"E" for effort goes for months....

Submitted by tugboat tom on 3 November, 2005 - 05:30.

To those of us still learning the language. Don't let your lack of fluentcy in spanish stop you from going and experianceing what you might have missed. Got around for 8 months in Honduras learning slow. Talking more, pantamimeing sometimes{first time asking where the bathroom was got alot of laughs}.Every bar I was in, without exception, was also a house of ill repute. Faithful to my vows, and happily married,once I got the girls to understand I was not there to do business, was like talking to someone else. Most of the spanish I learned was taught to me by prostitutes I never slept with.They'd drink with you, laugh, and teach you spanish, all day long. Got a dictionary, and got around alot better. The point is just talk.Listen.Write down words. Soak it up like a sponge. enjoy the days. Learn. My spanish is better now. Talking like Tarzan. but it's getting better. The people will go out of thier way if they see you are willing to learn, willing to ask. Americans are not as patient. Differences in culture I fell in love with so long ago.

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True

Submitted by Blarg on 3 November, 2005 - 23:24.

Another vote for "just do it".

One of the most influential things for me has really just been LISTENING. Even if you can't understand what's being said, think about the sounds you're hearing. Listen to the way words form (here it's one big sentence with almost all "unimportant" things discarded). Listen to Shakira. If you're in the US, turn on that AM station that plays Mexican Ranchero (ok, Polka) and just listen. You'd be amazed what you learn without even realizing you learned it.

When do you start to learn faster.....

Submitted by GranadaSherif on 3 November, 2005 - 08:07.

I speak 3 languages and spanish is my fourth.... I have found that to learn a language faster, try to to think in it... If your thoughts are in spanish you will speak it better, or at least you will sound more intelligent (to yourself anyways.... to others, well, they might not feel the same way, as my wife often points out to me)

Problem is she is from bluefields and speaks english (bluefields english, which i got to learn fast, it is basically english with little or no grammer) This does not help inlearning spanish at home, it does help making my English suck...as I now think in Bluefieldian English.

So true

Submitted by fyl on 3 November, 2005 - 07:17.

I was hesitant to talk when I was first in Costa Rica because I just didn't know the right way to say things. I have been a lot more comfortable here because so many things are just not said right anyway that it encourages you to just give it a try.

While my Spanish still sucks (I work all the time in English which doesn't help) I am pretty confident to deal with routine stuff in stores, offices and such. I have, however, found what I think is an amazing test of language skills.

I have been "going out" (is that how you say it?) with a Nicaraguan woman. Unlike a "let's go get drunk" kind of thing, we have spent an amazing amount of time talking about "things". I would say that at this point I have had more hours of serious conversation with Ana than with anyone I have had as a partner.

I will confess that we are both "strange" by at least Nicaraguan standards. We both have sarcastic senses of humor which is virtually unheard of here. That means that besides dealing with Spanish, we have to figure out what is serious and what is a joke. Because we actually want to communicate, it happens.

On the other hand, we are both ending up with strange vocabularies. About the only time we slip into English is when either she asks about a word in English or I see it as something easy to add. So, she knows glue for example because she now understands why seeing a kid sucking on Glu-Glu makes Gringos laugh and menstruation because it was an easy word to add because of the similarity in Spanish.

For me, book learning sucks. I don't learn things "because I am supposed to". I learn them because I want to know them or need to know them. Even if you take some classes, I highly recommend the "find someone to talk to" approach to make stuff stick.

sure John........

Submitted by tugboat tom on 3 November, 2005 - 17:19.

A bunch of you in here are guys I could relate to in alot of ways. Guys I'd hangout with.Funny about that, even more so in my years. I'll definately be looking up quite a few of people in here when I go. First round is on me..........

are you offering....

Submitted by puerto george on 3 November, 2005 - 20:18.

to buy the first round of fresh whole milk?

i was told in port by a very knowledgeable guy that you must have two drinks because one drink....one leg so you cant walk two drinks...two legs so you can walk

interesting travels........

Submitted by tugboat tom on 3 November, 2005 - 17:15.

I avoided the other gringo soldires like the plague. Bunch of drunken assholes. Disespectful to women, rude to the regular folk. I'd get on a bus and ride for town after town, and get off. Hangout, and learn. Interesting places and definately interesting times. Some of the cantinas near the border looked like something out of the old west. Have seen guys drinking with and AK, rusty pistols. Bad years for both sides. But I figured what a good place to be in if not for the war, and all things attached to it. Had hoped for Costa Rica to be a reminder of the past. Sad letdown that was. Nicaragua seems to be the place I remember in another time. I can't wait to go, and stay. Soon, but not soon enough.

The best is to practice your

Submitted by nicoya on 3 November, 2005 - 08:51.

The best is to practice your Spanish with someone that speaks none or very little English.

If you can learn some Nica words and use them, people will inmediately react and will be very appreciative.

Nicas with some education know the difference of proper Spanish (taught in school and used in formal environments) and Nica Spanish.

I will never forget when my uncle in law from Germany told me once "rempujala hasta que le haga plas". It was as if he had broken the code...

german........

Submitted by tugboat tom on 3 November, 2005 - 17:25.

Don't know alot of german But........pumpernickel means devils fart [ or so I have been told}

I give . . .

Submitted by arlington on 3 November, 2005 - 10:15.

rempujala hasta que le haga plas . . . translates to . . .