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 FSI Language Courses Forum : Learning Languages : Spanish
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daimyo75
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Quote daimyo75 Replybullet Topic: Advanced Spanish - Beginner's Composition
    Posted: 20 April 2007 at 3:43pm
I have a slightly different angle to Spanish than most other forum members. I was born in Nicaragua but lived there only from age 5-10. The rest of the time I lived  in other countries where the native tongue is not Spanish, and occasionally took Spanish classes on the side of my regular schooling.
 
I now live in the US, and barely use my Spanish at all. To say the truth I have used Spanish minimally since I was 10 years old (I'm 30).
 
I have good listening comprehension (unless it is Mexican slang) and my reading comprehension is slow but workable. I have a good intuitive grasp of syntax and grammar - but no explicit concepts.
 
My major problem lies in language production.  My spoken Spanish is filled with errors, constant pauses occur when I search for words, and my (lack of) vocabulary is annoying. Even worse, my written Spanish is horrendous.  I can construct sentences referencing back to my speaking skills, but given that my spoken Spanish is bad in itself, and that written Spanish is more formal than written English vis-a-vis speech, I think I need to practice this aspect much more.
 
What can I do? Can anybody recommend good composition material? Websites to improve written Spanish? Stuff about business writing (letters, memos etc) and  more formal stuff such as academic writing, expository writing etc.?
 
I know that ultimately it is important to take classes/have direct feedback to improve ones writing, but I want to at least start (re)learning on my own.
 
Any feedback is appreciated!
 
 
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mouse
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Quote mouse Replybullet Posted: 20 April 2007 at 8:37pm

Firstly, I want to say that it is excellent that you realize the importance of preserving the language of your culture.

I have chinese-speaking parents, so I am pretty confident about speaking and listening to it. Reading it is okay, and like you, I am weak at writing it. Living in the US, it is hard to improve my chinese now.  Like any language, speech is less formal than writing, so when one writes exactly like how one speaks, like I do, the resulting words sound childish.
 
While I didn't completely relearn chinese, I can give you several ideas to help.  To "relearn" a language to a native level is not much different than learning a completely new language, except that you would focus more on reading and writing rather than speaking and listening. Practice reading and writing as much as you can. To learn vocabulary, lists are nice, but make sure you try to hear it (a good way is to record yourself using several words in a sentences, and later play it back). You can definetly start on your own, but after a while you will need a native speaker to check your progress.
 
You can also try the courses posted on this site, although probably the first 20-30 units will be way too easy.
 
Because you have an intuitive concept of the grammar, you have a large advantage over beginners. Overall, now is just the time to increase confidence and expand your knowledge.
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symmqna
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Quote symmqna Replybullet Posted: 01 May 2007 at 5:49pm

Hi daimyo75,

 

I can help you with one Spanish from Europe free website. All you have to do is to sign in for free in order to become a member. There they have everything for free from alphabet to advanced level. Good luck

 

The website:

http://www.donquijote.org

 

Then Spanish Resources then Spanish Lessons

 

Another advice is Learn Spanish Like Crazy, but this is a little bit expensive. It is very good with an Latin American accent. I didn't buy it, but I signed in for some free lessons and yes I liked them.

 

I want to say i don't really recommend you Rocket Spanish. is too much English there and the accent is not quite Latin American!!! Again my judge is after I received like 7 free lessons or so. You can sign too and get them and then judge by yourself.

 

Another good one is Visual Link.

 

Keep in mind, all have great promotions there on their website! Don't let yourself fooled! Ask for samples. If they don't have, forget it!

 

I hope this helped you a lot. Good Luck!

 

Simona

PS If you find something like Spanish for business, please let me know



Edited by symmqna - 01 May 2007 at 5:51pm
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