Learning A Language

[tamaris]

I have been learning spanish for eight years, I love doing it, and put in about 6 hours a week, over 3 days, but I am far from fluent, I feel I should be much better than I am. I was speaking to someone at night school last night who had been doing it for three years and I thought had a better grasp than I did, what is wrong with me ?

[naomi24]

Nothing is wrong with you. People learn at their own pace and in different ways so don't be hard on yourself. If you enjoy it, that's the most important thing.

[ST24]

When you are learning a new language it's important to have as much practice as possible, preferably with native speakers. If you can't manage that then try listening to broadcasts or find some music that you enjoy in your chosen language.
A couple more points : if you are over 50 it will be more difficult for you to learn a new language ; the use of flash cards is highly recommended.

[tamaris]

Thank you Naomi for those kind words

[tamaris]

I lived in Spain for 2.5 years.

[Mosaic]

Motivation and daily practice are the key. I know people who have found practice by listening to radio / TV in the foreign language they want to learn - if a programme motivates you then you find the vocabulary in a dictionary. Ditto reading the newspaper websites - I used to enjoy MidiLibre when learning French, and I'm sure many exist for Spain. There is nothing wrong with you other than introducing the word 'wrong' into your mind map. The only person who gets nothing 'wrong' is the person who tries nothing. Allow yourself to chatter and make mistakes in Spanish and encourage more fluent speakers to correct you if you do. If they find it funny, smile along with them.
With practice and encouragement you will find it ever easier to retrieve the words and phrases that are the daily building blocks.

[naomi24]

You're welcome. Reading books written in the language you're learning can help - even children's books. Amazon have a lot on offer, some of them dual language - and as ST24 says, listening to broadcasts is useful too.

I don't know how far the BBC courses go, but you might find this of interest even if only to familiarise yourself with pronounciation .....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/

[Tina823]

Nothing wrong with you. Different people have different understanding and ability of receiving. I think you really have a good job, your insistence and perseverance is really affect me.

[tamaris]

Thank you all for your kind words