TIPS AND HINTS FOR STUDYING SPANISH

HINTS FOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION When you listen to a person speaking Spanish, you don’t have to try to understand every word. It is not necessary to understand everything to get the idea of what someone is saying. Listen for the general message. Listen for the words you recognize. If some details escape you, don’t worry too much! Really, it’s ok! So long as you understand the general idea, you’re doing great!

HINTS FOR SPEAKING Try to be as accurate as possible when speaking. Try not to make mistakes. However, if you do, it’s not the end of the world! Guess what? Spanish speakers will understand you! You’re not expected to speak Spanish perfectly with just a limited amount of Spanish study. Think of a time when you have spoken with someone from another country who doesn’t speak English perfectly; you understood them, right?

HINTS FOR SPEAKING REMEMBER: Keep talking! Don’t become inhibited for fear of making a mistake!

HINTS FOR SPEAKING REMEMBER: We’re all here to learn, not point and laugh when someone makes a mistake! (And we all make mistakes in a second language!)

HINTS FOR SPEAKING REMEMBER: Say what you know how to say. You are in the beginning stages of learning Spanish; no one is expecting you to carry on a conversation about rocket science or cellular biology! It’s ok to use the vocabulary you DO know; you’ll start to branch off from the basics.

HINTS FOR READING COMPREHENSION Just as you will not always understand every word you hear in a conversation, you will not necessarily understand every word you encounter in a reading selection. Don’t stop reading! Skip over the words you don’t know, look for the words you DO know and try to get the “gist” of the selection. Try to guess the meanings of words you don’t know. Guess?? Yup, GUESS! It’s ok to guess the meanings of words, there’s a great chance you’ll be right!

HINTS FOR WRITING You’ll receive vocabulary lists throughout the school year that will help you when you need to write original sentences. Organize your sentences in a logical order (you’ll begin to recognize Spanish sentence structure the more we practice in class). There are dictionaries in the back of your Spanish book with helpful vocabulary, and on the shelving unit, but try not to rely too heavily on a Spanish/English dictionary. It’s not that bilingual dictionaries are bad, but they often offer several translations for the same word. As a beginning language student, you might not know which translation will make sense in your sentence. If in doubt, use a word you already know how to say, or ask ME which translation makes sense! As a final hint: never prepare your paragraphs in English and attempt to translate word for word. It’s much easier and much less complicated (and less frustrating!) to write from scratch in Spanish!