Ask HN: How to learn Spanish quickly and effectively?
13 comments
Might not work for you, here's what I do:
http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/LearningLanguages.html?HN_2017...
It's a non-trivial amount of time. You need about 800 to 1000 words to start bootstrapping properly, about 2000 words to communicate effectively (but not fluently). If you target six months, that's still 10 to 15 new words every single day.
For me, I learn sentences and phrases and most of the grammar emerges. That's not true for everyone - you will have to work hard on fixing the bits that don't come as part of the study process.
I spent about an hour every day, plus 30 minutes vocab revision spread through the day, for about six months and I was able to communicate in Danish, although I was never fluent. It's all gone now, you need to use it actively and relentlessly. But that's what I did in my late 30s.
Immersion and practice with native or near native speakers will cut the time in half (for some value of a half).
http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/LearningLanguages.html?HN_2017...
It's a non-trivial amount of time. You need about 800 to 1000 words to start bootstrapping properly, about 2000 words to communicate effectively (but not fluently). If you target six months, that's still 10 to 15 new words every single day.
For me, I learn sentences and phrases and most of the grammar emerges. That's not true for everyone - you will have to work hard on fixing the bits that don't come as part of the study process.
I spent about an hour every day, plus 30 minutes vocab revision spread through the day, for about six months and I was able to communicate in Danish, although I was never fluent. It's all gone now, you need to use it actively and relentlessly. But that's what I did in my late 30s.
Immersion and practice with native or near native speakers will cut the time in half (for some value of a half).
Thank you! This seems like something that could work for a person like me (assuming I know me lol.)
How to Learn a Foreign Language by Paul Pimsleur is a short book that has a lot of gems about language learning.
My tips as someone who has learnt a foreign language to fluency after becoming an adult:
Focus on sounds before the written language. Pimsleur's courses are good for this, but also just watching TV shows etc in the language you want to learn. The flow, rhythm, any extra sounds etc are all important. Mess around and try copying what people say when you hear it. Ham up the accent.
Try to learn everything in a context. "Where is the money?" as a line in a tense movie thriller is far more memorable than reading it in a textbook. The brain loves little connections. It's not like a hard drive. Remembering more is often easier than remembering less.
Don't feel you have to learn any particular thing right now. If some word/phrase/grammar form is hurting you just put it down and come back another time. It might be months down the line. You will have probably picked up more knowledge and more examples in those intervening months so learning it will be much simpler.
Use materials that are intended for natives. Books for learners are more likely to have mistakes or have very unnatural phrases in them. Sometimes they swap out the more common phrase for a less common one because "We haven't learnt that yet". Have a healthy suspicion of textbooks.
Learn how to use a dictionary. Look up words you already know to help you get the measure of a dictionary. Look words up in one and then cross check in another. Always be aware of the fact that a certain idea may be very common in one language but uncommon in another, thus the words may match in meaning but be wildly different in frequency. Context and materials for natives helps a lot here, if you're reading a Spanish magazine it will contain a good cross-section of common Spanish words.
Have some way of reviewing words. I recommend a flashcard app like Anki[1]. While useful, try not to spend too much time reviewing. Flashcards are just something to remind of what you learnt last week, not to learn new words. If you want new words, go back to native materials.
[1] www.ankisrs.net
My tips as someone who has learnt a foreign language to fluency after becoming an adult:
Focus on sounds before the written language. Pimsleur's courses are good for this, but also just watching TV shows etc in the language you want to learn. The flow, rhythm, any extra sounds etc are all important. Mess around and try copying what people say when you hear it. Ham up the accent.
Try to learn everything in a context. "Where is the money?" as a line in a tense movie thriller is far more memorable than reading it in a textbook. The brain loves little connections. It's not like a hard drive. Remembering more is often easier than remembering less.
Don't feel you have to learn any particular thing right now. If some word/phrase/grammar form is hurting you just put it down and come back another time. It might be months down the line. You will have probably picked up more knowledge and more examples in those intervening months so learning it will be much simpler.
Use materials that are intended for natives. Books for learners are more likely to have mistakes or have very unnatural phrases in them. Sometimes they swap out the more common phrase for a less common one because "We haven't learnt that yet". Have a healthy suspicion of textbooks.
Learn how to use a dictionary. Look up words you already know to help you get the measure of a dictionary. Look words up in one and then cross check in another. Always be aware of the fact that a certain idea may be very common in one language but uncommon in another, thus the words may match in meaning but be wildly different in frequency. Context and materials for natives helps a lot here, if you're reading a Spanish magazine it will contain a good cross-section of common Spanish words.
Have some way of reviewing words. I recommend a flashcard app like Anki[1]. While useful, try not to spend too much time reviewing. Flashcards are just something to remind of what you learnt last week, not to learn new words. If you want new words, go back to native materials.
[1] www.ankisrs.net
Being immersed in another culture is a known method of acquiring fluency fast, but I take into account that it might not be for everyone.
Having said that, one of the easy ways (as in approachable, maybe not so much efficiently) of taking advantange of such contact with another culture, in my experience, is to watch movies based in the country (or countries) with a subtitle on the same language; of course, a transcript is better than an adaptation. That way you not only get access to context, which I think is a great way to assist in understanding, but also learn a bit about manneirism and varied pronunciation. Two things that are hard to grasp in courses and instructional videos.
Just for disclosure: I'm Brazillian. If you rate my English skills poorly, bear in mind that I've never took a course whatsoever. OTOH, American/English content has influenced my childhood (and culture actually) to such a degree that makes me biased, but the argument for movies as a tool in this case doesn't seem so far off to me, TBH.
Having said that, one of the easy ways (as in approachable, maybe not so much efficiently) of taking advantange of such contact with another culture, in my experience, is to watch movies based in the country (or countries) with a subtitle on the same language; of course, a transcript is better than an adaptation. That way you not only get access to context, which I think is a great way to assist in understanding, but also learn a bit about manneirism and varied pronunciation. Two things that are hard to grasp in courses and instructional videos.
Just for disclosure: I'm Brazillian. If you rate my English skills poorly, bear in mind that I've never took a course whatsoever. OTOH, American/English content has influenced my childhood (and culture actually) to such a degree that makes me biased, but the argument for movies as a tool in this case doesn't seem so far off to me, TBH.
Try Pimsleur, Memrise and the book Fluent in 3 months.
http://www.pimsleur.com/learn-spanish-latin-american
https://www.memrise.com/
http://www.fluentin3months.com/
http://www.pimsleur.com/learn-spanish-latin-american
https://www.memrise.com/
http://www.fluentin3months.com/
Hey there, I recently created a post in a web developer forum, few hours later I already had a Spanish guy who wanted to get into web development.
I'll teach you web dev, you teach me Spanish.
This might be also a possible route for you, or you could post in a French, Punjabi forum ? There are always people who really just want what you got.
I'll teach you web dev, you teach me Spanish.
This might be also a possible route for you, or you could post in a French, Punjabi forum ? There are always people who really just want what you got.
https://www.duolingo.com/ consistently
The best way is to get a native spanish speaker significant other.
Live in a Spanish speaking country, in an area where nobody speaks your language, and DO NOT hang out with other foreigners.
That is the single fastest way. Should take you at most 6 months to become fluent.
That is the single fastest way. Should take you at most 6 months to become fluent.
Get a girlfriend
I was born in Spain, so I know Spanish. Being born Spanish is an easy way to learn Spanish :)
Isn't the Spanish spoken in Spain much different from the Spanish spoken in Mexico / South America? At-least that what I see on youtube comments in Spanish teaching videos.
No. Intonation (not even pronunciation) is a bit different but perfectly understandable.
Please give me proven tricks / tips that has helped you learn a new language, bonus if Spanish. Also how long it took, how many hours per day etc. Age range if you are ok sharing (since I am adult, I am told it's difficult to learn new languages).
My background: Indian-American born and raised in Hawaii and California. Can fluently read, write and speak English, Hindi, French and know a bit of Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil (all from Indian Uncles and Aunts lol) and sparse Dutch and Polish (don't ask me how lol).
Thanks!