Monday 10 November 2014

The Art of Learning Spanish

Trying to Get My Head Around a New Language  



Alright so I don't quite have that part of the Mexico dream down yet. My practice mostly consists of meeting Duolingo goals so the Owl doesn't get angry (weekdays only) and now having verbs stuck all over my wall staring at me when I wake up, we'll see how that goes...






Staying in Mexico for a month last year, I felt totally inadequate at my poor level of Spanish, "un hotel no caro" and "un quesadilla champiƱones" didn't quite cut it for some reason. Sure, all the hipsters/fresas can speak English and getting around Roma and Condesa is no problem, but trying to order street food and take taxis was a bit of a nightmare. So when I got back to England I decided to dedicate some much needed procrastination time, while finishing my dissertation, to Duolingo and it's stuck. 


I'm trying to watch films, although English Netflix is limited for Spanish films. Even attempted the Telenovela (Marimar was my choice) knowing that regardless of the language I would understand: "Marmimar, tu belleza es un peligro" (Marimar, your beauty is a danger), followed by a sigh and many daydreams/flashbacks to that moment where the Mexican hunk calls her beautiful. I should probably try to get beyond episode 2, it's been a while.




These are pretty much my only tactics. I've tried the odd word a day and I know I know I have to speak to Spanish people, which at this stage is terrifying seeing as they can more than likely speak significantly better English than I do Spanish. 

So I'll keep going along using Duolingo and learning my verbs, maybe throw a bit of Mexican tv drama into the mix and see how that goes. Any suggestions on the real 'Art of Learning Spanish' are more then welcome..??

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