Want to thank me? Buy me a coffee :) buymeacoffee.com/qroo Join the Qroo Spanish Crew (Get Exclusive Content) www.skool.com/qroo Langua (Best AI for Learning Spanish) tinyurl.com/54fxuc4m Use code QROO (all caps) to get 20% off Langua annual plans
Yes Paul: Say: (Hasta la próxima) for awhile; and then change it hasta la vista baby jaja. I am just being funny but maybe change to something because people here do tend to repeat what they hear and the world has enough language learners speaking poorly. I sometimes am one, and you are not! Keep up the great work. Bien hecho.
One of the most difficult things is always hearing people talk about how easy spanish is. And then when you start studying Spanish, you realize that it's not easy. After you come to this realization, then you meet someone who tells you that they learned it in 6 months or one year. Then you go right back to level one of frustration. Where you start to wonder what you are doing wrong.
You're right. It is not easy. It takes a lot of commitment. One thing to keep in mind when hearing about people who claim to learn it in 6 months or so is that it is unlikely they speak it at an advanced level. Learning a foreign language is a marathon, not a sprint. The way that I kept from getting discouraged was to focus on just being a little bit better at it than I was the day before.
The people who "learned" it in 6 months always have a very limited bag of things they can say. They don't really learn it. They just learn enough to kind of get by and then go around bragging
I shared your frustration, especially as a heritage speaker where I felt like perfect Spanish should just come out of my mouth. But yeah, these people have a different idea of fluency than my goal. I want to know Spanish so well, and Mexican Spanish in particular, that I can watch a stand up show and understand every joke. I want to know and be able to use idioms used in Mexico and be able to talk about literature and politics. “Dónde está la biblioteca” no es la meta. ;-) I see this a lot with kids too. My daughter is fully fluent - like can jump into a conversation in Spanish no problem and reads in Spanish - and often parents say their kid is fluent but it’s more like they understand some Spanish and can’t speak it fluently. I get that situation bc it was similar to my own, but I didn’t consider myself fluent at that point. People just have their own interpretation of what “fluent” means, and for those of us aiming higher, it takes much longer before we’d use it to describe ourselves. I’m finally there, but it’s after a lifetime of growing up in a Spanish-speaking family and even more so the hard work I’ve put in in the last few years - mostly to keep up with and keep teaching my daughter! In many ways she’s better than me.
Spanish is legitimately easy compared to non-Romance languages, perhaps, but people who say they "learned it" in six months need to STFU and define what they mean by "learning". If you count irregular verb conjugations as separate words then how many words are there to know to make your conversations fluid and "sin esfuerzo"? How many expressions? How many chunks? And how does a memory retain all of that and draw it up instantly in conversation? The process does exist but it's not a six month process.
@Zauzagez Hi Z: I heard some advice somewhere on TH-cam that I believe is helpful. You might use this with a language teacher or friend who speaks your target language; either way, you might want to explain that you are doing this so that you improve hearing well what someone says to you. Instead of asking them to repeat something slower, say something like this: ¿Tu me dijiste que tu vas a Rusia para aprender español verdad? You told me you’re going to Russia to learn Spanish, right? Then let them clarify what they said. ❤ Here is a formal example: Usted dijo: Estaba viajando a Portugal para aprender chino, ¿es eso lo que oí? You said: I was traveling to Portugal to learn Chinese, is that what I heard? Try it and see what you think. Have fun!
@Zauzagezmy experiences (Spanish as well as English foreign languages!) are: it’s incredibly helpful talking to a Mexican native speaker who has some skills in English as well. They understand much better your difficulties because of own experiences learning a foreign language and they will help you easily out when you’re getting puzzled about the answer. Slowly but surely you’ll improve your listening skills and one day out of a sudden it’s like „plopp“ and you‘re getting much better WTF they are talking about. It’s a process you’re going through anyways so just be patient with yourself 😉 time will do
I do three 15 minutes study sessions per day. One at breakfast, after lunch, and before bed. I also use flash cards. They help alot. When i stop using flashcards, I realized my learning slowed down. I'm now just starting to learn chunks. I also watch a lot of videos on grammar because knowing the grammar rules truly helps me understand the language better.
“Pick one way to say it and stick to it” I love this! It’s really simple and I’m realizing I do the same thing with English. I say a frase the same way everytime unless I hear another way a bunch of times and I start liking how that sounds more. Just approach your foreign language the same way!
Where have you been the last 2 years? I have been struggling and being all over the place with learning spanish still do not know how to speak with courage. I have done two lessons with you so far and already feeling more confident. You are an amazing teacher, thank you very much
Just speak and make mistakes often so you have more to correct. When you make the corrections, then the courage will come automatically ❤ More mistakes lead to more courage and soon the mistakes become less and courage remains strong knowing you made the corrections and that effort paid off! ❤
I love the chunks method. I also do a lot of writing sentences down in a notebook, for practice. A lot of it sticks. As well, when I go for walks, I think of something I want to say, maybe an observation, and if I can’t come up with the whole thing or am unsure, I speak into the phone using Google Translate as I’m walking, then just practice what I come up with. Your earlier advice, to focus on the vocab for one subject, like ‘camping’ or whatever you’re interested in in the moment, is also valuable. I have several word lists by topic to follow this, ‘The Kitchen’, ‘The Weather’, etc. Anyway, thank you for the valuable lessons! Review in the evenings is something I’m going to work on. Hola from Canada 😊
@@HeidiSue60 Just don’t cook the dog and shower with the cat. 😂 I do that too but I don’t usually do it out loud since my neighbors know I live alone 🤪 I am in Mexico so they might understand some of what I say. 😂 ❤
I write my things in a notebook too and then when I take the dogs on a walk I practice with them or I quiz myself on how to say things. Usually I can only do about 5 word sentences but it's a start haha. Aww I feel seen
I do the reading! And usually right before turning out the lights to go to sleep. To start, I just went to my local library and found the children's Spanish books section. I discovered a few delightful "graphic novels". Simple dialog with accompanying images. I then moved up to "young adult" books, like Harry Potter as someone already commented on or whatever on the shelf looked like it might be enjoyable. I've read The Martian and Project Hail Mary in Spanish. I'm now reading my second Dan Brown novel. I keep my English-Spanish dictionary nearby so I can look up words that I just can't figure out from the context. I start out reading out loud for a while, then just read silently. It's such an enjoyable way to improve my vocabulary and get exposed to different grammar uses. Plus, it just simply a relaxing way to unwind for the night. I don't know if it will give me the confidence to try and converse in Spanish, but I'm just doing this for fun, for the challenge, to keep my 64-year-old brain working, LOL.
I especially appreciate the idea of not translating the whole sentence before speaking. I find that by the time I have translated the whole sentence not only is the person not listening but I can't even remember the first part of the sentence. It's great being an elder and learning another language. Gracias por ayudarme!!!
A lot of what he said was never used by my Spanish teachers in school. Instead, we did day after day of mostly rote memorization of verb conjugations with some application.
The thing to do reference how to say for example "en cunto a" (regarding) is to learn ALL of them (so that you know what they are when someone else says them to you or during something you're listening to) whilst only picking one yourself to use. There are quite a few ways to say "maybe", for example. I always say "Quizás" but when Juan says "Tal vez salgamos más tarde." I recognise that and will reply "Sí - quizás"
¡Buenos consejos! Lo que hago casi todos los dias en mi viaje de aprender español es simplemente hacer un poco en secciones. Por la mañana antes de trabajo, 10 minutos para repetir algo en voz alta. Después de trabajo, si tengo tiempo, hago revisión lo que aprendí el día anterior. Por último, mientras lavandome los dientes usualmente yo veo vídeos como tus vídeos. Hasta ahora, es muy divertido. ¡Así es!
One of my tips to learn languages (helped me with English, French, and a bit of Japanese), keep practicing in your mind even if you have to mix your native language, you're not going to know how to say everything at the start. Then in a break you have you can check what's the actual translation of the parts you didn't said in your target language. (I think this is one of the set backs some classes have, the rule of "We only speak here", with this no one will want to say something because they aren't sure how to make a whole sentence)
The other best way to learn is spend a significant amount of time in a latin american country. In 1996 I went to Argentina for work. After 6 months I realized I was understanding 70% of what was said to me. After another few months I could initiate and respond to almost all conversations. The ket was to stay away from English speaking people, listen to the news on tv, find local friends (that didn't speak English), read signs on the street, listen to people talk around you and have fun, Was fully fluent after about a year and a half. Guatemala has a lot of language schools that do a good job of teaching gringos.
This concept of keeping the train moving has actually helped me realize where I’ve been stuck with my Japanese learning. I’m not learning Spanish, but I’ve been listening to your videos to understand how to learn languages in general. Super helpful!
Your approach to memorizing by studying before you sleep is a proven technique. Memorizing is easiest when you study the materials the last 30-60 minutes before bed, and then also the first 30-60 when you wake up. It always blew me away how much i could memorize this way. i credit this with how I got my associates degree over a decade ago. If you don't believe how easy it is, challenge yourself and try it out tonight!
I have studied Spanish for years, but your videos have helped increase my Spanish exponentially! I could NEVER figure out when to use "lo que" until your video and it just clicked! BEST SPANISH TEACHER EVER! Haaaasta luego❤
I should switch to haaasta luuuegoo cus I now say HAstaa pranto and as I walk away I kick myself and say under my breath: Asta prOntO. I sometimes hate being a gringo but if I can turn being a gringo into a joke that gets a laugh, I am all in!! btw, it’s seems to be the most common phrases that I screwup! 😂
This is the video I’ve been waiting for! Thanks Paul. You’re a great teacher and I really appreciate all the work you put into your content. I’ve been around spanish speakers for the last 12 years and this is the information that we’re all looking for that no one knows how to give.
In panama, it took me a while to figure out "alwhago" said in a very compressed burst was the local way to say hasta luego! I also hear Ciao! for goodbye, which surprised me.
Pauses judicially sprinkled throughout a conversation is useful advice for those alphabet gens on TH-cam who analyze political news with a nonstop, breathless monolog. To be taken seriously in speech, pauses are a useful device.
Thank you for this video and all your previous videos. I wrote everything I have to remember (since I learn by writing then reviewing them whenever I want) and will read all these comments when I get demotivated again. I hope to see more from native speakers and co-learners. Keep it coming folks!
Keep the hasta luego! It’s funny and it’s catchy. In fact, I left my Spanish tutor’s house the other day (he’s Mexican) and on my way out I said “until next time, haaasta luego” 😂 we both had a good laugh
Esta casi un años después me empecé estudiar. Muchas gracias para todos tu videos en su canal. Aunque no estoy todavía fluencia, conozco voy llegar y a veces tengo un momento de brillamente. Todos dice esta difícil aprender un idio cuando esta mayor, pero no me encontró difícil con tus estrategias. Gracias para todos los consejos y trucos y señalando buenos recursos.
A mí me encantó su video. A veces perdemos tiempo con verbos y palabras difíciles que nunca vamos usarlas. Me gusta mucho saber su rotina para aprender español por la mañana, la tarde y la noche y creo que voy a copiar su rotina para aprender otras lenguas que todavía no conozco. ¡Muchas gracias por compartir!
Great stuff! The hardest is listening because Spanish is the second fastest spoken language. Sometimes, I want Paul to slow down a fraction. Understanding ‘slower spoken’ Spanish gives confidence and prepares you for normal speed. If the Spanish is too quick it becomes a blur of sound with the listeners trying to grasp a word here and there. Learning can then become disheartening.
i really appreciate how you always make learning spanish so approachable ! i kinda suck at having a study strategy and just take it day by day, but i'm working towards more structure and consistency so this seriously came at the perfect time !
I promise...Ive seen, heard and watched a lot of Spanish sites, and you're the best teacher hands down. I can't wait to join your group. You're wife loves you for other reasons, but I love you as my teacher. ❤❤❤
I have been incorporating grammar lessons very slowly by learning and absorbing each individual grammar concept and then incorporating them into my talking lessons, as well as trying to identify the grammar concept in all of my input (video games, youtube videos, ect). It's been working very well. It is like the language has been making more and more sense as all of the grammar components come together. And I am only doing maybe 30 min of grammar lessons on my own maybe 2 or 3 times a week. I still spend 80-90% of my time talking and listening.
I love that you said to speak in chunks! I have always tried to figure out the sentence before I speak it. I am going to try your merhod. So happy I stumbled upon your channel. HASTA LUEGO!
Fantastic. I have not only watched several of your videos, I have also watched several other channels. There are certainly some very good ones out there, but, I must say, that you are the best teacher for adults learning a language. At least for me, I say this, because I have worked on 2 other languages and have also done some research on how humans learn language. Pertaining to that, it is true that language educatin has made great strides by learning how it is that infants learn their native language. That research has fundamentally changed language education. HOWEVER, we are not infants. We are adults. Therefore, even though it is advantageous to incorporate what has been learned about infant language assimulation, we must also approach the learning process from an adult perspective. SO, THANK YOU QROO. MUCHAS GRACIAS.
Great video, Paul, with some useful suggestions. Personally, I can also highly recommend: (1) Listening to podcasts, stopping them when you want to, to repeat something “en voz alta”. (2) Finding a couple of good language exchange partners online. My conversation skills have improved dramatically when I have had to talk live to real people 😅 !
@@gerlautamr.656 Muchas gracias. Sigo al Sr. Paul desde hace un año. Soy de la India.Mi lengua materna es el Hindi. También hablo inglés. !Que tengas un buen día¡
Hasta la próxima! Man those are some great suggestions, Paul. It's kinda hard to think back about how we learned once we're essentially fluent. But good ideas tend to stick with us. I remember walking around the house as a kid and trying to name everything I looked at. And make up conversations in my head using the new vocabulary I'd memorized from a book. Reading stories and newspapers, it was hard because I'd have to stop and look up words in my Spanish-English dictionary so often. I couldn't follow shortwave broadcasts though I kept trying. Music was easier because I could rewind the tape and listen repeatedly. I'd write down the lyrics and the parts I couldn't get I'd ask people what they're saying. Julio Iglesias was a big one. And Alvarez Guedes, the comedian. (Who are these people, you ask 😂 ) All that lead up to practicing conversations with native speakers, many of whom had limited English proficiency so they weren't always trying to switch to English. And it's a long slow process overall. Some days things just flow and you feel like you're progressing leaps and bounds, then on a new day you realize there's a long road ahead. En fin, the way I see it, those who want to learn, may, and those who have decided to learn, do. Cheers amigo!
Hearing you talk about saying "hasta luego" at the end had me laughing. I've been working with a Mexican contractor for the last few months and I've always wanted to learn Spanish, so I've started practicing. The first thing I'd start saying was "hasta manana" at the end of the day. When I said it , he goes "no, that is incorrect." I said, doesn't that mean see you tomorrow? He says yes, but not "haasstaaaa maneeeaaaannaaa" it's "hasta manana very fast." Speaking Spanish at an English-speaking speed has been a hard habit to break, but I'm getting there. Your videos are great, and your course is really helping me build on what I've learned, and I only just started. Thank you for what you're doing!
Haha, it drives native speakers nuts that I drag that out at the end of my videos. Thanks for following the channel. I'm glad to hear that the videos are helping you improve your Spanish.
So many Spanish language teachers attempt to force feed students into ways to say the same thing in different ways. That is not very conducive to learning a language and thank you for pointing that out. It just adds so much more unnecessary confusion and frustration for someone learning the language.
I study english because I want it to be my second leanguage but I watched this video and i can see for you is so difficult too. I like to get a conversation with people who is native of idiom English. Greetings from México city.
As an English Canadian born in a French city I didn't have a choice but to learn French. I became fluent by the time I was about 16. The biggest hurdle is learning your first romance language. Plural, masculine and feminine and tense are hard at first but once you grasp it Italian and French come easy. Good luck!
One thing in Spanish vocals always have the same sound well and rest of alphabet letters just have the same sound to me was easy to learn words one at the time
en cuanto a frases como "en cuanto a". People do that in their native language too, if you want to prove that someone wrote something, if it's long enough, a computer program can tell just by checking the words and phrases used -- every native speaker has a different bag of favorites, and going "off script" takes a lot of effort.
My husband speaks Spanish and I am now learning to speak. He only speaks to me in Spanish now and I understand everything but just can’t put it together myself but it’s only been 2 weeks
If there are any programmers out there who want to build this, a good way to "encourage" good study habits would be an app that forces you to spend 3 or 4 minutes learning chunks before you are allowed more screen time online (lets say every 2 hours). Also a 10 second quiz that prevents you from moving forward without providing the correct multiple choice answer.
So many good tips hear. Already, I am feeling more comfortable to speak with the suggestion to use sentence starters to help me pause and think. I will practice learning in chunks. I can't help but to want to know more than one way to say something. I will control myself with no more than two ways. And LOL, people really came at you for the way that you sign off. They truly feel that anything is fair game on youtube. Thanks for a great video.
If I may add one more suggestion: music! I’ve found that listening to Spanish music, particularly kid songs, can be quite helpful. With the kid songs, may sound strange but it’s the way they’re composed- the simplicity and repetition. After all, they’re created for the age level who is still learning to speak. I like Gallina Pintadita. Their TH-cam channel usually has the captions too. I’ve also incorporated some other types of music with my progression.
hey Paul, love the comment re thinking in spanish.. feels like every online tutor-video-article says you MUST think in spanish. i could never make this happen earlier on in my learning. . saludos desde Australia. 🐨
I like your ideas. I teach English and this makes good sense (for my learning Spanish). Your suggestions on learning and memory are supported by research.
I’m just starting to learn Spanish : Question : The Spanish word : Encantado . and Encantoda , so why does it change One for men , one for women, Why not just one
I can actually recomend reading Harry Potter in spanish. They were wrtitten for young people so the language is not that complicaded. I remember I learned a lot of my English back in the day from reading those books. Now i am repeting the process in spanish.
In retrospect, I would have learned the grammar first (when I was most serious, studious, excited to learn). It is so easy to add vocabulary words later. Also, join or start an in-person meetup group where everyone helps everyone else out.
Good morning Paul. This is a great advice not just for Spanish, but for any language. I may leave the link to this video somewhere on my channel, if you do not mind.
I think a lot of people get bogged down trying to speak PERFECT Spanish. Have a margarita or a shot or two of tequila. And throw what you know out there. You’ll learn more engaging in a conversation with a local than you will just pounding the books. Watch tv shows in Spanish but dubbed in English. You’ll pick up words and some slang. I’m not a guy that enjoys learning out of a book. Which is weird because I’m an avid reader. But engaging in conversation in Spanish is so much easier for me to learn that way. And on a weird side note. I’ve been to France 4 times. I know maybe 10 words in French. But when the French people speak French to me I’ll use some weird mix of Spanish and what might be what I think is French to reply. And then the French will speak ENGLISH back to me. It’s odd. But it works for me.
I am so glad I found your channel- yay! I appreciate your calm manner- it's like you have all the patience in the world- awesome job doing these videos. I'm leaning your subj triggers but I find in conversation I never use them because I'm not relaxed enough- I tend to just stick with the imperative all the time. Anyway, I am fairly fluent since doing a Spanish degree and a semester abroad 25 years ago. But I never even knew so much of this stuff- especially about the subjunctive!! One problem I have now is that I get nervous speaking Spanish and have trouble controlling my air intake- so I'm like rushing through my phrases them gasping for air! Advice? dee>
Un otro idea, escuchar a la música en español. Cuando escuchas un cancíón que te gusta, encontrar las letras del canción. Aprendan las letras y canta a la canción. Es más divertido a la canta en español!
¡Como siempre, excelente contenido! En cuanto a haaaasta luego, no te preocupes por eso " I get it" y a mí me gusta. Sabemos que gramaticamente no es corecto, pero es no la idea. haaasta luego..😅
Thank you, as always, for your valuable help. My brain gets you. Lol. And oh, those days when the brain freezes and you can’t put a sentence together to save your life, and you think you’ll NEVER learn the language. I just give myself a moment, and think about how much I didn’t previously know that I do now. Doesn’t necessarily get me over that hump right then, but in a while, it does. 37 days until the move to Ecuador. Immersion will do wonders. Lol.
Gracias por chunks consejo y frases de preposición. Tengo hacer un pregunta. When in conversation is it normal to accidentally skip words. I do it a lot.
![SAFEPLANET - ดาวเคราะห์ [ THE PLANET ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4X1XL3I_k3c/mqdefault.jpg)
Want to thank me? Buy me a coffee :)
buymeacoffee.com/qroo
Join the Qroo Spanish Crew (Get Exclusive Content)
www.skool.com/qroo
Langua (Best AI for Learning Spanish)
tinyurl.com/54fxuc4m
Use code QROO (all caps) to get 20% off Langua annual plans
Yes Paul: Say: (Hasta la próxima) for awhile; and then change it hasta la vista baby jaja. I am just being funny but maybe change to something because people here do tend to repeat what they hear and the world has enough language learners speaking poorly. I sometimes am one, and you are not! Keep up the great work. Bien hecho.
One of the most difficult things is always hearing people talk about how easy spanish is. And then when you start studying Spanish, you realize that it's not easy. After you come to this realization, then you meet someone who tells you that they learned it in 6 months or one year. Then you go right back to level one of frustration. Where you start to wonder what you are doing wrong.
You're right. It is not easy. It takes a lot of commitment. One thing to keep in mind when hearing about people who claim to learn it in 6 months or so is that it is unlikely they speak it at an advanced level. Learning a foreign language is a marathon, not a sprint. The way that I kept from getting discouraged was to focus on just being a little bit better at it than I was the day before.
@QrooSpanish Thank you for the comment/reply. I will keep this in mind the next time I start to get a little frustrated with my progress.
The people who "learned" it in 6 months always have a very limited bag of things they can say. They don't really learn it. They just learn enough to kind of get by and then go around bragging
I shared your frustration, especially as a heritage speaker where I felt like perfect Spanish should just come out of my mouth.
But yeah, these people have a different idea of fluency than my goal. I want to know Spanish so well, and Mexican Spanish in particular, that I can watch a stand up show and understand every joke. I want to know and be able to use idioms used in Mexico and be able to talk about literature and politics.
“Dónde está la biblioteca” no es la meta. ;-)
I see this a lot with kids too. My daughter is fully fluent - like can jump into a conversation in Spanish no problem and reads in Spanish - and often parents say their kid is fluent but it’s more like they understand some Spanish and can’t speak it fluently.
I get that situation bc it was similar to my own, but I didn’t consider myself fluent at that point.
People just have their own interpretation of what “fluent” means, and for those of us aiming higher, it takes much longer before we’d use it to describe ourselves. I’m finally there, but it’s after a lifetime of growing up in a Spanish-speaking family and even more so the hard work I’ve put in in the last few years - mostly to keep up with and keep teaching my daughter! In many ways she’s better than me.
Spanish is legitimately easy compared to non-Romance languages, perhaps, but people who say they "learned it" in six months need to STFU and define what they mean by "learning". If you count irregular verb conjugations as separate words then how many words are there to know to make your conversations fluid and "sin esfuerzo"? How many expressions? How many chunks? And how does a memory retain all of that and draw it up instantly in conversation? The process does exist but it's not a six month process.
I'm an 80-year old retired university professor. You are a much better teacher than I ever was. Thank you for your great videos. Take care.
@Zauzagez
Hi Z:
I heard some advice somewhere on TH-cam that I believe is helpful.
You might use this with a language teacher or friend who speaks your target language; either way, you might want to explain that you are doing this so that you improve hearing well what someone says to you.
Instead of asking them to repeat something slower, say something like this: ¿Tu me dijiste que tu vas a Rusia para aprender español verdad?
You told me you’re going to Russia to learn Spanish, right?
Then let them clarify what they said.
❤
Here is a formal example:
Usted dijo: Estaba viajando a Portugal para aprender chino, ¿es eso lo que oí?
You said: I was traveling to Portugal to learn Chinese, is that what I heard?
Try it and see what you think.
Have fun!
@Zauzagezmy experiences (Spanish as well as English foreign languages!) are: it’s incredibly helpful talking to a Mexican native speaker who has some skills in English as well. They understand much better your difficulties because of own experiences learning a foreign language and they will help you easily out when you’re getting puzzled about the answer. Slowly but surely you’ll improve your listening skills and one day out of a sudden it’s like „plopp“ and you‘re getting much better WTF they are talking about. It’s a process you’re going through anyways so just be patient with yourself 😉 time will do
i was a terrible teacher
En cuanto a :) la enseñanza: es muy difícil. Cuando intenté de enseñar, lo sentí como si se me incendiaron los pantalones.
Ignore the “hasta luego” haters, you’re an excellent speaker-and instructor.
Thanks!
I do three 15 minutes study sessions per day. One at breakfast, after lunch, and before bed. I also use flash cards. They help alot. When i stop using flashcards, I realized my learning slowed down. I'm now just starting to learn chunks. I also watch a lot of videos on grammar because knowing the grammar rules truly helps me understand the language better.
“Pick one way to say it and stick to it”
I love this! It’s really simple and I’m realizing I do the same thing with English. I say a frase the same way everytime unless I hear another way a bunch of times and I start liking how that sounds more. Just approach your foreign language the same way!
Where have you been the last 2 years? I have been struggling and being all over the place with learning spanish still do not know how to speak with courage. I have done two lessons with you so far and already feeling more confident. You are an amazing teacher, thank you very much
Just speak and make mistakes often so you have more to correct. When you make the corrections, then the courage will come automatically ❤
More mistakes lead to more courage and soon the mistakes become less and courage remains strong knowing you made the corrections and that effort paid off! ❤
After learning a grammar concept, I write out a few simple examples and act it out in my living room.
Muy bien 👍🏻
I am now starting to love studying the language because of you !
I love the chunks method. I also do a lot of writing sentences down in a notebook, for practice. A lot of it sticks. As well, when I go for walks, I think of something I want to say, maybe an observation, and if I can’t come up with the whole thing or am unsure, I speak into the phone using Google Translate as I’m walking, then just practice what I come up with. Your earlier advice, to focus on the vocab for one subject, like ‘camping’ or whatever you’re interested in in the moment, is also valuable. I have several word lists by topic to follow this, ‘The Kitchen’, ‘The Weather’, etc. Anyway, thank you for the valuable lessons! Review in the evenings is something I’m going to work on. Hola from Canada 😊
I love narrating my activities. Ahora limpio la cocina. Mi perro está aquí pero dónde está mi gato? Levantarme temprano para la mañana. Etc.
@@HeidiSue60 yes, exactamente. Estoy caminando por el parque …
@@HeidiSue60 muy bien!
@@HeidiSue60
Just don’t cook the dog and shower with the cat. 😂
I do that too but I don’t usually do it out loud since my neighbors know I live alone 🤪
I am in Mexico so they might understand some of what I say. 😂 ❤
I write my things in a notebook too and then when I take the dogs on a walk I practice with them or I quiz myself on how to say things. Usually I can only do about 5 word sentences but it's a start haha. Aww I feel seen
I do the reading! And usually right before turning out the lights to go to sleep. To start, I just went to my local library and found the children's Spanish books section. I discovered a few delightful "graphic novels". Simple dialog with accompanying images. I then moved up to "young adult" books, like Harry Potter as someone already commented on or whatever on the shelf looked like it might be enjoyable. I've read The Martian and Project Hail Mary in Spanish. I'm now reading my second Dan Brown novel. I keep my English-Spanish dictionary nearby so I can look up words that I just can't figure out from the context. I start out reading out loud for a while, then just read silently. It's such an enjoyable way to improve my vocabulary and get exposed to different grammar uses. Plus, it just simply a relaxing way to unwind for the night. I don't know if it will give me the confidence to try and converse in Spanish, but I'm just doing this for fun, for the challenge, to keep my 64-year-old brain working, LOL.
Great idea!!!
tengo 60 anos! buen noticias sobre los libros.
He Sido mirar "Larry Sanders Show" cada noche. No trabajando en mi espanol. gran equivocarse. Debo cambiar
I especially appreciate the idea of not translating the whole sentence before speaking. I find that by the time I have translated the whole sentence not only is the person not listening but I can't even remember the first part of the sentence. It's great being an elder and learning another language. Gracias por ayudarme!!!
🙂
"Hasta luego" commentary had me in tears. Do you, Paul, as you always have here. Now we're in on the (slight) joke, it's even better. 😂
Siempre me pregunté por qué no ha decía "Nos vemos". ahora lo obtengo.
A lot of what he said was never used by my Spanish teachers in school. Instead, we did day after day of mostly rote memorization of verb conjugations with some application.
The thing to do reference how to say for example "en cunto a" (regarding) is to learn ALL of them (so that you know what they are when someone else says them to you or during something you're listening to) whilst only picking one yourself to use. There are quite a few ways to say "maybe", for example. I always say "Quizás" but when Juan says "Tal vez salgamos más tarde." I recognise that and will reply "Sí - quizás"
¡Buenos consejos! Lo que hago casi todos los dias en mi viaje de aprender español es simplemente hacer un poco en secciones.
Por la mañana antes de trabajo, 10 minutos para repetir algo en voz alta. Después de trabajo, si tengo tiempo, hago revisión lo que aprendí el día anterior. Por último, mientras lavandome los dientes usualmente yo veo vídeos como tus vídeos.
Hasta ahora, es muy divertido. ¡Así es!
One of my tips to learn languages (helped me with English, French, and a bit of Japanese),
keep practicing in your mind even if you have to mix your native language, you're not going to know how to say everything at the start.
Then in a break you have you can check what's the actual translation of the parts you didn't said in your target language.
(I think this is one of the set backs some classes have, the rule of "We only speak here", with this no one will want to say something because they aren't sure how to make a whole sentence)
buen consejo
The other best way to learn is spend a significant amount of time in a latin american country. In 1996 I went to Argentina for work. After 6 months I realized I was understanding 70% of what was said to me. After another few months I could initiate and respond to almost all conversations.
The ket was to stay away from English speaking people, listen to the news on tv, find local friends (that didn't speak English), read signs on the street, listen to people talk around you and have fun, Was fully fluent after about a year and a half.
Guatemala has a lot of language schools that do a good job of teaching gringos.
This concept of keeping the train moving has actually helped me realize where I’ve been stuck with my Japanese learning. I’m not learning Spanish, but I’ve been listening to your videos to understand how to learn languages in general. Super helpful!
Your approach to memorizing by studying before you sleep is a proven technique. Memorizing is easiest when you study the materials the last 30-60 minutes before bed, and then also the first 30-60 when you wake up. It always blew me away how much i could memorize this way. i credit this with how I got my associates degree over a decade ago.
If you don't believe how easy it is, challenge yourself and try it out tonight!
I have studied Spanish for years, but your videos have helped increase my Spanish exponentially! I could NEVER figure out when to use "lo que" until your video and it just clicked! BEST SPANISH TEACHER EVER! Haaaasta luego❤
That's great to hear! I'm glad the videos have helped your Spanish! Hastaaa lueego! Lol
I should switch to haaasta luuuegoo cus I now say HAstaa pranto and as I walk away I kick myself and say under my breath: Asta prOntO. I sometimes hate being a gringo but if I can turn being a gringo into a joke that gets a laugh, I am all in!!
btw, it’s seems to be the most common phrases that I screwup! 😂
My husband and I love you Croo. This is something we do enjoy doing together. We watch some of the lessons over and over.
That's a great way to keep each other motivated. :)
This is the video I’ve been waiting for! Thanks Paul. You’re a great teacher and I really appreciate all the work you put into your content. I’ve been around spanish speakers for the last 12 years and this is the information that we’re all looking for that no one knows how to give.
Thank you very much. :)
Please dont stop with the Hasta Luegos! I love them!
Thanks!
In panama, it took me a while to figure out "alwhago" said in a very compressed burst was the local way to say hasta luego! I also hear Ciao! for goodbye, which surprised me.
Interesting!
"Chao" (not ciao) is Colombian slang! Makes sense you'd hear it in Panama too.
Pauses judicially sprinkled throughout a conversation is useful advice for those alphabet gens on TH-cam who analyze political news with a nonstop, breathless monolog. To be taken seriously in speech, pauses are a useful device.
Thank you for this video and all your previous videos. I wrote everything I have to remember (since I learn by writing then reviewing them whenever I want) and will read all these comments when I get demotivated again. I hope to see more from native speakers and co-learners. Keep it coming folks!
Keep the hasta luego! It’s funny and it’s catchy. In fact, I left my Spanish tutor’s house the other day (he’s Mexican) and on my way out I said “until next time, haaasta luego” 😂 we both had a good laugh
Esta casi un años después me empecé estudiar. Muchas gracias para todos tu videos en su canal. Aunque no estoy todavía fluencia, conozco voy llegar y a veces tengo un momento de brillamente. Todos dice esta difícil aprender un idio cuando esta mayor, pero no me encontró difícil con tus estrategias. Gracias para todos los consejos y trucos y señalando buenos recursos.
A mí me encantó su video. A veces perdemos tiempo con verbos y palabras difíciles que nunca vamos usarlas. Me gusta mucho saber su rotina para aprender español por la mañana, la tarde y la noche y creo que voy a copiar su rotina para aprender otras lenguas que todavía no conozco. ¡Muchas gracias por compartir!
Be yourself Paul, what you do, say, and teach, is very successful and well liked. Until we see you again, hastaaaaa lueeeeegooooo😊.xx
Haha, thanks!
The train car analogy: 💖 Thank you for your hard work and dedication to Spanish learners!
LOL. --- its a great tag line!!! People are tooooooo serious!! Thank you for the awesome content and inspiration.
Algunas personas piensan demasiado. "Haaasta Luego," es perfecto porque es imperfecto, como la vida.
Haaaasta lueeeego Qroo Paul🤣🤣🤣no cambies lo que eres.
Hasta luego 😁
Great stuff! The hardest is listening because Spanish is the second fastest spoken language. Sometimes, I want Paul to slow down a fraction. Understanding ‘slower spoken’ Spanish gives confidence and prepares you for normal speed. If the Spanish is too quick it becomes a blur of sound with the listeners trying to grasp a word here and there. Learning can then become disheartening.
i really appreciate how you always make learning spanish so approachable ! i kinda suck at having a study strategy and just take it day by day, but i'm working towards more structure and consistency so this seriously came at the perfect time !
It’s me again. There’s a TH-cam channel that I like. It’s simply called. Like Spanish. It’s also helping me learn Spanish. Rick
I promise...Ive seen, heard and watched a lot of Spanish sites, and you're the best teacher hands down. I can't wait to join your group. You're wife loves you for other reasons, but I love you as my teacher. ❤❤❤
Wow, thank you!
You are the best Spanish teacher ever! There is hope for me yet.
Thank you so much!
I have been incorporating grammar lessons very slowly by learning and absorbing each individual grammar concept and then incorporating them into my talking lessons, as well as trying to identify the grammar concept in all of my input (video games, youtube videos, ect). It's been working very well. It is like the language has been making more and more sense as all of the grammar components come together. And I am only doing maybe 30 min of grammar lessons on my own maybe 2 or 3 times a week. I still spend 80-90% of my time talking and listening.
Me gusta "haaasta luego!" Es graciosa, relajada, informal - quédatelo!
Always look forward to your videos.
Paul, keep up the good work.
You were quick! I just posted this one. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Yes! Indispensable tips in this short video that make you say, "yeah, that makes sense".
I love that you said to speak in chunks! I have always tried to figure out the sentence before I speak it. I am going to try your merhod. So happy I stumbled upon your channel. HASTA LUEGO!
Fantastic. I have not only watched several of your videos, I have also watched several other channels. There are certainly some very good ones out there, but, I must say, that you are the best teacher for adults learning a language. At least for me, I say this, because I have worked on 2 other languages and have also done some research on how humans learn language.
Pertaining to that, it is true that language educatin has made great strides by learning how it is that infants learn their native language. That research has fundamentally changed language education. HOWEVER, we are not infants. We are adults. Therefore, even though it is advantageous to incorporate what has been learned about infant language assimulation, we must also approach the learning process from an adult perspective. SO, THANK YOU QROO. MUCHAS GRACIAS.
I love soccer and just watch interviews, read news articles, etc. I think if we all just kind of take advantage of an interest it’s much easier.
Great video, Paul, with some useful suggestions. Personally, I can also highly recommend:
(1) Listening to podcasts, stopping them when you want to, to repeat something “en voz alta”.
(2) Finding a couple of good language exchange partners online. My conversation skills have improved dramatically when I have had to talk live to real people 😅 !
Gracias Paul, voy a probarlos.
Muchas gracias señor Paul. Me parece una buena idea y sin duda la pondré en práctica . No sé si hay algún error en mi escritura.
Tu escritura es perfecta.Te felicito por no olvidar poner los acentos correctamente en las palabras que lo llevan.mi idioma materno es el español.
@@gerlautamr.656 Muchas gracias. Sigo al Sr. Paul desde hace un año. Soy de la India.Mi lengua materna es el Hindi. También hablo inglés. !Que tengas un buen día¡
Incluso escribes mejor que muchos nativos 😂
@@lizzethmancilla5197 Muchas gracias señora.
Hasta la próxima!
Man those are some great suggestions, Paul. It's kinda hard to think back about how we learned once we're essentially fluent. But good ideas tend to stick with us. I remember walking around the house as a kid and trying to name everything I looked at. And make up conversations in my head using the new vocabulary I'd memorized from a book. Reading stories and newspapers, it was hard because I'd have to stop and look up words in my Spanish-English dictionary so often. I couldn't follow shortwave broadcasts though I kept trying. Music was easier because I could rewind the tape and listen repeatedly. I'd write down the lyrics and the parts I couldn't get I'd ask people what they're saying. Julio Iglesias was a big one. And Alvarez Guedes, the comedian. (Who are these people, you ask 😂 ) All that lead up to practicing conversations with native speakers, many of whom had limited English proficiency so they weren't always trying to switch to English. And it's a long slow process overall. Some days things just flow and you feel like you're progressing leaps and bounds, then on a new day you realize there's a long road ahead. En fin, the way I see it, those who want to learn, may, and those who have decided to learn, do. Cheers amigo!
Thank you for this and thank you the encouragement as well dude you have been instrumental helping me learn Spanish
Happy to help. Thanks for continuing to follow the channel.
Hearing you talk about saying "hasta luego" at the end had me laughing. I've been working with a Mexican contractor for the last few months and I've always wanted to learn Spanish, so I've started practicing. The first thing I'd start saying was "hasta manana" at the end of the day. When I said it , he goes "no, that is incorrect." I said, doesn't that mean see you tomorrow? He says yes, but not "haasstaaaa maneeeaaaannaaa" it's "hasta manana very fast."
Speaking Spanish at an English-speaking speed has been a hard habit to break, but I'm getting there. Your videos are great, and your course is really helping me build on what I've learned, and I only just started. Thank you for what you're doing!
Haha, it drives native speakers nuts that I drag that out at the end of my videos.
Thanks for following the channel. I'm glad to hear that the videos are helping you improve your Spanish.
Great video and suggestions. I wish you would continue your series on Subjunctive Triggers.
I keep adding videos to that playlist. I just don't number them as part of that series. You can find it under the "playlist" tab on TH-cam.
Thank you so much. @@QrooSpanish
So many Spanish language teachers attempt to force feed students into ways to say the same thing in different ways. That is not very conducive to learning a language and thank you for pointing that out. It just adds so much more unnecessary confusion and frustration for someone learning the language.
I study english because I want it to be my second leanguage but I watched this video and i can see for you is so difficult too. I like to get a conversation with people who is native of idiom English. Greetings from México city.
What your saying makes sense , sabe que that is something Iam sticking in my head before go to bed and, I will be following you
Thanks!
As an English Canadian born in a French city I didn't have a choice but to learn French. I became fluent by the time I was about 16. The biggest hurdle is learning your first romance language. Plural, masculine and feminine and tense are hard at first but once you grasp it Italian and French come easy. Good luck!
One thing in Spanish vocals always have the same sound well and rest of alphabet letters just have the same sound to me was easy to learn words one at the time
No como en ingles que cambia depende la palabra y la posición
Brilliantl. Thanks. I have added listening to Spanish radio online. Found a couple of favourites.
I really love your approach to learning a new language for adults. I really needed this today.
I'm glad you like it. It's what really worked for me.
You are a great teacher. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and all the advice you give.
That's very nice of you. Thank you. :)
Gracias! Genial como siempre.
Gracias-all the tips are helpful and will be utilized in my daily routines!!!!
Haaaasta luego!!! Don't change a thing, we love it!
Humor at the end, I love it, thank you soooo much you are a talented teacher, please keep it up! 👍❤️
en cuanto a frases como "en cuanto a". People do that in their native language too, if you want to prove that someone wrote something, if it's long enough, a computer program can tell just by checking the words and phrases used -- every native speaker has a different bag of favorites, and going "off script" takes a lot of effort.
That's a great observation. I do the same thing in English.
My husband speaks Spanish and I am now learning to speak. He only speaks to me in Spanish now and I understand everything but just can’t put it together myself but it’s only been 2 weeks
If there are any programmers out there who want to build this, a good way to "encourage" good study habits would be an app that forces you to spend 3 or 4 minutes learning chunks before you are allowed more screen time online (lets say every 2 hours). Also a 10 second quiz that prevents you from moving forward without providing the correct multiple choice answer.
That's a great app idea!
Yes!
Thanks as always, Paul.
So many good tips hear. Already, I am feeling more comfortable to speak with the suggestion to use sentence starters to help me pause and think. I will practice learning in chunks. I can't help but to want to know more than one way to say something. I will control myself with no more than two ways. And LOL, people really came at you for the way that you sign off. They truly feel that anything is fair game on youtube. Thanks for a great video.
If I may add one more suggestion: music! I’ve found that listening to Spanish music, particularly kid songs, can be quite helpful. With the kid songs, may sound strange but it’s the way they’re composed- the simplicity and repetition. After all, they’re created for the age level who is still learning to speak. I like Gallina Pintadita. Their TH-cam channel usually has the captions too. I’ve also incorporated some other types of music with my progression.
Love your videos and your sense of humour. You make this a fun journey. Thankful
hey Paul, love the comment re thinking in spanish.. feels like every online tutor-video-article says you MUST think in spanish. i could never make this happen earlier on in my learning. . saludos desde Australia. 🐨
Gracias. Hasta lueeegooo
Great advice Paul. Love you and your teaching videos.Greetings from london.🤩
Thanks for watching. I briefly passed through the airport in London, but I've never explored that area. It is on my bucket list though.
I like your ideas. I teach English and this makes good sense (for my learning Spanish). Your suggestions on learning and memory are supported by research.
Thanks!
Trying to stop "translating" English to Spanish
And just learn which words go together in conversations worked better. It's not word for word 100%.
You are an awesome teacher!
Thank you! 😃
Thank you - very helpful particularly starting the train
I’m just starting to learn Spanish :
Question :
The Spanish word : Encantado . and
Encantoda , so why does it change
One for men , one for women, Why not just one
Good class of conversation
I can actually recomend reading Harry Potter in spanish. They were wrtitten for young people so the language is not that complicaded. I remember I learned a lot of my English back in the day from reading those books. Now i am repeting the process in spanish.
In retrospect, I would have learned the grammar first (when I was most serious, studious, excited to learn). It is so easy to add vocabulary words later.
Also, join or start an in-person meetup group where everyone helps everyone else out.
Really helpful video! I particularly like the point around 9:45 - this is a huge help to avoid being left behind in conversations.
Good morning Paul. This is a great advice not just for Spanish, but for any language. I may leave the link to this video somewhere on my channel, if you do not mind.
Yes, please feel free to share. I appreciate that.
I think a lot of people get bogged down trying to speak PERFECT Spanish. Have a margarita or a shot or two of tequila. And throw what you know out there. You’ll learn more engaging in a conversation with a local than you will just pounding the books. Watch tv shows in Spanish but dubbed in English. You’ll pick up words and some slang. I’m not a guy that enjoys learning out of a book. Which is weird because I’m an avid reader. But engaging in conversation in Spanish is so much easier for me to learn that way.
And on a weird side note. I’ve been to France 4 times. I know maybe 10 words in French. But when the French people speak French to me I’ll use some weird mix of Spanish and what might be what I think is French to reply. And then the French will speak ENGLISH back to me. It’s odd. But it works for me.
Esta bien , profesor de tu estilo,hasta luego ,😁
You may not believe it but I watch your excellent videos to learn English not Spanish. You are great!
Thank you. I enjoy and learn from your videos.
I am so glad I found your channel- yay! I appreciate your calm manner- it's like you have all the patience in the world- awesome job doing these videos. I'm leaning your subj triggers but I find in conversation I never use them because I'm not relaxed enough- I tend to just stick with the imperative all the time. Anyway, I am fairly fluent since doing a Spanish degree and a semester abroad 25 years ago. But I never even knew so much of this stuff- especially about the subjunctive!! One problem I have now is that I get nervous speaking Spanish and have trouble controlling my air intake- so I'm like rushing through my phrases them gasping for air! Advice? dee>
Un otro idea, escuchar a la música en español. Cuando escuchas un cancíón que te gusta, encontrar las letras del canción. Aprendan las letras y canta a la canción. Es más divertido a la canta en español!
In other words, the phrase book method. I agree, nothing wrong with that to get to a survival level profinciancy.
¡Como siempre, excelente contenido! En cuanto a haaaasta luego, no te preocupes por eso " I get it" y a mí me gusta. Sabemos que gramaticamente no es corecto, pero es no la idea. haaasta luego..😅
I really like your train car idea!!
Glad you like it!
Thank you, as always, for your valuable help. My brain gets you. Lol.
And oh, those days when the brain freezes and you can’t put a sentence together to save your life, and you think you’ll NEVER learn the language. I just give myself a moment, and think about how much I didn’t previously know that I do now. Doesn’t necessarily get me over that hump right then, but in a while, it does.
37 days until the move to Ecuador. Immersion will do wonders. Lol.
Hasta la vista...baby! then slip on the dark shades.
Gracias por chunks consejo y frases de preposición. Tengo hacer un pregunta. When in conversation is it normal to accidentally skip words. I do it a lot.
im a native spanish speaker and im using your tactics to learn french 😆
My wife is using them to learn Italian. 😀
Great advice. Thanks.