My Challenge: 3 Months to Learn Spanish Before July 2018 (Actually, Just One Month Intensive)
The Spanish Language.
After the most popularly used language to help the world understand each other, English ... I believe Spanish is the next most important language to learn.
Yes ... I understand that French could be the second most important (due to its cultural influence), or Mandarin Chinese (due to its population size) ... but at the end of the day, and at least in the Americas (from North America down to South America) ... there's many more countries that have Spanish as its first or secondary language.
Why am I attempting to master the Spanish language?
I've realized that I've been traveling to many Spanish speaking countries quite often. It all started since February 2012, when I landed in my first Spanish speaking country of Nicaragua.
I was on a surf trip, so I travel from Nicaragua, to Costa Rica, and then to Panama.
What I love about the Spanish language is its ease of pronunciation. What you see is what you pronounce (in most cases). I grew up studying French (and that was because there was no room left in Spanish). In French, the pronunciation is definitely way more difficult.
But what I love most is the Latin/Hispanic culture ... it's very much about "life", and living it with food, dance, and laughter.
Other Spanish speaking countries I've frequented quite often include Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
This year, I will go to Madrid for first time, and then off to Barcelona for the 3rd time.
And all the time ... I just feel bad that I can't have at least a basic to intermediate Spanish conversation ...
It really enriches your experience and makes your travels much much easier if you can converse in Spanish.
I don't want to be in a situation again for the 5th time not being able to understand or speak it.
I'm giving myself this April intensive month of practicing and learning Spanish.
And how you might say?
Well being in Hawaii, there aren't many Spanish speakers ... so I will rely on using YouTube.
I did a search and found Spanish Sessions with Pilar based out of Madrid to be an excellent source of watching, listening, and building up my vocabulary. Her YouTube videos are "strictly" done in Spanish, with only Spanish subtitles. I don't want any "English" ... as I need to completely immerse myself in the language.
(check out her YouTube channel)
We'll see if I can keep it up.
Are there any Spanish speaking/learning resources that anyone else can recommend?
La lengua española a pesar de que muchos piensen que es fácil, es una de las lenguas mas complicadas por su código lingüístico tan variado y enriquecedor! pero con una practica constante seguro lo asimilas rápido! te cuento que hace algún tiempo tuvimos como compañero de trabajo japones y lo primero que aprendió a pronunciar fueron las malas palabras jejejeje . Adelante que si se puede! Saludos desde Venezuela!
Escribo mi primero entrada en espanol aqui: https://steemit.com/spanish/@hustletoparadise/me-llamo-harrison-desde-hawaii
Espero que puedo asimilas rapido. Cuando yo era en Espana, tambien aprendio las malas palabras :)
Spanish is a beatiful language. As it is my mother tongue I can tell you that the only way to learne it is to listen to music and try to understand our basic grammar. As much as you understand the structure of our sentences you will figure out how to organize the clauses. Good luck @hustletoparadise.
Mucho gracias. Que las musicas espanoles, tu me recomiendas?
Escribo mi primero entrada en espanol aqui: https://steemit.com/spanish/@hustletoparadise/me-llamo-harrison-desde-hawaii
Good question my friend. It depends on you, maybe #salsa, #rock in spanish. For example, when I was learning English I was listening to Linkin Park , Metallica, among others. Just try and find the genre that you like and have fun.
As a #hustler who has to learn quite fast to make the most of his time myself, I would recommend using the Duolingo app. It's free and makes learning really fun! That's how I learnt german on my own, actually.
Yes, I've tried using Duolingo ... but I'll tell you, the most annoying thing is the "computer" voices ... it sounds better when I listen to native speaker ... hence why now I'm just using YouTube videos, and especially those YouTube videos that "only" speak Spanish, and "only" have Spanish subtitles. Just forces me to really get in the "zone".
Travelling Travelling !
Was how i learned the bit of english i know, and visiting Spanish-speaking countries has helped you for sure.
Maybe you just demand more than others, and for you, Small talks are not enough.
So, my only advice for you (and also the best), from one traveller to another, is get in touch with people, get in touch with locals. Watch, hear, listen, learn; stories, lives.
You'll know the world better, you'll understand people better and it will also enrich you.
..........
You know, my english is from non english-speaking countries.....July 2018.....Spanish. ......You have it !!!!!!
Hi @hustleoparadise congrats on this challenge, learnig spanish is not easy, I hope you acomplish your goal soon. Muchos Saludos desde Venezuela ;)
Mucha gracias desde Hawaii. Cada dias, aprendo alguno nuevo. Nuevas palabras y nueva gramatica. Quiero tener una conversacion normal en espanol con mis amigos.
Escribo mi primero entrada en espanol aqui: https://steemit.com/spanish/@hustletoparadise/me-llamo-harrison-desde-hawaii
Estamos en el mismo Trail, interesante lo que te propones, yo traduzco todos mis post de ingles a español o viceversa, tal vez te sea útil para practicar! Saludos
Si claro! Yo traduzco muchas palabras, las palabras que no se.
Escribo mi primero entrada en espanol aqui: https://steemit.com/spanish/@hustletoparadise/me-llamo-harrison-desde-hawaii
Buenos días hustletoparadise cuenta conmigo para cualquier duda o practica de español solo me avisas y por supuesto el español es una cultura muy rica y de muchos contrastes y sabor.
Te deseo todo el éxito del mundo.
¿Has aprendido otro idioma antes?
Si, aprendo chino y frances. Pero, perdido mucho frances porque no hay gente con quien practicar.
Escribo mi primero entrada en espanol aqui: https://steemit.com/spanish/@hustletoparadise/me-llamo-harrison-desde-hawaii
Yo estoy aprendiendo francés y tengo la misma limitante.
Estoy a la orden si quieres practicar español.
Saludos
El español no es tan difícil, puedes aprenderlo si lo practicas con constancia. Soy de Venezuela y pienso que el idioma mas dificil es el chino.
Would love to see how this goes. The great thing about French, Spanish, Italian and other languages that can trace their origin to Latin, is that knowledge of one, helps with understating the others