Nag about Spanish

Claro que si , y tambien para conocer gente local!!

Hi Rey

I agree with you about learning Spanish. My wife and I are working on it everyday. I do think that PR should have safety broadcasts and other critical information given in English as well. In the states all services and important information is provided in both English and Spanish. I know that Spanish is the official language of PR, but as part of the U.S. access to information should be available for those who need it. There are now many folks from PR now living in Florida (as well as other states) who can function quite easily with knowing only Spanish.

I respect and appreciate the fact that Spanish is the official language of PR, but would appreciate to have access to information in English as well.

Jgolak wrote:

Hi Rey

I agree with you about learning Spanish. My wife and I are working on it everyday. I do think that PR should have safety broadcasts and other critical information given in English as well. In the states all services and important information is provided in both English and Spanish. I know that Spanish is the official language of PR, but as part of the U.S. access to information should be available for those who need it. There are now many folks from PR now living in Florida (as well as other states) who can function quite easily with knowing only Spanish.

I respect and appreciate the fact that Spanish is the official language of PR, but would appreciate to have access to information in English as well.

I respect your point and agree with you but I am not the governor, you should raise it with him.  There is little I can do.

Sometimes a news article of real importance like that, is in Spanish and sign language and on occasion it is later repeated in English. The governor does that sometimes. There are also English newspapers and TV channels but It is not the same and the timing may be late, I agree. It's more like a second thought to them.

To those interested, I super highly recommend to get the 5 DVD course in Latin American Spanish from Fluenz (fluenz.com), it lists for around 348 in Amazon and you can also download it. It has an app for iPhone and the other brands of phones. It is conversational, so you learn by ordering food, asking directions and all sorts of practical stuff. You learn to read it, write it, speak it and correct pronunciation, you also learn the grammar and they are very good at explaining the why. There is a lot of reenforcement practice in it and you can replay a lesson over and over again. My wife is a gringa, she uses it, I listen and marvel as how good she sounds and her understanding. She does not allow me to help her, what she has learned, she has done on her own with this course. I highly recommend it!!!

Another good method is to "read" the newspaper everyday. You won't understand everything but you can more easily know what the context is from the headline, e.g., it mentions "Trump", "Clinton", "Irma", "Corea del norte". You then start filling in the blanks of what words you don't understand step by step. As Spanish is (almost) spoken just as its spelled (in accordance with Spanish pronunciation rules, of course), this method indirectly helps with your speaking as well. If you do this every single day, you will make progress.

Beginners need to add vocabulary as a priority because you need a growing vocabulary in order to practice speaking with native speakers. Only then will you begin to learn the grammar in a useful way by imitating what natives do with the vocabulary you now understand. Knowing grammatical rules with no or little vocabulary is useless on a practical level. The newspaper will give you the vast majority of the vocabulary you will need.

Kid's books have helped me tremendously. I figure if I could achieve the speaking/grammar ability of a third grader, I could get by in most situations.
Kids have also taught me a lot of Spanish - they have no preconceptions and are great teachers.

My husband reads the local Spanish newspaper and it helps him.

It's always important to learn the language of the country you are in. You can not expect everything to be in English.

We are a Nuyorican family so our dialect and accent is much different than a native Puerto Rican. Whenever we are in PR we have a tough time with understanding sometimes.

Living in NYC, it is so interesting to see how different the spanish accents and dialects are from Spaniards (I think they sound like they have a lisp when they speak); Dominican (I think they they speak super fast in a sing song accent) and Mexican (some words I just don't understand or they mean something else entirely), etc. These detections are probably more noticeable to a Latinx/Hispanic.

In the states some Southern accents are really strong and different to understand. I've even seen shows where they add subtitles when a southerner speaks. Alaska and Hawaii also have very distinct accents. Massachusetts is known for  dropping the r.  Then the infamous fughetaboutit New York accent I detect more from Brooklynites.

Language is a fun and interesting thing! Remember that spanish teaching tools usually use the "Queens language" when learning like with english. So it's good to keep that in mind. I mean how many people do you know actually speak proper english in the states? With that said, try not to be discouraged and continue not just practicing but also listening. Do whatever works best for you and remember repetition is key!😉

Raven,
I lived all over the states so I am used to all the accent and choices of words and currentlyly in MA.
I like languages, the one thing I figured out a long time ago is that they are simbolic, a direct translation does not always work, sone word orders are reversed from one language to another and some languages are richer (like Spanish), some have more verb tenses than others. So i think in the language I speak at the moment and dream on both also.

Obviously taking some kind of class or tutoring is the best way start to learning Spanish.
Then watching Spanish movies with English subtitles helps and listening to Spanish music.
Along with reading the newspaper.

ReyP wrote:

Raven,
I lived all over the states so I am used to all the accent and choices of words and currentlyly in MA.
I like languages, the one thing I figured out a long time ago is that they are simbolic, a direct translation does not always work, sone word orders are reversed from one language to another and some languages are richer (like Spanish), some have more verb tenses than others. So i think in the language I speak at the moment and dream on both also.

Very good point! When we were watching an American show last night they were translating whenever spanish was spoken. I noticed that it wasn't a direct translation and completely different from what it meant. We notice this happens often on some shows (i.e. Power, Snowfall, etc.)

From living in NYC, you hear it all. Which is something I like because you naturally become accustomed to the different accents. Believe it or not, people tend to be more patient in trying to understand you rather than waving you off in frustration.

When I would stay my summers in Puerto Rico I became accustomed to the native accent and would even pick it up. Whenever I would return back to the states it would be pointed out how much I sounded like a native Puerto Rican. Then of course over time I'd loose the accent.

Also try Duolingo
https://www.duolingo.com/

When I was around 17 i started selling encyclopedias in PR, almost daily I had a different partner to go knock on doors with. Sometimes a Dominican, some times a Puerto Rican and sometimes a Cuban. Needless to say by the time I got home I had pickup their accent. It got me into a lot of fights with my girlfriend, she hated that my accent changed daily.