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Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
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Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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How do you expand your Spanish?
I mean, what's your history/best method of expanding your understanding of the Spanish language?
I can't resist this, "Inquiring minds interested in latin countries want to know."
[Edited on 3-25-2006 by Gypsy Jan]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15937
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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immersion therapy.............
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
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Read the newspaper, everyday. Sound out the words. Don't look up words you don't know. Instead, try and associate those you do with phrases in other
articles and/or those describing photos. You'll eventually piece it together. Then use what you have learned in conversation
Watch Spanish TV or listen to radio and rent familiar films in Spanish. (Turn off the English subtitles.)
You'll be amazed at how quickly your vocabulary will expand.
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Tomas Tierra
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Location: oxnard, ca
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Spanish soap operas seem to very easy to follow and very predictable, also Spanish love songs...But I agree with the Woodman, go deep and hang out
with the locals, you will have no choice but to learn..
Mi's dos centavos!
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Before we moved here, we used to watch the nightly news in English then Spanish. It seemed that knowing in advance the general idea helped get the
sense of what is being said.
The soap operas are another good TV source. Just remember that Mexican soap operas end. We were watching one back in the states and went on
vacation; when we came back it was over. We never found out what happened to Maria
Now I walk out my door and talk to someone. I also pick up the local papers often and try to make my way through without the help of the dict. then
go back and look up words I cant figure out....the Lencho way.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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you must communicate with some one that only speaks Spanish on a daily bases.
this is the single most important thing you can do
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Oso
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All of the above. Except I can't stand soap operas in any language. If you have the chance, watch "Bienvenidos", a comedy skit show from Venezuela.
It's usually on Univision. The language is fairly standardized and usually spoken clearly unless the skit is very "regional". Many of the jokes are
recognizable and if you don't get it, there'll be another one in a minute. No long plots to get involved in and lose the thread. Very funny and some
nice eye candy too.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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Mexican Karaoke is a very fun way to pick up some Spanish.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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neilm
Junior Nomad
Posts: 65
Registered: 10-25-2004
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I get the ad from the Indio Pep Boy's
and try to associate the names of tools and parts that I recognize.... I thought 'sierra' was a mounain, but it's also the word for a saw... 'vatios'
are watts...
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
you must communicate with some one that only speaks Spanish on a daily bases.
this is the single most important thing you can do |
I think you're right, Bruce, I could get a job at a local McDonald's or Del Taco - no hable ingles alli.
Neil
[Edited on 3-25-2006 by neilm]
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Oso
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Not mountain, mountain range- think about it visually- sawtooth pattern, series of peaks... See the link?
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
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Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
| Quote: | | Originally posted by OsoAll of the above. Except I can't stand soap operas in any language. |
Ha, I love 'em. Self-indulgence to an extreme-- where else can one vicariously share a variety of experience that most "normal" folks never see in a
lifetime, all in 1/2 hour?
If I had a TV I'd probably even watch them... ;>
By the way, have y'all noticed the skin tone of most the actors in the soaps shown on TV in Mexico, a predominantly mestizo culture?
--Larry |
You and my wife 
I refer to them as "Screaming b-tches shows". At least 70% of the dialogue consists of some b-tch screaming about something, usually about how the
poor/honest/beautiful servant girl will never get away with stealing her son/fiance etc.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
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More fun stuff:
Spanish edition of Scrabble.
Spanish crossword puzzles. (Crucigramas)
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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practica, practica
don't be afraid to try! Mexicanos very helpful and appreciate us trying.
TV, movies with sub-titles (both ways)...
hand held translators.....as stated above immersion...Capt. George
\"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men\" Plato
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Capt. George
practica, practica
don't be afraid to try! Mexicanos very helpful and appreciate us trying.
TV, movies with sub-titles (both ways)...
hand held translators.....as stated above immersion...Capt. George |
TV, movies with sub-titles (both ways)...
I find these to be vary sloppy translations . usually they cant even get the title of the movies right.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
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Location: La Paz
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Learning new words is good, but the real challenge is understanding what they are saying to you. Also making them understand the new words you've
learned after you've repeated them 5 times and they still don't understand.
[Edited on 3-26-2006 by comitan]
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Oso
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Posts: 2637
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Location: on da border
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Movie titles and sub-titles are rarely verbatim in either direction. Subtitles attempt to keep the gist of the dialogue going within the time frame
of the scene. Titles often have no relation at all to the original but are "re-named" and chosen for their ability to attract interest in the second
language market.
And I only watch telenovelas inadvertantly for the time it takes me to get out of the room. Well, unless there's a scene with Thalia or Maribel
Guardia, and then it depends on what they're wearing...
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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neilm
Junior Nomad
Posts: 65
Registered: 10-25-2004
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Oso,
yeah, I got that one..
One that suprised me is 'derecho' for 'right' - seems to work for legal rights and right turns...
Neil
| Quote: | Originally posted by Oso
Not mountain, mountain range- think about it visually- sawtooth pattern, series of peaks... See the link? |
[Edited on 3-26-2006 by neilm]
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Oso
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Wrong. Derecho is either the study of law or "straight ahead". Un derecho is a right such as free speech and una vuelta a la derecha is a turn to
the right.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Roberto
Banned
Posts: 2162
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Oso
Wrong. Derecho is either the study of law or "straight ahead". Un derecho is a right such as free speech and una vuelta a la derecha is a turn to
the right. |
What about, e.g. "un tequila ... derecho". Does that work? I swear I've heard the usage.
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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Yeah, that's "straight".
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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