www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Subject: How good is you Spanish?



Me too, I have not been to CR in over 2 years. Been to MDE 4 times. I thought I would never go back to San Jose but I am heading back Jan 29th. I am stoked.

Estabanh ,for some reason I thought you were fluent in spanish, thought one of your parents were of mexican heritage.
When I was growing up my mom made me spend all my summers in Mexico, learned the street language and the way locals conversed. Im very fluent read and write and the girls love it. If you can make a woman laugh in their language then you got it licked. When I go to CR most girls ask me if Im a local or from Mexico. I usually say Im tejano which wins them over even more. One thing these girls love besides money is the ability to converse on everyday situations and want to tell someone how their day went.

Nope. Irish heritage. I grew up in El Paso. Spent a lot of time in Juarez but back then I felt no need to learn Spanish. In fact I never took a spanish language course my whole life until a few years ago (took Latin in high school).

Done approx 12 weeks in immersion Spanish...but need more practice speaking. Probably understand a couple thousand or more words, but still very hard for me to say a lot. Much easier to understand a word when you hear it than when you are looking for that word to say it. A different part of the brain I guess. Or age related...not sure.

I'm looking to hire someone for 2-3 hours a day of conversation on one of my trips - instead of school. But next trip I will repeat the school - probably 4 weeks of 4-6 hours per day 4 days per week - as in past.

There is a website called livemocha.com where you can pair up with persons trying to learn english. You might be able to find someone to practice your spanish with.

Also, in most larger cities you can find meetup groups where groups that want to improve their spanish get together in informal settings and practice with each other www.meetup.com

You could hire a native Spanish speaker at the HDR or the SL for one or two hours for $60 to $80. Call it a tutor with benefits. Just get her to say more than "Ay Papi!"

_________________
" Omit no happy hour that may give furtherance to our expedition."

Mis dos centavos , I began the quest to learn Spanish five years ago it is a lifetime lesson. What really helped was my obsession with talking to girls on MSN windows messenger before Facebook that was the main means of conversation from the dating sites . Copy and pasting from google translate eventually you begin to learn to read and write .also took four -ten week classes at the local high school very cheap.

I've had girlfriends here in ny whom spoke no English so I was forced to speak Spanish it helped alot bc I never heard there bitchy little comments hat annoy me and I didn't stick my foot in my mouth alot my next trip is in a few weeks costa rica with three guys who wouldn't go unless I go because they are affraid of what might occur without Spanish and travel knowledge . I am going teach them the CRT rules once if they listen they will be fine ,if they don't they will have bad sessions ,get robbed of little things and over pay I'm sure of this but it's part of the learning experience .
I'm sure I'll be doing alot of translating for three guys . Well I was able to rent an apartment in Medellin and spend a few days on my own talking to taxis and girls and I was fine so I guess I'm conversational somewhat ,the GirlS say my Spanish is very good but I feel the feminine ,masculine,conjugations and past tense is very tricky I just guess and they usually understand.

I really enjoy being submerssed and forced to speak it I Learn more in a week then I would six months here .
Very important if I can add to help someone listen to this : pronouncing the vowels is key to losing your accent for example. A sounds like a in ah E sounds like e in enter I sounds like E in eat o sounds like o. And u sounds like U in ew this is true most of the time you can even pronounced enlish words like this and they may understand ,example. DOLLAR. Dow lare. Umbrella. Ewm bray ya two LLs sounds like y or J in some parts . When I drive around I read signs and practice this also reading Spanish it is now second nature to me ,sometimes I say my English with those pronunciations .

Don't use me as a guide this is just my own method . Puravida vida! JG

_________________
I don't drink milk often ..but when I do it's dos tetas ..stay Horney my friends

My recommendation to those trying to learn another language is to do so at the lowest level possible and work up. Read K*ds books, comics, watch Plaza Sesamo, that sort of thing. Watching novelas w a span-eng dictionary handy will build your vocab.

I'm not sure which of Plaza Sesamo or a telenovela is more intellectually advanced.

I haven't read the whole thread so I apologize if somebody already said this but in order to learn a new language you need to practice often. The books and CD's will help with grammar but you need to practice on a regular basis in order to learn and remember. Speaking Spanish for a week every 4 months won't do.

i agree...so whaddya recommend Orange...bring home a spanish tutor with ya?

It depends on the tutor.

don't be modest Orange, what is your spanish like these days on a scale of 1 not good to 10 fluent?

i remember sending you my excel with the macro... basic, but it helped me. i still couldn't learn it though after giving it all that i could possibly give to it (i really gave it everything). need to be isolated from english speakers to learn it.

story for you guys... in san francisco they have an elementary school that teaches chinese to everyone accept to that school... really cool to hear a black K*D spit out a bunch of chinese fluently... not only cool, hilarious. when they start in elementary, it only takes a few years for them to be very good.

K*ds learn, (because they have to) while adults learn if they have a reason or "prize". Everyone has the aptitude to learn, but life and laziness get in the way...


Cujo

_________________
"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

I consider myself as close to fluent as a non-native speaker can be. I speak Spanish without thinking about it, conjugating verbs in any tense, even subjunctive, on the fly. I can understand conversations, even when they machine gun it. Obviously, vocabulary is something you learn as you go, so I'm building that daily, but as for the grammar, verbs, etc, I'm good. Like I said before, the fact that I speak Spanish daily definitely helps. My wife speaks English well now, but obviously she's more comfortable talking Spanish for some topics.

It's much more enjoyable watching the Spanish novelas (Carmen Villalobos...yum) and 12 Corazones dating show (we watch together ) when you can understand everything said, no just every 10th word.