I think it’s the ‘wrestling with a new way of thinking’ that puts most students off of learning another language. They don’t seem to understand that the whole point of learning another language is to discover how a different culture communicates and sees the world. It’s a sympathetic study, not an egocentric one.
Gentry Haney not too dramatic at all, that’s exactly it. I don’t know about America, but in the UK STEM subjects are far more chosen by students at A Level than languages, arts and humanities. I think it’s because they are ‘soulless’ subjects that are comprised of straight-forward knowledge acquisition and application. They’re all about how much *you* know, you hardly have to consider other points of view or do wider reading, as you’re dealing with facts and constants. They may be intellectually challenging, but I would wager to say that they’re far easier to revise.
@@jazzman2516 i myself graduated in IT but technology is simple to understand, logic is literally yes and no, theres no abstract meaning to anything(programming gets foggy but its still concrete) Language and culture are just different, not a math problem, just existing with a purpose
I was thinking the exact same thing. The logic (mentioned in the video) behind the word use and idiomatic expressions is cultural and based on assumptions in thinking between listener and speaker in a conversation. So, you don't want to ignore it completely but take it with a grain of salt when you are using a new language.
On a Mexican holiday, I was trying to speak Spanish to a beach venor who knew a bit of English and in reference to my telling her I was trying to learn Spanish she said "You are making good" -- it was at that moment, and when I was explaining this to her in broken English/Spanish that she really meant to say "You are doing well", when I realized how the double meaning of Hacer made it hard for her to translate accurately into English. When I saw your video on this today it made me think of this experience ... Thanks, Bruce
In New Orleans slang, they used to say making groceries instead of doing groceries. It’s a common point of confusion when moving from a Romance language to English.
@@theknightswhosay That's interesting because in the UK we would never dream of saying either 'making groceries' or 'doing groceries'. They both sound like nonsense phrases to us.
To help with avoiding asking why questions, I used to tell my friends that you need to approach learning Spanish/new language like learning a new sport. You can’t apply the rules of football to rugby or vice versa. They’re similar but different sports with different rules. You need to learn the rules of said sports separately to play it correctly. Same thing with languages. :)
I found that stopping using a translator when writing forced me to remember words and phrases. I now can turn on thinking in my head by seeing Spanish words not English and connecting them. And I speak to native speakers each day so no time to translate. Great video....I do hate ser...haha
I try to make the sentence in my head first and then use Google translate to see how i did and if there is something I don't understand or a phrase that doesn't make sense ill go hunting for answers to learn from that!
I learned to think in Spanish when (a) I realised that I had thousands of thoughts in English all day, every day and these needed to be quiet to let Spanish speak to me - a lot like calming your thoughts in meditation, and (b) reaching a stage where I didn't need the *live interpreter* in my mind to convert everything from Spanish to English
@@servantofthetruth8203 Agree, I'm trying to improve in English, and is difficult to me thinking in English instead Spanish. Spanish is my first language
@@Anonymous-yh1ul well judging by your comment your have good English skills..you just have to keep doing your best and find techniques and methods that will help you achieve your goals
Instinct and subconscious learning is real!! I'm learning a little bit of Spanish, not enough to speak confidently, but my partner said I started sleep talking in Spanish!! 😂
I do my best language learning when someone corrects me because (often due to some level of embarrassment on my part) I replay the episode in my head several times over the next few days and I remember it.
This video was the biggest AH HA moment! I never realized that when I didn't know the Spanish, I'd feel pressure to keep the conversation going. I'd frantically scramble in my head to translate and often what came out was the literal translation that didn't work. I noticed that if I relaxed, didn't struggle, and let my mind flow, I often knew the right vocabulary. More patience and more practice. Thanks Andrew!
My first ever Spanish teacher would always say: “How you FEEL and where you ARE, you gotta use the verb ESTAR” I’m getting into a better habit about not trying to apply English logic to everything but his quote was really helpful for me!
Thanks for sharing Aston! 😊 There are exceptions to that (e.g. if we are afraid "tengo miedo", or embarrassed "tengo vergüenza" etc.) and we sometimes use "ser" for location. So, if it was helpful for you, then fantastic, the key is to also practice the exceptions.
The use of "tengo" in Spanish is interesting in that it means you have something rather than you are something. So in English we say "I am hungry." In Spanish it's, "tengo hambre." But literally translated would be, "I have hunger."
I think this is why Duolingo is working for me, although I'm supplementing with podcasts and TH-cam video tips. I'm about halfway through the Spanish tree and it was extremely frustrating at certain times, when the structure didn't match English. I struggled through and kept at it. Now after about a year and a half, I can't explain why something is right to my friend who's also doing the app, but I tend to just know when something sounds right. Repetition definitely works.
Yay, Duolingo! ❤I am very happy to hear that worked for you. I started Duolingo about a month ago. I am really enjoying it. A million years ago, I tried to learn French for a year in high school, but I couldn't get the pronunciations as quickly as I needed - plus I wasn't really interested. I have learned so many more words in Spanish in just a month with Duolingo than I did in French in a whole year. I finished the 1st part of the tree, and I'm almost 1/2 way into the 2nd section, and I have about 441 words under my belt (though not totally in my head yet. lol). I take my time, I repeat the words and sentences as given as often as I like, and I even make notes with the definition of each word along with how they sound to MY ears instead of the formal pronunciation guides. I never bonded with those. Despite all these words, I really can't say much yet that I'd want to, but each day I learn more, so that is coming. What I think I need to do is buy a few good books on Spanish, plus start watching young children's Spanish TV shows (at first). I am not proud, if I could find good children's learning programs, I'd be more than happy to use them to build my skills along with Duolingo.
Me alegro mucho de que estés progresando con tu español. Ya verás como en unos años entenderás completamente el español. Si eres un hablante de inglés lo que más te puede costar son las conjugaciones y la acentuación ya que, incluso yo que soy de España, no pongo las tildes siempre. Continue on this way, you will go far on the understanding of the Spanish language. (If I made any mistakes with the last sentence that i put in English, correct me please)
I'm not an English major, but your English seems fine for the most part to me. However, since you ask, "Continue on this way" sounds awkward but can be easily understood and probably is acceptable to 98% of everyone who reads your comment anyway. Maybe if you put "If you" in front of "continue on this way" it'd sound less awkward to me, but it changes a commanding phrase to a subjunctive (a bit of a new word for me, I'm only familiar due to learning Spanish grammar). Then there's "you will go far on the understanding of the Spanish language" and that sounds even more weird to me mainly because of the word "on". So, I'd change it to "you will go far in understanding the Spanish language" which removes "on the" with "in" and removes "of", also avoids repetition of "the" but that's not always necessarily a weakness. Alternatively, you could say "you will go far in your understanding of the Spanish language" which replaces "on the" with "in your" and this time it doesn't remove "of". Although the word "your" is a more personal determiner compared to "the" it's a redundant point to me since the "understanding" or comprehension you're referring to could be that of the commenter's. Lastly (and I thought of this before I finished my comment), if you put "and" between "way," and "you" then you can keep "Continue on this way" the same and simply apply the changes I previously mentioned. I can't explain why to a more exact degree, but I guess the reason I believe these are right is because my time with English and being taught in various points of my life what is formal and informal, good and bad grammar, guides me subconsciously to what may sound the most correct and usually works because of my attentiveness in the past. I'm sure it's the same for anyone with great grammar in their native language, including yourself most likely.
Language Transfer is a good app to try also, it's free and really helps with understanding the structure of sentences in Spanish, and bringing in positive language transfer from English into Spanish. Even the more basic lessons in the beginning are still helpful for intermediate level
Thanks for this reply. I just started working on Spanish again with the new year, and tested into the level I'm at, but am a bit frustrated, because I know a lot of it still and it's pretty "basic". At the very least, I realized last night it's helping solidify the grammar and structure in my mind, so thanks for affirming that.
Great video! I'm a native Spanish speaker and I did this while learning English. Now my brain thinks half of the time in Spanish and half of the time in English. Jajaja. Nowadays I'm trying to do the same thing with Mandarin, but it's quite a challenge. ¡Saludos desde Argentina!
In school I studied German some years. After finishing school I went to Germany with a class mate and visited some of his relatives. At first I struggled with the grammar, but the second day I ditched all my grammar considerations and without hesitation used the vocabulary and grammar that first appeared in my mind. This was well received by the family as communication now began to flow. I got some corrections, usually as a confirming repetition of what I had said, but in a correct way. Trial-and-error-and-adopt.
What has made learning Spanish easier for me is first I accepted that languages literally make you think differently than your native language. 2nd I got it in my head that learning new ways to think and express yourself is the honestly one of the best parts of learning a language. I guess I just had the motivation to learn. The struggle is fun hahaha
About thinking differently, I believe that's true to an extent, but some people take that idea to an extreme, (see: the strong Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis), for which there isn't much justification. In other words, we all have very similar brains in our heads, with the same sensory inputs, etc. So people with different first languages are not _that_ alien to one another. And I think most people accept that there is such a thing as a very good translation; novels written in Japanese can be translated to English, e.g., in a way makes enough sense to an English-speaking reader that she'll happily read the novel.
Brilliant video! When teaching English I found that it was super effective to give my students examples of instances where Spanish didn’t make sense either. As soon as they realized that they had no problem using lots of words and phrases in Spanish despite being illogical they did not need to know “why” nearly as much.
I'm English and I am in a relationship with a lovely lady from Mexico. It felt right to learn her language too, despite her being fluent in English. The biggest issue I had/have, is I'm a very logical and process based thinker, so I would get obsessed with word for word translations and it ruined the learning experience. I've tried every possible type of learning, and can honestly say this video highlighted many issues which most learning resources don't address properly. I found myself laughing during this video as the struggles of your students were so relatable to me. 😂 Great video!
Great advice. As a logic-based thinker, I've struggled with learning Spanish. I find this straightforward concept of asking "How" rather than "Why" questions to be an invaluable way to change my approach. Thank you!
I have done this with a few sentences in Spanish. Learned them off by heart and they have stuck in my mind. I used some of them in a shop downtown last Thursday, the assistant speaks Spanish fluently, I could conversate enough that he was answering me back and understood me perfectly. I was delighted 😀 He was impressed that I have only been learning for 3 weeks. I will do the same this coming week, only speak in Spanish and see how I do ☺ Mucho gracias 🌱🌻🌱
So true!! I studied Spanish in university and learned it the academic way. I felt I never progressed much, even after two years. It wasn't until I lived in a Spanish speaking country and heard the same words and phrases day in and day out, that I could speak it and understand it so much more fluidly. When things are in context it also makes it stick easier and faster. I found the academic way of learning, as you said, was too much trying to work it out in your head. It impedes progress. I am now learning Hawaiian and am finding repetition and hearing phrases and words in context helps a great deal. It also accelerates the process when you just think in the language. For example, I'll be cooking and I'll learn how to say things in Hawaiian while cooking. I do this for everything, whether hiking, cleaning, surfing, etc. The learning curve is much shorter this way of learning I find.
I agree with many things said in the video. I also went through it but the other way around(Spanish to English), there are quite a lot of things in English that simply seem wrong if I analyze them thinking in Spanish, you have to just memorize stuff on and on until it becomes second nature. Overanalyzing the language can easily lead to feel frustrated and that will keep you from learning Spanish.
the way I learned Ser and Estar was Ser is for identifying someone or something like if you were telling someone about who you're looking for you'd use Ser to describe them. And Estar is for emotions and locations (with some exceptions) idk if that way of thinking runs into the same issues but thinking of it like that instead of permanent/temporary has definitely made it easier to keep track of.
Very helpful. For many years, I have been struggling to learn languages, and have only been able to think in French, Hawaiian and Greek. I have been translating words in all the others; Polish, Italian, Czech, Hebrew, Gaelic and Spanish. I usually try to learn enough of a language to get by when I visit the country. I seldom get further than the A2 level in a language. I’d like to get to B2 in Spanish. Since I am visiting Santiago and Buenos Aires this winter, I have been studying Spanish. This idea is going to drastically change how I approach learning a language. Thank you! Side note: your video used the spelling “seperate”. In these days of spell check, people seldom worry about it, but it should be separate. People were often encouraged to think of “a rat in a trap” to remember that it is an “a”, not an “e” in the middle.
Your videos are so valuable. Until I lived in Mexico in 1962 with a Mexican family I wasn't able to carry on a conversation. 60 years later I use Spanish everyday. I taught Spanish in the 70s and wish I had known of these ideas.
As a native Spanish speaker, who switched to english as everyday language after moving to Australia. I find Spanish being more mechanical and straightforward compared to English. Words in Spanish don't often get many additional meanings to be used different contexts, which means no phrasal verbs. Because of this, it is in some styles of poetry where words get meanings. I am sure you would love to listen to Joaquin Sabina and how he plays with the meanings of words
Me alegra saber que hay tantas personas interesadas en aprender el español, en lo personal, a mí me gusta mucho mi idioma nativo. Yo recién estoy comenzando a aprender inglés, la verdad, es algo bastante difícil, principalmente por la fluidez. No se desanimen en el aprendizaje del español, es difícil, pero no imposible. Yo estoy comenzando a incursionar en el inglés y daré lo mejor de mí para lograrlo. Mucha suerte a todos ☺.
For the hair example, I feel it's more natural to use the verb "tener" instead of "ser." "Ella tiene el pelo corto." I like how you talked about taking the logic and grammar rules away from speaking and just applying a more natural approach to learning a language. Also, some phrases, especially idioms may change from country to country.
Was chatting with a Mexican woman who has lived in the USA for close to 30 years, was married to a gringo, and works as a translator (English/Spanish). When she told me that she "took a decision" (translating literally from "tomar"), I corrected her ("made a decision"). She dismissed my correction, and argued with me. It was a lesson TO ME in how one should not let one's ego get in the way of learning a language or anything else.
I took 4 high school, 3 semesters college...It wasn't until I moved to South America with daily intensive language classes for 3 months and living in the country a couple of years until I was really thinking (talking to myself, dreaming) in Spanish...Around the 2 year mark listening to Spanish music with English translations helped with fluency...Mana's Unplugged music helped
I'd say that Spanish is actually quite robust when it comes to logical rules and it is a blessing for those who need to know the rules to learn a language and find it difficult to "learn naturally" using trial and error and/or intuition. The rule in this case is the same as in English, but it just happens that English doesn't seem to follow it. A person's name cannot be just whatever. Names belong to a more or less extense but definite set of options. Your name is "John", "Peter" or "Steven" but cannot be "Football", "Potato" or "Wheel". That is why you use "which" and not "what".
Thanks for sharing VG! All I will say is that it's the logic that we are now applying in hindsight. Most English natives will ask "what is your name" and Spanish natives will ask "¿Cuál es tu nombre? It's our job as students to practice this and try to avoid figuring out which word to use through logic.
If you're a Hollywood celebrity naming your newborn baby, you would choose a kooky word for their name, like Moon Unit Zappa, Apple, Lourdes, and Zoltan.
@@MH-be6hr “Lourdes” is a very common catholic name. But bringing here a joke from Louie CK, for sure nobody’s name is just a long sequence of random consonants like “xsdfghtrstxhg”.
The way I've been taught ser and estar is that ser describes a characteristic whereas estar describes a state. Idk if down the road I might find some situations where that distinction doesn't work for me but I find it much easier to comprehend and apply than permanent vs temporary. So for example hair length and height are a characteristic of someone's appearance whereas being tired or being late for something are a state. And there are things that can be both, e.g you can be bored (state) or you can be boring (characteristic).
Hablo ambos idiomas, y la verdad tengo que estar agradecido de que mis padres me metieron a la escuela en Estados Unidos por unos años cuando era chico porque suena súper complicado aprender un idioma nuevo. Ahora no tengo idea de cómo hago para manejar los dos idiomas, pero agradecido con el de arriba por no tener que sufrir tanto.
Seriously ya some of the most basic and common advice is the best. Just listening and watching shows in Spanish can help, talking around the house about basic things can help, trying to talk to Spanish speakers helps a lot too. For me I'm thrilled when I find myself thinking of even very basic words and phrases in Spanish and realize I don't need to think to translate them, I fully understand them instantly and once that happens I know I've "got" those words. And just build on that. Even adding one or two new words to your day or week and using them frequently until you're comfortable with them is progress.
Excellent points. Word for word translations rarely work, instead our goal is to express the idea (not the words) in our target language... and above all patience and perseverance. I will apply your advice as I continue to study Spanish. Thank you. (Make = to create. Do = to perform/execute an action 😉)
Gracia!!. I am the type of thinker and Spanish-language learner who needs to be reminded not to ask "why". (I had the same difficulty with Mathematics many years ago.) Another approach recommended by other Spanish teachers is to learn chunks, common expressions and collocations. P.S. I used to teach English as another language and I remember well trying to teach "to make" and " to do" to native Spanish and Portuguese speakers. I offered this "rule": Do often has the meaning of a routine, normal or assigned activity (process). Make usually has the sense of producing or creating something (product).
Thank you! This lesson has changed my "logic based" approach to learning Spanish. Your simple reasoning for memorization makes perfect sense. Thank you!
This video was informational....and funny! It made me chuckle several times because I could envision us Spanish students going through the time-consuming about is hair and height a temporary or permanent thing. :-) Thank you, Andrew, for these great videos!
I have only just discovered you and your channel. You are the first spanish teacher I have met who understands exactly what I have been thinking. You get it. Muchos gracias.
You know, I think that there's a balance to be struck between asking why and just getting the feel of the language. I think it's because the answer to "why?" cannot always be expressed in words easily. In the case of ser and estar, this is definitely true! I rarely say the wrong one now, but I go by a feeling more than a rule book. HOWEVER, there's lots of times where asking "why?" has helped me, so I think it's a bad idea to just never ask as you learn. Just be willing to accept that there are times when there will not be a more satisfying answer than "It just sounds wrong, and you have to get a feel for it."
Briliant video! My goodness, the "make and do" is perfect! I'm going to use that with my students so they see ALL languages have these challenges. At a near-native level and after almost eight years living in the UK, I still battle with those! ¡Muchas gracias!
Qué video bien planeado! He sido culpable de preguntar 'por qué', quieria que todo tuviera sentido logicamente para ver el patrón posible. Sabía que mis frases sonaban fatal para un nativo, así que ahora estoy aprendiendo a interiorizar frases cortas. También decidí escuchar mucho más y escribir. Todavía no ha pasado mucho tiempo, pero creo que ya he mejorado!
Pretend we just met. Andrew, how do you do? OK, how do you do WHAT? You see how trying to translate word for word in English can lead to a dead end? We have to learn the expressions together. Great video by the way!
All very valid points for sure. I would just add that we can “do lunch” but also “make lunch”. The idiomatic references and expressions are always something I remind students about when they are referencing them in a language. And, as you know idiomatic expressions present a whole series of issues for language learners. I’m not going to be able to make lunch today (join you or prepare?😊) or do lunch today. I always appreciate your perspective for sure. Gracias!!
Great video and points. I had this very same problem early on when my analytical engineering/scientific mind had to know the "Why?" of how things are said in SPanish. "Por qué es "Tocar una guitarra," y no es "Jugar una guitarra.?" My tutor/gf just kept saying, "because that's the way it is in Spanish," which, of course, was a totally unsatisfying answer. She also told me to stop trying to translate things literally because it wouldn't work in the long run. But I quickly discovered by just using the language you get the hang of things without trying to translate and without thinking. An idea is not expressed by translating a sequence of words, but rather a commonly used phrases and patters of expressing that idea. I find that reading good language-level texts out loud is a great way to see the way the language is used, and internalize those patterns. However, I've not had any success finding LATAM Spanish primers and readers, preferably ones with stories containing lots of back and forth dialog between characters. Do you have any suggestions for simple children's readers to intermediate level texts? I'd give preference to anything from Colombia and/or Mexico. Thanks.
Big fan of Olly Richard’s “Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners” (or there’s also an intermediate level book too). They’re extra affordable in digital format and have stories DESIGNED to demonstrate vocabulary in context (awesome!) and to introduce-and then repeat-common, real-world sentence structures & word sequences. There are also 2 books that are ONLY conversations back-n-forth, and one comes in a “Mexico” style of Spanish, like you want!
Yes, I completely agree!! 😊 Trying to apply the logic that it should be "jugar la guitarra" assumes that "play" is the best verb in any language and that purely comes from being used to the English language. If Spanish was your first language, then "play the guitar" would not be logical. We have a literature review conversation class in our school, although we aim it for more advanced students, we have been looking at authors such as Francisco Hinojosa, Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez, Salvador Álvaro García - their books are targeted at adolescents.
Why is is "Jugar una guitarra"? I mean you dont play with it as it is a toy do you? haha what you do, its properly touch the cords of the guitarre to make sounds so it makes more sense to say "Tocar una guitarra". That's the logic reverse. There is a sense of snobbiness on saying "Why isnt it jugar una guitarra? Well because that's english logic you are applying from your own egocentric point of view on how things have to be said. A spanish would say why jugar? makes no sense from their own perspective. Thats the problem. Sun in Spanish is masculine "El Sol" while in German is "Die Sonne" femenine. So why? there is no big why... it's just what it is. Why it has to be masculine or why it has to be femenine and not the other way around? xD
I love the way you say you try to reason with the student by asking the same why's in his own language so they realize that asking why won't help them understand the language. I like thinking that we just have different thought patterns in Spanish than the ones we have in English.
The timing of this video is perfect as I am in the midst of learning all the uses of ser/estar. I could see how it could be very slow going if I was speaking and had to stop and recall which of the 12 uses for ser/estar were appropriate. Your video explained perfectly why this would not work. I am as always grateful for your work.
My favorite piece of advice from this lesson is: repeat 100 times or 1000 times. Whatever it takes to stick in my brain. It seems so simple, but an excellent reminder. I will follow this advice. Thank you.
thanks for this very helpful video and yes I gave up thinking Why? for the same reasons that you mentioned and also because I realize that in my own native language itself that there are many many ways we use words and phrases because we were taught them that way it is just how they passed down through generations
Yes, that's exactly right! 😊 Language evolves through humans passing things down through the generations and this doesn't always result in logical sentences.
This might have just solved a HUGE PROBLEM I didn’t know how to stop… translating in my head. If I practice it enough and accept that’s just the way it is… the pattern will become second nature and I will stop applying logic eventually! Thank you!
Exactly! I used to struggle so much and I found out that trying to dive super deep isn’t the way, but instead with practice and looking at examples of a thing’s uses is what really helped me
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your videos. You give enough background, examples and pronunciations that it creates a fertile ground for more learning. I do have a question unrelated to this video: How and when to use reflexive forms of verbs? I’m always wondering when to use, for example, estacionarse, olvidarse, recordarse, etc. As soon as I think that I have a phrase down, I get confused when subtle changes cause the opposite reflexive or non-reflexive form to be used.
@@realfastspanish mas o menos yo creo que se usar estos verbos como, ducarse, peinaerse y mas. ( tenemos algo asi en hebreo) pero no entiendo como usar estos verbos. ser enviado, ser presionado, como inclinarlos?
Another excellent video, Andrew! I'm struggling with this so much now and very frustrated. My background in science and computer programming (it's also just the way I think) leaves me feeling frustrated and angry when Spanish is not logical, when one word can mean so many things, when objects and subjects are all mixed up, etc. I made a lot of progress when I was using Pimsleur because it was just repeating phrases, but I got bored with the process and fell off the wagon. English is insanely irrational and inconsistent sometimes but I'm so used to it, I don't think about it. I think that if I focused more on phrases rather than individual words, I might do better. For example, I watch a video in Spanish and I don't understand it, but I can pick out a few words. Then when I see the transcript of subtitles, I see that I know most of the words. But my mind just doesn't put them together because I'm trying to translate word for word in my head, too slowly for comprehension. Same thing in reverse with Speaking. Native speakers smash words together and a phrase made up of words you do know, will sound like a long word that you don't know.
phrases are more important than individual words, often the meaning of words changes when they are in particular relation to other words. There are a lot of phrase books you can get and practice from, and as he says, repeat, repeat, repeat. Make up conversations from the phrase book and repeat them or better yet find a native who wants to improve their English and practice with them with the understanding that you will correct each other when making mistakes. Good luck
@@gibbonschip no but I'm on the right track now. The other very important thing is to get the pronunciation correct. If you don't say the words correctly you won't understand them when others speak. I had to go back after year of study and learn that properly.
This is a great discussion! 😊 Learning phrases is great and practicing them by repeating them again and again is key! Then with time and focus, the language will become clearer and more solidified in your mind.
Man this is gold. One thing that's been getting me recently is using gerunds incorrectly. I would always say something like "me gusta andando en bici" o "después de andando en bici" because that's how I'd say it in English, but in Spanish you just use the infinitive, "me gusta andar en bici" y "después de andar en bici". Who cares why that's just how it is!
To say that we think in a language is misleading. The real question is how can a person stop translating? The answer is once you spend enough time learning the foreign language you should stop automatically.
Thanks for sharing Adonas!! 😊 All I will add is that it isn't necessarily a switch that turns on and turn but a ramp that grows as you get better and better with the language.
Great advice. There are many many things that don’t translate between languages and don’t make sense. You have to learn it. Accept it as it is. And practice it until it becomes natural.
I was told that using “qué” when asking someone’s name has pushy/ rude connotations. Same reason Abuela Alma (Encanto) said, “Abre los ojos” instead of “abre tus ojos.”
Thanks for the reality check. I was asking 'why? for almost the first year, and sometimes I still catch myself. I started helping people in the town I'm living in to learn English and that's when I realized some things in English don't make sense either *cough* phrasal verbs *cough*. Now I more or less accept that I just have to be patient with myself and keep trying to learn, and sometimes there is a formula, and a lot of times I just have to memorize.
Great series! I’m new to Spanish, and I find these videos helpful. With ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’, do you find that it has more to do with context of the conversation, then say permanent and temporary? Also, I’m noticing that Spanish teachers (for adults), in the USA, or going with a more Latin American format, than formal España taught in American high schools. ‘Cuál’ format is used a lot more.
For "ser" and "estar", it is a tricky topic and I think it's best to think of it is a tricky topic like "make" and "do" in English. It's not always obvious when we should use one or the other. But, we get better at using them with study, time and practice.
I know this may not be the most technical way to do it, however, i find that when I was perfecting my Spanish and helping my friends learn it, music is a great tool. Not for proper grammar but for context. Find a style of music and some artists that are Spanish artists and look at lyrics. One example of this came with a friend of mine. We were listening to a song together and one of the lines was "Ella es candela". If you were to translate that word into English with Google translate, it would simply say candle. But saying "Ella es candela" is more along the lines or "She is hot" or "attractive". Sure it's slang or euphemism, but every language has these. So once you get some basics down. Try listening to some Spanish speaking friends or videos and see if you can get some context. It will impress your friends and take you from speaking to casual conversation.
Most Spanish TH-cam channels aren't by spanish people, try Hola Spanish or Easy Spanish for more local ways of speaking, here in Spain, nobody says Que Guay unless they are from South or Central America
@@BakerWild Thank you for the recommendations. I will add them to my library. However, just one counter-point. In America, we speak to mostly Central and South American peoples, so it is helpful. Everything helps.
Switching my primary language on my phone to Español helped with the Qué/Cuál point you raised - but I struggled with something else. While “¿Cuál es el problema?” Sounded better and rolled off the tongue more comfortably (and ultimately turned out to be correct, at least according to the apps I checked with) the ‘a’ ending of problema had me assuming it should’ve been “¿Cuál es la problema?”
Thank you for opening my eyes to learning. I have been watching and listening to Spanish classes for a month or so and not retaining much. Now I know the secret! Really enjoy your video's.
This was exactly the way I used to learn English!!! Now, I'm learning Spanish, and it's been going on so good thus far.. I'm now learning Spanish from duolingo and It's such a nice app to start gaining grounds in my Spanish learning journey!
I'm a huge fan - thanks for all your videos. But I'm struggling with the problem you mention (trying to think logically - I come from a computer programming background)). I've spent a lot of time in "Why hell" and frankly also in "loathing the illogicality of it all hell" as well. But I've learned that English is in many ways just as mad and so now I'm more accepting. I'm not completely fixed however; I STILL think Spanish is quite ridiculous is some ways. All those conjugations? Insane. Clitic pronouns? Unforgiveable! SO I have a way to go. But I also have a problem with your alternative. Sure, I can learn "known-correct" patterns but wouldn't I need to learn very many of them to be fluent? Furthrmore, UNTIL I've learned them all, I'm adrift in a world where I need to say things I haven't learned a pattern for. The sole tool available to me is logic, isn't it? Your SER/ESTAR example is a good one. The problem is that people teach it badly. There IS an underlying sense - not perfect - but far better than "permanent/temporary". For me, that's an easier path to comtemplate. In some ways, the further I get the more pessimistic I am. 613 days into Duo, I've just learned about the subjunctive. Yay. A whole new raft of new-and-fundamentally-pointless stuff to learn! But I've enjoyed the journey so much that I won't bail. So - I'll push on. I can understand quote a bit and I can be understood. I'll try to roll with the "nonsense" and increase immersion and hopefully as I soak up more patterns the errors will drop away. Anyway, thanks again for all your videos.
I think it was an interview on Matt Vs Japan, but somewhere in the polyglot universe of YT I heard a multilinguist mention that he was a computer programmer. And he said he wished he could rebuild all the languages he knew from ground zero to make them infinitely more tidy and logical - that there were so many unnecessary oddities in all of them. But with that came the realization that spoken languages often have little to do with logic (or even more Intriguingly a logic that has been lost in time, like the hypothesis that some of the most used irregular verbs in Spanish may have a grammatical basis in Arabic). At some point in may be better to accept language as a rich, mixed up historic summation of gestures and practices, as opposed to Python or C++ lol.
Yes, absolutely Chris!! English is full of strange things that we use every day without thinking about them. I come from an engineering background, so I've had a similar problem. The key is, as I've suggested in the video, try to answer the questions "is this correct?", "how can I remember it?" And, as you keep developing your knowledge, the patterns will start to stick in your memory regardless of logic.
@@jeff7775 Thanks Jeff - I've had EXACTLY that thought. I've laid in bed in the middle of the night thinking of all the "crap" I could RIP OUT of English, for example - let alone Spanish. Jesus, those genders would be SO GONE. And those ridiculous conjugations. Of course, that's what Esperanto was supposed to me. I also found a tiny invented language but can't remember the name. I think it would be possible (he muses on the odd syntax of that utterance now that he's language-aware....I do that a lot now...) to design a fully functional language which could be learned in a month. Or you could modify English - just riup it down to essentials. I don';t think I'd want to LVIE in such a language, but it would be great for global communication. But yes, I DO accept that languages are a vast, ancient amalgamation of cultures, motives and so on. And I msometimes marvel in their richness and how they work. But learning a new one? Ugh. I hate it. I also love it. Damn.
@@chriswesley594 lol. Feel ya. My Nextdoor neighbor here in north Va is a programmer (for US gov, beyond that he is unauthorized to say more… ok…). Smart as a whip. Really brilliant guy. The other day he overheard me speaking Spanish with another neighbor from El Salvador and he was like: wow, I wish I could learn another language - I’ve tried but I suck at it etc. Long story short: same dilemma you’re describing. He said his brain just could not get a hold of the “illogics” of language - or perhaps more accurately: was just unwilling to!
You're amazing I don't know how long you've been teaching but I wish the guy would have been able to have you as my Spanish teacher🎉🎉🎉 I used to be this student asking why why why like every language didn't have the right to be its own hahaha😅 I am following you now you are going to get me to my next level😢 thanks for all you do thank you for all you do
Just started learning Spanish a couple days ago and I can already tell this is one of the best TH-cam channels that I've found so I have subscribed thanks for the info or should I say gracias señor 😁
I'm not learning spanish currently but I was sure there would be tons to apply in learning any language and this didn't disappoint. I'm guilty of many of the things you discussed. Especially the logic, lol. Thank you!
Brilliant advice, and as both a long-time ESOL teacher and a long-time Spanish student, you are bang on! Some of my favourite bits: this obsession with "ser = permanent, estar = temporary"; I always try to correct people who are learning it that way, the way I once myself learnt it, for the very reasons you outline; two, stop asking why, I often tell me students, almost as a joking but not joking, that some things just are because yes and that's it, and even when there is a logical reason, probably better to not worry about it.
Yes, absolutely, this is certainly a difficult and counterintuitive concept to understand (and teach), that knowing the answer to certain questions may actually be detrimental.
@@realfastspanish I don't think it's counterintuitive at all. Wrong "rules" like the temporary vs permanent one can make it look like it, though. Can't even imagine how anyone cameout with that explanation for the first time when there's nothing more temporary than age ("soy joven") or more permanent than death. Just need to know that if something is a characteristic, so you use "ser" or a circumstance("estar"), no matter how much it is going to last. "Mi pelo es castaño" or "soy un niño" are characteristics no matter that I'll eventually grow up and my hair will end up being white or not being at all. On the other hand "la puerta está cerrada" is a circumstance even if it has never been opened and maybe never will. "Soy una persona feliz" is a characteristic of my personality. That doesn't mean I'll always be. Tomorrow may bring so much disaster and pain to my life that I Don't be happy anymore. "Hoy estoy feliz" is a circumstance. Something made me happy no matter if I'm an intrisecally happy or sad person.
Just found your videos, this being the first, and I love how spot on your explanation is. I've already started noticing that I can translate the same meaning in different ways in my head, and I repeat those phrases as I go. I may be intermediate level, or approaching it, and it's been automatic for my brain to consider how I'd say my thoughts in Spanish for a few months now. I no longer have spanish-speaking people around me constantly, so I've relied on a daily spanish lesson to keep the language alive and going. Thanks so much for this! On to the rest.
My most powerful tool to learn foreign languages is listening. Guys, listen a lot. In this way I speak 4 languages: Turkish, English, Russian, German. Aprendo español y hablo un poco. Buena suerte!
What you said is so true, I'm speaking Spanish at just an intermediate level and the words I know well I don't think in English first but when I learn a new word or verb pattern I'm thinking in English, very frustrating! So now I'm going to do what you said, say it over and over through the course of the week until I see I'm not subvocalizing in English anymore.
This video is helpful to anyone learning a new language. I grew up speaking Spanish, but English is my strongest language. I find myself arguing with Spanish logic still, but its a battle you can't win. To me "mi peló está cortó" and "mi peló es cortó" is a difference in connotative meaning. The first one is something I would say if my hair was cut too short and I'm not going to keep it that way. The second would be my hair is short and I usually keep it that way. The way things are phrased have different connotative meanings (the way they feel and express ideas that are closely related but different) and variations, that are way too advanced for a beginner. The initial logic rules are there, but beginners lack the skills to use them, so it important you first master the common stuff first.
Hola, soy de Nueva Zelanda y estoy aprendiendo español. I have just started learning and this great advice. I don’t know enough yet to apply this to everything but it’s good to know as I get better.
I was already billingual before spanish, so i always had a different perspective learning a third, because i already knew how the structure differs from one language to another, i always found it helpful to just make these mistakes as long as i was confident with expressing words and sentences, then once i developed a good understanding of a given concept, i would start fixing these mistakes so i can translating these differences in my head and just replace a word or two rather than the whole phrase.
My biggest problem with Spanish especially conversational Spanish is when it's being spoken to me. Everything I learned goes out the window for some reason. I can't understand what's being said and draw a complete blank.
This advice reminds me of when I was trying to learn to solve a Rubik's cube. Learning the algorithms is hard; they're long, and while you can break them down into logical pieces (it's all based on linear algebra and matrix multiplication), thinking about it step-by-step, logically, is just painful. What you really want is to acquire the muscle memory to do the algorithms automatically. Once you do, solving the cube is easy; it's just a party trick. But getting everything sunk in deep, so that it's habit, not logic, is what changes the problem from hard to easy.
Man you just attacked the very core of my belief system in learning Spanish in a good way though and I really appreciate you for that👍 I really needed this video
As an English ESL teacher who is also learning Spanish, I can confirm though my own experience everything he says. Trying to speak through logic is a dead end. Logic and grammar can help you write at times and punctuate your writing when you already speak a language fluently but will destroy you on your path to spoken fluency.
I remember in grammar school reciting such things as-- I go, you go he goes, I am going, you are going, and he is going--which sounds much like what you are suggesting here. Reciting patterns to get used to the sound and subtly intaking the meaning. I still remember reciting those "patterns" over and over as a kid. So it makes sense to do the same with new "patterns" in language learning. Thanks.
excellent video thanks. i learned two important things (besides your main point). first, that conversation is more about repeating patterns then actually discourse, and second, that language, like seemingly everything, is really math.
This video is ingenius. You explain it so clearly, and it's spot on with the struggle I've had with Spanish for over a decade...the logic based questioning...my GOODNESS! Fantastic video and presentation.
This is a useful approach. I used to think maybe Spanish had a particular spirit behind it, if only I could learn it I'd be able to say anything no matter how weird but sometimes it's just rote learning
Same thing with Indonesian. We use 'Siapa namamu?' (What is your name?) to ask someone's name, which is a literal translation from 'Who your name?' Siapa = Who Namamu = Your name Siapa namamu? (Who your name?) = What is your name? We can also say Namamu siapa? (Your name who?) It doesnt change the meaning, which is 'What is your name?' in English
I really like how you use segments from Spanish TV shows as examples. It really helps to hear the same phrase word or sentance spoken in a natural and fluent tone.
I think it’s the ‘wrestling with a new way of thinking’ that puts most students off of learning another language. They don’t seem to understand that the whole point of learning another language is to discover how a different culture communicates and sees the world. It’s a sympathetic study, not an egocentric one.
Yes, at first it can be frustrating. But, I believe it's a skill students can build with time and practice.
Exactly, its not just knowledge, its the soul of an entire culture, (maybe too dramatic?) Naaaah
Gentry Haney not too dramatic at all, that’s exactly it. I don’t know about America, but in the UK STEM subjects are far more chosen by students at A Level than languages, arts and humanities. I think it’s because they are ‘soulless’ subjects that are comprised of straight-forward knowledge acquisition and application. They’re all about how much *you* know, you hardly have to consider other points of view or do wider reading, as you’re dealing with facts and constants. They may be intellectually challenging, but I would wager to say that they’re far easier to revise.
@@jazzman2516 i myself graduated in IT but technology is simple to understand, logic is literally yes and no, theres no abstract meaning to anything(programming gets foggy but its still concrete)
Language and culture are just different, not a math problem, just existing with a purpose
I was thinking the exact same thing. The logic (mentioned in the video) behind the word use and idiomatic expressions is cultural and based on assumptions in thinking between listener and speaker in a conversation. So, you don't want to ignore it completely but take it with a grain of salt when you are using a new language.
On a Mexican holiday, I was trying to speak Spanish to a beach venor who knew a bit of English and in reference to my telling her I was trying to learn Spanish she said "You are making good" -- it was at that moment, and when I was explaining this to her in broken English/Spanish that she really meant to say "You are doing well", when I realized how the double meaning of Hacer made it hard for her to translate accurately into English. When I saw your video on this today it made me think of this experience ... Thanks, Bruce
Yes, that's right "hacer" is just as challenging as "ser" vs "estar" for English natives! 😊
@@realfastspanish עבור ילידי ישראל זה מאתגר יותר לדוברי אנגלית יש לפחות "to be" לנו בעברית אין בכלל דבר כזה
In New Orleans slang, they used to say making groceries instead of doing groceries. It’s a common point of confusion when moving from a Romance language to English.
@@theknightswhosay That's interesting because in the UK we would never dream of saying either 'making groceries' or 'doing groceries'. They both sound like nonsense phrases to us.
@@spider2666 you don’t have a simpler expression than “shopping for groceries”?
To help with avoiding asking why questions, I used to tell my friends that you need to approach learning Spanish/new language like learning a new sport. You can’t apply the rules of football to rugby or vice versa. They’re similar but different sports with different rules. You need to learn the rules of said sports separately to play it correctly. Same thing with languages. :)
Thanks for sharing Jan!
Wonderful explanation! 😊
EXCELLENT!
good explanation
Hablo español y estoy aprendiendo inglés, entendí todo el video. Recomiendo al 100% lo que él dice
¡¡Muchas gracias Camilo!! 😊
Guau, Camilo. Tu inglés es genial si puedes comprender todos el video.
learn english you barbarian
Muy bien! Estoy aprendiendo español! I am watching Peppa Pig en español por ayuda. 😁😁😁
Hello camilo
I found that stopping using a translator when writing forced me to remember words and phrases. I now can turn on thinking in my head by seeing Spanish words not English and connecting them. And I speak to native speakers each day so no time to translate. Great video....I do hate ser...haha
Thanks for sharing Alan!! 😊
Try to write in Spanish.
Well then, it's a good thing for all of us that Google Translate's latest update turned the app into a useless pile of junk! LOL.
@@dcscreenworks I don't think so. Google Translate is a wonderful tool.
I try to make the sentence in my head first and then use Google translate to see how i did and if there is something I don't understand or a phrase that doesn't make sense ill go hunting for answers to learn from that!
I learned to think in Spanish when (a) I realised that I had thousands of thoughts in English all day, every day and these needed to be quiet to let Spanish speak to me - a lot like calming your thoughts in meditation, and (b) reaching a stage where I didn't need the *live interpreter* in my mind to convert everything from Spanish to English
Definitely easier said than done
@@servantofthetruth8203 Agree, I'm trying to improve in English, and is difficult to me thinking in English instead Spanish. Spanish is my first language
I'm thinking all the time what if is what I'm thinking or saying is wrong?, and that's stressful
@@Anonymous-yh1ul well judging by your comment your have good English skills..you just have to keep doing your best and find techniques and methods that will help you achieve your goals
@@servantofthetruth8203 Thank you 😊 I won't give up
Great video! I finally "broke" the logic based thinking by just saying the first word that comes to mind and if someone corrects me then I learn
Thanks for sharing James!! 🙏
Sometimes your instinct is better than thinking it out. It’s good to be aware there are two options and some general rules though.
Instinct and subconscious learning is real!! I'm learning a little bit of Spanish, not enough to speak confidently, but my partner said I started sleep talking in Spanish!! 😂
That's actually great advice, thank you.
I do my best language learning when someone corrects me because (often due to some level of embarrassment on my part) I replay the episode in my head several times over the next few days and I remember it.
This video was the biggest AH HA moment! I never realized that when I didn't know the Spanish, I'd feel pressure to keep the conversation going. I'd frantically scramble in my head to translate and often what came out was the literal translation that didn't work. I noticed that if I relaxed, didn't struggle, and let my mind flow, I often knew the right vocabulary. More patience and more practice. Thanks Andrew!
My first ever Spanish teacher would always say: “How you FEEL and where you ARE, you gotta use the verb ESTAR”
I’m getting into a better habit about not trying to apply English logic to everything but his quote was really helpful for me!
Thanks for sharing Aston! 😊 There are exceptions to that (e.g. if we are afraid "tengo miedo", or embarrassed "tengo vergüenza" etc.) and we sometimes use "ser" for location. So, if it was helpful for you, then fantastic, the key is to also practice the exceptions.
@@realfastspanish when is ser used for location? I always say dónde está when I want to know where something is.
@@theknightswhosay Where you are from; Yo soy de ....
The use of "tengo" in Spanish is interesting in that it means you have something rather than you are something. So in English we say "I am hungry." In Spanish it's, "tengo hambre." But literally translated would be, "I have hunger."
I think this is why Duolingo is working for me, although I'm supplementing with podcasts and TH-cam video tips. I'm about halfway through the Spanish tree and it was extremely frustrating at certain times, when the structure didn't match English. I struggled through and kept at it. Now after about a year and a half, I can't explain why something is right to my friend who's also doing the app, but I tend to just know when something sounds right. Repetition definitely works.
Yay, Duolingo! ❤I am very happy to hear that worked for you. I started Duolingo about a month ago. I am really enjoying it. A million years ago, I tried to learn French for a year in high school, but I couldn't get the pronunciations as quickly as I needed - plus I wasn't really interested. I have learned so many more words in Spanish in just a month with Duolingo than I did in French in a whole year. I finished the 1st part of the tree, and I'm almost 1/2 way into the 2nd section, and I have about 441 words under my belt (though not totally in my head yet. lol). I take my time, I repeat the words and sentences as given as often as I like, and I even make notes with the definition of each word along with how they sound to MY ears instead of the formal pronunciation guides. I never bonded with those. Despite all these words, I really can't say much yet that I'd want to, but each day I learn more, so that is coming. What I think I need to do is buy a few good books on Spanish, plus start watching young children's Spanish TV shows (at first). I am not proud, if I could find good children's learning programs, I'd be more than happy to use them to build my skills along with Duolingo.
Me alegro mucho de que estés progresando con tu español. Ya verás como en unos años entenderás completamente el español. Si eres un hablante de inglés lo que más te puede costar son las conjugaciones y la acentuación ya que, incluso yo que soy de España, no pongo las tildes siempre.
Continue on this way, you will go far on the understanding of the Spanish language. (If I made any mistakes with the last sentence that i put in English, correct me please)
I'm not an English major, but your English seems fine for the most part to me. However, since you ask, "Continue on this way" sounds awkward but can be easily understood and probably is acceptable to 98% of everyone who reads your comment anyway. Maybe if you put "If you" in front of "continue on this way" it'd sound less awkward to me, but it changes a commanding phrase to a subjunctive (a bit of a new word for me, I'm only familiar due to learning Spanish grammar). Then there's "you will go far on the understanding of the Spanish language" and that sounds even more weird to me mainly because of the word "on". So, I'd change it to "you will go far in understanding the Spanish language" which removes "on the" with "in" and removes "of", also avoids repetition of "the" but that's not always necessarily a weakness. Alternatively, you could say "you will go far in your understanding of the Spanish language" which replaces "on the" with "in your" and this time it doesn't remove "of". Although the word "your" is a more personal determiner compared to "the" it's a redundant point to me since the "understanding" or comprehension you're referring to could be that of the commenter's. Lastly (and I thought of this before I finished my comment), if you put "and" between "way," and "you" then you can keep "Continue on this way" the same and simply apply the changes I previously mentioned. I can't explain why to a more exact degree, but I guess the reason I believe these are right is because my time with English and being taught in various points of my life what is formal and informal, good and bad grammar, guides me subconsciously to what may sound the most correct and usually works because of my attentiveness in the past. I'm sure it's the same for anyone with great grammar in their native language, including yourself most likely.
Language Transfer is a good app to try also, it's free and really helps with understanding the structure of sentences in Spanish, and bringing in positive language transfer from English into Spanish. Even the more basic lessons in the beginning are still helpful for intermediate level
Thanks for this reply. I just started working on Spanish again with the new year, and tested into the level I'm at, but am a bit frustrated, because I know a lot of it still and it's pretty "basic". At the very least, I realized last night it's helping solidify the grammar and structure in my mind, so thanks for affirming that.
Great video! I'm a native Spanish speaker and I did this while learning English. Now my brain thinks half of the time in Spanish and half of the time in English. Jajaja. Nowadays I'm trying to do the same thing with Mandarin, but it's quite a challenge.
¡Saludos desde Argentina!
¡Gracias Natalia! 😊
Hello Natalia
Im a Brazilian trying to learn Spanish while seeing English videos, what a day
In school I studied German some years. After finishing school I went to Germany with a class mate and visited some of his relatives. At first I struggled with the grammar, but the second day I ditched all my grammar considerations and without hesitation used the vocabulary and grammar that first appeared in my mind. This was well received by the family as communication now began to flow. I got some corrections, usually as a confirming repetition of what I had said, but in a correct way. Trial-and-error-and-adopt.
What has made learning Spanish easier for me is first I accepted that languages literally make you think differently than your native language. 2nd I got it in my head that learning new ways to think and express yourself is the honestly one of the best parts of learning a language. I guess I just had the motivation to learn. The struggle is fun hahaha
About thinking differently, I believe that's true to an extent, but some people take that idea to an extreme, (see: the strong Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis), for which there isn't much justification.
In other words, we all have very similar brains in our heads, with the same sensory inputs, etc. So people with different first languages are not _that_ alien to one another.
And I think most people accept that there is such a thing as a very good translation; novels written in Japanese can be translated to English, e.g., in a way makes enough sense to an English-speaking reader that she'll happily read the novel.
Brilliant video! When teaching English I found that it was super effective to give my students examples of instances where Spanish didn’t make sense either. As soon as they realized that they had no problem using lots of words and phrases in Spanish despite being illogical they did not need to know “why” nearly as much.
Great Rodrigo, this is a great example!! 👍
Es bastante divertido leer comentarios de gente aPRENDIENO ESPAÑOL JAKSJKAJAJAJ
Great idea. Would you mind sharing a few of those illogical Spanish phrases? I´m learning Spanish and I would love to see them. :)
I'm English and I am in a relationship with a lovely lady from Mexico. It felt right to learn her language too, despite her being fluent in English. The biggest issue I had/have, is I'm a very logical and process based thinker, so I would get obsessed with word for word translations and it ruined the learning experience. I've tried every possible type of learning, and can honestly say this video highlighted many issues which most learning resources don't address properly. I found myself laughing during this video as the struggles of your students were so relatable to me. 😂 Great video!
Great advice. As a logic-based thinker, I've struggled with learning Spanish. I find this straightforward concept of asking "How" rather than "Why" questions to be an invaluable way to change my approach. Thank you!
Great video! I was told by my partner who is a native Spanish speaker that Spanish is more feeling than thinking and it's helped me a lot.
I have done this with a few sentences in Spanish. Learned them off by heart and they have stuck in my mind. I used some of them in a shop downtown last Thursday, the assistant speaks Spanish fluently, I could conversate enough that he was answering me back and understood me perfectly. I was delighted 😀 He was impressed that I have only been learning for 3 weeks. I will do the same this coming week, only speak in Spanish and see how I do ☺
Mucho gracias 🌱🌻🌱
So true!! I studied Spanish in university and learned it the academic way. I felt I never progressed much, even after two years. It wasn't until I lived in a Spanish speaking country and heard the same words and phrases day in and day out, that I could speak it and understand it so much more fluidly. When things are in context it also makes it stick easier and faster. I found the academic way of learning, as you said, was too much trying to work it out in your head. It impedes progress.
I am now learning Hawaiian and am finding repetition and hearing phrases and words in context helps a great deal. It also accelerates the process when you just think in the language. For example, I'll be cooking and I'll learn how to say things in Hawaiian while cooking. I do this for everything, whether hiking, cleaning, surfing, etc. The learning curve is much shorter this way of learning I find.
Thanks for sharing!! 😊
I agree with many things said in the video. I also went through it but the other way around(Spanish to English), there are quite a lot of things in English that simply seem wrong if I analyze them thinking in Spanish, you have to just memorize stuff on and on until it becomes second nature. Overanalyzing the language can easily lead to feel frustrated and that will keep you from learning Spanish.
the way I learned Ser and Estar was Ser is for identifying someone or something like if you were telling someone about who you're looking for you'd use Ser to describe them. And Estar is for emotions and locations (with some exceptions) idk if that way of thinking runs into the same issues but thinking of it like that instead of permanent/temporary has definitely made it easier to keep track of.
Very helpful. For many years, I have been struggling to learn languages, and have only been able to think in French, Hawaiian and Greek. I have been translating words in all the others; Polish, Italian, Czech, Hebrew, Gaelic and Spanish. I usually try to learn enough of a language to get by when I visit the country. I seldom get further than the A2 level in a language. I’d like to get to B2 in Spanish. Since I am visiting Santiago and Buenos Aires this winter, I have been studying Spanish. This idea is going to drastically change how I approach learning a language. Thank you!
Side note: your video used the spelling “seperate”. In these days of spell check, people seldom worry about it, but it should be separate. People were often encouraged to think of “a rat in a trap” to remember that it is an “a”, not an “e” in the middle.
Your videos are so valuable. Until I lived in Mexico in 1962 with a Mexican family I wasn't able to carry on a conversation. 60 years later I use Spanish everyday. I taught Spanish in the 70s and wish I had known of these ideas.
As a native Spanish speaker, who switched to english as everyday language after moving to Australia. I find Spanish being more mechanical and straightforward compared to English. Words in Spanish don't often get many additional meanings to be used different contexts, which means no phrasal verbs. Because of this, it is in some styles of poetry where words get meanings. I am sure you would love to listen to Joaquin Sabina and how he plays with the meanings of words
Me alegra saber que hay tantas personas interesadas en aprender el español, en lo personal, a mí me gusta mucho mi idioma nativo.
Yo recién estoy comenzando a aprender inglés, la verdad, es algo bastante difícil, principalmente por la fluidez.
No se desanimen en el aprendizaje del español, es difícil, pero no imposible. Yo estoy comenzando a incursionar en el inglés y daré lo mejor de mí para lograrlo.
Mucha suerte a todos ☺.
For the hair example, I feel it's more natural to use the verb "tener" instead of "ser." "Ella tiene el pelo corto." I like how you talked about taking the logic and grammar rules away from speaking and just applying a more natural approach to learning a language. Also, some phrases, especially idioms may change from country to country.
Great point! In English it is also more common to say ‘I have red hair’ rather than ‘my hair is red’.
Was chatting with a Mexican woman who has lived in the USA for close to 30 years, was married to a gringo, and works as a translator (English/Spanish). When she told me that she "took a decision" (translating literally from "tomar"), I corrected her ("made a decision"). She dismissed my correction, and argued with me. It was a lesson TO ME in how one should not let one's ego get in the way of learning a language or anything else.
Ironically, this gives me a logical path to understand Spanish. Thank you so much for you videos
Haha, I'm glad to hear it!! 😀
I took 4 high school, 3 semesters college...It wasn't until I moved to South America with daily intensive language classes for 3 months and living in the country a couple of years until I was really thinking (talking to myself, dreaming) in Spanish...Around the 2 year mark listening to Spanish music with English translations helped with fluency...Mana's Unplugged music helped
I'd say that Spanish is actually quite robust when it comes to logical rules and it is a blessing for those who need to know the rules to learn a language and find it difficult to "learn naturally" using trial and error and/or intuition.
The rule in this case is the same as in English, but it just happens that English doesn't seem to follow it. A person's name cannot be just whatever. Names belong to a more or less extense but definite set of options. Your name is "John", "Peter" or "Steven" but cannot be "Football", "Potato" or "Wheel". That is why you use "which" and not "what".
Thanks for sharing VG! All I will say is that it's the logic that we are now applying in hindsight. Most English natives will ask "what is your name" and Spanish natives will ask "¿Cuál es tu nombre? It's our job as students to practice this and try to avoid figuring out which word to use through logic.
If you're a Hollywood celebrity naming your newborn baby, you would choose a kooky word for their name, like Moon Unit Zappa, Apple, Lourdes, and Zoltan.
@@MH-be6hr “Lourdes” is a very common catholic name. But bringing here a joke from Louie CK, for sure nobody’s name is just a long sequence of random consonants like “xsdfghtrstxhg”.
It’s which if you limit it to a set list. Like, “which saint are you named after?”
@@theknightswhosay Exactly. But the rule "should be" the same for all names. The set of first names, although extense, is a limited set.
The way I've been taught ser and estar is that ser describes a characteristic whereas estar describes a state. Idk if down the road I might find some situations where that distinction doesn't work for me but I find it much easier to comprehend and apply than permanent vs temporary. So for example hair length and height are a characteristic of someone's appearance whereas being tired or being late for something are a state. And there are things that can be both, e.g you can be bored (state) or you can be boring (characteristic).
Hablo ambos idiomas, y la verdad tengo que estar agradecido de que mis padres me metieron a la escuela en Estados Unidos por unos años cuando era chico porque suena súper complicado aprender un idioma nuevo. Ahora no tengo idea de cómo hago para manejar los dos idiomas, pero agradecido con el de arriba por no tener que sufrir tanto.
Seriously ya some of the most basic and common advice is the best. Just listening and watching shows in Spanish can help, talking around the house about basic things can help, trying to talk to Spanish speakers helps a lot too. For me I'm thrilled when I find myself thinking of even very basic words and phrases in Spanish and realize I don't need to think to translate them, I fully understand them instantly and once that happens I know I've "got" those words. And just build on that. Even adding one or two new words to your day or week and using them frequently until you're comfortable with them is progress.
Thanks for sharing!! 😊
Excellent points. Word for word translations rarely work, instead our goal is to express the idea (not the words) in our target language... and above all patience and perseverance. I will apply your advice as I continue to study Spanish. Thank you. (Make = to create. Do = to perform/execute an action 😉)
Thanks for sharing Marjorie! 😊
Gracia!!. I am the type of thinker and Spanish-language learner who needs to be reminded not to ask "why". (I had the same difficulty with Mathematics many years ago.) Another approach recommended by other Spanish teachers is to learn chunks, common expressions and collocations. P.S. I used to teach English as another language and I remember well trying to teach "to make" and " to do" to native Spanish and Portuguese speakers. I offered this "rule": Do often has the meaning of a routine, normal or assigned activity (process). Make usually has the sense of producing or creating something (product).
He estado aprendiendo español durante un año y pensar demasiado al hablar es un problema común para mí. Gracias por el video.
¡De nada! Gracias por el comentario 😊
I always use “he estado” and not habia 😂 he estado is such a habit for new learners
I've also been learning english
Thank you! This lesson has changed my "logic based" approach to learning Spanish. Your simple reasoning for memorization makes perfect sense. Thank you!
This video was informational....and funny! It made me chuckle several times because I could envision us Spanish students going through the time-consuming about is hair and height a temporary or permanent thing. :-) Thank you, Andrew, for these great videos!
I have only just discovered you and your channel. You are the first spanish teacher I have met who understands exactly what I have been thinking. You get it. Muchos gracias.
You know, I think that there's a balance to be struck between asking why and just getting the feel of the language. I think it's because the answer to "why?" cannot always be expressed in words easily. In the case of ser and estar, this is definitely true! I rarely say the wrong one now, but I go by a feeling more than a rule book. HOWEVER, there's lots of times where asking "why?" has helped me, so I think it's a bad idea to just never ask as you learn. Just be willing to accept that there are times when there will not be a more satisfying answer than "It just sounds wrong, and you have to get a feel for it."
Thanks for sharing Kit!! 😊
Briliant video! My goodness, the "make and do" is perfect! I'm going to use that with my students so they see ALL languages have these challenges. At a near-native level and after almost eight years living in the UK, I still battle with those! ¡Muchas gracias!
Qué video bien planeado! He sido culpable de preguntar 'por qué', quieria que todo tuviera sentido logicamente para ver el patrón posible. Sabía que mis frases sonaban fatal para un nativo, así que ahora estoy aprendiendo a interiorizar frases cortas. También decidí escuchar mucho más y escribir. Todavía no ha pasado mucho tiempo, pero creo que ya he mejorado!
Really good comments y insight on translating-chunk based phrases!!!!
Pretend we just met. Andrew, how do you do? OK, how do you do WHAT? You see how trying to translate word for word in English can lead to a dead end? We have to learn the expressions together. Great video by the way!
Haha, very good, thanks for sharing Steve!! 😊
All very valid points for sure. I would just add that we can “do lunch” but also “make lunch”. The idiomatic references and expressions are always something I remind students about when they are referencing them in a language. And, as you know idiomatic expressions present a whole series of issues for language learners. I’m not going to be able to make lunch today (join you or prepare?😊) or do lunch today. I always appreciate your perspective for sure. Gracias!!
Great video and points. I had this very same problem early on when my analytical engineering/scientific mind had to know the "Why?" of how things are said in SPanish. "Por qué es "Tocar una guitarra," y no es "Jugar una guitarra.?" My tutor/gf just kept saying, "because that's the way it is in Spanish," which, of course, was a totally unsatisfying answer. She also told me to stop trying to translate things literally because it wouldn't work in the long run. But I quickly discovered by just using the language you get the hang of things without trying to translate and without thinking. An idea is not expressed by translating a sequence of words, but rather a commonly used phrases and patters of expressing that idea.
I find that reading good language-level texts out loud is a great way to see the way the language is used, and internalize those patterns. However, I've not had any success finding LATAM Spanish primers and readers, preferably ones with stories containing lots of back and forth dialog between characters. Do you have any suggestions for simple children's readers to intermediate level texts? I'd give preference to anything from Colombia and/or Mexico. Thanks.
Big fan of Olly Richard’s “Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners” (or there’s also an intermediate level book too). They’re extra affordable in digital format and have stories DESIGNED to demonstrate vocabulary in context (awesome!) and to introduce-and then repeat-common, real-world sentence structures & word sequences. There are also 2 books that are ONLY conversations back-n-forth, and one comes in a “Mexico” style of Spanish, like you want!
Yes, I completely agree!! 😊 Trying to apply the logic that it should be "jugar la guitarra" assumes that "play" is the best verb in any language and that purely comes from being used to the English language. If Spanish was your first language, then "play the guitar" would not be logical.
We have a literature review conversation class in our school, although we aim it for more advanced students, we have been looking at authors such as Francisco Hinojosa, Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez, Salvador Álvaro García - their books are targeted at adolescents.
@@marksusan Fantasico! Gracias por ese consejo.
Why is is "Jugar una guitarra"? I mean you dont play with it as it is a toy do you? haha what you do, its properly touch the cords of the guitarre to make sounds so it makes more sense to say "Tocar una guitarra". That's the logic reverse. There is a sense of snobbiness on saying "Why isnt it jugar una guitarra? Well because that's english logic you are applying from your own egocentric point of view on how things have to be said. A spanish would say why jugar? makes no sense from their own perspective. Thats the problem.
Sun in Spanish is masculine "El Sol" while in German is "Die Sonne" femenine. So why? there is no big why... it's just what it is. Why it has to be masculine or why it has to be femenine and not the other way around? xD
I love the way you say you try to reason with the student by asking the same why's in his own language so they realize that asking why won't help them understand the language. I like thinking that we just have different thought patterns in Spanish than the ones we have in English.
The timing of this video is perfect as I am in the midst of learning all the uses of ser/estar. I could see how it could be very slow going if I was speaking and had to stop and recall which of the 12 uses for ser/estar were appropriate. Your video explained perfectly why this would not work. I am as always grateful for your work.
Thanks for the feedback Ann!! 😀
My favorite piece of advice from this lesson is: repeat 100 times or 1000 times. Whatever it takes to stick in my brain. It seems so simple, but an excellent reminder. I will follow this advice. Thank you.
Best advice I’ve heard for language learning. I’ve constantly been caught on the logic and why in my learning Spanish
thanks for this very helpful video and yes I gave up thinking Why? for the same reasons that you mentioned and also because I realize that in my own native language itself that there are many many ways we use words and phrases because we were taught them that way it is just how they passed down through generations
Yes, that's exactly right! 😊 Language evolves through humans passing things down through the generations and this doesn't always result in logical sentences.
This might have just solved a HUGE PROBLEM I didn’t know how to stop… translating in my head. If I practice it enough and accept that’s just the way it is… the pattern will become second nature and I will stop applying logic eventually! Thank you!
Yes, that’s exactly right!! 😊 if we practice the patterns without using logic, we will be able to use them that way in a conversation.
🤣 you had me at the Ser/Estar & temporary/permanent dilemma!! So true 👏🏼 this was very helpful, thank you!!
I'm glad it was helpful! 😀
Exactly! I used to struggle so much and I found out that trying to dive super deep isn’t the way, but instead with practice and looking at examples of a thing’s uses is what really helped me
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your videos. You give enough background, examples and pronunciations that it creates a fertile ground for more learning. I do have a question unrelated to this video: How and when to use reflexive forms of verbs? I’m always wondering when to use, for example, estacionarse, olvidarse, recordarse, etc. As soon as I think that I have a phrase down, I get confused when subtle changes cause the opposite reflexive or non-reflexive form to be used.
It's a great question, I will add it to the list of ideas! 🙏
@@realfastspanish mas o menos yo creo que se usar estos verbos como, ducarse, peinaerse y mas. ( tenemos algo asi en hebreo) pero no entiendo como usar estos verbos. ser enviado, ser presionado, como inclinarlos?
Ser vs estar BRILLIANT
as is your whole method.
Another excellent video, Andrew! I'm struggling with this so much now and very frustrated. My background in science and computer programming (it's also just the way I think) leaves me feeling frustrated and angry when Spanish is not logical, when one word can mean so many things, when objects and subjects are all mixed up, etc. I made a lot of progress when I was using Pimsleur because it was just repeating phrases, but I got bored with the process and fell off the wagon. English is insanely irrational and inconsistent sometimes but I'm so used to it, I don't think about it. I think that if I focused more on phrases rather than individual words, I might do better. For example, I watch a video in Spanish and I don't understand it, but I can pick out a few words. Then when I see the transcript of subtitles, I see that I know most of the words. But my mind just doesn't put them together because I'm trying to translate word for word in my head, too slowly for comprehension. Same thing in reverse with Speaking. Native speakers smash words together and a phrase made up of words you do know, will sound like a long word that you don't know.
phrases are more important than individual words, often the meaning of words changes when they are in particular relation to other words. There are a lot of phrase books you can get and practice from, and as he says, repeat, repeat, repeat. Make up conversations from the phrase book and repeat them or better yet find a native who wants to improve their English and practice with them with the understanding that you will correct each other when making mistakes. Good luck
@@Hughesbayou You sound like you've mastered this. Congrats!
@@gibbonschip no but I'm on the right track now. The other very important thing is to get the pronunciation correct. If you don't say the words correctly you won't understand them when others speak. I had to go back after year of study and learn that properly.
@@Hughesbayou That makes perfect sense.
This is a great discussion! 😊 Learning phrases is great and practicing them by repeating them again and again is key! Then with time and focus, the language will become clearer and more solidified in your mind.
Me, a native spanish speaker, watching this carefully:
Pretty useful information
Totalmente de acuerdo y considero que de igual forma se debe aprender el inglés. La clave es la práctica permanente. Muy chévere el video
¡Muchas gracias Mauricio! 🙏
Man this is gold. One thing that's been getting me recently is using gerunds incorrectly. I would always say something like "me gusta andando en bici" o "después de andando en bici" because that's how I'd say it in English, but in Spanish you just use the infinitive, "me gusta andar en bici" y "después de andar en bici". Who cares why that's just how it is!
😍 Great example!! 👍
To say that we think in a language is misleading. The real question is how can a person stop translating? The answer is once you spend enough time learning the foreign language you should stop automatically.
Thanks for sharing Adonas!! 😊 All I will add is that it isn't necessarily a switch that turns on and turn but a ramp that grows as you get better and better with the language.
Great advice. There are many many things that don’t translate between languages and don’t make sense. You have to learn it. Accept it as it is. And practice it until it becomes natural.
I was told that using “qué” when asking someone’s name has pushy/ rude connotations.
Same reason Abuela Alma (Encanto) said, “Abre los ojos” instead of “abre tus ojos.”
Thanks for the reality check. I was asking 'why? for almost the first year, and sometimes I still catch myself. I started helping people in the town I'm living in to learn English and that's when I realized some things in English don't make sense either *cough* phrasal verbs *cough*. Now I more or less accept that I just have to be patient with myself and keep trying to learn, and sometimes there is a formula, and a lot of times I just have to memorize.
Great series! I’m new to Spanish, and I find these videos helpful. With ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’, do you find that it has more to do with context of the conversation, then say permanent and temporary? Also, I’m noticing that Spanish teachers (for adults), in the USA, or going with a more Latin American format, than formal España taught in American high schools. ‘Cuál’ format is used a lot more.
For "ser" and "estar", it is a tricky topic and I think it's best to think of it is a tricky topic like "make" and "do" in English. It's not always obvious when we should use one or the other. But, we get better at using them with study, time and practice.
I know this may not be the most technical way to do it, however, i find that when I was perfecting my Spanish and helping my friends learn it, music is a great tool. Not for proper grammar but for context. Find a style of music and some artists that are Spanish artists and look at lyrics. One example of this came with a friend of mine. We were listening to a song together and one of the lines was "Ella es candela". If you were to translate that word into English with Google translate, it would simply say candle. But saying "Ella es candela" is more along the lines or "She is hot" or "attractive". Sure it's slang or euphemism, but every language has these. So once you get some basics down. Try listening to some Spanish speaking friends or videos and see if you can get some context. It will impress your friends and take you from speaking to casual conversation.
Most Spanish TH-cam channels aren't by spanish people, try Hola Spanish or Easy Spanish for more local ways of speaking, here in Spain, nobody says Que Guay unless they are from South or Central America
@@BakerWild Thank you for the recommendations. I will add them to my library. However, just one counter-point. In America, we speak to mostly Central and South American peoples, so it is helpful. Everything helps.
Switching my primary language on my phone to Español helped with the Qué/Cuál point you raised - but I struggled with something else.
While “¿Cuál es el problema?” Sounded better and rolled off the tongue more comfortably (and ultimately turned out to be correct, at least according to the apps I checked with) the ‘a’ ending of problema had me assuming it should’ve been “¿Cuál es la problema?”
Thank you for opening my eyes to learning. I have been watching and listening to Spanish classes for a month or so and not retaining much. Now I know the secret! Really enjoy your video's.
My Spanish is broken I take it like my Latino buddy his English is broken so we're helping eachother speak each others language better it's awesome
I've been speaking Spanish for 45 years, grew up with Spanish parents and still translate from English sometimes.
This was exactly the way I used to learn English!!! Now, I'm learning Spanish, and it's been going on so good thus far.. I'm now learning Spanish from duolingo and It's such a nice app to start gaining grounds in my Spanish learning journey!
As someone who is over analytical with nearly everything in my life, I definitely needed to hear this.
I'm a huge fan - thanks for all your videos.
But I'm struggling with the problem you mention (trying to think logically - I come from a computer programming background)). I've spent a lot of time in "Why hell" and frankly also in "loathing the illogicality of it all hell" as well. But I've learned that English is in many ways just as mad and so now I'm more accepting. I'm not completely fixed however; I STILL think Spanish is quite ridiculous is some ways. All those conjugations? Insane. Clitic pronouns? Unforgiveable! SO I have a way to go.
But I also have a problem with your alternative. Sure, I can learn "known-correct" patterns but wouldn't I need to learn very many of them to be fluent? Furthrmore, UNTIL I've learned them all, I'm adrift in a world where I need to say things I haven't learned a pattern for. The sole tool available to me is logic, isn't it?
Your SER/ESTAR example is a good one. The problem is that people teach it badly. There IS an underlying sense - not perfect - but far better than "permanent/temporary". For me, that's an easier path to comtemplate.
In some ways, the further I get the more pessimistic I am. 613 days into Duo, I've just learned about the subjunctive. Yay. A whole new raft of new-and-fundamentally-pointless stuff to learn! But I've enjoyed the journey so much that I won't bail.
So - I'll push on. I can understand quote a bit and I can be understood. I'll try to roll with the "nonsense" and increase immersion and hopefully as I soak up more patterns the errors will drop away.
Anyway, thanks again for all your videos.
I think it was an interview on Matt Vs Japan, but somewhere in the polyglot universe of YT I heard a multilinguist mention that he was a computer programmer. And he said he wished he could rebuild all the languages he knew from ground zero to make them infinitely more tidy and logical - that there were so many unnecessary oddities in all of them. But with that came the realization that spoken languages often have little to do with logic (or even more Intriguingly a logic that has been lost in time, like the hypothesis that some of the most used irregular verbs in Spanish may have a grammatical basis in Arabic).
At some point in may be better to accept language as a rich, mixed up historic summation of gestures and practices, as opposed to Python or
C++ lol.
Yes, absolutely Chris!! English is full of strange things that we use every day without thinking about them. I come from an engineering background, so I've had a similar problem. The key is, as I've suggested in the video, try to answer the questions "is this correct?", "how can I remember it?" And, as you keep developing your knowledge, the patterns will start to stick in your memory regardless of logic.
@@jeff7775 Thanks Jeff - I've had EXACTLY that thought. I've laid in bed in the middle of the night thinking of all the "crap" I could RIP OUT of English, for example - let alone Spanish. Jesus, those genders would be SO GONE. And those ridiculous conjugations. Of course, that's what Esperanto was supposed to me. I also found a tiny invented language but can't remember the name. I think it would be possible (he muses on the odd syntax of that utterance now that he's language-aware....I do that a lot now...) to design a fully functional language which could be learned in a month. Or you could modify English - just riup it down to essentials. I don';t think I'd want to LVIE in such a language, but it would be great for global communication.
But yes, I DO accept that languages are a vast, ancient amalgamation of cultures, motives and so on. And I msometimes marvel in their richness and how they work. But learning a new one? Ugh. I hate it. I also love it. Damn.
@@realfastspanish Thank for your reply, Real (Mr. Spanish?). My bigger message was - thanks for being there.
@@chriswesley594 lol. Feel ya. My Nextdoor neighbor here in north Va is a programmer (for US gov, beyond that he is unauthorized to say more… ok…). Smart as a whip. Really brilliant guy. The other day he overheard me speaking Spanish with another neighbor from El Salvador and he was like: wow, I wish I could learn another language - I’ve tried but I suck at it etc. Long story short: same dilemma you’re describing. He said his brain just could not get a hold of the “illogics” of language - or perhaps more accurately: was just unwilling to!
You're amazing I don't know how long you've been teaching but I wish the guy would have been able to have you as my Spanish teacher🎉🎉🎉 I used to be this student asking why why why like every language didn't have the right to be its own hahaha😅 I am following you now you are going to get me to my next level😢 thanks for all you do thank you for all you do
Just started learning Spanish a couple days ago and I can already tell this is one of the best TH-cam channels that I've found so I have subscribed thanks for the info or should I say gracias señor 😁
I'm not learning spanish currently but I was sure there would be tons to apply in learning any language and this didn't disappoint. I'm guilty of many of the things you discussed. Especially the logic, lol. Thank you!
Brilliant advice, and as both a long-time ESOL teacher and a long-time Spanish student, you are bang on! Some of my favourite bits: this obsession with "ser = permanent, estar = temporary"; I always try to correct people who are learning it that way, the way I once myself learnt it, for the very reasons you outline; two, stop asking why, I often tell me students, almost as a joking but not joking, that some things just are because yes and that's it, and even when there is a logical reason, probably better to not worry about it.
There's always a logic after every sentence, expression or simple word that a native uses and understanding it will help for sure. Rule lists won't.
Yes, absolutely, this is certainly a difficult and counterintuitive concept to understand (and teach), that knowing the answer to certain questions may actually be detrimental.
@@realfastspanish I don't think it's counterintuitive at all.
Wrong "rules" like the temporary vs permanent one can make it look like it,
though.
Can't even imagine how anyone cameout with that explanation for the first time when there's nothing more temporary than age ("soy joven") or more permanent than death.
Just need to know that if something is a characteristic, so you use "ser" or a circumstance("estar"), no matter how much it is going to last.
"Mi pelo es castaño" or "soy un niño" are characteristics no matter that I'll eventually grow up and my hair will end up being white or not being at all.
On the other hand "la puerta está cerrada" is a circumstance even if it has never been opened and maybe never will.
"Soy una persona feliz" is a characteristic of my personality. That doesn't mean I'll always be. Tomorrow may bring so much disaster and pain to my life that I Don't be happy anymore.
"Hoy estoy feliz" is a circumstance. Something made me happy no matter if I'm an intrisecally happy or sad person.
Just found your videos, this being the first, and I love how spot on your explanation is. I've already started noticing that I can translate the same meaning in different ways in my head, and I repeat those phrases as I go. I may be intermediate level, or approaching it, and it's been automatic for my brain to consider how I'd say my thoughts in Spanish for a few months now. I no longer have spanish-speaking people around me constantly, so I've relied on a daily spanish lesson to keep the language alive and going. Thanks so much for this! On to the rest.
My most powerful tool to learn foreign languages is listening. Guys, listen a lot. In this way I speak 4 languages: Turkish, English, Russian, German. Aprendo español y hablo un poco. Buena suerte!
This has to be one of the very best overall tips for learning any new language ive ever come across. Well done! Thanks!
What you said is so true, I'm speaking Spanish at just an intermediate level and the words I know well I don't think in English first but when I learn a new word or verb pattern I'm thinking in English, very frustrating! So now I'm going to do what you said, say it over and over through the course of the week until I see I'm not subvocalizing in English anymore.
This video is helpful to anyone learning a new language. I grew up speaking Spanish, but English is my strongest language. I find myself arguing with Spanish logic still, but its a battle you can't win. To me "mi peló está cortó" and "mi peló es cortó" is a difference in connotative meaning. The first one is something I would say if my hair was cut too short and I'm not going to keep it that way. The second would be my hair is short and I usually keep it that way. The way things are phrased have different connotative meanings (the way they feel and express ideas that are closely related but different) and variations, that are way too advanced for a beginner. The initial logic rules are there, but beginners lack the skills to use them, so it important you first master the common stuff first.
You’re teaching is amazing. Thanks for teaching the theory of language instead of just language structures.
¡Exactamente! ¡Usted dio en el clavo! Exactly! You hit the nail on the head! Saludos desde Bolivia, en el corazón de Sudamérica.
Estoy intentando capturar mi propias ideas, expresiones y pensamientos de la cabeza. Luego los traduzco a español. Esta me ayuda pensar en español.
Congratulations! You now speak the language of the Conquistadors.
Hola, soy de Nueva Zelanda y estoy aprendiendo español. I have just started learning and this great advice. I don’t know enough yet to apply this to everything but it’s good to know as I get better.
I was already billingual before spanish, so i always had a different perspective learning a third, because i already knew how the structure differs from one language to another, i always found it helpful to just make these mistakes as long as i was confident with expressing words and sentences, then once i developed a good understanding of a given concept, i would start fixing these mistakes so i can translating these differences in my head and just replace a word or two rather than the whole phrase.
My biggest problem with Spanish especially conversational Spanish is when it's being spoken to me. Everything I learned goes out the window for some reason. I can't understand what's being said and draw a complete blank.
This advice reminds me of when I was trying to learn to solve a Rubik's cube. Learning the algorithms is hard; they're long, and while you can break them down into logical pieces (it's all based on linear algebra and matrix multiplication), thinking about it step-by-step, logically, is just painful.
What you really want is to acquire the muscle memory to do the algorithms automatically. Once you do, solving the cube is easy; it's just a party trick. But getting everything sunk in deep, so that it's habit, not logic, is what changes the problem from hard to easy.
Absolutely fantastic example!!! 😊👍 Thanks for sharing!!
Man you just attacked the very core of my belief system in learning Spanish in a good way though and I really appreciate you for that👍 I really needed this video
I'm so pleased to hear that Bryon, I'm glad it helped!! 😊
I want to have native English friends, I can help them with their Spanish.🇪🇨 Te felicito amigo por enseñar Español. 🖋️💯
As an English ESL teacher who is also learning Spanish, I can confirm though my own experience everything he says. Trying to speak through logic is a dead end. Logic and grammar can help you write at times and punctuate your writing when you already speak a language fluently but will destroy you on your path to spoken fluency.
I thought in Spanish for the first time a couple of days ago, it was really interesting
I remember in grammar school reciting such things as-- I go, you go he goes, I am going, you are going, and he is going--which sounds much like what you are suggesting here. Reciting patterns to get used to the sound and subtly intaking the meaning. I still remember reciting those "patterns" over and over as a kid. So it makes sense to do the same with new "patterns" in language learning. Thanks.
Yes, absolutely! 😊 Repetition can feel a little boring at times but it is a very powerful tool!
excellent video thanks. i learned two important things (besides your main point). first, that conversation is more about repeating patterns then actually discourse, and second, that language, like seemingly everything, is really math.
This video is ingenius. You explain it so clearly, and it's spot on with the struggle I've had with Spanish for over a decade...the logic based questioning...my GOODNESS! Fantastic video and presentation.
This is a useful approach. I used to think maybe Spanish had a particular spirit behind it, if only I could learn it I'd be able to say anything no matter how weird but sometimes it's just rote learning
I wish I found you earlier. This is my new favorite channel!
Thanks for the kind words Darrin! 😊
Same thing with Indonesian. We use 'Siapa namamu?' (What is your name?) to ask someone's name, which is a literal translation from 'Who your name?'
Siapa = Who
Namamu = Your name
Siapa namamu? (Who your name?) = What is your name?
We can also say
Namamu siapa? (Your name who?) It doesnt change the meaning, which is 'What is your name?' in English
I really like how you use segments from Spanish TV shows as examples. It really helps to hear the same phrase word or sentance spoken in a natural and fluent tone.