Comment from Brenda Sedore

Gracias Ben y Marina. I’m looking forward to making Spanish a bigger part of my life in 2001. We are planning a trip to Europe in the Spring which will hopefully include some time in Spain. I have 4 months to brush up! So, thanks for the tips on learning! I enjoy your material and have for several years now. It’s gone a long way toward helping me not only learn the language, but to have a very good accent, too. ¡Gracias! ¡Prospero año nuevo!

Comment from Mark Dowd

I am planning to take the DELE C2 Superior exam in May…why did the teacher suggest this??!! Having to speak fluently in the oral with no time to prep about whether “shyness is far from the heart and always results in isolation”…”classic books are things which people admire from a distance and never read.” (Twain) If anyone has done the DELE C2 and has any tips…please let me know cuanto antes!!

Comment from Cristóbal

You are absolutely right. But, the human mind is not consistant and it is hard not to get discouraged from time to time. I have found over the last four years that sometimes my memory is phenomenal and at other times I have enormous difficulty in remembering the most elementary words.. When I began I concentrated on understanding spanish vocabulary ie read the word in spanish and know its translation into english. Then I found it difficult to work the other way around from english to spanish essential for conversation so then concentrated on reading a dictionary from english to spanish. Now most days if I can have a conversation in Spanish it takes me about 15 minutes to slip into “Spanish mode” to leave the english mode and french mode I use in my daily life – the first fifteen minutes both these languages get in the way. A glass of wine is a great help in getting into the spanish mode! I try to read in Spanish at least a half hour each day. My biggest failing mainly lack of time to do so, is to listen to spanish being spoken on TV, radio or with people who speak spanish, I know very few people here in Montreal willing to talk with me unless by good fortune meeting people at parties etc. – this is where your “beginners intermediate and advanced audios” help verymuch. In my seventies, my hearing is not quite as good as in the past as my memory which are slight handicaps also. I also think that it is so important to fluency to know your irregular verbs and have all the tenses by heart and at your finger tips. Notes in Spanish was the turning point to helping me to make real progres. Thanks

Comment from Martin

Thanks a lot, Ben, for this helpful list, and both of you for your great podcasts. When I came across the point “I put fluency above accuracy” I was wondering, whether the risk wasn’t high to get used to a faulty Spanish little by little. Since usually no one corrects you, then the hazard might be big that you practiced your errors more and more. How did you avoid that? 1000 greetings from Berlin! Martin

Comment from Deb Herter

Hi, Ben. Thanks for the tips (both here and in the audio lessons). I am an inspired beginner–just on lesson two so far. I joined your program as a retirement hobby, and also because my husband wants to vacation in Mexico at some point in the future. In addition to listening to your audio lessons and referring to the worksheets I have several other aids I use for learning Spanish. To increase my vocabulary I bought myself a Spanish/English dictionary for Christmas and keep it close at hand. It has not been as useful as I hoped since it does not help much with Spanish phrases, so I also use Google’s translation feature a lot. I have found a website at http://www.studyspanish.com/pronunciation/ that offers some very specific pointers on pronouncing each letter and diphthong in Spanish. I’ve also just started preparing post it notes to put on items around the house to remind me what each item is called in Spanish. I’m putting sentences on the post-its along with the nouns to help me with verbs as well. My new year’s resolution will be to listen to your audio lessons every day as you have suggested here. Thanks so much for providing this blog.

Comment from Gary

Hello Ben and Marina,
I took up back spanish last September, after having put it down after a few classes in high school, because it is a requirement for my PhD. I only need to learn to read it for my course of study but personally I want to be able to speak spanish well. A great boost to my drive to learn has been the fact that I was sent a facebook friend request from a lady in a spanish speaking country, she speaks spanish and english well – I want to be able to speak to her in spanish when we get to meet face to face.

Comment from Calah

Thanks for all the helpful posts.

I have a bilingual Bible and I read it every day…I’m also memorizing verses/ chapters in Spanish.

Que Dios les bendiga (:

Comment from Dave Swan

Ben and Marina, thanks for the pep talk. After 2.5 years of living and working in Spain, my spanish has improved a lot but I still am not at the level I was hoping to achieve (I would still consider myself an Inspired Beginner).

I have worn out my CD’s of your podcasts (and left them in the odd hire car or two) but I still listen to them regularly as they are a great way to practice listening in Spanish and a to be reminded of phrases and grammar that I would quickly forget otherwise.

Last year I stumbled across one trick for improving spanish comprehension quite quickly that I would like to share with others. I was given an Amazon Kindle about six months ago and soon after downloaded the Miriam Webster Spanish-English Dictionary which I set as the primary dictionary (the dictionary is pretty ordinary but is still the best I have found for kindle). Now I can read Spanish books on my kindle and when a word comes up that I don’t know I highlight it and the translation comes up at the bottom of the screen. The benefit of being able to keep reading without the distraction of flicking through a dictionary to find the translations of word you don’t know has made reading in spanish a far more accessible activity.
Feliz año nuevo and keep up the good work in 2011.

Comment from Andrew

You’re dead-on correct about the consistency thing! That matters more than anything: 20 minutes a day, consistently, beats the hell out of 2 hours a day for a few months and then burning out and giving up.

Cheers,
Andrew

Comment from Margaret Nahmias

I like to read to pick up new phrases and words. I try to find something I can understand with a few words I don’t know and I look them up I also listen to trying to understand how things are said.

Comment from Jonathan David

There’s a memory-aid thing called SuperMemo which I’m finding is helping me a lot. Essentially it helps you learn vocabulary by optimally spacing out repetitions; there are both computer and iPhone apps and a few minutes every day has really boosted my vocabulary and, most importantly, I actually remember the words and recognise them when I’m reading articles in Spanish.

Comment from James

@Martin, Don’t worry about NOT getting corrected when you make mistakes speaking to a native Spanish speaker, they WILL correct you, without even realizing that they are doing it. It just comes out of their mouths naturally…

As far as Spanish learning, one of the problems that I have had for a long time was shutting off the translator in my brain. Whenever I was watching a Spanish movie or TV show, I would find myself thinking about what was just said- and then I would miss the next two or three things said. This is totally frustrating and can make you totally lost in a conversation.
What I needed to do is shut off the translator. It isn’t totally gone of course, but it is less needed now. One of the tricks I learned (I don’t remember where, maybe from NIS) is to practice THINKING in Spanish. Whenever I have time to kill, or I am winding down to go to sleep, I construct simple sentences using Spanish words that I already know, trying NOT to think of what I am going to say in English first.
The idea is to train your brain to switch to Spanish mode, and I think it works. Saludos a toda.

Comment from Alexander

Im living in Málaga, studying at the Universidad de Málaga. So I´m learning Spanish and getting my degree at the same time! Thats how everyone should do it! Study or work abroad! =)

Hasta luego!

Alexander

Pd: Me ENCANTA vuestros podcast – he aprendido un montón – muchísimo gracias!!

Comment from Martin

thanks James, think you’re absolutely right! Saludos!

Comment from Roderick

I never give up. At home in Los Angeles, when I watch movies, I always turn on the spanish subtitles… I watch the evening news in Spanish… (it helps that I already know most of the stories) I listen to CDs and Notes in Spanish podcasts in my car (on my hellish LA commute) and I visit Spain once or twice a year. I’d say I can get by conversationally, but I still need to know more. I recently laid out 600 US dollars for Rosetta Stone and I’m not so sure about it.. anyone else try it? I think if I didn’t already know all the vocabulary and concepts, I’d be lost…. but perhaps the repetition, speaking and visual images will help it stick. I’m going to keep it another week or so and I might just return it!

I’ll be in Madrid looking for intercambios in March.

Feliz año nuevo Ben y Marina!

Comment from JLF

Thanks for the kick-start for 2011 – much needed. This is my 10th year of learning spanish (evening class, once a week) – and I’m still hovering around level 3 (sometimes 4, sometimes 2). Confidence, I believe, is the single most important factor in becoming able to speak/converse the language. They say fluency is more important than accuracy. Well, I’m an engineer, and its not natural to me ‘wing it’ and hope it comes out correct. Thats my problem. Thats why I’m more ‘comfortable’ being a strong class pupil in level 2, than a ‘struggler’ (thats how I see it) in level 4. But anyway. I hope one day I’ll reach that ‘magic’ point where suddenly it’ll all fall into place (its in there somewhere!). Gracias.

Comment from Heather

I am engaging in inter-cambio with Spanish speakers from Spain, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Mexico y mas!! My only problem is having enough time, but I am DETERMINED!!!

Comment from Roberta

Yes, Ben you notes are right on for the ideal experience. Unfortunately, many of us have to struggle along with classes and grammar-type learning exercises to the best we can fit it and recognize that fluency is a long-term goal. I would underline the joy part and will take this opportunity to thank you and Marina for the pod casts and materials. I love listening to you both and have found myself able to focus on the joy of what you are talking about beyond struggling with just the grammar and vocabularly.

Comment from evelina

I read in Spanish and translate into Russian poetry of Pablo Neruda. Short, precise verbal snapshots in lieu of sentences, incredible vocabulary, lots of fun! Also, learning Spanish lyrics of popular songs is helpful. I keep TeleMundo on the background (we have it in Boston) all day long. I hope to get over “fear of talking” in Spanish.

Comment from Phil

Just a quick thought for @Deb Herter – I don’t know which dictionary you bought, but I would strongly advise biting the bullet and getting a REALLY big one, like the Collins
(ISBN: 978-0-00-728978-3).

It’s expensive, but packed full of example phrases, which is where the smaller dictionaries fall down.

I designed a web site for a motor mechanic friend a while ago which I had to put into Dutch as well as English and Spanish. As I have no Dutch at all, I used a small dictionary. I managed to translate the fact that he could fit “new brakes, including pistons and seals” into the fact that he could fit new brakes along with small grey furry marine mammals!

The example phrases are everything.

Comment from Ben

Thanks for all your wonderful comments so far! I see there is a lot of motivation to learn Spanish this year, which is great! We’ll do our best to help!

@Martin – I did make sure that intercambios and teachers corrected me as much as possible, so that helped keep the accuracy on track as well, though to begin with, while still trying to be accurate, I just wanted to communicate!

@Dave, that’s a great tip about the Kindle, thanks!

And thanks again to you all for taking the time to share your ideas for this year’s Spanish boost!

Comment from Martin

Thanks Ben for your comment. I see, it’s time for me to start an intercambio in 2011. My brand new New Year’s Resolution!

Comment from Jacqui

Hi Mark,
I took (and amazingly, passed) the DELE C2. I think the best way to pass it is buy the practice books and work through them, also look at past exam papers (on the net). I’ve sinced discovered from native Spanish speakers that a lot of the vocab used in the exam is quite old-fashioned, e.g. no estoy catolica! For the oral, try to give some real life examples to support your views. Que tengas suerte!

Comment from pensad87

¿Por qué no hay más podcasts? Seguía los Advanced Spanish Podcast y el último que hicisteis fue el 96, el de los Bomberos.

Comment from Ben

@pensad87 – Hay audio nuevo para tu nivel! Se llama Gold One y Gold Two (Gold two tiene nuevo audio cada lunes ahora mismo, Gold One es del año pasado) – puedes ver los dos en nuestro Store.

Comment from Olivia

Muchos gracias, Ben y Marina, de Londra. No escribo bien espanol, sobre todo cuando escribo rapidamente, pero queria decir gracias por tu trabajo en espanol. Voy a Seville el mes proximo para hacer un curso. Por eso veo mucho a tus paginas web, y me alentan a hacer mas deberes. Lo siento por mis errores. !Que tengan suerte! Olivia

Comment from Natalie

all your Notes in Spanish are really helpful. I am hoping you will do one soon explaining Dar la alta! I find it very difficult to know what it all means, I know it means discharge from hospital, something to do with broadband, but it is really hard. any hints would be gratefully received!

Comment from sandra Le Boutillier

I have got skype and use intercambio but I find Spanish speaking people especially from Peru want to speak and try and improve their English, anybody else found this or any ideas for me to have conversational Spanish, I am still a beginner but can read and write a lot more than I can say.

Comment from Ben

@Natalie – yes, it means to be discharded from hospital, but also ‘to sign up for’ a service, e.g. broadband. We’ll try to cover more uses some time a report!

Comment from anna

Every January I promise myself I WILL LEARN SPANISH, well I have found your blog so I consider myself still to be keeping my new year resolution!!

Comment from carlos Ruotolo

Ben,
Your “Notes in Spanish” promisses fluency in about 6 months or in a year or so. But, you’ve been living in Spain for over nine years, right? This is a completely immersion course!! Well, I notice you don’t still master Spanish after all these years. Marina corrects all the time. I mean, how can I trust “Notes in Spanish”? How can I get fluency in a year (even working hard) if you didn’t after so many years living in Spanish?

Comment from Ben

Hi Carlos, it depends first of all how you define fluency. I am fluent as I can converse on pretty much any subject without any trouble, but I do still, yes, make the occasional mistake – that is an accuracy problem, and even though I’ve been here for 12 years, I still make the odd mistake. I think that is natural if it isn’t a native language.

Luckily these mistakes are few and far between, and in fact we get numerous emails telling us how great it is that I make mistakes and that Marina corrects them – people learn a lot from these corrections.

I hope that explains things a little. Our program helps thousands of Spanish learners every year work towards better fluency and understanding in Spanish. There are no time guarantees, but all our store material do come with a generous guarantee for those that need it.

Comment from ed

I visit Argentina often and would like to hear Doriana speak with her Argentinian accent on the (ll) sound that sounds like “sh” in leu of other countries where it is pronounced “ya”.
Keep up the good work

Comment from Spain

Thank you for the timely team-talk. It’s not the first time I have told myself that THIS will be the year I truly get my Spanish up to scratch, but this year I am trying to get organised and put resources in place to actually do it… your site and materials are terrific!

Comment from Ngoc

Hi Ben, Marina and everyone. I’m from Vietnam and I’ve been learning Spanish for more than 2 years now. As it’s a second language that all students study compulsorily in my university beside English, it isn’t cared much by both the students and the school. So though it’s been quite a long time since I knew my first Spanish word, my studying only makes a little progress.
I love Spanish and try my best to study it myself apart from what have been taught in class. My biggest problem is that I do not have anyone to practice my Spanish with, and speak Spanish to (My classmates do not want, and I hardly find a Spanish man/woman in my area). Do you know any site or forum that I can practice speaking Spanish?
If you know, please tell me! I’m going to take DELE exam this year and I’m extremely determined )
Thank you very much!!!!

Comment from Ben

Hi Ngoc,

There are lots of language exchange and learning sites on the net now – if you google spanish conversation exchange you’ll find options!

Comment from Ngoc

Hi Ben thank you very much for your help