How I learned Spanish (and became fluent)

[@paul6894]

I think it is funny to hear you say "When you learn one new vocabulary word you instantly start to see that word everywhere" this is so true.

[@FingtamLanguages]

Yes, I notice that all the time!

[@Ryosuke1208]

The Baader-Meinhoff effect. :)

[@juliusjohnson5967]

There are a lot of words i dont see everywhere in my 3rd foreign language i am learning. These are uncommon words, verbs, adjectives.etc

[@espartaco2028]

Super important to note the ten (10) new words per DAY. He did say that. That´s passion. That´s what it takes.

[@leenobody3249]

At last a man that speaks the truth about language learning ! it takes YEARS and not months as some loonies on the internet claim.

[@FingtamLanguages]

Lol Well it all depends on how much time you can spend every day/week.

[@leenobody3249]

Fingtam Languages true bro but it really does take a very long time in general.I find spaced repetition works best .I also chat to a friend in Mexico and he helps me a lot .(an intercambio) I am two years in and can now understand a huge amount of rapid español , read it and speak it .My spoken español is my weakest part so i need do do much more .I will be learning my whole life .

[@Ryosuke1208]

@@leenobody3249 Yeah, usually the spoken part is the least developed when you're learning a language. Espero que puedas mejorar pronto tu español, hablado, es un bonito idioma :)

[@newlevelgraphicsdavidframe2870]

I love when people make these videos and claim " how I got fluent in Spanish in 30 days" lol Try listening to reggaeton and know all that they are saying. Boriquas drop a lot of letters and Bad Bunny uses Mexican slang it is a challenge.

[@quantus5875]

Yes, Studies show it takes about 500-600 hours of a language to achieve "basic" fluency, around B2/C1 using the CEFL scale. That assumes relatively efficient hours of learning. If you use less efficient methods maybe add 100-300 hours to that (that's just a guess). Yeah, it takes time! Main thing to learning languages is motivation -- so that you can stick it out -- and get the hours you need in the language.

[@alibobsmarland9572]

Read the first two Harry potter books in Spanish and French and it's a great way to pick up the language. Going to start on the Swedish one soon!

[@FingtamLanguages]

Yeah, reading can be a great help for language acquisition.

[@garbygarb31]

Reading is pointless if you don’t know what you’re reading

[@alibobsmarland9572]

@@garbygarb31 It depends on your level and the level of your reading material. One way is to download the book and copy and paste a page into google translate. Then read the page in your target language then go back and check any words you don't understand in your own language on the other page. You can then use the 'saved' option to make a list of all the words you want to learn, print the word list off and put them in Anki.

[@flobot5]

Yes! I I did Harry Potter 1 in French and am now doing it in Indonesian!

[@quantus5875]

Harry Potter is a good method! I'd just argue get a vocab of at least around 2000 words first before you start with Harry Potter (with easier material -- think comprehensible input) -- will be just so much more enjoyable and efficient if you do that -- otherwise initially reading Harry Potter will be like hitting up a brick wall. But yeah, I like the Harry Potter strategy.

[@kevenwoods3207]

It's like when you get a car you notice the same cars everywhere you go that you never notice before, because you had no reason to be aware of them

[@Ryosuke1208]

It's called the Baader-Meinhof effect.

[@socorrorios8075]

Books, classes, and interaction with Spanish-speaking people and immersion in the culture.

[@ahboogle]

I love the "I don't give a crap what she think bit" made me chuckle

[@selvyngilbert9032]

What I like about your channel is that we can identify with your challenges. You communicate well!

[@zerothehero123]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm studying Japanese on myself, trying to find the most effective way of studying a language and this will help me out a lot! My sincere gratitude!

[@FingtamLanguages]

Thanks :) Best of luck in your Japanese!

[@aeishazafar8981]

I don't want to sound creepy but man you are really handsome 😍

[@taval8389]

@Deyvi 😅😅😅

[@batgirlp5561]

Lol

[@Eruptor1000]

Trust me when I don't speak Dutch for months I feel like it's hard to think of the most basic things but then when I'm in Belgium it all comes back to me, totally normal

[@FingtamLanguages]

Yeah, I totally feel that.

[@collegesuccess]

14:11 min. mark. Your new (my term) "owning" vocabulary word awareness tip reminds me of the phenomena that takes places when you're behind the wheel and on the road with a new car. Suddenly, you can spot all vehicles that look like your own. Excellent idea. Notecards are like car titles: They connote a form of personal investment and ownership. Great!

[@3eggerfpv397]

That is an interesting journey! Lots of good advice to consider, Thank you for that! I'm going to try a radically different approach to learning Spanish that I have not seen anyone else talk about in my research. I'm buying a Pocketalk S and basically structuring different conversations within the device, and just keep playing those over and over and over! In short, I'm carrying on a conversation, in Spanish, with myself. I'm surprised the maker of these devices haven't thought to create a curriculum built-in to help learn any language. IDK, maybe i'm kidding myself on this approach, but if you think about it, you can immerse yourself in Spanish speaking all day long, everyday, your Spanish speaking friend is in the palm of your hand!

[@antonioarzadon9994]

Quiero decirte que es muy chévre lo que hiciste para mejorar tu Español... sinceramente yo estoy de acuerdo que para vivir en un país de latina América es un gran método para aprender más profundo... Felicidades porque yo también quiero visitar latina América algún dia...de hecho no soy Latino también pues se me hizo a enamorar la idioma cuando estuve en puerto rico con el militario (Navy) en año 2005...Salgo el Navy en año 2007 así que yo pasé aprendió solo de leer cosas, escribir tanto, mirar televisión en espanol y habla habla habla lol ....

[@itsthemuscledad38]

Did you finish the duolingo spanish tree? I find it hard to believe that duolingo didn't help you a ton. I am on unit 42 on duolingo and my spanish got better 100 times. And yes i studied spanish before and i already knew a bunch of spanish words before i started studying spanish

[@itsthemuscledad38]

still have 164 more units to complete.

[@tacosays]

Ikr. Idk why people dislike Duolingo so much 😅 . It has single handedly improved my vocab and pronunciation. Grammar isn't great but that's on me. Now I have started to supplement it with books and shows but it would be unfair to not give credit where it's due.

[@princesslacson6291]

Im laughing at 14:23 because I can relate 😂😂. Bdw, you're so down to earth. I love your honest feedback and I wish I could be your friend. 😊

[@richardrgt4683]

Bien Amigo, quiero escuchar tu Spanish 😎

[@susanc1179]

This was a fantastic video. The detail helps. Maybe have a conversation on iTalki in Spanish once a week?

[@matildawolfram4687]

Fantastic video! Many thanks to the author of the channel for the recommendations! The problem with many people is that they want to take a "magic pill" or get "secret knowledge" and immediately have skills and abilities. However, the truth of life is that knowledge, skills, and abilities do not come by themselves. You can't learn a foreign language without doing anything, without wasting your time and effort, just like you can't learn to ride a bike lying on a comfy couch, listening to lectures and watching videos about "modern methods of learning" on a bike. To really learn something, you have to really practice every day. You're going to fall down while you're learning, and you're going to get bumps - that's normal! The ups and downs of learning are an integral part of our lives. Motivation from success and depression from failure will always be your study companions. However, every student has problems in his or her studies that he or she lacks the knowledge to solve. It can be: poor memorization of words; no progress in language learning; the student can speak, but does not understand speech by ear; misunderstanding of grammar; incorrect pronunciation, etc. Agree that a problem you don't know how to solve is very demotivating. In order to find the answer to our question we have to spend a lot of time to read videos, articles and books by polyglots. In today's world, we have to solve problems as quickly as possible. I don't have time to study and analyze a huge amount of information. My goal is to master the basic knowledge of a foreign language as quickly as possible and already start earning money effectively in the international arena. I settled on the practical guide by Yuriy Ivantsiv " Polyglot's Notes: practical tips for learning foreign language". This book is always in my bag. If I have a problem while learning a language, I quickly find the answer in this book. There are many different techniques and tips for learning a foreign language in Polyglot Notes. I have made my own individual schedule and plan for language learning. Now I know what I am going to study, how I am going to study, when I am going to study and what results I am going to achieve. No problem could stop me! With an effective language learning plan my professional skills are more and more in demand internationally every day. Friends, don't stop there! Everyone has talents that millions of people around the world need! Learn the language and make your ideas and dreams come true! Thanks to the author of the channel for the informative and useful video! Your videos motivate me.

[@davepazz580]

As someone once said: "Don't promise to 'learn' a new language, promise instead to actually *use* a new language..."

[@adanvega7493]

Dude! I had the same experience trying to learn Italian. My Spanish would come out and then I'd have to ask myself wait is that an Italian word or just a Spanish word

[@Ryosuke1208]

That's is a very common problem that I Hear with non-native spanish-italian speakers.

[@BAghz00]

19:28 “if you failed your English class at high school I wanna sit by you” 😂😂funniest part

[@FingtamLanguages]

Boa123 lol thanks

[@aaronowen6882]

Hey awesome channel, I am really enjoying your videos. I do have a question where is the best place to get graded readers? I am finding a few on amazon but only for like the most common languages such as Spanish, French, English etc... also not much of a selection? Do you have a web source to get the books? Thanks for any and all help

[@FingtamLanguages]

Hi Aaron, great question! I like to buy books on eBay because they are often a bit cheaper. Just do a google search for “[language] graded reader”, and it’s usually not to difficult to find somewhere that sells books. It’s often a website located in the country where they speak that language though, so you might have to buy an ebook version.

[@4himsanctified]

Nevertheless, you need nouns in your word bucket. Can never go wrong learning a lot of vocab. Grammar can come later. Words, listening, reading, and watching...thats the key. Oh, and conversation.

[@quantus5875]

Yes you definitely need nouns and one cool thing is that nouns are in most cases easier to learn than other parts of speech. I think this video just means put a little more emphasis on learning verbs and connecting words, but yes agreed you still need nouns.

[@hectorsandoval2003]

Que buena historia amigo, no te detengas y continúa en ese proceso. Blessings

[@ioannastekiapantou]

hello from greece thank you for choose to learning my language i hopr you learn greek

[@dofeffortless5003]

Thank you very much for this valuable video Much respect (y)

[@FingtamLanguages]

Dofeffortless Thanks. I appreciate it!

[@francinesandino2579]

Es comun decir: me caiste mal, yo te entendí bien cuando lo dijiste en ingles: you felt me bad. Sabes que tenes que hacer vos, para practicar la pronunciacion?, es : ma me mi mo mo, pa pe pi po pu, la le li lo lu😄 tambien: erre con erre, cigarro, erre con erre barril, rapido corren los rieles del ferro carril. Mi esposo quiere aprender ingles, diario pone las canciones de Justin beaber, ya aprendió a decir Intentions! 🤣. Felicidades por intentar aprender nuestro idioma, salidos desde Centro america 🇳🇮. Ahi vas a ver que lo vas a lograr.

[@carlosd4027]

Si quieres practicar conversación no dudes en decírmelo. Yo soy español.

[@nekochan513]

What do you think of Pimsleur ?

[@FingtamLanguages]

Love it!

[@quantus5875]

Pimsleur is Gold! I actually recommend you use other methods and get a vocab of 2000-3000+ words first and then do Pimsleur. When you want to start talking if you have a fairly good vocab and you do Pimsleur you will learn to speak!! Can't recommend Pimsleur enough!!

[@josephkent3238]

Thank you

[@teo4609]

Your spanish is cool, I wish every american speaks as you do, I understand everything you're talking about :)

[@markhendrix8263]

What is under the bill of your cap? It looks like little lights. Obviously I'm easily distracted, lol.

[@lynntfuzz]

I noticed that too!

[@luisclavel6043]

Nice to meet you

[@Lokey_8664]

pienso que hablo espanol bien pero mi problema es la gente habla muy rapido es dificil entiendo que estan diciendo como puerdo arregar esto

[@Ryosuke1208]

Práctica práctica, intenta ver videos de gente hablando español normalmente con subtítulos. It happens the same with me with french and watching videos with subtitles has helped me a lot. Try to watch youtubers of subjects you already like. You'll already have the context and will have a easier time understanding them. :)

[@Lokey_8664]

@@Ryosuke1208 OK, I'll try that. Thank you very much.

[@Lokey_8664]

@Deyvi :v Good idea I will try that, Your English writing is very good. Congrats

[@Lokey_8664]

@@Ryosuke1208 Thank you very much I will give it a try.

[@kevincarter7633]

why were you in el salvador? what work were you doing?

[@ib3scope]

Keeping with the occupational vein and skillset of the Marine corps, perhaps he was doing security contracting of personal bodyguarding.

[@sunmeetssaturn7134]

I can relate fully to this

[@johnpyles3575]

Always look up the word you do not understand. L Ron Hubbard understood this and preached this and he is right. Never skim or skip past words that you do not understand... it will only lead to confusion if you delude yourself in to believing that you understand something that you don’t.

[@kaidrewry4378]

I wish I knew Spanish now.

[@suzubee9602]

I want to read Harry Potter in Spanish but I also don't want to give rowling my mopefully libraries open back up eventually

[@a_random_guy_V]

Amazing video

[@FingtamLanguages]

Thanks!

[@sharklee5469]

I can't go to classes

[@matthewandrew]

Hi

[@omar-cz6ec]

It’d be great if you could edit and condense the video a bit. Otherwise (y)

[@FingtamLanguages]

Thanks. Yeah, I had to pump this video out kinda fast because it was a really busy weekend. Normally I try to make my videos a bit more concise. Thanks for the feedback though.

[@Tom-bs3zh]

I'm learning Coptic, It's a dead language so exposure isn't possible. 😪

[@espartaco2028]

You´re a beautiful man, great smile, lively eyes, very nice looking guy. I wonder IF, and I don´t know but, I wonder if being gay has something to do with a mesh between masculine and feminine mindedness which contributes very positively towards language acquisition. I have five straight male students (Spaniards and a Peruvian) learning English. Three are intensely smart however, none of them will listen to me about vocabulary imitation, intensive to extensive reading practice, all saying, «I just want to be understood and understand, and watch movies». On average, they are happy with a 300 word vocabulary and I´m all about hitting the 10,000 word mark. We´re constantly in conflict where I repeat myself to head nods but no progress. In 18 months, I´ve read six novels and am actively working on six more at once. It would be one thing IF all they wanted to do is speak but, they are all testing Cambridge B2 - C1. Describe these pictures. «I see trees», and I just roll my eyes. So, I wonder if that female brain aspect of reading, and «my feelings» and all has a lot to do with success. How would you translate that so that straight men can use it? Just theoretically . Thank you for sharing your story. I did listen and watch all the way through. You´re interesting, very smart and I´m glad I found your channel.

[@espartaco2028]

And BTW, I despise Duolingo and ALL methods which shove social engineering poison into the curriculum. 5 couples in Duolingo and 3 of them are queer and two interracial. ENOUGH! I hate that crap. It shouldn´t be about BLM or any of that garbage but about THE LANGUAGE!

[@jimmywilliams6023]

I’m quite sure in 5 years of Spanish classes you did more than just study text books.

[@Eruptor1000]

Very interesting story😁

[@FingtamLanguages]

Thanks!

[@SenyoritaStoic]

Tu eres muy bonito.

[@itsincredible6407]

Thanks for this beautiful video.

[@edmunch]

Marco shoutout !!

[@FingtamLanguages]

😂😂😂 how are you doing Ed?

[@jonathangamble]

Spiderman

[@sincere1630]

I like the way u speak . You're so handsome 👍

[@dorathedestroyer4081]

should've spoke in Spanish in this video. might improve mine by hearing somebody else speak the language

[@garbygarb31]

How I learned Spanish “Takes Spanish for 6 years” Aaaand I’m out

[@bigdog4166]

Most of it was a waste he said in the video

[@NewLife2028]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your videos as a gay man because you´re super sexy. However, that´s not the message. The message is, the BEST way to learn Spanish for a hetero young lady is finding a Spaniard who teaches Spanish. Young single women, do you believe that all Spaniard males are black haired, dark skin and dark eyes? Absolutely not! How about 30, 6´3¨, a Leo, blonde, blue eyed from Palma, Spain who teaches Spanish? That´s a rather specific audience, right? However, if you eligible at this time, June 2023, Alejandro might be just the perfect man for you...and his English is the best I´ve ever heard from a Spaniard! People met the love of their lives through mutual friends and interests. It´s normal. I can introduce you.