Find a Spanish translation of something you've already read in your native language. (Or dub of a film or show, if that's your speed.) You already know what it's saying, so you get to see the words and grammatical structures it uses to say it. This also helps a lot with writing because you internalize good style and sound less like a foreigner.
i agree so much! i have been watching like every DVD i have that i've seen a million times in english (my native language) with spanish/portuguese dubs and/or captions if available and i think it has helped me a lot, at least when it comes to pronunciation and learning a more conversational way of saying things in a language. i would really like to start doing it with books as well.
I usually try to start with a pop song in my target language, and then use the fragments/phrases from that to learn other parts of the language
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I agree so much about conjugation. Context is really important for me. With many verbs I only know the conjugations for one or two subjects pronouns off-hand.
I haven't used it myself, but I've heard others praise http://livemocha.com/. It pairs you up with native speaker tutors for chat, correcting texts, and so forth.
Me, I like to read. If ordinary books are too challenging, start with graphic novels--they're mostly dialogue and the pictures give you valuable context.
As someone who has learned several languages (English, Spanish and bits of Portuguese) on their own I can tell you what's been working and what hasn't and why
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Flashcards are less practical. Of course, with them you can relatively quickly memorize some stuff before an exam or refresh things in your memory, but that's about it. All knowledge and skills come with real practice
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Hmm.. thanks. Yep, I can swear by lots of your points, they are confirmed by my own experience.
However, in my view you remain haphazard and irregular in your practice, you seem to try everything and just note what seems to work a bit better. You have not worked out a scheme or pattern or procedure that would combine the methods that work better into a whole one might call a teaching or self-learning method.
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Me, I like to read. If ordinary books are too challenging, start with graphic novels--they're mostly dialogue and the pictures give you valuable context.
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However, in my view you remain haphazard and irregular in your practice, you seem to try everything and just note what seems to work a bit better. You have not worked out a scheme or pattern or procedure that would combine the methods that work better into a whole one might call a teaching or self-learning method.
In my view there is a way to do that. I told how my "lexical" method works several times here in LJ:
http://linguaphiles.livejournal.com/5861514.html (in English)
http://zamotivator.livejournal.com/595796.html (in Russian)
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