Spanish?

I was wondering if anyone is learning spanish or know? I am, because the last time I was there, there were a few of those guests that didn't speak a word of english, they didn't even understand when I said hi!

 

then send them to the mexican pavillion! hahaha joking... im mexican ;D so iknow spanish but im just going to apply still a long wait to be there!

 

Hehe, temting It usually ended with me leaving some confused guests at the table while running around the kitchen trying to find someone speaking spansih But eventually I bought a spanish course, and I learned some useful sentences in spanish so I could communicate with them after they got help with someone else on the menu...

 

Great idea, last year I had one of my spanish friends teach me a few handy phrases. Although it isn't necessary it is nice being able to communicate with the guests not speaking English. I also brushed up on a little French and German while I was there.

 

Yeah, and the guests really like that you're interested in their language! I remember a spanish table I had, that spoke english too and I told them that I was learning their language and the kids were so enthusiastic about learning me new words

 

i have brought a spanish cd rom in an effort to learn, but my friend is really good at languages and is going to help me, i really wanna learn another language anyway that would be cool

 

hey im poncho and im also from Mexico, i'll be arriving Febrary 5th so whatever you need and ill be more than happy to help with it.

 

That would be great Poncho! It's always good to have someone who actually knows the language to help you!

 

Yeah i'v been trying to teach myself Spanish for about a year now! But now that i hav a good incentive i'm gonna put a bit more effort in!

 

Hehe, it's always good with motivation! I always want to learn a language if I come to a place where they talk another language ;D

By the way, does anyone have any tips on music, movies or tv-shows or something to watch? I'm a beginner so it needs to be easy to understand. I have some music of Jennifer Lopez, Shakira. If it's something that's easy to find on the net, that would be great!

 

Listen to Coti songs! He's wicked. Cheesey as chedder on a stick with a pineapple chunk but it's cool I can recommend Canciones Para Llever as a good starter album. Plus the insert has the lyrics so you sing along and look up anything you don't know.

In school we watched a series of shorts called 'Isabel'. It is listed here http://www.southernscene.com.au/pages/2003/forms/bbc_lote_spanish_2003.html along with some other video resources.

How much of a beginner are you? There's always Dora! (the Explorer!). And if you catch a show called Maya y Miguel, that has spanish in. I expect the spanish version is online somehwhere.. they show it in america.. Their spanish books are really good too maybe a bit advanced for you at the moment? I think they're aimed at native spanish speaking kids about 7yrs so quite a wide vocab and grammar usage.. ? I'm not sure... After doing my A Level I could read them pretty fluently.. They're good for picking up slang.


Oo and a book I picked up recently - the Oxford Spanish cartoon strip vocab builder. It has some funny cartoons in and definately the best resource for picking up conversational terms that you won't learn in a textbook.

You can get books written in both languages one on each side - brilliant. Not just the novels you see like that either, there's some really great ones that have the very basics.

And also Palabra por Palabra for vocab.

As for grammar... hmm. Perhaps one of the Berlitz workbooks? I just bought a german one of those and it looks quite good on a glance not started it yet but I will let you know how it goes! Once the grammar is down, the vocab will seem the hardest bit. The grammar isn't super difficult at all. Just once you've learnt it, keep using it! I already have lost lots of my spanish since I left school (that's where maya y miguel are trying to help hehe).

There's loads and loads of online stuff but persoanlly I find it difficult to stick to. I need a nice book which I can write all over. Preferably with colour pictures.

www.myhappyplanet.com seems to be one of the better language exchange sites. It's still in beta I don't think they accept new users right now. i will see if I can invite people...

Oooh yes and Answer English. For anyone in London, you Must go to one of their evenings it's great. Youa re matched with people about your level and they try to get groups of 4 with 2 english and 2 spanish. Every 10mins or so you swop languages so both get to practice and help equally. There is even suggested topics! And FREE SANGRIA! Woohoo! The siote is actually aimed directly at spanish people wanting to learn english but there is a nice online community and they are very willing to share tips.

Watch films in spanish with subs on. Todo Sobre Mi Madre (all about my mother) is one of Almodovar's most famous and it's surrealy nice It's a popular a level cringer . Even better, put your Disney DVDs on spanish! yay!

Spanish radio is bloody difficult to understand. For listening experience (actually general learning too) definately take out a Pimsleur course from your library. They are fantastic. Very very expensive to buy but they are in many libraries.

I'm going to try and learn some japanese for the summer! The pimsleur jap course has got me well on my way and now I have learnt the hiragana symbols (from a book bought in Japan in Epcot yay!)
I'm finally starting to recognise the odd word or phrase in anime! Yaaaaay! An I read some actual orginal language manga the other day! Ok i had NO IDEA what it meant but I could read it woohooooo!!!

Ahh I just realised i'm super late and have written streams of cack. Oh well I hope someone somewhere finds something useful in it! There's lots more where that came from too

Buena suerte!
xx

 

Wow, a lot of great tips, thank you I wouldn't say I'm all new, because I've been at it for a few months! It's actually over a year since I started, but haven't been keeping up with it! I'm doing the Rosetta Stone which is very good, it allows you to learn the language without translations and I get to learn the latin american spanish! But in that course you don't learn the usual stuff in the beginning, like conversations.

But I can't find that album from Coti anywhere :'(

Muchos gracias y buenas tardes

 

just looking up those answer english things now, I live in london so that could be cool! I'm a total beginner though! x

 

I think AE would be very useful for you even as a total beginner - even if you don't speak so much it gets you used to hear it spoken by real people! Plus the spanish people will LOVE practising their english with you! If you're thinking of going to any let me know and we should go together!

http://www.amazon.com/Canciones-Para-Llevar-Coti/dp/B0007DBJPU

http://music.msn.com/album/?album=41069763

Sorry just looked back and i misspelt it *silly me*

De nada!

 

try listen Luis Miguel... is romantic music, so its kinda slow so u can hear better the words.... and u an watch betty la fea (the ugly betty) since it is alredy in english u can connect meanings i guess... hehehe and if u need help in spanish while u are here ask!=) i will love help u all, im like the kids on your table TinkTingeling hahah i want to teach u new words , i get very excited when someone tells me that want to learn spanish

 

i have plenty of music, i think almost of all the kinds, i'll be happy to help you translate the lyrics and also burning music cd's for you guys dont worry youll learn little by little, i assure you that by he time you end your program you'll understand tons of spanish

ely and I are here for you if you need anything

 

sounds good Beth, I emailed the guy on the website and he said its a link up thing they do with spanish express and I looked on their website which also looks good, so I will let u know x

 

I know a little bit of spanish...if i can be of some help, i'll be very happy...also with japanese

 

Get on Limewire or (even better) if you use torrents search for Pimsleur. Very good audio language courses. You can also buy them, but Pimsleur is quite expensive

 

someone i know who was on the summer program a couple of years ago told me the only spanish she learnt was "Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas"


any clues for a linguistic idiot?