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Language Woes in Target Country | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 9 of 19 26 April 2014 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've only got experience with short term stays so far but what helps 90% of the time is
going out of your comfort zone linguistically (=actually speaking despite knowing you are not perfect by far) while staying in areas close to your heart otherwise. Like emk and others advise: Switch your usual life you like to Spanish. I believe one of the best things you can do (and which I hope to do during my one month long stay in Spain during this summer or anytime later should the opportunity arise) is to meet new friends who are locals through their usual channels. Lots of my friends and acquitances who moved to another country (especially women, I'm afraid) are somehow dependent on their boyfriend/husband and job/school to provide them with people. That doesn't suffice and it is entirely different from the situation in their country of origin where they used to have their own circle of friends as well. Aren't you in similar situation by chance? Join some local dance/painting/cooking/etc. classes or start visiting a particular coffee/library/whatever more frequently to meet people without the English filter your job and boyfriend are creating (even though with good intentions of course). It could be a good starting point. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 10 of 19 26 April 2014 at 4:30pm | IP Logged | ||
That's normal. I'd say it's better than only being able to learn when you have patient natives who explain things and/or correct you. Make it your strength. If you write better than you speak, make some friends online, like for example on facebook (you can start a fake account). Arrange meetings after you've got to know them online, so that they knew that you just lack confidence and/or automacity. You can also speak with them on skype. See posts by tristano and kujichagulia who both live abroad, work in English and (maybe unlike you) don't have much interest in the local language. Paradoxically, if you want to learn a language that's not Spanish, it may be better to allow yourself to do that. Suppressing this desire only makes you like Spanish (even?) less. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4623 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 11 of 19 26 April 2014 at 8:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok, your boyfriend speaks good English but his family and friends won't all be in this position. What happens
when you go to visit his relations for food, drinks etc? Surely the working language at these occasions is Spanish. That's when you need to dive in and make the most of the fact that you are surrounded by native speakers. Instead of complaining about your boyfriend's linguistic ability hindering your prospects, embrace the learning opportunities his native status provides. Likewise at work, use as much Spanish as you can between classes. It really does boil down to how much you actually want to learn Spanish, as opposed to how much you fancy the idea of learning it. Edited by beano on 26 April 2014 at 8:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Fuenf_Katzen Diglot Senior Member United States notjustajd.wordpress Joined 4370 days ago 337 posts - 476 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Polish, Ukrainian, Afrikaans | Message 12 of 19 26 April 2014 at 10:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'll second the idea of joining a local class or club. What's good about classes I think is that during that time, you tend to be doing more listening than speaking, and then afterwards is when the social activity takes place. In that scenario you're in a different position as the focus isn't on why you're in Uruguay or how you learned Spanish, but on the common interest.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| SarahQ Tetraglot Newbie Uruguay Joined 3868 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Speaks: Tagalog, English*, Bikol languages, Afrikaans Studies: Spanish | Message 13 of 19 27 April 2014 at 1:32am | IP Logged | ||
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Cheers, guys. I should probably add that my boyfriend and I live in different cities, and our social circles are
completely different, so I don't hang around his friends or family. However, I'm moving to his city next week, so I'm sure that'll change and I'll prepare myself now mentally to cope with perhaps speaking in Spanish with his friends/family :P As for classes, I don't think I can afford them since they're at inflated tourist prices. A club sounds like a great idea, though! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 14 of 19 27 April 2014 at 2:32am | IP Logged | ||
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The suggestion was not about language classes but something for locals, I think. In your situation a language class is just one more place to find English speakers. Avoid it.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4291 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 15 of 19 27 April 2014 at 3:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Ban English from the living quarters--no television in English, no radio in English,
set the computer settings into Spanish and the mobile too; it is a form of pseudo- immersion. However, the fact that you are in Uruguay, a Hispanophone country, means that it actually is real immersion since you do not have to block English by traversing cuotidian life. I have had many instances of people switching from their language into English with me, but one exception is the Hispanophone world--I have never been switched in a Hispanophone country even when I was B1. If I remember correctly, not even A2 ten years ago during a holiday to Latin America, despite my being a teenager with no experience in real-world speaking nor interaction in Spanish and sounding slow and monotonous like someone who tried to remember what was taught in class. They nevertheless persevered with me without hinting to switch to English. They also seemed to appreciate it. If I can effectively block all English in my house, whilst living in an Anglophone country (Anglophone countries are probably the worst places to immerse in a foreign language, but that is a different topic), then you can definitely do it whilst living in a country of the target language. Forcing oneself to think in Spanish would also help immensely. Edited by 1e4e6 on 27 April 2014 at 4:37am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4623 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 16 of 19 27 April 2014 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Just noticed that you are 18 and have only been in Uruguay for a few months. You have a huge amount of
time ahead of you and you are probably doing a lot better than you think. It's perfectly normal for passive understanding to massively outstrip spoken ability in the early stages. You just have to embrace the many learning opportunities around you. As far as I know, Uruguay is a country which isn't overflowing with English speakers. Give it time and effort. Comparing yourself to natives is pointless because they have lived their entire lives through this language and have been educated in it. You say your boyfriend speaks English but how good is he really? (and I don't mean this disrespectfully). I'm assuming he's somewhere in your age bracket and unless he's got Anglo family connections or has lived in an English-speaking country, he's probably still learning himself. He probably remembers being in your position. Why not have a Spanish-only half hour per day and gradually build it up? Also, in your profile you state that you speak 4 languages already. Surely adding a fifth isn't beyond you when you have the advantage of an immersive environment. Edited by beano on 27 April 2014 at 5:23pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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