Writer's Block: Parlez-vous francais?

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

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About 11-12 years ago I studied Russian. I did it all on my own via tapes and books. Never attained anything near full fluency but I learned "enough to get by". I really enjoyed it.

Then about 2 years ago I started studying Spanish since my in-laws are Mexican. I think I plateaued just as I did with Russian. I know enough to get by and not much else. I learned via audio CDs that I listen to when I drive. I'm in kind of a bind because I reached the end of the series of audio CDs and I don't know where to go from here, as I don't have the time for lessons.

Comments

[denisia.livejournal.com]

I might have mentioned this before but if not...if you can find Spanish language music you'd like listening to, it can really help. Even Les Mis or Phantom in Spanish. You already know the story so you won't stress about wondering what's going on, and it can help you get your head around the words and word patterns.

Ditto for movies you know, dubbed into Spanish. Or watching Spanish "Sesame Street" or kid's shows that are meant to teach vocabulary.

When I was learning French, those two things really helped me. They had "Animaniacs" in French on one of the TV stations at Aunt Evil's house and I taped as many episodes as I could. And there was a French soap opera for young adults and a few other cartoons I tried to follow.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

You gave me the best idea - I need to watch X-men in Spanish!!

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

Why don't you ask your wife to use it in the house?

Also I agree with denisia. Radio stations, television shows, even if it's just on in the background. Spanish flash cards used as labels?

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

We did kinda try that but we had trouble with that. Doris would say a few sentences in Spanish. I would understand 3-4 different words. I'd ask her to repeat. She'd repeat. I'd ask, "What does ___ mean?"

Which probably isn't a bad way to learn but we have such little time to actually talk (some days we don't see each other awake) that it felt like it took away from our interactions.

But I appreciate the idea. :)

[megan-moonlight.livejournal.com]

Russian is fun when you're not forced to learn it XD I took basic Russian along with advanced English on my school-leaving exams, and it was fun, I think XD

I might start to learn a little bit of German and I was thinking about SPanish, but it seems hard...

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Very interesting - I didn't know that people in Poland were *still* required to learn Russian. Did you learn English in school too then?

Given how well you speak English, my guess is that Spanish wouldn't be a problem for you.

[megan-moonlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, not really "required", we can choose :P In my technical school besides English we had to learn other foreign language, German or Russian. I chose Russian. In other schools there were Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese... but for some reaon I decided to stick to Russian *lol* And looks like I'm not bad at it, which is good.

Oh, you try to make me blush, don't you? XD

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I'm serious; I think you will breeze through Spanish.

I'm glad to hear you got to choose. I once made a fool of myself. I was at an outdoor fest, and there was a group of people who I thought were Russian. This was back when I was learning Russian, so I thought I'd get a chance to practice my new language. It turns out they were Polish, and they weren't happy because they had been forced to learn Russian against their will. Ooops. They were nice about it though. :)

[megan-moonlight.livejournal.com]

Who knows, maybe I will try someday...

Poland is a tricky country. Most of the people I know didn't like learning any foreign languages and all, but I kind of like learning them. For some time I was trying to learn Japanese, but quit because of the lack of time, and I had a year of French, but also had to quit and I barely remember anything anymore... but I might get back to it. We'll see.
Some people are still very touchy about language, but not all. Older people the most, I think. Younger people are usually okay with this. Or they don't understand what you're talking about, because a lot of them don't like learning languages after all XD

[sevarem.livejournal.com]

Well, does Doris speak Spanish fluently? The best way to improve is to be able to practice with a native/near native speaker. Think of the possibilities! Bedtime cuddling... in Spanish. Talking about X-Men... in Spanish. Fun fun!

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Great ideas all around! I just need to be more proactive in asking her to speak it.