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    • l2agnarok
      l2agnarok
      last edited by
      l2agnarok
      spiral
      l2agnarok
      spiral

      I'm going to University soon and I've set many goals for myself.
      One of those goals included SPEAKING fluently in Spanish.

      Anyone have any good online sources for teaching myself?
      I've found a few. But I'd like input still.
      No. I'd rather not enroll in a class.

      Also, what other languages can I branch off best from there?
      What's most similar to Spanish?

      – One Piece Grand Line Bout M.U.G.E.N

      -- One Piece Funimation Songs

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      • Sakonosolo
        Sakonosolo
        last edited by
        Sakonosolo
        spiral
        Sakonosolo
        spiral

        Portuguese, French (somewhat), Catalan, Italian, and most other Romance languages are all close. Here's a list of languages in the same family.

        As for learning material, check out some of the links on this site.

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        • DarthAsthma
          DarthAsthma
          last edited by
          DarthAsthma
          spiral
          DarthAsthma
          spiral

          Well although I haven't come around learning spanish yet but out of the 5 languages that are the staple for europe sp,it,fr,ge,eng only german is probably a real pain to learn (I'm saying this from the perspective of a german native speaker that thaught it in some exchange language programs for a while).

          If you have already experience in getting fluent in some other foreign language that's going to be a huge help, because in that case try to reflect what the most effective methods were for you personally.

          As for the things in general that are going to help you. Get anki for vocabulary. Try to build yourself a spanish enviroment that you can feed of on.
          Don't bother learning grammar until you're really interested in it (like when you've recognized some patterns in the language and want to comfirm their rules or sth.). Since speaking is your focus try to get a base minimum of vocabulary and a feeling for easy grammer for short sentences. If you're at that level maybe try to get some native speaking contacts (although this is something that probably a little far off).

          Never ever feel obliged to do a certain amount of spanish every day but rather try to feel obliged to do some spanish every day. It's better to learn only a single new word and keeping the rut going than breaking it because you don't feel like you can fullfill a quota on the amount you have to do every day.

          Really the most important thing is to try to keep your interest alive. Try getting textes about things that you're interested in and read them regardless of how much you understand, you don't have to translate those completely just pick words that you're curious about. Try to get interested in spanish music/audio material or try to find spanish dubbed stuff. Spanish dubbed movies with spanish subtitles are going to be one of you're greatest weapons for tackling listening comprehension.
          The old Disney movies are always a great start for something like that.

          Not going to lie getting fluent in a language is a huge time commitment it's not really hard but especially if you're busy with other studies you have to be smart about making sure that you have maximum uptime of language immersion. Like I mentioned music or dubbed stuff is great you can always listen to stuff like that in the background almost 24/7.

          I'm basing this advice all off after failing through language classes(english/french) and their horrible 😛 teaching methods for years and using these methods with the main motivator of being able to enjoy stuff in these languages I've got top marks in both off them in a matter of 2 years each (that said I only focus on one language at a time).

          I think the hardest thing when trying to master a language even if you really enjoy learning it are the stretches where you don't have a feeling that you're improving and keeping your interest up during those. But getting fluent is a really subtle thing much different from math where it clicks your ability will to speak will improve very stealthily.

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          • l2agnarok
            l2agnarok @DarthAsthma
            @DarthAsthma last edited by
            l2agnarok
            spiral
            l2agnarok
            spiral

            Thank you both so much! I'll definitely be doing this!

            – One Piece Grand Line Bout M.U.G.E.N

            -- One Piece Funimation Songs

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            • Noqanky
              Noqanky
              last edited by
              Noqanky
              spiral
              Noqanky
              spiral

              Perhaps late to the party, but here's some advice from a Spanish teacher (me):

              • Latin, Portuguese, French and Italian are easiest with a background in Spanish. However, you do have to be careful because it might wind up resulting in you mixing them up in your brain. I would suggest not to try them until you master Spanish. If you want to learn one while mastering spanish, do a language that's a bit more different, like German, Finnish or Chinese … idk, there are many. For example, while mastering French I started Korean, and since there's such differences it's hard to really mix them up.
                Honestly though, learning one language makes learning another much easier. Pronunciation is what becomes hard depending on the languages.

              • As for becoming fluent, start here:
                http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/siteindex.php
                It's a list of videos for different proficiencies on all the grammar you probably know by know or will learn soon. It helps as in you don't just have grammar exercises but you also get to hear people speaking.
                Better yet, you have people and the country they are from, so you get used to the idea of different accents.

              Now, DarthAsthma hit it right in terms of movies. The trap here could be though that movies are subbed and dubbed with the ideal spanish that few people really speak. As a result, while useful, you get the nuances of the language and culture more through local movies. There's a lot of great cinema out there as well as tv shows. Here are some examples:

              • Amores Perros: gives you a good idea of the different ways people speak in Mexico and it is an excellent movie, very Tarantino-like.
              • El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrynth): from Spain, gives you a good ear for the classic Spanish they speak in Spain.
              • El Secreto de sus Ojos: great argentinian movie. Again, you get an idea of how their Spanish is different.
              • Betty la Fea: as far as soap operas go, this soap opera from Colombia is hands down the best. You can find the episodes on youtube I believe, not sure if there is an easier way to find it.
                Lastly, travel. You NEED to immerse yourself in the language to really get a knack of it. I knew all about English for a while, but it wasn't until I found myself living in the states and needing it that I flourished. When I went to Korea, I realized I knew nothing and found myself learning words and terms I would have otherwise never known. IF you're going to college, make sure to investigate Studying Abroad. There's scholarships out there that can help you, and several great programs, like CIEE.

              As for reading, I suggest reading stuff like Harry Potter in spanish, as most other books (even children books) tend to have really localized words and old fashioned terms that we really don't use day to day.
              And then stuff like stories from Cortazar, Borges, Allende and Garcia Marquez are more on the advanced level, but you could give them a try in Spanish while also reading the english translations.

              That's most of what I can say right now. If you have specific questions don't feel bad asking … technically, helping people with Spanish is part of my job and I enjoy it. Best of luck!

              edit: SHOOOT! I forgot about music!! Listening and singing to songs you like helps SOO MUCH! Now, I don't know what genre you're into, but here's a couple of rock in spanish groups I happen to like and are considered to be good:

              • Juanes (Colombia)
              • Soda Stereo (Argentina)
              • Los Prisioneros (Chile)
              • Heroes del Silencio (Spain)
              • Café Tacuba (México?)
              • Maná (México)
              • Shakira (Colombia ... NOW, with her, you need to go back to her songs from the 1990s when she really focused on the music. Now she's more into making pop songs that are too much like, well, american pop songs. And those are nowhere near as cool. For an example, look up "Pies descalzos, sueños blancos.")

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