Learning a foreign language
- Thread starter Lucas Wiseman
- Start date
If you know any Mormons, try to find somebody who was on a mission in a Spanish-speaking country. A lot of Mormons know a second language because they were in other countries and they make an effort to learn. The best thing would be to ask how they learned.
I learned more Spanish in four days in a Mexican border town than I did in two years of high school Spanish. I know enough Spanish from visiting Mexico to ask about food and try to exchange greetings. I can pretty much understand what my in-laws are saying if I am face-to-face, but I have a lot harder time on the telephone.
There is no way I could do business dealings (involved with Finance) in Spanish. That is an entirely different thing.
Webby, if I were you, I would learn basic stuff, like Please (por favor) and Thank You (Gracias) and You're Welcome (de nada). If you make an effort and are polite, I have found you generally can get through. What I also did was to write some phrases down each day and try to learn them, adding thing each day.
The problem frequently is that you might say something, and a response comes back faster than you can process it and you end up getting nervous. Understanding something in a language and having confidence are two different things. The second part is much harder. Also, learning a language is like learning math or history - some people have an easier time than other people.
I learned more Spanish in four days in a Mexican border town than I did in two years of high school Spanish. I know enough Spanish from visiting Mexico to ask about food and try to exchange greetings. I can pretty much understand what my in-laws are saying if I am face-to-face, but I have a lot harder time on the telephone.
There is no way I could do business dealings (involved with Finance) in Spanish. That is an entirely different thing.
Webby, if I were you, I would learn basic stuff, like Please (por favor) and Thank You (Gracias) and You're Welcome (de nada). If you make an effort and are polite, I have found you generally can get through. What I also did was to write some phrases down each day and try to learn them, adding thing each day.
The problem frequently is that you might say something, and a response comes back faster than you can process it and you end up getting nervous. Understanding something in a language and having confidence are two different things. The second part is much harder. Also, learning a language is like learning math or history - some people have an easier time than other people.
HeinekenMan
Active Member
I was going to start this same post last night. I was thinking about the kid I was working with this spring. Neither of his parents spoke English. I really want to help him, but I need to be able to communicate with his parents. They don't seem likely to learn English, so I might have to learn to speak Spanish, which will help me in many other situations.
I took French in high school and hated all but that first year. The only reason I stayed in the class was to be in the company of a certain girl. She was a year younger and French class was the only way I could be in the same classroom with her outside of flunking a grade.
I took French in high school and hated all but that first year. The only reason I stayed in the class was to be in the company of a certain girl. She was a year younger and French class was the only way I could be in the same classroom with her outside of flunking a grade.
NoOneLikesUs
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outofplace
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Mizzougrad96 said:
I have to ****?
ArnoldBabar
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I'm learning Italian prior to my honeymoon (without telling my fiancee -- I think it'll be fun to spring on her when we get there), and I got a $16.99 set at Costco. It seems to be doing the trick. It's mostly audio with a bonus CD-Rom with learning games and visual stuff.
