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Conversational fluency in two weeks? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| nj24 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4668 days ago 56 posts - 106 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, French | Message 1 of 22 16 July 2012 at 8:11pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Hello all,
I'm a native English speaker learning Spanish. This is my first time posting in the forums though I’ve been following this site for quite sometime. I found it incredibly helpful when I began learning Spanish last summer and have followed much of the advice that I read about here. I’m posting now because I’m a bit desperate and facing a dilemma. In two weeks I’m heading off to an economics seminar where many of the participants are from foreign countries, particularly Spanish speaking ones, and I really want to be able to chat with them a little bit in Spanish and not look like a complete beginner. My question is can I reach a respectable level in conversational fluency in two weeks? And if it is possible, what can I do in order to get there? I really am willing to try almost anything. By conversational fluency I really mean just being able to be comfortable, understand what they are saying, respond without hesitation, and talk fluidly. I am not expecting to talk like a native. I’ve dedicated myself to learning Spanish for the past year and tried to give myself a solid foundation. I’ve listened to volumes 1 and 2 of Pimsleur Spanish, worked through FSI Spanish volumes 1 and 2 (just recently moved onto volume 3 and completed unit 31), and have also tried to work though the Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses workbook (I’m about half-way through). I also listen to a lot of Spanish music. I’ve memorized several Spanish songs and also try to translate the Spanish songs I listen to so that I’ll understand what is being sung and learn new vocabulary. When I first started out, I also watched all of the episodes in the Destinos video series. This really helped me learn new vocabulary fast and get a feel for the rhythm of the Spanish language. I’ve also been listening to several Spanish podcasts: Notes in Spanish Intermediate (I’ve never used the transcripts) and (just recently) Spanishpodcast.org. Sometimes, I’ll watch TV in Spanish with subtitles, though I haven’t found much time for that lately. My only regret is that I haven’t actually been practicing speaking the language. Of course, I do speak when I go over the FSI drills, and I try to even have conversations with myself or translate into Spanish in my head when people are speaking to me in English. However, it is when I’m having conversations with myself that I realize how much my conversational skills are lacking. I’m really not sure how to say certain things, but I’ll quickly look it up on Google Translate or the internet (I’ve found that my Spanish knowledge is fairly good because I have been able to find mistakes with Google Translate so I’m not too afraid of it leading me astray). I also don’t use flashcards or any kind of SRS, but I don’t find myself forgetting vocabulary or having trouble picking up new vocabulary. But what should I do now? What can I do in the next two weeks to take my Spanish knowledge from passive to active? Should I focus on learning new vocabulary, start using flashcards, watch more TV, read more, write more, or what? If anyone has any ideas for how I can get more speaking practice in, I’d really appreciate that too. Does anyone have any tips or plans of action for jumpstarting one's Spanish in just two weeks time? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6602 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 2 of 22 16 July 2012 at 9:37pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I sort of did that with Polish, my main problem was (and still is) that I'm never sure whether I'm just using a Russian word or it's the same in Polish.
Although you say "I'm not expecting to talk like a native", a good accent is really important here. That's what people's assumptions are based upon when you address them for the first time, and if they mistakenly think your skills are very basic, it might be very difficult to convince them otherwise. Sooo I recommend shadowing and self-talk. It's very good that with your listening skills, you'll probably understand what people tell you. As you think of what to say, repeat it and/or turn it into rhetoric questions. Display your understanding by nodding, eye contact etc. When you look things up, is there an "oh riiiight, of course" moment? Do you sometimes simply need confirmation? I find reading really helps with activating passive knowledge. (if you decide to read, I'd advice you to choose something written in the first person - whether an autobiography or just fiction). [edit: this might've been a controversial rec so i started a thread to discuss it] And try to find someone to speak with, whether in person or on skype. Perhaps you simply need to get used to speaking. Edited by Serpent on 16 July 2012 at 10:41pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| nj24 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4668 days ago 56 posts - 106 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, French | Message 3 of 22 16 July 2012 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Thanks so much for your reply. It was very helpful.
Yes, I definitely agree with this. It's hard for me to know how bad (or how good) my accent is because, again, I haven't been speaking with native speakers. But I do try to mimic what I hear on the FSI tapes and not speak in an "American" accent. I am also planning to record myself speaking this week so I can hear if I'm having any major problems.
I remember reading a little bit about shadowing but never tried it. Thank you for mentioning it. I will try to use that in the next two weeks. I'm still a bit confused by it, though. Is it pretty much just reading along out loud while listening to audio? I can do that with one of the Spanish podcasts I listen to that has transcripts. The only thing is that the speaker speaks a bit slowly. Not incredibly or unnaturally slowly and it would probably be easier for me to read along out loud in Spanish at that pace, but I'm wondering if for the shadowing technique I am supposed to use material that is faster? Because I am assuming Spanish speakers will talk a bit faster in conversation.
Yes, often I will look things up to make sure I am saying them correctly and then find out I am. Or I'll look something up because I just drew a blank and then realize, "Yeah, I should have known how to say that." I haven't studied the subjunctive yet though, so I'm just avoiding it right now. I haven't gotten to that yet in FSI. I'd understand it, but don't really know how to use it. I really like your idea of using books written in first person. That sounds like it would be really helpful, especially practicing reading that out loud. If anyone knows good Spanish books or materials written in first person, I'd definitely be interested in that.
This is one of my top priorities but I don't know if I'll be able to find anyone within the next two weeks. Again, thanks for all of your help! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| nuriayasmin70 Diglot Senior Member Germany languagesandbeyoRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4526 days ago 132 posts - 162 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: SpanishB1, Portuguese, Czech, Hungarian | Message 4 of 22 16 July 2012 at 11:54pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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If you don't mind spending some money I'd suggest you book some skype lessons. I have conversational Spanish lessons with a teacher in Ecuador, arranged by a German company. A trial lesson should be free or offered at a reduced price and they should work with a webcam - well, I find that much more comfortable than a simple phone call. Finding a tandem partner would certainly be great but I've made the experience that it's not that easy to find the right one and normally tandem partners only want contact once or twice a week which wouldn't be sufficent for you plus half of the conversation would have to be in English so that your partner also benefits from it.
I don't know the content of the material you've used and I neither know what your economics seminar will be like but I also suggest that you focus on addressing someone with "usted". I'm a nurse and we currently have a Spanish patient on our ward. Ever since I told her that I speak some Spanish, she wants to speak Spanish to me. It's perfect practise for me but I realized that I find it very difficult to address her correctly as I normally use "tú" only. Well, good luck and buena suerte. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Kyle Corrie Senior Member United States Joined 4834 days ago 175 posts - 464 votes | Message 5 of 22 16 July 2012 at 11:56pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
What difference does it make? If I tell you no will you quit Spanish and not go to the conference? Do not limit yourself to what others tell you is possible. Do I think two weeks is enough to prepare? How could anyone say? We don't truly know your level. But I also think that two weeks is more preparation than doing nothing at all. You say you want 'conversational fluency'. Since you've been learning for a year now your best bet might simply be to have... conversations. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6602 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 6 of 22 17 July 2012 at 12:05am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Re: shadowing, try to find audio that you like and want to imitate :) You should like the voice of the narrator. If in doubt, keep searching, there are TONS of materials for Spanish.
Here's the most important info about shadowing and some videos, hope this helps http://learnanylanguage.wikia.com/wiki/Shadowing You may want to find some podcasts on economics to have the keywords and cliches ready in your head. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| prz_ Tetraglot Senior Member Poland last.fm/user/prz_rul Joined 4864 days ago 890 posts - 1190 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish | Message 7 of 22 17 July 2012 at 12:08am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Haha, you know what I feel, just a little bit opposite ;) @nj24 - well, you can try interpals.net 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5267 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 8 of 22 17 July 2012 at 12:09am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Welcome to the forum, @nj24. It's good to have you here. I like your honesty and frankness. This is the nub of the dilemma. For me, all aspects of a language need to be developed. The best way to practice speaking and get feed back is by speaking with natives and asking for their feedback. It is most likely too late for you to get into a regular, free, language exchange with a native. If you are not averse to spending money- you could sign up for a private tutor in Guatemala for about $10/hr via skype. Nulengua is one. Another is the non-profit Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Español. Tell your tutor your goal and work on speaking. They'll be able to see where you need work. $100- representing five one hour classes a week, would help your Spanish conversation a lot, but it won't do miracles for it in such a short amount of time. Besides that, and I know that spending money is tough in these economic times, @serpent has given good advice. It may still yet be possible to search for a language exchange partner for free if you can get started right now. For those of you out there studying Spanish, or another language, take this as a cautionary tale if speaking is a goal for you. All the technological solutions in the world cannot equal actually speaking the language with another human being. If you want to speak, then you simply must give speaking at least as much priority as you do your self-learning study. Avoiding speaking with people may be comfortable, but it is just kicking the can down the road until the day comes when you are faced with the inevitable and you must speak. ¡Buena suerte, @nj24! Edited by iguanamon on 17 July 2012 at 12:19am 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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