Some questions about Spanish

[laurapasinifan]

and so many people say that spanish is easy to learn!!!!!!!!! what I find difficult is that lack of rules in so many words....

It is as if, you juts have to LEARN EVERYTHING on its own....you can not assume a lot.....at least thats the way it is for me in this early stage....

it is not just nouns you must learn ( as in gender especially)....in english a word is the same in it's many different uses....in spanish the word changes totally

good thing my gf is picking up english really fast ha ha ha ha


bob

[Lesley D]

¿Quién te dijo que es fácil aprender español?-

I would never tell anyone that learning Spanish is easy. Actually quite the opposite. It depends on what type of Spanish you wish to learn IMO. If you want to learn street Spanish and speak with every possible grammar error in the book anyone can do that. But to learn proper grammatical Spanish which will enable you to interact anywhere with anyone- that's a sacrifice. Studying, formal lessons and several good grammar books. There's no other way.

Lack of rules?- How many do you want me to list? Me haces reír...


Just my two cents but I have the old school mentality when comes to learning. Nothing personal.


LDG.

[laurapasinifan]

my adult education class at the local high school for spanish I

starts march 1st!

2 hours each night


I remember telling my dominican buddy a few years ago... when we had a conversation about how poorly he spoke english and he has lived here for 13 years!!!!!

I told him IF I LIVED in a spanish speaking coun try..I would learn the language in one year !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bob

[Lesley D]

Best of luck- mucha suerte.

I would like to keep this discussion on course please- 'gender usage and exceptions'.

BTW- If you think you will be speaking Spanish in year... otro milagro pero no voy a decirte nada.


LDG.

[laurapasinifan]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

Best of luck- mucha suerte.

I would like to keep this discussion on course please- 'gender usage and exceptions'.

BTW- If you think you will be speaking Spanish in year... otro milagro pero no voy a decirte nada.


LDG.

well in my limited experience, I would ask why Mucha...isnt mucho since you were talking to a man.....or is the gender based soley on suerte???

I told my gf buenas suerte( instead of sueno)...one night when i was saying good bye for the night over the phone....she got big laugh out of that....

earlier we were talking about our good fotrune at the casino in santiago.. and it was till stuck in my mind...

also, as for the year, I guess my idea of SPEAKING spanish..is different than yours..my goal is to have people understand me...not speak in the spanish parliment!

but you can never learn too much..

bob

[macocael]

Btw, I agree, learning to speak Spanish well is very very hard. Fluency does not come easily, and a grammatical slip -- like forgetting to use the subjunctive in the right place -- can betray one's ignorance even while one is actually speaking what I would call "fluidly." Fluid speech, as distinct from fluent speech, is a highly desirable goal as well -- the ability to speak without hemming and hawing and pausing to consider one's grammar; that is, the power to speak naturally and unaffectedly even if one still commits a few errors from time to time -- this is an important part of learning a language and also part of the pleasure. But real fluency not only in grammar but in vocabulary, well that takes years to master. I have been working very hard to achieve this, but even after starting with newspapers, lyrics, movies, and then moving on to novels, poems (even harder), and more sophisticated forms, I still find that real fluency eludes my grasp. It will come in time, but one must be patient.

And let us not forget that the music of a language -- its peculiar sound, its proper pronunciation -- is very hard if not impossible for some people to acquire. I find that Spanish requires a deft tongue, lots of tongue dancing in the front of the mouth, and sometimes, frankly, the muscles just tire out and the syllables all get mushed together. But when the light touch is there, it is such a pleasure to speak it well!

PS, I just caught your comment, so let me edit this: no, I know of course that L' doesnt exist as a contraction in Spanish; i wrote it that way simply to convey the abbreviated manner in which the people pronounce the word.

[Chirimoya]

A little aside to this interesting discussion:

Although there are no L' and D' contractions in Spanish, there is an annoying trend of using them. Lots of businesses sport names like "D'Antonio", and it's even more infuriating when combined with the English possessive such as "D'Antonio's" or used in words which start with a consonant e.g. "D'Carlos".

Almost as stupid as people calling the DR 'The Dominican'.

[laurapasinifan]

ok...for arguments sake........is there really a correct form of spanish as spoken in the DR?

if we look at ENGLISH...in america alone....it is totally acceptable to speak it blatantly WRONG...depending on what part of the country you live it.

Take the deep south as an example...from the time they are borm to the time they teach ENGLISH class itself... they speak english with a slang and drop pronunciations left and right.....but it is accepted!

so i say that you dont have to speak grammatically correct spanish... and further more..it could be totally unessecary!!!!!!

oh boy I am getting out of town now for a day or so , till this storm clears!!!!!!! ha ha ha ha


ok..this anology fits fine in MY MIND...but then again it is MY MIND.....

bob

[Lesley D]

Mucho/mucha is an 'adjective'.

Adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify.

Suerte- is a feminine 'noun'.

Based on my statement above- adjectives agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) with the nouns they modify.

La suerte= luck (I wish you much luck)= (Te deseo) mucha suerte

It has nothing to do with the fact that you are 'male'.

Okay your comment about not wanting to speak in the Spanish parliament gave me a good laugh. However, my point was a year for a language is nothing. Don't be disappointed with yourself if after a year you see little improvement. As well, your teacher and your ability will have a lot to do with your learning process.


LDG.

Originally Posted by laurapasinifan

well in my limited experience, I would ask why Mucha...isnt mucho since you were talking to a man.....or is the gender based soley on suerte???

bob

[ricktoronto]

Originally Posted by laurapasinifan

and so many people say that spanish is easy to learn!!!!!!!!! what I find difficult is that lack of rules in so many words....

It is as if, you juts have to LEARN EVERYTHING on its own....you can not assume a lot.....at least thats the way it is for me in this early stage....

No rules? Really. There are many rules, for example verb conjugation that help you get quite close to the right way to speak and read.