difficulty understanding spoken spanish!

this is copy of email i sent to english -site in spain,sums up my worries


I read your letter on http://www.costablancanews.es/letter.htm i am thinking about relocating to Spain

How do you find the medical care n Spain?

I sympathize,as also having a hard time re learning spanish,& spaniards talk very fast,so if you can't understand them after 4 years,may not be hope for me?

>>>>>>My second point is about learning the language. Both my wife and I believe it is absolutely essential to be able to express ourselves adequately and after four years we are able to speak quite well. Our problem is understanding the spoken word. We have tried just about everything. We attend classes every week and we have speaking programmes on our computer plus so many books. If there is anyone out there who has overcome this same problem? I would like to hear from them.
Ron Crick rcrick@terra.es

Just give it time.
I know that sounds really trite, but it's true. Little by little you begin to pick up more words, actually hear the ones you don't understand (then you can at least look them up). a good trick is to really force yourself to listen to tv and movies (cover up the subtitles witha piece of paper), repeating the words to get the accent and rhythm. then watch them again (those that you have rented) and try to piece together what you heard with how they said it (also a great way to learn colloqial expressions). Get into as many conversations as you can with native speakers. One big change for me, was to just sit and listen to my Spanish roomate tell stories. I was really able to put together grammer as well as meaning after a while.

Most importantly, don't get frustrated. It really does take time. After a while it dawns on you that you are understanding 20%, then 40, then 70.. There will probably always be things your don't "get" which often is the result of a lack of cultural references in humor, that you were simply unable to take part in. I had trouble initially with Spaniards, because I was used to another accent. Spaniards typically speak with a flat intonation and rapid-fire ununciation (which can make you feel like they are shooting you with words initially), but once you get used to it, you understand a lot more. I had similar problems with Cuban and Chilean Spanish, but got used to it.

Oh, also, the internet. Find the news on the radio via a Real player or Windows Media player and focus on listening for at least ten minutes a day.

Marie66: I love that trick:

quote:

to really force yourself to listen to tv and movies (cover up the subtitles witha piece of paper)

I did that with my English, and it certainly makes a difference. I recommend watching original version films to any one trying to understand any spoken language.

Hi!

I would like to buy a DVD because you can see the films in original version and even with subtitles!.

As an American Spanish teacher who has learned the language from Scratch, all I can sasy is "hang in there!"

Fluency is a long process and truth be told, a foreigner can never really be fluent in a foreign language since that usually requires fluency in the culture of the country as well. Being native to a place is really the only way but we "extranjeros" ("foreigners") can get very close.

I studied Spanish in school in the United States from 7th grade through college and then did a Masters program here in Madrid in Spanish Language and Lit. When I came over to Spain for the first time after college I had 10 years of formal language learning under my belt and during those 10 yrs. I had fallen in love with the language, I was like a sponge soaking up everything I came across related to Spain and Spanish.

Well, when I arrived in Madrid for my Masters program, the classes were easy to follow for I was prepared for them but outside of class, in the real world the Spaniards made my head spin. They spoke so damn fast It made me feel as if my 10 yrs. of language study got me nowhere I lived with 4 Spanish college students here and we got to know each other well, I hung out with them and their friends and none of them spoke any English. It was sink or swim and I was just floating. After about 6 months I could follow them well and I used to yell at them when they would slow down when they spoke to me, I wanted the real deal!

I soon found out that with the base I had and a decent amount of time here, I was assimilating well into Spanish society.

Today I think that I am as fluent as a foreigner can be and I hardly ever have problems understanding the natives

My best advice to anyone who is floundering with the language is "become a sponge", soak it all in and do NOT get frustrated.

Movies help a lot, especially the DVDs mentioned above where you can turn the subtitles on and off and run through the scenes over and over, catching a little more each time.

If you do not have a DVD player, don't be afraid to go to Spanish movies in the theatres and try your best to understand them.

"Intercambios" (language exchanges) with native language speakers of Spanish are easy to find, try my classifieds section at www.multimadrid.com/classifieds for loads of Spaniards looking to meet and practice with native English speakers Do not underestimate the usefulness of sitting with a perfect stranger (native Spaniard) and practicing Spanish for an hour and English for the second hour. It is mutually beneficial and fun

Saludos,
jer...

My advise is:

GET A DVD PLAYER!!!!

Then, start renting DVDs, change the SPOKEN LANGUAGE to SPANISH!!!, no matter how badly dubbed the film is (best is to rent authentic Spanish films though, but they don�t always have subtitles).

And: Turn on the SPANISH SUBSITLES also.

That�s the trick.

I also learned Spanish from scratch and am fluent after a year. Off course I still have a lot to learn, (and having a spanish girlfriend helped)but I am now able to speak to any spaniard about most subjects, mostly because of those DVDs.

DVDs, spoken and subtitled in Spanish!!
That�s it, it works the best if they�re films that you have already seen.

I completely concur with the previous posts...just give it time, and your communication skills will come.
When I first arrived in Spain I lived in the Port area of Valencia - a very working class neighborhood of Andaluces and Murcianos. In spite of growing up in Los Angeles and having a fair command of Spanish, I was completely lost when I heard these people speak. Later I moved to Catalunya and became even more bewildered after hearing Spanish with a Catalan intonation. Fortunately I met an Amercian woman who lived there and the best advice she gave me was that I should not worry about my accent but to make myself understood. Secondly, as strange as this may sound, she told me to read tebeos (comic books). They are full of colloquialisms and entertaining at the same time. Third, speak to children. They have no prejudices about your speaking abilities and will probably help you if you get stuck thinking for a correct word to use.
Hope this helps.

Cogito cogito ergo sum cogito