Stewart Stremler wrote:
That was/is my problem with spanish. At one time, I was a fair reader and an okay writer of Spanish, but I found spoken spanish to be nigh incomprehensible. (I do not percieve any word-breaks in a "native speaker's" typical conversation.)
As someone who has learned to speak Spanish to the point of being able to have a spoken conversation with the average person on the street in Mexico with few problems, and having learned it in the last 5 years (I'm 32 now), I think the biggest problem people have with learning languages is lack of practice and lack of total immersion. An hour or two class a couple times a week will never cut it. The only way to do it is to MOVE to Mexico. Or move in with a Mexican family who doesn't speak english. This is after having taken the classes so you get the fundamentals. I took classes in high school and barely got anything out of it but the general concept of verb conjugation and a few dozen vocabulary words. Then I didn't touch it for 9 years. Then I stated speaking it every day, with great difficulty at first. But persistence is key. Understanding the spoken word comes after many many hours of listening to it.
Speaking of which, nuestros amigos in TJ are planning to have another event to celebrate Software Freedom Day. They will have a meeting this Friday, 29th of June, at 6pm in Sanborn's in Plaza Rio which is in TJ.
I doubt I can make this particular meeting (although I plan on attending future meetings) but if anyone else wants to go and help them out they are welcome. I attended many of the meetings last year and was a "wikiman" at the last Software Freedom Day. In fact I was the only pinche gringo in the whole place. The job of the wikiman is to answer questions (in spanish) that the non-Linux using public might have about Free Software. Hopefully this year I will have some company. :) Hanging out with these guys is a great way to learn more about Linux and brush on your spanish as well.
-- Tracy R Reed Read my blog at http://ultraviolet.org -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
