I was wondering how long would it take threw this site to be able to speak Spanish conversation wise with people and understand them?
One website tells me if I practice 30 minutes a day and use them it will only take 3-6 months to start speaking Spanish. What say you?
I think it will depend on your background. Did you study Spanish in HS or college? Besides LingQ try to watch some Mexican TV show on cable or DVD/movies. That will make your ears get more used to the language. I believe in 3 months you will be able to hold a conversation in Spanish.
If you listen to, read and save lingqs in Spanish for just 30 minutes a day, you will be able to hold a basic conversation in 3 months. I personally recommend a lot of intensity at the beginning of your studies (at least an hour a day), because it allows you to reach the intermediate level, where you can appreciate a wider variety of more interesting content, faster.
Given this, I do not recommend starting to speak after just three months, even though you could, as speaking at this stage is still difficult and slow-going. However, I started speaking from day 1 in Spain, so whatever works for you/keeps you motivated:)
I took french in high school and Spanish in college. I wanted to start out at the level no knowledge because I need a refresher and I got my languages mixed up in spanish class on more than one occasion. I appreciate you all responding so swiftly. Thank you.
Also the reason I ask is I’m considering the monthly payment and I just want to make sure I see results for the price .
I suggest you work hard at LingQ for three months and see. How much do you have to lose?
If you listen on your iPod 45 minutes to one hour a day, making use of dead time, and if you spend 30 minutes at the computer on other LingQ activities every few days, you will make good progress. If you enjoy yourself you will want to continue.
Meanwhile I suggest you work hard, listen a lot and work to reach your 300 word free limit and see how you feel.
As to when you can start speaking, I believe you can start speaking very quickly. The bigger issue is when you will understand and be able to hold a meaningful conversation. I think 6 months is reasonable.
Sounds Good. I will try my hardest and see how things go. It’s a done deal.
I might as well add in my opinions.
Since I don’t have an Ipod, I am tied to the computer for my listening, but I listen everyday for an hour minimum. I then move on and read to the content I have just listened to. This usually takes me another hour or so. At the end of this study regiment I don’t feel tired at all.
In the case of speaking, I have really started speaking better than I have. I would suggest doing about 3-5 months of intensive listening, reading, and learning vocabulary. What I am doing to put passive vocab into active is by transcribing all of the dialogues I have gone over and reciting them out loud. I will occasionally speak to myself when I’m alone.
Just some hints I find are useful for me.
Nick, I am curious. Why would you not buy a small MP3 player so that you can listen wherever you go?
I do have an MP3 player but for some reason, when I try to download the audio from lingQ to windows media player, it wont let me put it onto my MP3 player. I tried to do it with Itunes, but it wouldn’t let me. Also, the media center for my MP3 player won’t let me download LingQ audio. Says it is “invalid”. I’m working on getting an Ipod right now. There is something wrong with our computer right now.
In reality, I’m on the computer every night for a good 4 hours, so I don’t mind listening on the computer. I do read away from it though.
You should be able to just download the Mp3 files and copy them into folders (or playlists) on your Mp3 player. Did your Mp3 player come with software?
@Nick
That’s really interesting what you said about activating your vocab by using transcription and recital. I think that’s what the YouTube polyglot Luca says that he does. I wonder if already advanced learners could benefit from the technique.
@David
It’s funny because I was doing recitation and transcription way before I found out about him. Our study method is not that different from each other. I just found out about him like 2 weeks ago. I think these two ways are really beneficial in order to activate ones vocab. I’m having great results from it, and my writing ability has improved a lot.
@Peterlaunonen
My mp3 player did come with software. All I had to do was plug in my mp3 player to the usb port and downloaded the player. See, I tried that with the files. For some reason it just wouldn’t take them.
i wonder can i download the files using my tmobile my touch?
Nick910: I started two lessons so far in Spanish. Greetings and trying to find somewhere to eat. How many times should i listen to each? I started to listen to each one a few times and then translate and then listen again. How long should I stay on them?
Hi!
From my experience, at first I wanted to go very fast in learning English. I asked myself how much would it take for me to learn the new language, and I was eager to get fluency as soon as possible. I wanted to get rid of learning English as soon as possible, because my feeling was that learning was boring and tiring.
Now, I am starting to enjoy the process of learning. I enjoy reading in English and listening in English. Most of the contents are interesting for me. So without realising, I am improving fast my English
So my point is that it’s important to enjoy the process of acquisition. It’s good to be eager to master the new languages, but it’s also important to enjoy what are you doing, because it’s much better for your motivation, and therefore for your “stamina” in learning.
I usually read and listen to each piece of material about 10 times a day for about 2-4 days depending on the difficulty. The difficulty could be that I don’t fully understand some of it, the vocabulary is odd and not familiar, or there are just a lot of words I just don’t know yet. Sometimes I do more than 10 times a day. If I feel like it, I will do about 20, but I spread it out over the whole day if I feel that the content I am working on is too great.
I really have a hard time to write English and I don’t speak English fluently. Please advise.