Where do I start? | General discussion | Forum

Nikki said
Hi. First off, I'm very new to this site.

Welcome.

And secondly, I have faamily that speaks Spanish fluently. But no matter how many times I ask getting them to teach me just isn't going to happen. I have basics. I can listen to a conversation and BASICALLY understand what they are talking about. But I still want to be able to speak with them.

I've got two kids, and I shudder at the notion of teaching them a language. Joking aside, I suspect this is common.

But the problem is I don't know where to start. And all these matching games and such just can't hold my attention. My main problem is getting it to stick in my brain.

Well, if you don't know where to start, figure out where you are. This sounds flippant, but I'm being absolutely serious. In some ways, it's almost easier if you know nothing, which you clearly don't. So figure out where you are first. When I started my Ancient Greek mission last summer, I had tried learning Ancient Greek before but I had always failed. No reason really. I just did. But when I started last summer, I had to take stock of where I was before I could make a definite plan where to go.

Questions you should answer. I'm not trying to talk down, but rather give you a place to start.

•Can I make the sounds of the language (or a reasonable approximation) in speech and writing? 

I take the stance that knowing a modern language is also to be at least semi-literate. Look at how Benny tackled the Chinese characters for what I mean by semi-literate. Particularly for Spanish, where the written code is so much more transparently linked to the spoken code–for us English speakers anyway.

•Do I know the words for basic stuff around the house?

The things you're likely to talk about the most. 

•What parts of conversation do you understand?

•What are your goals to learn?

Again, this sounds dumb. Fluent is a moving target that different people define differently. The more definable the goal, the more likely you are to succeed. When I said I'd learn Ancient Greek, I failed. As soon as I switched to a black-and-white goal—read a complete and unmodified work with vocabulary and minimal grammatical aids—I did it. I had a specific target to hit, so I knew which efforts were paying off and what was wasted time. 

I'd also strongly suggest you read Benny's posts. Use the search box he's provided. Even though I'm not so interested in modern languages myself, he's got an approach to tackling the problem of learning a language that is useful no matter what your interest is.

And finally, there's no substitute for doing it like doing it.