How long to be proficient at spanish

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zetor

#17431 Sun, 06 May 07 11:33 PM

I'm not sure if fluent is the right term or not but I would like to be able to speak spanish without sounding like "me want go to store" I don't have expectations of being able to sound like a native speaker, but I do want more than survival spanish. I had 2 semesters of spanish 8 years ago when I was in college as a foreign language requirement. I live in Kennesaw Ga and the hispanic population is much larger than I thought I would see in GA and so I do have an opportunity to interact with hispanics regularly. I bought the Baron's Mastering Spanish Level 1. I don't mind putting in effort and time. I know it will require work. Is it possibe to teach myself without formal classroom instruction?

zetor

Joined on 06-05-2007

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zetor

#17432 Sun, 06 May 07 11:36 PM

What's with all the smiley faces? I didn't do that.

zetor

arturotrigo

#17434 Mon, 07 May 07 01:58 AM

¡Hola Zetor!
I'm from upstate New York and I've been teaching myself for about 8 weeks or so. I feel as though I am starting to get it with my reading and writing. I still have a lot to learn though and I don't have anyone to practice my conversation skills with yet. Not on a regular basis. Hit or miss at a restaurant or store. If I had someone to practice with every day, I think another 8 weeks or so I would be fairly conversational but to me its not a goal to reach and then I'm done. It's the journey that I've been enjoying... I've learned so much along the way and not just about Spanish!

Why do you want to learn? I think that will have a greater impact on learning than anything else.
Art

arturotrigo

Joined on 04-03-2007

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zetor

#17437 Mon, 07 May 07 05:34 AM

I just want to learn. Personal satisfaction of knowing another language, not depending on someone else to tell me what someone wants or what they said. The spanish speaking population in GA gets larger everyday and learning to speak spanish would be practical.

zetor

Blake

#17547 Wed, 16 May 07 03:27 AM

A friend of mine from Italy said it took her four years to get "proficient" at English, and that was being more or less "forced" into it because she lived here in the U.S. It depends what you mean by proficient. There's no magic line that you cross at some point! Even after 3 months of study a person is somewhat proficient! That just keeps growing until you can finally, for example, understand 99% of what you hear instead of just maybe 50% or 75%. It also depends on how much contact you have with native speakers. It also depends on your own 'knack for language'. From my own experience learning languages, I wouldn't be at all surprised if my Italian friend had it right -- with nearly constant contact with native speakers, four years. It's not a task that can be compared to baking a cake! Jim

Blake

Joined on 15-05-2007

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zetor

#17576 Sun, 20 May 07 08:55 PM

Not trying to bake a cake here.

I almost didn't post this question because I knew I would get a "well it all depends" answer. Ask me any question about how long it takes to learn something even if it's something I know nothing about, and I can reply with "It depends on time invested, natural talent,etc", and I'll be right and will have given nothing in the way of an answer.

I didn't think the word proficcient needed to be broken down, but here it goes: Ability to communicate effectively. I guess I need to go ahead and break "communicate" down also and here it is: Interaction using vocal sounds that is understood by the listener and the big idea of those sounds when summated is understood.

I'll never master spanish and have no aspirations of doing so. . I haven't mastered english either as I do not know all the definitions in the english dictionary.

I would like to know an approximate time it would take for me to communicate in spanish as effectively as the average english-speaking 2nd grader communicates in english.

Now, with 1 hour of study/day, 365 days/year and interacting with native speakers in short sessions (casual conversation of approximately 2 mins with each person) at a rate of 5 people per day, 5 days/week, and 52 weeks/year), how long will it take me to communicate effectively?

Assume an average humidity of 50%

zetor

Finster

#17577 Mon, 21 May 07 04:48 PM

Hola Zetor, Bienvenidos! Soy de Georgia también (Atlanta).

I have been listening to lessons on an iPod almost daily (podcasts, Pimsleurs, others) since last November. When I need a break from lessons, I will listen to a Spanish language radio station. Also, I started a class this month at the Latino American Association on Buford Highway. During lunch, I will try to read a Spanish language newspaper, and on the weekends I watch a little TV in Spanish. If you have a Comcast box, you can change your language to Spanish on some channels.

Given all of this, I would say that now I'm approaching 2nd grade level, and should be there by the end of the year (although I speak slowly).

Assuming an average humidity of 50% you could get basic conversation down (greetings, talk about your family, ordering food, talk about likes and dislikes, etc.) in about a year. If you are running across native speakers 5 times a day, that woud be a tremendous help.

Finster

Finster

Joined on 14-12-2006

Atlanta

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hecloz

#17612 Wed, 23 May 07 10:06 PM

I'm studing french, and the issue i have (same i had with english) is that there's a big difference between how is spelled and how is written. so first when i tried to read something i was afraid that since i didn't know how it was spelled i got it wrong the first time and couldn't let that wrong pronunciation go. the good thing about spanish is that is spoken just like it's written so if you manage to learn the sounds in the alphabet they won't change in the words. espeacially the vowels (damn french with the endless variations of vowels) which is a great advantage

I guess is still no that easy bcs the accents, the tenses and all that. and bcs some in some cases same consonants (there are only 5 vowels sounds that doesn't change at all) can have 2 or more sounds. ie:

casa (house) = spelled like karma
cena (dinner) = spelled like senses

gato (cat) = as in good (soft g)
gitano (ghypsie) = stronger g

Sigan trabajando duro :)

hecloz

Joined on 23-05-2007

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zetor

#17639 Sat, 26 May 07 01:27 PM

Thanks, Finster. I have the Baron's "Mastering Spanish", Baron's "Spanish Verb Workbook", and "The Everything Spanish Book" That should be enough to keep me busy for a couple months. The one thing I've got going for me is that I'm not afraid to make a fool out of myself. I already greet native speakers when I have an opportunity.

zetor

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