Synchronicity

So you'd like to... Learn Some Spanish?

Dr. Leslie Brown
I was have always been one of those people to think myself unfortunate enough to only learn one language as a child. And I was always kind of envious of people who spoke more than one language. At some early point in my life I deemed it impossible to learn a new language as an adult... especially true as I have one of those logical left-hemisphere-dominated brains.


So what really surprised me, is that with about 3 months practice, I am now able to understand a Spanish person and communicate in Spanish IF THEY ARE ABLE TO TALK SLOWLY ENOUGH. And I am talking about more difficult concepts than asking for a coffee with milk. The disappointing part is that I still cannot comprehend normal Spanish conversation yet. It is too fast, and I don´t possess the required vocabulary. If the sentance has only 4 or 5 words and I know them well, then I know exactly what is being said.


So I have realized that there are two parts to understanding a foreign language. One is the vocabulary. The other is the speed that you can recognize those words. For instance: with numbers. Even if you are able to count to 1000, or higher after some time, your brain won´t react fast enough when lots of big numbers are being spoken at normal pace. You´ll still be thinking of the number, and the speaker will have finished that sentence and started the next one.


At times I feel like a two year old child. There is simply no other way to describe it. For instance my thoughts were there but I just couldn´t express myself as well as I would have liked. Or when you know you´re intelligent person & you know what is being said isn´t very complicated but you only understand 5% of it all. It is a very humbling experience. I can remember a few times when I was at a table with 5 or more people and I didn´t say anything for a long time. After some time, when I began to slowly speak the first half of a sentence in Spanish, everybody looked around in awe like they were my first ever words...


Don´t lose all hope though. I like to think of it this way: give me the name of a two-month old kid who can talk. Right, you can´t, because there are none.

Unlike children, we as adults can choose HOW, WHERE and WHEN to study a new language. But most importantly, we can choose for ourselves WHAT language we are going to learn. What 5 year old English kid has ever said to themselves ¨I want to learn Swahili now¨? See what I mean?

If you are reading this you already know one language very well, so it is only a matter of translation. For almost every word in English, spanish has the equivalent. Of course one of the most baffling parts of the translation is knowing the order of the words.....


A few pieces of advice which I hope help you:

-Don´t overwhelm yourself. If you buy an audio program, don´t cram all 8 CDs into the first week. As the dude on my favourite program, Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour. says, it is better to learn a little well, at a time. I owe it ALL to this teriffic program. I bought about a dozen different ones, and that is BY FAR the best. You may like to buy a less comprehensive audio CD and phrase book first to see if you like the sound of the language. For that I´d recommend this: Gem Spanish Phrase Book (Collins GEM) or this Latin American Spanish Phrase Book (Collins Gem Series).


-Likewise, don´t peruse a Spanish dictionary just yet. You don´t do it with English, unless you´re a freak, so don´t bother doing it with another language. Save the chunky book for later when you need to look up a lesser-known word. Same goes for those lengthy verb conjugation tables (Spanish Grammar and Verb Tables (Collins GEM S.)). If you look too soon you´ll inevitably overwhelm yourself. The result may be that you could unwittingly terminate your language learning and that would be a pity. It´s good to carry a mini dictionary or electronic one around with you for when you need it. Like these: Collins Gem Spanish Dictionary Spanish, English English, Spanish, Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary (Pocket Bilingual Dictionaries), Franklin DBE-1450 English/Spanish Bilingual Dictionary, Franklin BES-1850 Speaking Spanish/English Dictionary downloadable content capability. I haven´t used them, but the electronic translators are faster and tell you all the verb conjugations too! It´s too late for me to buy one now because I´m in Buenos Aires as I write this. If you go the paper option, don´t scum out on a cheap dictionary; I have used one and found out later that the translations were simply WRONG.


-However, if you plan on learning, for example Spanish, for another country & you´re not in the Spanish speaking country yet, DO visualize yourself using the Spanish that you have learned so far to communicate in situations which you are likely to encounter. Most importantly, envisage yourself succeeding.


-I think adults learn by interaction while children learn by absorption (their minds are like little sponges). On numerous occasions I sat down with a group of Spanish people and actively listened (I mean I really tried to concentrate on what was being said rather than just phasing out). After hours and hours of ¨immersing¨ myself in this manner and giving myself a few headaches, I barely picked up one new word. But when I interacted with the conversation, especially with 1 or 2 people only, that is when I learned the most. So have no fear & have a go at saying something. If and when you stuff up, someone will tell you and you won´t offend anybody.


-Having said that, expect to put your foot in your mouth at least several times. One to watch out for is when you´d like to say you´re hot. You´re supposed to say ¨Tengo calor¨which translates as I have warmth¨ not ¨estoy caliente¨which roughly translates as something like: ¨I´m horny¨ or similar! Expect to make a lot of other mistakes too. But if you´re with nice people, you´ll all have lots of laughs about it.


-You´ll forget one English word for every new Spanish word you learn.


I wish you good luck!

I can also reccommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//00...337577-6131316