programing on the internet in various languages. You have to be careful of on-line language lessons (like on youtube) though... people who think they are funny will tech gibberish or swear words.

As far as how much time to dedicate, it depends on you. Some people pick up languages much faster than others. If you dedicate too much time it isn't a bad thing, whereas dedicating too little time will leave you lacking when you actually need to use the new language, so I would say if you are serious about it dedicate as much time as possible.... you can't know the new language too well after all :)

Keith

Check this out:

Headstart2 -- Spanish

It's a 962 MB download for the spanish one, you can do it online though if you want. It asks you to create a login, but you can enter whatever you want. The one for Farsi was quite good. It is military, but will is still a valid resource.

A pretty amazing resource offered free to you. There are 25 languages offered if others are interested.

I took two years worth of Spanish in college, and it is a good way to learn verb tenses that are the most difficult to master.
This might seem a little crazy, but seriously consider attending a hispanic protestant church service or community event. I'm not trying to push religion on you in any way, but in my experience, literally everyone you see will speak to you. It was incredibly uncomfortable for me, but it was the ultimate immersion experience.

lol wut?

i learned how to speak enlgish..very basic english, on my own at the age of 8 in colombia...all i had to learn was some random books and i would memorize the words.

what i am syaing is that if you truly love the language or have a necessity you'll pick it up, specially in miami where you can atcually practice it...i love the german language but i took 2 yrs in highschool and the lack of being able to practice it killed it...and another thing would be hanging out at the german chats, but they figure out pretty quickly that you are using google translate and kick you outl.

You guys should check out duolingo.com, it is free and pretty intuitive to get the basics down quickly. It lets you read/type as well as listen/speak with a mic. Then the fluency practice of watching/listening to programming or talking to locals will be more efficient.

Plus, everyone can friend each other and compete.

MIT for the free.

Spanish I | Foreign Languages and Literatures | MIT OpenCourseWare

Yeah, I guess I should have explained where I'm coming from on that one.
I tagged along with my wife on an assignment for which she had to experience another culture through some sort of social event.
We found some random church in a Mexican community and tried to sit in the back quietly and observe.
We ended up being escorted to the front, and they actually translated the entire service just for us.
They were so excited that we spoke a little Spanish that they asked us to come onstage and give a little introduction.
I guess my point is that most of the Hispanic communities that I have experienced are very accommodating to non-spanish speakers,
and some sort of community event is a great way get out of your comfort zone and immerse yourself in the language.

yes, i see that too.
unlike american's when they hear someone barely speaking english become pissed off. cna't they see we love the language so much we actually took our time to at least try to learn it?
i find it so stupid, i've been living here 15 yrs and my english is not perfect..i try my best but always get the americans mocking my accent... sigh...have them try to speak mine!

The ignorance in this post would offend me if I cared.

Right, all American's get pissed off when we hear someone barely speaking English. And all Americans can't see that you love the language so much you actually took your time to at least try to learn it. All Americans mock your accent.

You should generalize more with your statements. Or maybe that is just the poorly written jumbled mess of English that made it sound like that.

oh, i'm sorry..i meant ALL AMERICANS.

thanks for clarifying that.
not all americans

all americans.
americans.

This. I was amazed by how welcoming the people were when I visited Peru (twice). I had family of a coworker treat me like their own, and when I was lost in a bad neighbourhood in Arequipa, an older lady stopped, without my asking, to give me directions and advice. This was all with my extremely limited list of phrases I could speak in Spanish, and the help of a dictionary. I was amazed by how much I was able to pick up in a couple of weeks (It really wasn't that much, but I was learning enough simple phrases that with some gesticulating I could generally get across what I needed). It surely helped that I already spoke some French, but immersing yourself in a language really is the only way to learn.

I'm frequently in Germany, and the Germans in general - at least in the Frankfurt area - have a really nice attitude towards language, as well. You almost have to force them to speak German with you, because they're usually willing, and proud, to speak English. If you do happen to speak German, they'll politely correct you when you make mistakes, not with the intention of embarrassing you, but to help you improve.

Honestly, the cultures with the shittiest attitudes I've experienced are the English and French-speakers. We English are just as bad of offenders - if not worse - but we at least get away with it because English really is widely spoken throughout the world. On the other hand, I've seen too many French-speakers, be it Swiss, French, or French Canadian, who go to other places and pretend that it's normal that everyone should speak French. Don't get me started about the language laws in my own home province which do everything they can to make speaking or writing English in public illegal, despite being completely surrounded by 300 million people who all speak it. And yes, there are dedicated language police, who have the right to walk into private businesses and start rifling through documents.

For those saying that immersion is impractical, check around in your city of what might be available to you. Around me, I know of at least two separate groups which get together one night every week to speak German. They meet at bars, and the scene is very relaxed, with people of all skill levels attending, including German and Swiss immigrants who are obviously fluent. It's a great way to practice the language, have some beers, and meet a variety of different people.

Try not to learn with english -> spanish flash cards or a similar translative method. The best way to ensure that you'll forever be translating the language in your head is to learn the language by memorizing the translation.

Bad News: If you're out of your teens, there's a really, really high chance that you will ALWAYS be translating it in your head.

Good News: All of the romance languages (Spanish/French/Italian) are very similar. Once you get the syntax down, you just need to learn the verbs and conjugation to pick up the other languages...and there's a ton of carryover there too.

Costco has a Rosetta Stone knockoff for $30. It's not meant to be all-encompassing, but it's a decent start.

it may sound stupid, but listen to spanish music and try to learn and pronunciate the lyrics.
and immersion to me is the biggest thing.
Put your facebook in spanish, spanish radio, spanish tv, spanish everything.
youre gonna have pupusas for the next month and you'll be able to make killer guacamoles.

enjoy broski, new languages are awesome

that's how i learned english and how to cook burgers and hotdogs :)
i do bbq's, celebrate thanks giving and 4th of july

I already eat my girl's papusa every day and the only thing I've learned is how to make her toes curl

OK I admit I LOLed and coughed out my calamansgarita.

Next time try saying the alphabet in Spanish. You get better at Spanish and oral sex.

I learned what culo means.

Context generally makes that one self explanatory :giggle:

I read the title of the thread. I read who started the thread. My first thought was "Pusha is going to try to learn English."

I'm fluent in Redneck and Ebonics myself, and I'm currently learning whatever they speak over here in California.

Why in the hell did you come here? Did your boss send you to Pendleton or something?

Gimme a break

I've been in Pendleton for a while now. I had the good fortune of not being stationed in Lejeune or 29 Stumps. The worst place I've been has been Fort Sill for MOS school. Horrible strip clubs. 3 point something percent beer everywhere. Ugh.

:bowrofl: