Spanish Over the Weekend!

Well, my wish came true about hearing more Spanish on tape.
It was actually online. I had been reading an online newspaper online
from Europe, and something flashed on the page:

Learn Spanish!

That was easy enough.

So I took a chance and tried it out. Basic Level first...

It was extraordinary. I actually felt that I was learning.
I had had a previous experience with learning through CDs
and although, I liked hearing the voices speaking, I wanted
a book in that language in front of me. I was unable to repeat
and pronounce the sounds, because it was the very first experience
hearing them. In my mind, I could not see what the words looked
like or even visualize how they were spelled. So, for that language, I
would try audiotapes with a text.

Spanish, however, seemed familiar to me. We had enough exposure to it
in the schools with classes or by having classmates who spoke Spanish.
I also associated the sounds and words in Spanish to other languages I knew (English)
or had known (Hindi). I was not afraid to try its vowels and consonant sounds.

At first, Spanish, had been difficult, because I had previously not had any
experience or exposure to it. My high school teacher acclimated us to the language by speaking to us in Spanish often. On the first day of school, he started speaking in Spanish very, very rapidly, and although we were a small group, everyone looked at each other,frightened. We had to inquire whether he knew we were basic learners and not at the advanced level. He told us that he just wanted us to know what it sounded like for a reason. Whew! We were so relieved.

That was always a problem to me. I could not follow anyone who spoke in Spanish.
Even when I first turned on the television to improve listening to Spanish, I found that I could not follow the speed or rapidity with which the speakers spoke.
Over time, it became easier. So now, I can follow Spanish, because I gave my ears
a chance to discriminate the sounds over time. I also realized at the time that my Spanish vocabulary needed more work. Telenovelas were great in that they would use
casual or informal language,and you would learn a new word or two.

Phrases were fun to practice. Depending on where the telenovela was from, I would try all sorts of colloquial phrases. Most of the time, words like "love" and phrases
expressing love are the same everywhere. It was when they used words for "money" or words for names, settings, places, or words that expressed "cool!" things started to vary.

The first year, I learned a lot of phrases that I thought were common in basic Spanish. I still remember going to my teacher at school to ask what sounded to me like *"que chevre" meant. He said that I must have been watching a program that was coming from Venezuela. I had asked kids at school, and even Spanish people around my neighborhood. No one knew! I figured I must be saying it or spelling it wrong.
*(used in the program, "Cristal" almost every day)

I still remember Zoraida(sounded like "Soraya" to me) saying "chevre" every day. I gave up and thought it must have been recently coined. (New Spanish)

I guess my first Spanish via television was Venezuelan. The Spanish I learned from books was from Mexico, or some standard version. We had to practice basic conversation in class. Our teacher wasn't too critical. When we first practiced our Spanish with our history teacher, she smiled weakly. She had lived abroad in Peru before as a Peace Corps volunteer and had more exposure to Spanish elsewhere.

She said,"I know you guys are just learning Spanish, but try speaking it a little faster. Instead of making it sound so choppy like, Co + mo + es + ta + Us+ ted,try saying it faster and make the sounds flow together a little more."


More like:

"Comosta"
"Comostas"

What a difference that tip made to us! We all sing-songed "Como esta" for at least 10 minutes after that. We didn't sound like robots speaking "chopped-up" syllables anymore.

Nowadays, I love it when I hear Spanish that is not within a telenovela. Finding it in different settings or contexts is how I can learn more of it. This past weekend, there was a Saturday Night Live skit that used a fusion of English/Spanish. JLo was on!

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Other news: I tried to sing the theme song of Corazon Salvaje now that I was more familiar with the words. Then I stopped to listen. Chayanne's voice
shouldn't be drowned out by mine, I decided.

I think I will write the words out and then follow the song that way!

Ciao! (learned that on the UK site...casual Spanish)