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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | I would really like improve my Spanish skills and I'm looking for the best way to do so with out leaving the states. I work for a dairy and use what little I know everyday, I'm just not leaning it fast enough. I have also used rosetta stone for a short time t my last job, but wasnt impressed enough to spend the money on it. Any thoughts or tips? |
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 BHW's Lance Armstrong 
Posts: 11134
     Location: Somewhere between S@% stirrer and Saint | I am using Pimsleurs Approach to learning Spanish 1. I need to stay with it every day. Been lazy lately.
I am going to Colombia Friday May 23 for 10 days be interesting to see if I survive. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | Humm I'll have to look that up. So far how do you like it? |
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Expert
Posts: 1255
    
| I moved to new Mexico a few years ago and most jobs require you know it and I have customers that get mad because I don't speak it. |
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 BHW's Lance Armstrong 
Posts: 11134
     Location: Somewhere between S@% stirrer and Saint | It is based on repetition. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | Douglas J Gordon - 2014-05-20 9:23 PM
It is based on repetition.
This is what I need...I think. I just don't seem to retain it very well. |
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 Texas Tenderheart
Posts: 6715
     Location: Red Raiderland | If you are around Spanish speaking people, most don't mind if you ask, "?Como se dice en Espanol¿" Loose translation, "How do you say this in Spanish?" The word dice is pronounced desay. One other comment you can always use is, "Un poquito Espanol." Meaning, A little Spanish. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
     
| myhre - 2014-05-20 9:10 PM I moved to new Mexico a few years ago and most jobs require you know it and I have customers that get mad because I don't speak it.
Tell them this is AMERICAN and ENGLISH is the language here! I see NOTHING wrong with learning another language - I have to wonder why "they" can't learn English too. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
          Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Griz - 2014-05-21 5:23 AM myhre - 2014-05-20 9:10 PM I moved to new Mexico a few years ago and most jobs require you know it and I have customers that get mad because I don't speak it. Tell them this is AMERICAN and ENGLISH is the language here! I see NOTHING wrong with learning another language - I have to wonder why "they" can't learn English too.
We have a Mexican employee who has been here since the 80s and has his US citizenship. I think he sort of understands English, but he can't speak it worth a crap. We use a mix of languages along with lots of hand gestures when talking. Love him tho, he's a super good guy. Loves to cook for us and has taught my husband how to make Mexican dishes--we keep him supplied with venison. I can read Spanish ok, but can't understand spoken Spanish AT ALL. I have a hard enough time understanding spoken English. Some people are not wired for languages that way. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | Kaycee - 2014-05-21 1:38 AM
If you are around Spanish speaking people, most don't mind if you ask, "?Como se dice en Espanol¿" Loose translation, "How do you say this in Spanish?" The word dice is pronounced desay. One other comment you can always use is, "Un poquito Espanol." Meaning, A little Spanish.
Lol I do this all day long...and then I forget. maybe I don't need to learn more Spanish and just practice remembering what I already know Lol |
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
      Location: Never in one place long | I know EXACTLY what you mean! I worked with a large percentage of hispanic population for years on a dairy and then on a ranch... learned to communicate fairly well but now that I don't work with them, I feel like I'm losing it..... I did take Spanish I and Spanish II in College and learned A LOT about the rules to the language, how to conjugate verbs etc. but then when the classes were over, it was hard to contiue.
Some things I do to keep learning the language:
1. Listen to it on tv and on the radio and try to understand what they are saying
2. Join the facebook page -Learn Spanish (A word a Day) -try to figure out what the word is or the sentence before you read the translation
3. Practice on quizlet.com -you can type in any subject (verbs,pronouns etc to practice what you want... you can do matching games, quizzes and learning) my college professor recommended practicing in this and it's FREE
4. TALK like a BABY! Don't be afraid to TRY and talk the language to people who know it, they'll be glad you're trying and correct you.
5. Learn ONE new word a day... ask your co-workers how to say something and have them say it and write it down, carry a notebook with you if possible.
Hope this helps...
Buena suerte!!! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
      Location: Never in one place long | cowpony45 - 2014-05-21 8:32 AM
Kaycee - 2014-05-21 1:38 AM
If you are around Spanish speaking people, most don't mind if you ask, "?Como se dice en Espanol¿" Loose translation, "How do you say this in Spanish?" The word dice is pronounced desay. One other comment you can always use is, "Un poquito Espanol." Meaning, A little Spanish.
Lol I do this all day long...and then I forget. maybe I don't need to learn more Spanish and just practice remembering what I already know Lol
This sounds like me! I always say como se dice..... they get excited to tell me though lol! One time I asked how to say toe nail in spanish by pointing to my toe... after he told me he asked how to say it and tried to repeat it after me but said Tuna, I laughed so hard! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
      
| Jump in and start speaking. Kids learn by repetition and mimicking adults, right? So do the same with the guys and gals you work with. Also, if you can find a local CC class that is just a verbal class, you'll advance much more quickly. I took 5 years of Spanish in college and didn't feel I advanced until I sat in the verbal class where the Prof would give us a topic and we had to discuss it in Spanish for an hour. :) You can do it! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | DLV - 2014-05-21 8:43 AM
I know EXACTLY what you mean! I worked with a large percentage of hispanic population for years on a dairy and then on a ranch... learned to communicate fairly well but now that I don't work with them, I feel like I'm losing it..... I did take Spanish I and Spanish II in College and learned A LOT about the rules to the language, how to conjugate verbs etc. but then when the classes were over, it was hard to contiue.
Some things I do to keep learning the language:
1. Listen to it on tv and on the radio and try to understand what they are saying
2. Join the facebook page -Learn Spanish (A word a Day) -try to figure out what the word is or the sentence before you read the translation
3. Practice on quizlet.com -you can type in any subject (verbs,pronouns etc to practice what you want... you can do matching games, quizzes and learning) my college professor recommended practicing in this and it's FREE
4. TALK like a BABY! Don't be afraid to TRY and talk the language to people who know it, they'll be glad you're trying and correct you.
5. Learn ONE new word a day... ask your co-workers how to say something and have them say it and write it down, carry a notebook with you if possible.
Hope this helps...
Buena suerte!!!
This is great! I think my biggest problem is saying it back to them out loud. I use the translator in my phone a lot but I do need the reputation. if I could just remember what I've already been told I would be golden! Lol |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
     
| What about that Rosetta Stone (sp?)? |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1064
   Location: Idaho | Griz - 2014-05-21 11:13 AM
What about that Rosetta Stone (sp?)?
That's what I used for a short time and didn't really like it all that well. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
        Location: MD | http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Ranch-Spanish-George-Kelly/dp/0962379603
the place I rent is owned by a Spanish family. the owners speak fluent English but on a daily basis I see their fathers and mothers who really don't speak much. My chiro recommended this book for me and I just ordered it. She said it's very practical and has helped her a lot on her large performance barns that have their Spanish speaking employees helping her hold horses for adjustments all day. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 596
    Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere | I am hispanic...both my parents are bilingual and most of my family speaks spanish when they all get together.....then there is me. I don't speak hardly any but understand quite a bit....if they talk to fast I am lost. I use to work for a corporate pig farm where a majority of the employees were hispanic, in that environment I could speak spanish just fine. |
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