For the lovers of the Spanish language AND/OR the lizards that speak it as a native tongue…
Learning Spanish has been one of the hardest personal educational endeavours of my adult life. I often set personal goals for myself and this is a skill that requires implementation out in the field of life. Fortunately in my experience, Spanish speakers are largely a friendly and patient bunch, offering a comfortable buffer for mistakes which will happen as one learns to speak this language. I crave mental challenges but there has to be a synergy where I am rewarded by something that encourages me to return. Spanish has always drawn me in because the sonorous quality of the language, the rhythm, the vibes everything. Learning Spanish hasn’t been easy for me by any means. The main reason is lack of immersion, I have been learning it by my own means and I will explain the most optimal way to learn Spanish shortly. The fun stuff like muchacho, hola, cuantos anos (watch the pronunciation with the N!!) is cool to say to feign sophistication but once one delves in, it’s only a few that can stay upright on the ship and not topple overboard. I’m happy to be one of those who has stayed on the language ship.
I was told that learning a new language is tricky because you are accessing the intellectual portion of your brain and the instinctive part at the same time. These obstacles will become less glaring as you become more accomplished in the language. The fact that you are accessing the intellectual and instinctive part of the brain leads to the exploration of the following concept…
How does one gain conversational fluency in Spanish? I have shown you the carrot in the cake, the light at the end of the tunnel, the prizes and rightfully so. But as men, it would be unfair for me not to also mention that some work will be needed. It can be deemed as hard work by some but if you truly visualise the rewards that follow the hard work, it will no longer seem like an arduous task. It’s similar to a theory out there that working out doesn’t improve one’s chances with the lizards but I will cover that in another blog post when I come back from the gym.
The fastest and MOST efficient way to gain conversational fluency in Spanish is to, well, converse in Spanish. A normal conversation will develop your speaking AND listening skills. Try to get in an hour a day. It doesn’t have to be an hour straight. You can do it in 15 min increments. Even if you can only get in 30 mins a day, that will still work. The most important thing is participation and consistency. Do NOT stop speaking Spanish even if you are mumbling gibberish. Eventually the gibberish will make sense. Even a parrot can learn Spanish and they are bird brained.
Remember that not all speakers are equal. Just because you hear someone speak Spanish doesn’t mean that they necessarily speak it well or can explain concepts to you. I am a very good native English speaker with a highly developed grasp of the language but some native English speakers don’t speak clearly and decisively and can’t explain tricky areas of the language. Spanish is no exception. If you have to, figuratively fight to find a decent language partner. Don’t settle for a mediocre or difficult learning experience. Learning is fun with the right tools and teacher. Look online for decent partners, there are thousands of eager Spanish natives anxious to trade language skills with you. Continue to do so and speak in Spanish and I GUARANTEE you will be rewarded.
BONUS: You can find a Spanish lizard and tell her you are trying to learn Spanish. If she is hot, you can poke her as well. That’s two birds with one stone!
That was the main course to the meal. But all meals must be balanced. You should get a book on Spanish grammar and try and go over the essentials. A book is not a must; if you can find a good website that gives you exercises to understand the grammar essentials, that will work equally. Grammar is the sketelon to any language. Without a skeleton, an organism has no central point and is just a wobbly disorganised thing. Also, read Spanish books daily. Read about 10-20 pages per day. This will build up your Spanish vocabulary and you will become accustomed to how they structure their sentences. You will definitely need a Spanish dictionary or your language translation app open and running on your phone as you go through the book, the process will be painstakingly slow to begin with. As you gain momentum, it will become easier. I suggest starting with a children’s book or books for 12 year olds in Spanish. I got ahead of myself and tried to take a Steve Jackson book from the library but Steve’s books are written for one with full Spanish literacy. The use of vocabulary and literary devices were too much for me and I ran back to my sanctuary, yelping.
So which sites should be used for learning? I use sites like www.studyspanish.com for specific issues like trying to figure out the grammar rule for a particular concept but my daily mainstay is http://www.duolingo.com (a free site to sign up on). Others like http://www.memrise.com but it’s not my cup of tea. There is something about the layout of http://www.memrise.com that annoys me and it takes too long to ‘hammer’ a lesson into my head. Duolingo has the right balance between too slow and too quick (I have yet to experience a site that rushes me through). I also use http://www.quizlet.com which allows you to set up some kind of flashcard system online. You don’t have to go through the flashcard creation yourself, you can just search for a set already created when you sign up (it’s free) and use that for your own daily learning. I tried Rosetta Stone and I didn’t feel it was useful but then again, I was using that as my mainstay for learning Spanish which is a mistake. Remember that all these sites, even with my favourites duolingo and quizlets must be a supplement to your mainstay which is having daily conversations with someone who can speak Spanish.
Here is the answer to the most important question. How will Spanish fluency help my game? Some of you guys only want to roll your R’s if it will help you roll Rosalina onto your raging root. Yo tambien (me too)! Spanish has helped my game immensely in that aspect. I would actually go out on a limb to argue that some of the finest lizards on this planet are from Spanish speaking countries. The looks and shades vary enormously, you have countries in Latin America that have a heavy European influence and although they speak Spanish, they look as white as Anna Kournikova.
This means that if you are not into chocolate, you can take something less tanned or totally on the opposite end of the scale. Spanish lizards also have feminine shapes and customs that would make even a cyborg shriek in joy, if it even had a drop of heterosexuality somewhere on its person.
From where I live in the world, I am in close proximity to the largest concentrations of Latin lizards on this planet. Now if you couple that with Portuguese of where the huge bulk lies in Brasil, it’s a wrap. Now some argue that Portuguese is an entirely different language. Several Spanish natives have told me that the two languages are very similar and when they listen to Portuguese news, they can understand at least 80 percent of what they are saying. I can understand less than 80 percent when I listen to Gucci Mane, Future and other guys from the south rap and we are supposedly speaking the same language. Based on that, I can cope with 80 percent comprehension which will be there upon fluency. So if you can communicate with these lizards in their own tongue, they will be open to letting you explore them with your own tongue.
Now speaking with regular English speaking lizards, Spanish has helped me because I can fashion words quicker now since I have efficiently created two active compartments in my brain for language. My mind constantly conjugating verbs and making translations for everything I hear in English since I have a Spanish convo almost every day. It is almost second nature for me. When I talk to lizards now, I can come up with something more quickly. Words form much more quickly and are executed with far greater fluidity. The other night, I went out and hit up some lizards at the bar. I found out they were Dominican and focused on the one that my willie was most in favour of. I began to speak with her in Spanish and I actually knew more Spanish than her (she was New York born and raised) which was revealed as the conversation went on. I drew her to the dance floor and close danced with her and placed my hands all over that big juicy arse. Ay, mi querida, amo tu cuerpo! Your boy is still getting tail (1 new piece per month) but I am trying to hit that magical key and unlock the floodgates. I do this all for you lot, in the name of market research.
Raynman
June 13, 2017 — 8:47 pm
Nice article Moma!
Moma
June 19, 2017 — 10:53 pm
Thanks, bro! Are you learning any particular languages as of late?
guy
August 24, 2017 — 2:15 am
nice write up, if you are traveling to countries where it is the official language it will help a ton, and even with english speakers being able to drop some random lines in spanish can’t hurt