Post: #51

^ You'll be fine. People will know you're not a native speaker anyway so might as well be more respectful / endearing

Vosotros isn't even used in all parts of Spain - don't bother learning it even if you're going to spend time in Spain - you'll understand it fine when others use it if you've got everything else down

Post: #52

(07-16-2016 04:03 PM)britchard Wrote:  Can anyone give me a quick rundown on the differences between European Spanish and the Spanish spoken in the rest of the world? I'd find it easier as a beginner just to use usted and ustedes and ignore 'vosotros', would this be fine even in Spain?

I'm spanish, so I can comment on this. There's several accent and pronunciation differences within Spain (a bit like in England - South vs North, Scouse accent is also different etc). For the most part, we speak standard castillian spanish with distinción instead of seseo (e.g Cinco pronounced as "zinco" more or less, as opposed to "sinco"). The exception is most of Andalucía and specially in the Canary Islands, where they speak a lot more like in Latin America (because so many Andalucians and Canarians emigrated to Lat. America). In addition to the accent and pronunciation, we also use vosotros a lot more than ustedes. Other than that, I think there's only occasional differences with certain words, including a lot of slang of course. Even common phrases can also change, for example, "to drive the car" would be:

In Mexican Spanish - manejar el carro
In Castillian Spanish - conducir el coche

Personally, I find colombian and venezuelan Spanish to be quite nice and rather "standard". They both sound good and easy to understand. Peruvian Spanish is also quite similar. Cuban Spanish is not too bad if you hear someone educated but most cuban boxers usually speak in a very slangy way and they're a bit harder to understand. The worst spanish IMO is domincan, which is very slangy and unique. Almost like Jamaican English perhaps. Argentinian and Uruguayan Spanish sound a bit like speaking Spanish with a slight italian accent, plus the unique "vos" form and with "sheismo" e.g "el chico se calló" (the boy fell down) would be pronounced as "se cashó" more or less.

Overall, if you're unsure of what variety of Spanish to focus on, I'd recommend to start with Colombian/Venezuelan/Peruvian and then gradually expand to accommodate any interests (e.g mexican slang, castillian pronunciation...etc). The only advantage of learning castillian Spanish is that its easier to remember the spelling of words. Uneducated latin americans make many mistakes when spelling and get confused with z/c/s more easily than Spaniards.

Post: #53

I've had 2 years high school, 2 years university, five months government training, and have been all over Central and South America. And sometimes I can't understand a thing they're fucking saying. They can always understand me; I speak Spanish properly. But they tend to speak ebonics Spanish and good luck with that shit.

Don't get down on yourself if you can't get what they're saying. I work with some Caribbean islanders that speak "English" and I can never understand what they're saying. So it happens in Spanish, too. Many accents and dialects and local slang. You can cross a border in South America and the Spanish is suddenly different.

Post: #54

Just a reminder that people in Spanish-speaking countries have two last names (surnames).

The Mexican President's name is ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO.

His last name(s) = PEÑA NIETO.

His paternal last name = PEÑA. This always goes first.

His maternal last name = NIETO. This always goes second. Because patriarchy.

Normally both last names should be used: PRESIDENT(E) PEÑA NIETO. No hyphen.

In either English or Spanish, if only one last name is used, it should ALWAYS be the first one (the paternal one). Never say 'Trump met with Nieto'.

Post: #55

Posting this resource in this thread as well as the Spanish Language resource thread as I think it's that good: http://www.languagetransfer.org/#!comple...nish/c1313

Post: #56

(07-16-2016 07:42 PM)getdownonit Wrote:  Vosotros isn't even used in all parts of Spain - don't bother learning it even if you're going to spend time in Spain - you'll understand it fine when others use it if you've got everything else down

You'll be understood, but that's setting the bar low for social communication. Don't be lazy.

(07-19-2016 02:02 PM)Gopnik Wrote:  We speak standard castillian spanish with distinción instead of seseo (e.g Cinco pronounced as "zinco" more or less, as opposed to "sinco").

To put this in terms familiar to English speakers, standard European Spanish has the TH sound found at the beginning of the English word THINK. This sound is indicated in spelling by C when followed by E (cena); by C when followed by I (cita); or by Z (zumo). It is not used in Latin American Spanish, which uses only the /s/ sound, unless you're a pretentious bastard just back from your Spanish vacation.

I once had a Spanish landlord in Mexico. He had lived in Mexico for 40 years but refused to adapt his accent. I listened in as he called the phone company to get my line installed. Each time he said DIEZ (ending in the sound described above), the Mexican operator claimed to not understand and asked him to repeat it. I'm not sure which of the two was more stubborn.

Post: #57

Does anyone have any recommendations for Spanish language Novels?

So far I've read two Spanish language Novels Como agua para chocolate which is a Mexican classic about a girl who as the youngest daughter isn't supposed to wed or bear children, in keeping with family tradition. Sort of in the magical realism genre, not as soft as my basic summary makes it sound 6/10

Travesuras de la niña mala (only 80% finished with this one)
Man who is a self aware beta spends his whole life doting on a woman who is essentially a self-confessed cold-hearted hypergamous whore, who dangles pussy in front of man's face and even gives him a taste periodically before vanishing to be with high status men. Written by an older Peruvian guy who seems to have a realistic perspective in regards to sex relations, though the book is showing hints at an unrealistic rom-com ending in which the two end up as a happy couple. 7/10 contingent on ending

Looking for something to follow up with, preferably Latin American origin, any suggestions would be appreciated!

Post: #58

Double post

Post: #59

^^^^Like films or books?

Post: #60

(08-26-2018 03:24 PM)TrifeLife Wrote:  Does anyone have any recommendations for Spanish language Novels?

So far I've read two Spanish language Novels Como agua para chocolate which is a Mexican classic about a girl who as the youngest daughter isn't supposed to wed or bear children, in keeping with family tradition. Sort of in the magical realism genre, not as soft as my basic summary makes it sound 6/10

Travesuras de la niña mala (only 80% finished with this one)
Man who is a self aware beta spends his whole life doting on a woman who is essentially a self-confessed cold-hearted hypergamous whore, who dangles pussy in front of man's face and even gives him a taste periodically before vanishing to be with high status men. Written by an older Peruvian guy who seems to have a realistic perspective in regards to sex relations, though the book is showing hints at an unrealistic rom-com ending in which the two end up as a happy couple. 7/10 contingent on ending

Looking for something to follow up with, preferably Latin American origin, any suggestions would be appreciated!

I can mostly recommend Mexican novels. In roughly increasing level of difficulty, they are:

Los Relámpagos de Agosto by Jorge Ibarguengoitia is a short, funny novel and a fairly easy read. It's written in the voice of a former general from the Mexican Revolution who recounts the story of his botched coup attempt.

The classic Mexican novel is Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo. It's written in a magical realism style that can be difficult to follow the first time around, since it jumps between characters and time periods. But it was immensely influential on Gabriel Garcia Marquez and presents an unforgettable portrait of Mexican village life.

El Asesino Solitario by Elmer Mendoza is a fictionalized account of the assassination of Mexican politician Luis Colosio. The novel is written in the voice of the assassin and uses the slangy Mexican Spanish of an uneducated man from Sinoloa. Perfect novel to read if you want to polish your Mexican slang, although some of the words you learn in the book won't help you out in the DF.

Another book that a lot of people like that has an intensely Mexican setting is Los Detectives Salvajes by Roberto Bolaño. This one is more DF-centric but is also a lot more literary and experimental than the other two above. I wasn't a big fan, but most other people I know who have read the book really loved it.

Post: #61

If you are looking for some good novels to read in Spanish:

Los de Abajo is a novel that takes place during the Mexican revolution.

The American author Rudolfo Anaya had some of his books translated into Spanish. Since they are used as textbooks you can find Cliffs Notes versions to help you understand the books before you read them. Bless Me, Ultima and Tortuga are two popular ones.

The American anthropologist Oscar Lewis wrote some books about life in CDMX. Cinco Familias and Los Hijos de Sánchez among others. They are old books but I think that they help you understand the Mexican people. Read about Los Hijos on Wikipedia before you read it. Some of the details were fabricated. I think he tried to make it more sexy so it would atract a wider audience as a novel. If you read it you will know what I mean.

Post: #62

Thanks for the recommendations guys. For the record, finished Travesuras de la niña mala and the rom-com happily ever after ending was avoided. 7.5/10

Post: #63

(08-29-2018 10:16 AM)TrifeLife Wrote:  Thanks for the recommendations guys. For the record, finished Travesuras de la niña mala and the rom-com happily ever after ending was avoided. 7.5/10

Zama is a short, minor classic. Author: Antonio di Benedetto. He was an Argentinian who wrote about a journalist trying to get out of a tiny frontier town in Paraguay in the nineteenth century.

Fun fact: Years after the book was published, he was tortured by the regime in the dirty war.

Post: #64

How should I go about learning Spanish if I have a basic understanding of it? That is I don't want to waste time learning stuff like "Hola" and "Buenas dias". Places to start, materials etc.?

Post: #65

Ideally in person private lessons, second best option I'd say is an online private teacher.

You can also torrent Pimsleur and skip ahead if you already know the basics, keep in mind there are two versions. One for Castilian Spanish and the other the Latin America which I believe is using the Mexican dialect.

A decent way to practice reading and writing is to pay for Tinder gold or the other version and set your location to a Spanish speaking country, chat up those sloots and if you feel like it in the future you will have some chicks ready to bang if you travel there.

Post: #66

Downloaded a program called Learn Spanish Like Crazy. Seems pretty good and I like that it is all audio-based.

Post: #67

Tiger im starting some spanish too. Language transfer audio series is good as far as info per time goes. Michel thomas spanish is also good, much better than their russian series.

Post: #68

(01-31-2019 04:51 AM)Beirut Wrote:  Tiger im starting some spanish too. Language transfer audio series is good as far as info per time goes. Michel thomas spanish is also good, much better than their russian series.

Hey what up man. I'm assuming you speak some French since you're from Lebanon. Are you finding it easier to pick up Spanish because of that?

Post: #69

^ Yes there are many similarities and some expressions that dont make sense in English do so in French and Spanish. Although i think ultimately it doesnt matter since Spanish is also quite close to English so sometimes you confuse yourself choosing whether to base the transformation in your head on English or French.

Plus trying to learn russian at the same time isnt helping.

I just finished the Michel Thomas course and i think everything thats included in "language transfer" is present in it too. Michel Thomas has more vocabulary though if i remember correctly so i would go with that. Although language transfer has an easy and interesting way to teach concepts.

Post: #70

I will definitely give Michel Thomas a try. Are you watching any movies or series? I don't think my vocab is good enough at this point to start doing that yet.

Post: #71

^ no and when i try i dont really understand much. I think its best to start with a bunch of slow youtube clips that are geared towards learning (or anki sentences) then go to series and stuff. If you read the text of the series youd probably understand a lot but your ear isnt trained yet to catch the words.

I also got the book "practice makes perfect" for Spanish Grammar but havent started it yet. The michel thomas and language transfer do a decent job at explaining conjugation though.

Post: #72

Beirut, is it this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Makes-Pe...ct+spanish

I was looking to buy it as well.

Post: #73

(01-22-2019 02:45 PM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  Ideally in person private lessons, second best option I'd say is an online private teacher.

You can also torrent Pimsleur and skip ahead if you already know the basics, keep in mind there are two versions. One for Castilian Spanish and the other the Latin America which I believe is using the Mexican dialect.

A decent way to practice reading and writing is to pay for Tinder gold or the other version and set your location to a Spanish speaking country, chat up those sloots and if you feel like it in the future you will have some chicks ready to bang if you travel there.

Pimsleur definitely has a northern Latin American bias, Ran through quite a many discs of Pimsleur prepping to land in Uruguay and had to invest a lot of time re-training my ears and mouth after arrival.

There's no good substitute for actual conversations and a private lessons are the way to get that in a directed manner. Find a local girl teaching English in your target area and hire them to teach in the other way around. Keep things fun/flirty without the aggression you'd use for a bang and you can cultivate a social circle introduction.

Books are great for drilling grammar, rules, and vocabulary but it takes conversation and practice to begin applying all those rules you learn from the drills in real time. The same goes for reading and writing.

You can shove all kinds of grammar rules and vocabulary in your brain, but unless you are regularly practicing and applying the language you will lack fluency.

Post: #74

Solo le quiero dar un saludito al OP. Cuando empezaba con mis estudios de espanol, leí este hilo (casi hace 1 ano!) Ahora, tengo un nivel muy alto (muchos puedan considerarme ser con fluido but I think I'm just a step below that). Asi que me gustaria decir gracias a ti amigo!

I didn't follow his post to a t, but it gave me a lot of good information and resources to facilitate everything. Gonna continue my studying until I hit Spain this summer then maybe learn some German since I live here now. Even though I don't really want too, haha.