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Why can´t I speak?!?

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ymapazagain
Senior Member
Australia
myspace.com/amywiles
Joined 6961 days ago

504 posts - 538 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: SpanishB2

 
 Message 1 of 12
14 November 2005 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
I´ve been living in spain a few days now and i´ve come across a problem. I am amazed at how much I can understand when i listen to people speak, but I am utterly appalled at how little I can speak! I know that I have the knowlege, but I feel like I hit a brick wall every time I open my mouth. Any advice? Just go for it and don´t hold back I suppose.

This is what I want to say to my tutor tonight. I was just wondering if someone could read it and tell me if it needs any corrections, if i missed any links or if there are just some bad word/grammar choices. Thanks!

Puedo conjugar los verbos rgular usando los tiempos futuro y presente. Tambien, puedo usar el gerundio y el pasado. Mi problema está que no tengo confianza en sí mismo así está difícil de hablar las palabras que yo sé. En mis clases quiero practicar hablando todas las palabras que yo sé con conversación. Cuando puedo usar todo que yo sé con facilidad, sólo entonces aprendaré más.
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morprussell
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7165 days ago

272 posts - 285 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 2 of 12
15 November 2005 at 12:08am | IP Logged 
A bit of advice, maybe you don't want this paragraph corrected before you talk to your tutor tonight. What you wrote represents the level that you are at, this seems like it would be helpful for your tutor to see. Then he/she would have a better idea of where you need help.

I'm not a native speaker, but I can make a few corrections in case a native speaker isn't able to look it over before you need it. I'm sure that when a native speaker looks over my corrections, they will have to correct what I wrote as well (I hope not too much).    

Puedo conjugar los verbos regulares usando los tiempos futuro y presente. También, puedo usar el gerundio y el pasado. El problema es que no tengo confianza en sí mismo, así es difícil decir las palabras que yo sé. En mis clases quiero practicar hablando todas las palabras que yo sé en conversación. Cuando pueda usar todo que yo sé con facilidad, sólo entonces aprenderé más.

I'm not sure about saying "no tengo confianza en sí mismo", hopefully a native speaker can address this.

ymapazagain wrote:
I am amazed at how much I can understand when i listen to people speak, but I am utterly appalled at how little I can speak! I know that I have the knowlege, but I feel like I hit a brick wall every time I open my mouth. Any advice? Just go for it and don´t hold back I suppose.


Yes, just go for it. Keep trying and keep hitting the brick wall, eventually you will break through it.   

Did you go to Spain to improve your Spanish or are you there for another reason? What city are you living in? Good luck and keep us updated on your progres.

Edited by morprussell on 15 November 2005 at 12:13am

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ymapazagain
Senior Member
Australia
myspace.com/amywiles
Joined 6961 days ago

504 posts - 538 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: SpanishB2

 
 Message 3 of 12
15 November 2005 at 12:23am | IP Logged 
thanks for the help! I know its a good idea to let the tutor see my level, but I also wanted to study for a few hours before my lesson and wanted an idea of what to work on. Just a question about your corrections so that I can understand them better....

"Cuando pueda usar..." Because I am talking about myself I thought that correct term was puedo? or is there a rule in some circumstances that changes this?

"no tengo confianza en sí mismo"...i found this in an online dictionary...that usually means its wrong!
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morprussell
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7165 days ago

272 posts - 285 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 4 of 12
15 November 2005 at 12:39am | IP Logged 
ymapazagain wrote:
"Cuando pueda usar..." Because I am talking about myself I thought that correct term was puedo? or is there a rule in some circumstances that changes this?


In some circumstances the subjunctive mood is needed (Such as this one). If you haven't heard about this yet, don't worry. When you're ready for it your tutor can help you with it.    

ymapazagain wrote:
"no tengo confianza en sí mismo"...i found this in an online dictionary...that usually means its wrong!


Lol, I don't have any confidence in those things either. It could be correct, I'm just not sure. I know you can say "Él no tiene confianza en sí mismo", "He doesn't have confidence in himself". I'm just not sure if you can use the same "sí mismo" term to refer to yourself.

I spent four months in Spain improving my Spanish. The one thing that helped me more than anything else was doing language exchanges. I met with local people who were learning English. Normally I would help them with their English for half the time, and they would help me with my Spanish. If you're interested here is the website that I used to find people. Loquo This link goes to the main Loquo page which is for Barcelona, but they offer many other cities around Spain. To find the language exchange section look under "comunidad" for "intercambio de idiomas ".

Edited by morprussell on 15 November 2005 at 12:45am

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ymapazagain
Senior Member
Australia
myspace.com/amywiles
Joined 6961 days ago

504 posts - 538 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: SpanishB2

 
 Message 5 of 12
15 November 2005 at 12:45am | IP Logged 
Thanks, thats a huge help!
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patuco
Diglot
Moderator
Gibraltar
Joined 7017 days ago

3795 posts - 4268 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 6 of 12
15 November 2005 at 6:18am | IP Logged 
morprussel wrote:
I'm just not sure if you can use the same "sí mismo" term to refer to yourself.


No you can't. Better to say "no tengo confianza con migo mismo" or "no tengo confianza en mis abilidades".
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KingM
Triglot
Senior Member
michaelwallaceauthor
Joined 7193 days ago

275 posts - 300 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, French
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 7 of 12
15 November 2005 at 8:32pm | IP Logged 
patuco wrote:
morprussel wrote:
I'm just not sure if you can use the same "sí mismo" term to refer to yourself.


No you can't. Better to say "no tengo confianza con migo mismo" or "no tengo confianza en mis abilidades".


Lo correcto será habilidades, no abilidades. Apart from that, the second sentence sounds better to me, but I'm also not a native speaker.

Patuco, doesn't this sentence seem a little off, too?

En mis clases quiero practicar hablando todas las palabras que yo sé con conversación.

How about, En las clases, quiero praticar en conversación todas las palabras que ya se...or better...que ya entiendo pero aún no domino.

That's what you're trying to say, isn't it? You have a certain stock of words that you can recognize or perhaps even recall with dificulty but have not yet mastered.
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patuco
Diglot
Moderator
Gibraltar
Joined 7017 days ago

3795 posts - 4268 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*
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 Message 8 of 12
16 November 2005 at 6:18am | IP Logged 
KingM wrote:
Lo correcto será habilidades, no abilidades.

Yes you're correct. I keep on making spelling mistakes when I write in Spanish!



KingM wrote:
Patuco, doesn't this sentence seem a little off, too?

To be perfectly blunt, I'd change quite a bit of the entire passage. When I first read it, it sounded as if the passage had been written in English and then translated into Spanish, rather than been thought out in Spanish. No offence intended.



KingM wrote:
En mis clases quiero practicar hablando todas las palabras que yo sé con conversación.
How about, En las clases, quiero praticar en conversación todas las palabras que ya se...or better...que ya entiendo pero aún no domino.

I'l modify yours slightly and suggest:
"En mis clases quiero practicar varias conversaciones usando todas las palabras que ya conozco pero aún no domino"


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