IntenseDebate - Ramses

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Speaking Won't Make Yo... · 0 replies · +2 points

I stand corrected. Babies will never learn any language! Also, people like Matt, khatzumoto, Steve Kaufman, and me are scam artists and trick people into believing this input hype works.

Why is getting input counter-intuitive if it\'s nature\'s way to acquire languages? I don\'t see kids trying to talk from minute one, and somehow they end up being fluent.

Anyway, anything I write is just advice. I\'m not saying I\'m the one telling the only truth. Read it, think about it, discuss it, and take from it what you want to take from it.

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Speaking Won't Make Yo... · 0 replies · +1 points

Thousands upon thousands of people had the same questions you had. The solution I came up with for myself:
1. Don't read until I've watched hundreds of hours of Spanish TV (not necessary, but many feel uncomfortable 'hearing' the voice in their head pronouncing things wrong).
2. Put the audio in the question field, that will keep my brain from trying to figure stuff out on itself.

Hope this helps.

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Is Spanish really that... · 1 reply · +1 points

Haha are you trolling or something? You crack me up, although you do have a point. Spanish is pretty inconsistent, see it as a 'gift' from Latin. Still, it's possible to learn every spoken language in the world. After all, as long there are people speaking it, it must be possible for others to learn it as well.

I'd never, ever, discourage anyone from learning a language. When it's your passion and you're truly motivated everything is possible.

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - How to Understand And ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Hey Ross,

That's possible, or it's of a different version or the beginning is a bit off. What program do you use to rip the picture and audio? I know there's an automated process but personally I have no idea what it's called or how it works.

Anyway, this exact same frustration led me to not using subtitles at all. Now that I'm learning another language (Hungarian actually) I also want to rip the picture, audio and subtitle but most are just off :-(

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - How to Understand And ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Wow, that's AWESOME. Haha I love how you get your kids involved, but you might end up broke as the TV method is addictive ;-)

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - How to roll your R · 1 reply · +1 points

Hahahaha I used to be like that, now I sometimes even roll my Rs in Dutch. Now it's easy, it just sounds natural. Indeed, everyone can learn it, some people just need a bit longer to make their tongue strong.

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Don't Respect the Proc... · 0 replies · +1 points

Personally I don't care for different dialects. I wanted to learn castellano and happen to have a Galician accent (because of my time as a college student in Galicia). That was my goal, is my goal, and will probably stay my goal. How often am I going to travel to other countries besides Spain? And if I happen to go to Mexico for example, I'll probably be a tourist and there won't be a real need to adapt.

In short, only if you want to become an absolute expert in all Spanish dialects there's no real need to study Spanish formally. Immerse yourself in the dialect of your choice and you'll soon enough understand what you can and can't say.

(Side note about vulgar Spanish: it's never a good idea to be rude, but even when immersing yourself you'll soon enough discover what's not appropriate to say in public)

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Don't Respect the Proc... · 0 replies · +1 points

Ah the HTLAL crowd. At times they're just so snobbish that it's ridiculous. However, the danger is that many nowadays think how they learn is very important. It's not. If you notice you're doing something right (mainly because you're seeing results) and are having fun, that's all that counts.

Maybe I'm saying something crazy now, but the "fun people" (guys and girls who have fun learning languages) seem to do better than the academics. I'm not saying studying is boring per se, but doing boring exercises from boring textbooks kills most progress. I've not seen many on HTLAL who speak a foreign language fluently without any pronunciation problems and learned it academically.

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Mass(ively) Effect(ive) · 1 reply · +1 points

It sucks not many console games are available in Spanish. Most games I found only supplied Spanish subtitles. Voice-over in Spanish is mostly something of the past I'm afraid :-(

13 years ago @ Spanish Only - Have a Train-Wreck Of ... · 1 reply · +1 points

I've done many, many language exchanges, and apart from something like two times, nobody ever bothered to point out exactly what my pronunciation problems were.

I'll get back at this accent thing more in depth, but some years ago I read the following advice in a book about language learning (I'm just quoting from memory): "Get as much of your pronunciation problems handled early on. Why? Because the more you get used to the non-native accent you have, the more difficult it will become to get rid of it. Also, it's easier to pay attention to your pronunciation bit by bit, than having to stress yourself out later on, fixing everything at once."

That doesn't mean you can't get rid of a foreign accent later on, I did. The question is what is better? Personally I think having the right accent (maybe not fully native, but just 'right') will motivate you, and if you employ the TV Method it'll even come naturally.

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