Answers
Aug 30, 2013 - 12:28 AM
I am just at level 1 with German and definitely can not give a solid answer to your questions. But my feeling of learning language is that even you master whatever is inside the material you are learning, no mater how advanced the course is, you still need a lot of practical, daily excises to really understand what people is talking about, especially when the talk fast or short, informal sentences. So I think you need more time to speak, read and listen and that just take time. By the way, movie can be very difficult to understand.
Aug 30, 2013 - 09:15 PM
Thanks for your reply. I have Fluenz German also and have got round the problem with films for that language. I purchase German language DVDs from online German stores mit deutschen Untertiteln (für Hörgeschädigte), which I think means German subtitles for the hearing impaired. That way I can see the German words that the actors are saying in German as well as hearing them in German. This makes it much easier for someone like me who's foreign language listening skills are my biggest problem. Sometimes however the German Subtitles are not exactly identical to what the actors are actually saying, they may use a different tense or a dialect. I'll have to find out if DVDs can be bought in Spain with similar Subtitles
Aug 31, 2013 - 06:36 PM
I have been through the Spanish Fluenz Program, all 5 Levels. For the last 5 years, every day for 1-3 hours, I have studied. I can speak so Spanish- speaking people can understand, but my understanding when they speak is pretty much nil. I just keep hoping that if I were in a Spanish country, I would be able to pick it up much easier than if I hadn't studied. My friends keep asking me why I am doing this. I keep saying I don't know! I know a lot more Spanish than I did 5 years ago.
Sep 11, 2013 - 09:16 PM
Mike, I feel your pain. I went thru Rosetta Stone and now I am working on Fluenz. I can watch movies with spanish subtitles and spanish language and understand but if it is just the audio I feel like I am lost.
Sep 12, 2013 - 05:22 PM
I can relate to what you are saying very well. I learned english for 8 years and then came to USA to work as a professional. Initially after I came I could say anything I wanted but many times could not understand people. The only way to learn understanding is total immersion. I had always radio station on which had people calling on the phone and talking to the anchor. They would be talking with different accents and speed. That and just chatting with friends at work helped me tremendously, after 6 months I did not have any more problems with understanding people. Try to talk to other people natives and learning spanish and you will not even notice when you can do it. Movies are the most difficult to understand. It is much easier understand people with whom you are talking and it will give you great satisfaction. After 5 levels of Spanish I am able to communicate with others in spanish and can understand 30-50% of conversations in telenovelas.