Job Discussion Forums

[jillford64]

I'm really having trouble understanding Spanish when someone speaks to me at normal speed. I tried watching television, but I ended up tuning it out after a few minutes because it is just so incomprehensible. My new idea is to listen to books on tape and read along in a regular book at the same time so I can tell where one word ends and the next begins. Or maybe when I get better, listen for a little bit and then read to see if I understood. Has anyone ever tried this? Any other suggestions?

[lozwich]

If you can put captions on your tv (you know, the ones for hearing impaired people) watch tv and read the captions at the same time. Its what I did while I was living in Spain, and my listening skills increased hugely.

Make crazy friends, the type of people who get overly excited about things and speak really fast, but also who are helpful and explain when you don't understand.

Those are my best tips, and they've both worked well for me. I'm not sure of your level, but I'm a high upper-intermediate and still I sometimes just don't get some things. Its usually when I hear some turn of phrase for the first time, and I usually just say I don't understand (a cab driver told me I had a nice back the other day - it means I was his first fare, and hopefully good luck for the day). I've made so many mistakes now, I don't care if I look a little silly if its in the name of learning something new.

Good luck, and try not to feel disheartened.
Lozwich.

[naturegirl321]

Keep trying, don't give up. Try to get the main idea. the details will come later.

I second the captions. WE also had captions on my tv growing up, because of all the noise in my house from my bros and sis. Now I've become used to them

[samizinha]

I learned a lot of Spanish by listening to the radio as much as possible- in the morning before work, as I walk place to place, and in the evening, instead of television. I would keep hearing the same words, look them up and expand my vocabulary... eventually, it all started to make sense. I also learned the lyrics to songs without necessarily understanding what they meant, until I had time to look up the words and learn more.
The others are right, one day you will just wake up and Spanish will make a lot more sense! The more you learn and understand, the more people will be inclined to speak in Spanish with you, and it sort of snowballs from there. Buena suerte!

[cangringo]

jillford, I am having similar problems but it is slowly getting better the more I listen. I still only catch half of what people are saying but most of them see the look on my face and that I'm straining to understand and are very helpful. I can't speak it very well at all.

Hubby on the other hand is very good at speaking and listening, although he doesn't understand certain people. They just talk to fast or slur or something. He found it very helpful to watch the Star Wars movies (the old ones) both in Spanish with English subtitles and the other way around. These movies in particular because we've seen them so many times.

[Guy Courchesne]

How about giving yourself listening goals each day or each week, and concentrate on just those features of Spanish, one at a time?

For example, on Monday, study up on a feature of grammar, like the past tenses of the ar, er, ir verbs. Then listen for them all day. On Tuesday, take a musical approach. Listen for the rhythm of Spanish, and try to hum or parrot back that rhythm, without worrying too much about what you're saying (don't do this aimlessly in the streets ) On Wednesday, pick some vocabulary you expect to hear...going grocery shopping? Concentrate on food items. Do more grammar on Thursday, then more vocab on Friday (beer, bar shots, etc).

Small steps. Don't worry about understanding it all t once....it'll come.

[MamaOaxaca]

I second the radio. Morelia has some great stations!!! When I was there with my babies, we didn't have a TV so I would listen to the radio all day long. Back then my daughters we're the conversationalists they are now. Radio Michoacan is the public station and has some great programming. There is also Radio Nicholita, which is the university station. They have limited broadcast hours, but pick up Radio UNAM when ever they don't have local programming. There were also to FM stations I liked, both had 80s shows, one in the evening, and one around 11 am. I had a radio with a digital tuner, so it was easy for me to flip around to the stations I liked. My landlord always listened to Radio Ranchito! which is very similar to the only station here in Huajuapan, whenever he was working in the yard, that got turned up so I listened to that too.

[john kocal]

It is a very common problem- after taking the standard grammer courses eg. beginners, intermediate, advanced, you still cannot understand a simple sentence spoken at normal spleed. We are taught how to speak but not how to listen. Is this because we gringos think we have so much to say?

Anyway, here is what helped me. On latino ty stations they broadcast regularely childrens cartoons which are dubbed in Spanish such as Little Lulu and Wimzie's House. There are some for all groupss even for kids who do not yet read. Copy lots of these with a vcr and then record the sound electrically through the headphone output on the tv onto a cassette. Then get a cassette player which has a reverse which is actuated with only one press of the button while the play is still on. These players may be hard to find. This allows you to easily repeat one sentence over and over. Start with Wimzie's house or one of the other ones that is for almost babies. Actually they can be a lot of fun.

After months of this you will be ready for the soaps or "tele novelas".These are perfect for learning comprehension as everyone keeps gossiping oveer and over about the same thing. These are also available through Amazon. com in dvd. With a dvd player you will not need to go with the audio cassette recording method since they replay so conveniently bit by bit if you want. Maybe kid's cartoon are available on dvd. I am not sure.