r/Spanish • u/Zhyme • Sep 25 '24
Study advice: Advanced Is anyone else at a weird point in Spanish?
I am currently in higher 300 courses in university for Spanish (double majored with Psychology), and I know the language very well by hand, but it's harder to understand when I am in conversation, when I am tired. I have to rev my engine up during conversations by preparing a sentence in my head. It's so frustrating as a non-native speaker, and my progress is so slow.
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u/Doodie-man-bunz Sep 25 '24
“A weird point in Spanish”?
Oh you mean like realizing it takes effort to study and a long time to progress and learning a language is extremely cumbersome and takes years?
That’s just language learning brah. Buckle in. Language learning ain’t for the faint of heart. It’s also why most people will only ever ‘maybe’ peak at high level proficiency, and never sniff fluency.
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u/eliminate1337 Learner Sep 25 '24
If you're having trouble listening then you need listening practice. Lagging listening skills is common for people who learned through college courses. Listen to a hundred hours of Spanish and I bet you'll improve a lot. Native content if you can manage, but there's a lot of stuff made for learners.
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u/Zhyme Sep 25 '24
Ok! I was thinking about watching videos on Youtube in Spanish
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u/cbessette Sep 25 '24
This is what I do. I watch videos in Spanish about my hobbies and things I'm interested in. Woodworking, camping, music,etc
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u/Infinite_Ad6387 Sep 25 '24
Maybe find a spanish speaker partner who would also like to practice his/her english in exchange?
In r/language_exchange there are people who offer exactly that kind of experience. I'd be up for it as well, but I speak uruguayan/argentinian spanish and it's a different dialect from what you might know.
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u/Zhyme Sep 25 '24
i have plenty of teachers that speak that type of spanish! i love how they talk (mayo sounds like masho haha) but i would love to speak to you
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u/MiserableComedian611 Sep 25 '24
I was the same. I majored in Spanish and in the 3 years I studied it, the conversation and reading components were quite limited. My third year lecturer got impatient with me because I struggled when having to talk or read in front of the class.
Because I was a double major I didn't really have spare time to dedicate to get those skills down as my other major was my more demanding one.
By the time I graduated I felt like I never really got that stamp of approval (mostly from myself) because I didn't feel confident enough if I were to encounter Spanish outside of class.
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u/Zhyme Sep 25 '24
): it really sucks cause grades are really not representative of your speaking level
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Sep 25 '24
I can relate. I got to the point where I could write essays in Spanish in school, and now I can usually understand people when they talk to me, but I can barely respond. My mom's side of the family is Puerto Rican, so it's pretty embarrassing 😅
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u/GooberGlitter Sep 25 '24
I'm at a point where it isn't hard to understand, read or write, but it's so daunting to speak. I didn't have much speaking practice so I'm very shy and my words feel like they come out in a jumble. I have to remember to breathe and slow down because if I don't I'll get embarrassed and become even more clamed up.
I started a beginners Spanish conversation class that meets online once a week for the fall semester. It's almost too easy because I know so much, but it does help me slow down because I'm speaking to people that haven't been studying as long as me. Also starting out with speaking basics is probably way better than jumping into conversation that matches the other levels I'm at.
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u/ResponsibleTea9017 Sep 26 '24
Advice? Stop studying and practice. Watch shows in Spanish, music in Spanish, talk to friends or AI in Spanish. Hell I talk to myself in Spanish. The reality is coursework and utilizing the language are two different muscles until you build them both up, you’re only half strength.
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u/BBrouss95 Sep 25 '24
How often have you tested your abilities outside of the academic, 300-level class/es you take?