Quote: oldcowgrazing @ September 3 2008, 4:04 PM BSTwe could do with a bit of zero tolerance over here.
Kids today..no respect..fifty lashings..the cane, the slipper..borstal..and last but not least, during the war.
I'm learning Spanish... Page 2
Quote: ContainsNuts @ September 3 2008, 3:47 PM BSTRussian, French and a bit of Engerlish.
Sorry, Contains, I missed your post. Crikey! two languages eh? So tell me, what method/s did you employ to memorise the words etc?
Quote: oldcowgrazing @ September 3 2008, 3:10 PM BSTbut I'm struggling with remembering vocabulary, grammar and conjugations.
Living in southern California and Texas has jiggled loose some of my high school Spanish lessons. The bilingual labels at shops and restaurants have gotten to the point that the Spanish labels are as large and prominent as the English labels.
I assume Europeans learn "Spain" Spanish? Here in the U.S. they teach the Central/South American version. Different pronunciations, etc.
Did I miss something?
Read the flipping thread!
I did! And you said I was good with Spanish, which I'm not!
I've learnt my Latin vocabulary using index cards (only really useful to get it into your short term memory, though), English by reading, watching and listening, and French through Latin.
1.
Try learning the basic meanings of words (the one the other meanings, especially metaphorical ones, are derived from). (Example: One of the first English words I learnt at school was 'to draw', but we only learnt the meaning 'to draw a picture', which made it much harder later to understand words like 'withdraw', etc.).
2.
Always try guessing a word first by using other languages (in the case of Spanish, English words with a Latin origin can be of help), make connections with words you know.
3.
Try learning from various sources, not only one textbook or one newspaper. It really helps to read the same word in as many different contexts as possible.
Hope that helps.
Quote: Scatterbrained Floozy @ September 3 2008, 4:36 PM BSTI did! And you said I was good with Spanish, which I'm not!
Oh.
I got an A* at GCSE and a B at AS level, so I'm not terrible - but far from good.
Quote: Scatterbrained Floozy @ September 3 2008, 4:36 PM BSTI did! And you said I was good with Spanish, which I'm not!
Liar.
Quote: Finck @ September 3 2008, 4:39 PM BSTI've learnt my Latin vocabulary using index cards (only really useful to get it into your short term memory, though), English by reading, watching and listening, and French through Latin.
1.
Try learning the basic meanings of words (the one the other meanings, especially metaphorical ones, are derived from). (Example: One of the first English words I learnt at school was 'to draw', but we only learnt the meaning 'to draw a picture', which made it much harder later to understand words like 'withdraw', etc.).2.
Always try guessing a word first by using other languages (in the case of Spanish, English words with a Latin origin can be of help), make connections with words you know.3.
Try learning from various sources, not only one textbook or one newspaper. It really helps to read the same word in as many different contexts as possible.Hope that helps.
That's some sound advice there, I like it. Thanks.
Quote: Scatterbrained Floozy @ September 3 2008, 4:40 PM BSTI got an A* at GCSE and a B at AS level, so I'm not terrible - but far from good.
OH for f**k sake. Everywhere else except Planet shitting Robyn, that is less 'good' and more 'excellent'. SO TELL HER STUFF.
Quote: Scatterbrained Floozy @ September 3 2008, 4:40 PM BSTI got an A* at GCSE and a B at AS level, so I'm not terrible - but far from good.
Cool grades
Now start spilling the goods on your method, lady. 
Right. Home.
Ok...for writing, use the CAROLINA rule. The only consonants that are ever doubled up when writing in Spanish are contained within that name.
Look for connections within Spanish, rather than with English. You'll often find lots of route words that you never knew existed when you look at them, like "ciudad" (city) becomes "Ciudadano" (city dweller).
Erm...two consective Ls are prounounced like a Y...
Also:
4.
Googling a word and reading only the context in the search results can give you a quick overview of the range of meanings.
5.
Buy a thesaurus or an etymological dictionary (or find one online).
6.
Don't rely on printed bilingual dictionaries alone. They're bound to be incomplete and often are incorrect, too.
7.
Never trust online dictionaries that are user generated! Use them, but use them wisely.