BellaOnline Forums Education Spanish Language Children's book

Angeles,

I picked up Play and Learn Spanish. It is a parent and child book with a CD. There are dialogs with a little song. I'm in need of assistance hearing the words so that I can understand. My vocabulary is in need of great improvement also but the ear is really my weakest link to learning a language.

The first verse/dialog is !A levantarse!

I don't know the best way for myself to go about re-learning Spanish. A long time ago I tried a German conversation class. I had some success with that but the instructor taught the class in a very different way - there was no book but she would give us many vocabulary words (nouns and adjectives) that fit in a certain scenario and a few verbs. We would study them during the week. Then in the next class she would call two people up who would then have a dialog based on those words and any previous ones we had studied. One would ask a question and the other would respond and so forth. Of course, I'm studying this by myself which doesn't help.

Well, just thought I would tell you this. I'll check out your webpage and study guides for more vocabulary words. I'll keep you posted on my book! The one you are working with now would be too difficult for me - the Ugly Duckling was pretty good but I need to read it out loud.

Hola Angie,

Yes, maybe this month's book is too difficult, so better if you go on studing with the help of a children's book.

Your experience with that German class sounds good, as one thing is learning the theory, but another one, very different is going to the practice; it's normal to have 'problems' with the pronounciation, as in this case, for example, English and Spanish have not a lot in common!

Let's us know how do you go with this new children's book, and if you need any help, please post your questions here or e-mail me. ok?

Hope to hear soon from you,

I am not sure exactly where you are starting, but I actually used television and music to improve my oral comprehension. I took only year of Spanish in college, and I was able to understand (almost) anything that was said slowly enough. But after six to eight months of telenovelas (admittedly, watching every night), I was able to chat with all the hispanic exchange students in my school with very little difficulty. I probably worked on it a little every day, but at least music and TV are fun, so it didn't feel like studying. And I talked to MYSELF a lot. I repeated words and pronunciations that sounded difficult -- anyone who was watching me would have thought I was talking to the TV. I also would sing along to Shakira or Marc Anthony, with the Spanish words in front of me. Anyway, Good luck!