Spanish Comprehension

Spanish Video Lesson – Understanding Native Speakers

Understanding Native Speakers

Be sure to visit us on our Facebook page and share what you’ve learned as well as experiences you’ve had in regards to understanding native speakers. You just might win a free Spanish Comprehension Trainer. When I first began learning Spanish, I found it very difficult to understand native Spanish speakers. I had mostly listened to Spanish from people who spoke it as their second language. It seemed like the natives spoke a million miles per hour. They spoke so fast that I wondered if they ever took a breath. I’ve never been able to breathe very good from my nose so I wondered if I would be able to speak like them someday, let alone understand them.

Over time it was amazing that they seemed to speak slower and slower. I didn’t even notice at the time, but looking back I saw that my brain was adjusting to the Spanish language. I don’t have any study to back this up, but I think that we are too tense when we are learning languages. Or maybe it is too focused. If you can relax a little bit and allow your brain to absorb the language and the new information, you will fare better. It is important to listen to as much Spanish from native speakers as possible. Listen to Spanish music, watch Telemundo, do whatever you need to do.

If you didn’t take any notes from the video, here is the new vocabulary you will find helpful in your humble beginnings of the acquisition of this great language called Spanish:

Slower please. Más despacio, por favor.
Could you please repeat it? ¿Podría repetirlo, por favor?
I am learning Spanish. Estoy aprendiendo español.
I don’t understand. No comprendo.
I don’t understand. No entiendo.
It’s difficult for me to speak. Me es difícil hablar.
You speak very fast. Usted habla muy rápido.
How do you say… in Spanish? ¿Cómo se dice…en español?

As you are getting started, it will surely be helpful for you to learn some Spanish greetings so you’ll be able to at least understand those from the conversation. Please come share and practice what you learned from this blog post and video with us on the Visual Link Spanish Facebook page. Also please share any interesting experiences you have had while listening and conversing with native Spanish speakers.

Future Facebook Fiesta Friday Topics:

June 10, 2011 – Taking a Taxi

June 17, 2011 – What to Say When You’re Angry

June 24, 2011 – Summer Activities

¡Hasta luego Amigos!

Dave

Comments 18
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  • Amanda June 18th, 2011 at 01:38

    Hello, I have been checking out your videos and as a certified Spanish teacher I am highly concerned. Your blog videos are great and I like the idea behind them, however, your teaching people some incorrect Spanish, and I don’t find it to be ok. I also had a native speaker watching with me who said that the Spanish was not up to par and there were many mistakes. He helped me confirm that what I heard was not correct. For example: It’s difficult for me to speak. –> Me es difícil hablar is not correct in fact it is very wrong. It should be: Para mi es dificil hablar. There were tons of other really bad mistakes too in other videos. Medical visit you posted El torbilla to say ankle. This is not correct it should be Tobillo. I think you can tell why I am concerned because to teach people Spanish that is not correct is very very bad, because they dont learn the right words and you have to be very careful of this. I as a Spanish teacher have to be able to speak and write and note errors perfectly and all the time. Its VERY important. You dont want people to absorb the wrong words or wrong ways to say them. Its crucial they learn the correct way to say things. I also was concerned that this program is taught and promoted to homeschooled kids as well as this software being sold through you to people, and the errors there might be on there. I would love to talk to you more about this, if you are at all interested but you have to know that there are lots of errors in your videos and as a teacher this highly concerns me.

    Thank you for your time, I hope you will consider reviewing your materials and making changes and also looking more carefully at your material before posting, possibly reviewing it and then posting it could be a great start.

    • Jake Beus June 30th, 2011 at 12:18

      Hi Amanda,
      I appreciate you taking the time to voice your concerns. You are correct, there are a few mistakes. We will certainly do a better job revising the material we put into the videos. I can assure you that we will do a better job on the videos. I would love for you to email me directly at jake.b(at)spanishprograms.com as it seems that you have more things you would like to discuss.

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