Post: #1

I've been attempting to learn Spanish lately and seem to have made appreciable strides in terms of reading, writing and speaking (again I am still in infancy) yet have been struggling to make heads or tails of Spanish TV shows (even basic kiddies shows), radio etc.
It's hard to describe but I really can't even process what words are being spoken at all.

This was never the case when I learnt Afrikaans or Zulu for instance and it really is demotivating. Advice will be greatly appreciated.

Post: #2

Have you tried turning on close-captioning for the hearing impaired? Have it show you the words in Spanish on the screen. Can you record the show, and watch it multiple times?

Post: #3

(05-18-2017 11:21 AM)MANic Wrote:  I've been attempting to learn Spanish lately and seem to have made appreciable strides in terms of reading, writing and speaking (again I am still in infancy) yet have been struggling to make heads or tails of Spanish TV shows (even basic kiddies shows), radio etc.
It's hard to describe but I really can't even process what words are being spoken at all.

This was never the case when I learnt Afrikaans or Zulu for instance and it really is demotivating. Advice will be greatly appreciated.

What dialect are you listening to? Mexican Spanish is very different than Cuban or Dominican dialects for example

As a native Spanish speaker I can tell you that while the spelling is really easy compared to other languages as it's predominantly very phonetic (spelled just as it sounds) the pronunciation and speed at which it is spoken can be difficult

Have you / can you turn on subtitles in Spanish?

Post: #4

Yes I have. Problem is that I still can barely decipher the actual words by listening. Alot of the time it simply sounds to me as if the entire sentence is one long word.
There aren't many Spanish speakers where I live currently though I have spoken online to people and I require them to speak extremely slowly during the interaction to understand. It's as if my brain is too slow.

Post: #5

This is one of those things where immersion really helps.

It took me about a week in France for the french to start sounding intelligible. You really have to develop the ear for it.

Try to watch more TV and news casts. Give it time. Like someone said above me, cheat with subtitles to help you hear it out.

Post: #6

(05-18-2017 11:40 AM)MANic Wrote:  Yes I have. Problem is that I still can barely decipher the actual words by listening. Alot of the time it simply sounds to me as if the entire sentence is one long word.
There aren't many Spanish speakers where I live currently though I have spoken online to people and I require them to speak extremely slowly during the interaction to understand. It's as if my brain is too slow.

The problem with TV shows especially if they are dramas is that the characters will likely be speaking very excitedly ie fast and yes...thewordswillseeminglyflow togetherasitsaveryfluidlanguage!!!

If you cant go live in a Spanish speaking country for a while Id say just keep at it.

Post: #7

(05-18-2017 11:40 AM)MANic Wrote:  Alot of the time it simply sounds to me as if the entire sentence is one long word.

It's as if my brain is too slow.

Yes, that is the problem for English speakers with languages like Spanish and even worse with Japanese and Korean...one sentence sounds like a very long word.

Your brain is NOT too slow. Don´t get down on yourself.
It will take time - keep listening.

It is just like any new skill.

Language learning is NOT a linear process.
Keep on listening to Spanish as much as you can.

After a while, you will notice improvement but it does not happen in a slow linear manner, your improvement in listening will happen in level jumps.

The more you listen, the more frequent and larger your level jumps will be.

Post: #8

Indeed, immersion is key. And accents differ a lot not only by countries but by region and cities/villages even.

I'd say mexican dub Spanish is one of the most clearest to develop an ear for. And for real interaction I daresay Ecuadorians are very clear and - in comparison - slower talking.
My Spanish which is Argentine porteño will probably have you scratching your head as it doesn't make any sense when compared with a course program

Post: #9

(05-18-2017 02:00 PM)El_Gostro Wrote:  Indeed, immersion is key. And accents differ a lot not only by countries but by region and cities/villages even.

I'd say mexican dub Spanish is one of the most clearest to develop an ear for. And for real interaction I daresay Ecuadorians are very clear and - in comparison - slower talking.

It's very frustrating learning Castilian Spanish in school, then learning Mexican slang in the States, then travelling to another country and figuring out they don't speak either. Then you cross the border into yet another country and their Spanish is different again.

I agree that the Ecuadorans to speak slowly and clearly, unless they're the uneducated sort. But then cross into Colombia and they speak like the world is about to end and they'd better say that shit as fast as they can and just mush it all the fuck together. And then they cut words in half and use slang they should know that a leaner isn't going to understand that shit.

It can be maddening to get used to one set of Spanish and then try to hear some other Spanish. The words are different. The accents are different. The usage is different. Sometimes when they even use the SAME words and phrases, it still means something different depending on the country. I was saying "Que pena" in Colombia forever until someone pointed out that it doesn't mean "What a shame" there. It's more saying, "I'm sorry." And I was walking around telling people "Ahorita" thinking it meant "Right now" like everywhere else, yet in Colombia it means "In a while."

And don't try using Mexican Spanish anywhere else or no one will understand any of it unless they recognize it from movies and TV. "Que onda way!" means nothing. "Donde esta la mota?" means nothing. And if you ask for "una Coca" in South America, they're not going to bring you a Coke. They'll look at you very funny and may call the policia.

But every language does it, too. You ever been to the Caribbean or Memphis or Newcastle or Dublin and tried to understand a fucking thing they're saying? As a native English speaker, if it's hard to understand them... then what about a guy that learned proper English as a second language? The Germans can't understand Swiss German. The list goes on.

I've found that since I learned proper Castilian Spanish, they can usually understand me if I stick to that format. It's just trying to understand them that gives me fits. So, just keep trying. You'll get better. As long as they can hear me asking for another beer, then I'm always going to be ok.

Post: #10

I've gone through this phase too and broken through it. Listening to telenovelas with the Spanish subtitles on helped a lot, and also I would highly recommend rewinding the same 3-5 second sentence several times (easy to do on youtube videos) until you can pick out most of the words, and then rewatching it again without the subtitles. This is slow and tedious at first, but you will rapidly be able to do larger and larger chunks without repeating (now I only do it 3-4 times for a whole 45 minute episode). When I started doing this it helped my comprehension progress much more quickly. Repitition is key and will help your brain start to sort words and phrases out of the verbal chaos.

Post: #11

1. For developing listening skills, turning on subtitles (in either language) is not recommended. That turns the activity from a listening comprehension one to a reading one. The 'McGurk Effect' demonstrates that when we have simultaneous visual and auditory input, the visual overrides the auditory. Reading subtitles will take your attention away from what you're hearing. You're better off without this 'crutch'.

2. If you're trying to improve your listening skills, just listen to the same scene repeatedly. You'll pick up new things each time. Or look for easier material (slower, familiar topics, prepared for learners).

3. Also, you probably need much (much) more contact with the language. Weakness in 'listening comprehension' is often a symptom of problems with vocabulary, structures or pronunciation. If you took the written dialogue of a scene and deleted every seventh word, could you fill each blank in with a word that works? (You are able to do this in English.) If you can't do this in Spanish, the most likely explanation is that the depth of your contact with Spanish is insufficient. This is not a 'listening problem' per se. You are underestimating the gulf between where your Spanish is now and what level you need for understanding materials produced for native speakers.

4. As others have suggested, it will help to pick one dialect and stick to it until you get comfortable with that.

5. Practice with the kind of listening material you are interested in mastering. If you want to understand conversations and you're listening to newscasts (over vice versa), that's the wrong idea. Watching shows for children is going to be boring as hell and not necessarily easier for you than programming for adults. Pick materials you're interested in and possibly have some background knowledge about.

By the way, everyone find listening to be challenging once they leave the safety of the classroom/course, familiar topics/situations and accommodating speakers. Why? Listening happens in real-time. You can't consume it at your own speed. In this sense, listening is very different than the three other skills. Listening is easier than speaking only when the content is somehow controlled or moderated. In the real world, conversations often involve multiple people talking at once, may take sudden turns to unexpected topics, and may rely false assumptions about your background knowledge. There's also the issue of ambient noise and/or signal quality on the phone/recording. Another issue is that the vocabulary found in writing and in courses is different than what is used in most speaking contexts. Students who take international language exams usually go in saying that listening and reading are their strong skills. When they get their scores, they realize that the level expected for listening and reading competence is much higher than for the active/productive skills.

UPDATE: Some of the posters above have suggested that immersion is the key. It's not. You can get more exposure to Spanish via YouTube and Netflix than you automatically will just by being physically located in a Spanish-speaking country for a period of time. In an immersion situation, finding people to speak to you (to give you listening practice) can be an ongoing task. It's not easy to get two, four, six or eight hours, day in and day out. I've lived in a Spanish-speaking country now for a decade and use Spanish for all my social interactions. But my listening skills made their biggest gains before I moved here -- by consuming massive quantities of telenovelas/videos/movies.

Post: #12

I've been living in Latin America for 4 years and learning Spanish for the same amount of time and understanding tv shows is still hard for me. I have close to 0 problems communicating in person. It's not the same shit for reasons I'm not sure of.

To be fair I've only started watching Spanish tv and reading spanish articles regularly about 8-9 months ago.

The tv content that has Spanish dubbed over it is much clearer Spanish so its easier to understand, but I prefer to watch content with real Spanish speakers.

I pretty much just keep the channel Glitz on all day (all programming shot in Miami). Particularly a fan of Quien Tiene La Razon and Casos De Familia because each family "case" lasts about 15 minutes which act as little tests for me instead trying to follow some long ass dialog. Plus it's all real spanish hosted by people from various Latin american countries.

I think this shit just takes time, I used to only watch for specific periods of the day while focusing but now I keep it on even when I'm not paying attention because I heard there is studies that show it works just as well to acostumbrar your ear.

Post: #13

QUE DIFÍCIL ES HABLAR EL ESPAÑOL!

Post: #14

Don't get down on yourself. It really is hard to make sense of what people are saying on TV, in movies, in music and in real life depending on how fast they're talking or their accent. It really does get easier as you get used to it, get more words in your vocab and have put in the time and effort for listening comprehension practice. The worst thing to do is get discouraged and let up or give up though.

There has been some good advice here. I particularly think it's helpful to listen to the same thing over and over and try to figure it out yourself, or listen to it, then read what something says, and then play it again and again.

There is also this other resource I found that really helped me and I've listened to some of these videos a shit ton now. I think someone posted it here a long time ago, but can't remember who - http://www.spanishlistening.org/

It's a good resource because it has different levels of difficultly, along with people from different countries so you can really start to hear the different dialects. That's been super helpful to me, so I hope it helps. (Also, Colombian Spanish is some of the best Spanish I've heard spoken and island spanish from like DR, Puerto Rico or Cuba is the hardest, so try to avoid those at first because you'll just get super fucking discouraged trying to figure those out)

Post: #15

(05-18-2017 05:53 PM)scotian Wrote:  QUE DIFÍCIL ES HABLAR EL ESPAÑOL!

This brings up something I didn't consider earlier... You could listen to Spanish music and learn, but music is certainly the hardest. Think of listening to Nirvana in English. WTF are they saying?

A Colombian waiter in Medellin told me he learned English by listening to American music. I said, "Bullshit, homie." He said, "I love Metallica so much would go look up the words for them and to other American bands. I've never had a day of English class in my life." And his English was rock solid.

If you find a song you like, then go look up the words. This song was popular as hell in 2013 when I was in Medellin for a few months. They would play this every 5 minutes in the bar. So I wondered what the hell he was saying and I googled the lyrics. I discovered the words for "Wounds," "Drops," and "Drought" just in one verse.




I think most Spanish speakers would find Marc Antony to be very clearly spoken. But listening to him sing, it sounds like it's mushed a bit to me. But when I look at the lyrics, it then makes sense. It helps you hear how they actually say the words because your American Spanish teacher isn't going to say it the same.

If you ever go sit in a bar in Mexico, you WILL hear this song. "Como Te Voy a Olvidar." (How I'm Going to Forget You). I sort of want to make fun of them in their tuxedos and being Mexican cheesy, but in Mexico, these guys are rockstar cool. I give the girl an 8.

Post: #16

Quote:"I've never had a day of English class in my life." And his English was rock solid.

People lie about that all the time. It simultaneously makes them look talented and excuses any shortcomings.

In any event, English surrounds Spanish speakers constantly, not just in music but in entertainment in general and in professional contexts. There's a lot of 'osmosis' learning going on there from a young age. An equivalent situation doesn't exist for learners of other languages, including Spanish.

Post: #17

(05-18-2017 07:53 PM)ElFlaco Wrote:  

Quote:"I've never had a day of English class in my life." And his English was rock solid.

People lie about that all the time. It simultaneously makes them look talented and excuses any shortcomings.

Considering this guy was a waiter and dropped out of school in the 7th grade and had no other education at all, I'll take his word for it.

Post: #18

@Brewdog, dont kniw for the rest of latinamerica, but around the south cone, "una coca" its a Coca Cola if you ask for it in any shop/restaurant.

Post: #19

(05-18-2017 08:17 PM)Mekorig Wrote:  @Brewdog, dont kniw for the rest of latinamerica, but around the south cone, "una coca" its a Coca Cola if you ask for it in any shop/restaurant.

Ask for una coca in Bogota or Quito, Ecuador.

Post: #20

(05-18-2017 08:24 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  

(05-18-2017 08:17 PM)Mekorig Wrote:  @Brewdog, dont kniw for the rest of latinamerica, but around the south cone, "una coca" its a Coca Cola if you ask for it in any shop/restaurant.

Ask for una coca in Bogota or Quito, Ecuador.

Will try some day in Bogota. Ecuador is not of my personal liking. XD

Post: #21

(05-18-2017 02:56 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  it still means something different depending on the country. I was saying "Que pena" in Colombia forever until someone pointed out that it doesn't mean "What a shame" there. It's more saying, "I'm sorry."

Very true, and it's very confusing when the words you hear are: "Que pena con usted", which would mean in other parts of South Am, It's difficult, a bother dealing with you; I'm having difficulties handling or dealing with you - but in Colombia; it is: I'm sorry for disappointing or bothering you... not exactly the same. Not accusatory at all in Colombia, the meaning...

Post: #22

Damn looks like Brewdog got banned again!

Post: #23

Man it's just practice practice practice. People say Spaish is an easy language but that doesn't tell the whole story. I started learning Portuguese a whole two years after I started learning Spanish and became fluent in it before I was fluent in Spanish. Spainsh just took me forever until I started to take practice seriously. Novelas work and don't let anyone tell you they don't. Watch the novela called 'gata salvaje' and watch it everyday and by episode 100 you will have improved greatly. Also speak every single day. I improved exponentially once I started speaking every singe day. That's the reason I learnt Portugueese in a few months, I would speak for hours and hours daily. I'd say not to bother with the whole listening to Spanish music part but that's because it didn't work for me. Instead I'd recommend you watch interviews which can be a great resource. Don't bother wasting your money on expensive classes because you don't need it, comprehension is a muscle that must be trained. The same applies for living abroad. Living in Colombia or Spain won't magically help you that's a fallacy. The answer is practice.

Post: #24

I'm not entirely sure that immersion is a myth.
It might be that I have a bigger language reserve (bi-lingual since childhood and had french at school*)but being in a country often did help me figure not just differences in words but seeing the context in which these and phrases were applied as well as the accompanying body language.

*Take for example my experience with french:
I had bullshit 3 hours per week classes for five years in high school, I wasnt taking seriously but my understanding of english gave me an edge ofver my class mates since english uses a lot of french words I could relate to. The fifth year I actually took private classes with an old friend of the family,which was frankly exxagerated (we would spend 2 to 4 hours per day ,4 or 5 times a week).
Fast forward 7 years I'm in france and I can barely connect words and sentences, and when I manage I sounded so goddamn formal most people had no idea what i was saying.
8 months later after having been up and down the place, often with no grounds to use either of my other two languages I became fluent albeit still with my signature horrible accent and quite fond of using (southernish) slang.

Had a similar experience with German, which I'm still learning.
I associated more the words and phrases with context which eventually allowed me to further understand the mechanics once I did get some formal lessons. Ironically I confirmed that my old french teacher was right when he tried to explain to me how similar the synthactical construction of german and spanish is

Post: #25

Immersion is great but you can immerse yourself at home. What I mean is many people seem to think language learning is like osmosis and by simply spending 6 months in a country they will be fluent. Not exactly, yes you can make great strides if you go to another country and practice everyday but then again you can make the same strides in your house if you watch novelas everyday and have four hours of conversations daily on Skype. How many immigrants are there that have been in a country for 5+ years and still can't speak a word of the language? You get out what you put in regardless of which country you are in.