# Taking the Plunge



## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Well after living in Spain for over 6 years and viewing this site for many years, I have decided to take the plunge and attempt to be a contributory member!!!

My husband and I were very fortunate to acquire sufficient cash through sheer hardwork (and some lucky investments!!) to be able to come and live in Spain before retirement age.

However after 6 years of little more than sun, going to the gym and basically enjoying life - I have decided to take the plunge and give myself two goals for the remainder of the coming year - join a forum, and learn Spanish!!

As the first one has now been accomplished, any tips on an easy way to achieve the second goal would be appreciated, I feel as though I have tried everything with limited success.

I am rather embarassed to admit that hubby is Spanish, but lived and worked in the UK for nearly 40 years. We have tried on numerous occasions to speak Spanish at home, but it just doesnt work for me (a bit like asking your partner to teach you how to drive!!!).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, apart from having OH as a teacher!!!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

You are extremely welcome, it's always good to have some fresh input! 

There aren't any easy ways to learn Spanish other than through hard graft. No one thing is going to do the trick, e.g. CDs, classes, exercise books, etc etc. You have to do _all_ of those, and put in at least an hour a day, ideally more. Get out and find an intercambio (exchange) group with a mixture of English and Spanish people, and help each other.

Do you watch Spanish TV? If so, ask your husband if he minds having the subtitles on (intended for the deaf but incredibly useful for learners too!)


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## chica escocesa (Jul 23, 2012)

As a languages teacher, tips as follows: 

1) Don't try to teach yourself. Join a beginners class. If you try to DIY you will quickly become swamped and lose motivation. 
2) Learn some transactional and useful vocab first then move onto grammar and verbs. Once you have a basic understanding of verbs and tenses it will become a lot easier to progress on your own. It will probably take a year to get to this stage. 
3) Practise practise practise! You have the advantage here- hubby is Spanish and you live in Spain. 
4) Give yourself a break - remember none of us sprang from the womb fluent in 3 languages - how long did it take for you to master English? 
5) Remember this is a long road which requires dedication there is no shortcut. I was learning French for 7 years and lived there for a year before I would have classed myself fluent. 

Those are my top 5 tips, good luck and get cracking!!


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Thanks Alcalaina for the quick reply. I had never thought about putting subtitles on the Spanish TV, I must look at a way to do that. Unfortunately we do tend to watch mostly UK TV, apart from the Spanish news at midday. 

It is probably laziness on my part, and I know I need to make the effort. In the past it has just been so easy to send OH out to do most things and make phone calls, however I know at some point there will come a time when I will need to go to the Doctors/Hospital etc. and cant bear the thought that I will need to take him with me as though I am some sort of simple child.

We have tried in the past to speak Spanish at home (didnt work) and then Spanish when we go out for a meal (we sat staring at each other for hours!!!). My OH always says that my problem is that I dont want to make a mistake and want to wake up one morning with the ability to speak Spanish fluently - I think he is probably right!!!

So I will take your advice and try and put in the effort of at least an hour a day with the many Spanish books I have got, and tell the Spanish girls at the gym that from now on they must speak to me in Spanish as opposed to English. Tomorrow could be the start of a new beginning!!!!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Chica22 said:


> Thanks Alcalaina for the quick reply. I had never thought about putting subtitles on the Spanish TV, I must look at a way to do that. Unfortunately we do tend to watch mostly UK TV, apart from the Spanish news at midday.
> 
> It is probably laziness on my part, and I know I need to make the effort. In the past it has just been so easy to send OH out to do most things and make phone calls, however I know at some point there will come a time when I will need to go to the Doctors/Hospital etc. and cant bear the thought that I will need to take him with me as though I am some sort of simple child.
> 
> ...


Hi, good afternoon and welcome
Hola, buenas tardes y bienvenidos. Now repeat it until you think you can say it reasonably fluently - ask hubby. Then grab hold of another phrase. As you continue with more phrases, you will gain confidence and soon be able to say much more, however, the hard part is understanding what is being said to you. For that you need to speak to other Spanish people and get to understand what they are saying. It is very hard and takes hard work, but patience pays off in the end.

You don't say where you are - Almería could refer to the province or the city. If you live in a village or a part of the city where there is a small community - it may even be in a block of flats, whenever you go out, look people in the eye (most immigrants look down- to avoid getting into a conversation in Spanish). It doesn't matter if you know the person or not (if you don't, the chances are that you soon will) say "Buenos días" (Good morning - until about 1.30-2pm [lunchtime]), "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon - 2pm - 8pm after, lunch through to early evening), "Buenas noches" (Good evening/Good night [as a greeting] after about 8 or when it starts to get dark) Note that you will have used Beunas noches to say 'Hello' in the late evening, you can also use it to say goodbye at that time, too.

Breaking off and saying goodbye is easy "Adios" or "Hasta luego" (the 'h' is silent!). If people are just passing and not stopping to say anything you will often find that people will say "Adios" which roughly means hello-goodbye.

They will perhaps try to start a conversation and you may not have a clue as to what they are saying. Listen carefully, you may catch the odd word or two, maybe more. Put 2 and 2 together and you may even get 4. "No entiendo" means "I don't understand" 

Try as much as possible to get the accent right, this will add greatly to your confidence and the Spaniard will have a better chance of understanding you.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Chica22 said:


> Thanks Alcalaina for the quick reply. I had never thought about putting subtitles on the Spanish TV, I must look at a way to do that. Unfortunately we do tend to watch mostly UK TV, apart from the Spanish news at midday.
> 
> It is probably laziness on my part, and I know I need to make the effort. In the past it has just been so easy to send OH out to do most things and make phone calls, however I know at some point there will come a time when I will need to go to the Doctors/Hospital etc. and cant bear the thought that I will need to take him with me as though I am some sort of simple child.
> 
> ...


You should have a Subtitles button on your TV remote. Unfortunately the news is not subtitled, but there are some decent documentaries on RTVE2. Just hearing the sound of spoken Spanish will help you, even if you don't understand it all at first.

I think you will find that if you speak to your Spanish girl friends when your OH isn't around, it will come much more easily. You will soon stop feeling self-conscious and worrying about making mistakes. 

Perhaps you can meet them outside the gym, for a coffee or something? Are any of them learning English? You can help each other!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I first learnt a few words of Castellano in 1963, whilst I was working on a ship in Argentina. A lifetime later I bought a Readers Digest Spanish at home, course, rattled through that in a few months.

I then enrolled for evening classes, managed to take and pass GCSE O level, the only one I have.

I then tried the A level, I couldn't get interested in it, so found a two year course on current affairs and an Argentinian teacher called Marina. 

I have learned far more Spanish here, where no one speaks English. I am not fluent, never will be, in English or Spanish. However we have bought two properties, took and won a case in the Courts, without an English Speaking lawyer or interpreter.

The main thing is you have got to want to speak the language, really want to, then you will learn.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Wow, thank you all for your replies, really helpful. I did think that if I put my intentions on to the forum for all to see then I cant back out,!!!!

I have been married to my OH for over 30 years (how embarassing) and am fine with the basics. I am quite happy to go to Almeria City and ask where the changing rooms are, if they have a different size etc. etc. I am probably like the Brits that many on the forums complain about, I am fine in a restaurant or a shoe shop, but take the girl elsewhere and she is lost!!!!

All my previous studies have been via academia, and I know I learn best from books, rather than practical learning, however after 30 years of pouring through endless books, I still dont feel I can string a proper sentence together, I know I should really speak, but just cant!!!

We bought a holiday apartment in the area where we live over 20 years ago, and consequently purchased a new build detached villa off plan (like many others fools). However we are very happy where we are, the only downside is from 200 properties, the OH and only one other person is Spanish!!!! Consequently we never get to speak Spanish, in fact OH always remarks he speaks more English here than he did in the UK, LOL!!!! So I have little opportunity to speak Spanish as we live in a predominently Brit area.

As another poster mention, if I had really wanted to learn the language, then I would learn, and perhaps I have never really felt the need. We have no Spanish friends, and my OH is from Burgos so therefore we have limited opportunity to see the family. His view is that he doesnt care which Nationality people are, it is the person that matters, so apart from translating at Hospitals/Doctors he speaks very little Spanish and watches mainly UK TV!!!

However, for some reason, maybe the hot weather, I feel I should make a concerted effort and give myself a timescale to at least be able to hold a 'normal' conversation!!

Can anyone recommend any Spanish TV programmes to watch, maybe a soap, LOL, that I can get interested in.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

chica escocesa said:


> As a languages teacher, tips as follows:
> 
> 1) Don't try to teach yourself. Join a beginners class. If you try to DIY you will quickly become swamped and lose motivation.
> 2) Learn some transactional and useful vocab first then move onto grammar and verbs. Once you have a basic understanding of verbs and tenses it will become a lot easier to progress on your own. It will probably take a year to get to this stage.
> ...


(As an English teacher )I agree with a lot of this, except for number 1. You won't _*learn*_ a language by yourself, but you can make great progress by using self study, especially in conjunction with other methods

It's a bit weird to quote myself, but here I go from other threads



> I've said it before, and I'll say it again...
> 
> You can pick whichever method you like, or pick and mix, but unless you're consistent you might as well pour your money, and your time, down the drain.
> 
> ...





> Of course, the bottom line is that's there's no Best Way, just as there's no Quickest Way.
> There's: here's an idea that might help you on your way, and this worked for me in the beginning, and if you're in the country why don't you try...
> But everybody has to pick through what's around and find which approach suits them and what interests them.
> A basic, which a lot of people do not realise that is essential to all methods though, is reuse, revise, recycle - and then do it again. Go over and over vocabulary, phrases and grammar points until you notice that you use it naturally without thinking.


If you search learning Spanish, learning the lingo etc you'll find a lot more threads!

PS Don't go back to being a lurker. I'm sure you'll have lots of interesting contributions to make. Look forward to hearing your views on Spain.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

For me, the most important things is to get the pronunciation sorted out first, for a start what you are trying to say will sound more correct to a Spaniard and you will get better feedback/responses, it will also sound better to you, which will give you more confidence. Listen, also, for how the Spaniard stresses a word (you will see it in the printed form where vowels are accented). Take the city of Córdoba, the average Brit goes to cordOba whereas a Spaniard goes to cOrdoba.

Listen to other Brits- most of the time they speak with an open mouth so the Spanish sounds don't come out right. Watch a Spaniard see how his/her (preferably) mouth moves as she speaks, which sounds are made with the mouth or the larynx (back down in the throat). It is not easy learning in Andalucía because many of the people speak in Andalu' - they drop the ends off words amongst other things, e.g. if they say they are going to li' - they are off to Lidl, "Hola Buenos Días" will be _"ola bueno día"_ "Buenas tardes" and "Buenas noches" may well just be _"buena"_ for both 'tardes' and 'noches'.

Despite what others may say, it* is* possible to teach yourself BUT only if you have a good ear and can get the sounds and the pronunciation correct and, of course, get out and practice.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Ha ha the Andalucian accent, even OH had difficulty understanding the accent when we first came to live here!!!


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## chica escocesa (Jul 23, 2012)

Just want to clarify, I never said you can't teach yourself, just that it's not the best way to start off with in my experience. 

If you learn well from books use them, but to be honest it sounds like you may have more of a confidence problem than a learning/ability issue! How about trying some one to one classes? That way your tutor could set you some exercises (from a book if that's what you like) you could complete in your own time and at the following session your tutor could go over the exercises with you. I find this helps as even though you can use your book and mark exercises yourself you don't always understand your own mistakes, and you just keep making them!! You could also then practise orally on a one to one basis and build up confidence in that environment before speaking to strangers in fear of making a mistake.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Chica22 said:


> All my previous studies have been via academia, and I know I learn best from books, rather than practical learning, however after 30 years of pouring through endless books, I still dont feel I can string a proper sentence together, I know I should really speak, but just cant!!!


It's perfectly normal to want to stay in your comfort zone. I'm just the same! I used to break out into a sweat at the thought of making a phone call. 

But you really do have to put yourself in face-to-face situations where you don't feel comfortable, in order to make progress. Fortunately most Spanish people are amazingly tolerant and good-natured, and will do their best to help you. I find a glass or two of wine helps get rid of my inhibitions!


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Excellent replies, thank you very much. Today I have made myself practise verbs for one hour, and I have registered for the intermediate Spanish class starting in September (well I sent OH down to do it for me!!!). I know I need a target and by registering for the intermediate class it will give me the incentive to keep practising during the summer period.

Good idea about the wine, I shall certainly try that one this weekend, even if it is only to speak to myself!!!

Can anyone recommend any Spanish TV programmes to watch.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I find bars a good place to learn, find the one where the locals drink, where you have to speak Spanish.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Chica22 said:


> Excellent replies, thank you very much. Today I have made myself practise verbs for one hour, and I have registered for the intermediate Spanish class starting in September (well I sent OH down to do it for me!!!). I know I need a target and by registering for the intermediate class it will give me the incentive to keep practising during the summer period.
> 
> Good idea about the wine, I shall certainly try that one this weekend, even if it is only to speak to myself!!!
> 
> Can anyone recommend any Spanish TV programmes to watch.


kids TV & gameshows - like Wheel of Fortune!!


that's what I used to watch............. still do , I became hooked on gameshows....never used to watch them in the UK


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