Spanish Learning Thread - I wonder why this hasn't been a thread yet.

Some tips:
"Pendejo" is a very respectful term, like sir or madam. If you encounter someone like a police officer, you can also add the honorific "puto" before it.
Example: You were pulled over by a cop. He taps on your window, you roll it down and say "Buenos días, puto pendejo!".

If you want to hit on some hot mamacitas, you can always call them the spanish equivalent of babe: gorda
"Hola, gorda! You're looking muy caliente"

If you ever need directions, you can ask the locals. Say "Me lo metes en..." and the place you want to go.
For example, if you want to find a bathroom, you say "Hola, pendejo. Me lo metes en el baño?"

Subscribe to my youtube for more tips.
 
la cucaracha, la cucaracha
ya no puede caminar
porque no tiene, porque le falta
marijuana que fumar
pokemon-ludicolo-2617446177.gif
 
Just don't go to Mexico, I wouldn't go there if I was paid to. Hit up NY and walk around the Queens/Bronx area instead for the official jumped by latinos experience.
I've spent about a year in Mexico and I am going there again. Puerto Vallarta and Merida are some of the best cities. Mazatlan and Manzanillo are good too. I'm gonna practice Mt Spanish there (and then still be called a gringo).
 
Probably going to buy the “Spanish for dummies” set because not knowing Spanish especially in my potential career/study field is embarrassing, especially in USA circa 2024

Any other book recommendations for seriously getting into Spanish. I know Don Quixote is the famous way to do it
 
I wonder why this hasn't been a thread yet.
Just curious. Why I would want to learn Spanish?

For someone like me who isn't interested in traveling or speaking with people why would a person like me who is more interested in languages because they have interesting art, books and media I want to read. I am not trying to be contrarian, just interested if there is a good reason to learn Spanish other than social/interpersonal/professional related reasons.
 
En la clase de hoy / In today's class
calculator se puede traducir como calc / calculator could be translated as calc
Para mas traducciones, no jodas / For a followup, don't contact me
 
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Probably going to buy the “Spanish for dummies” set because not knowing Spanish especially in my potential career/study field is embarrassing, especially in USA circa 2024

Any other book recommendations for seriously getting into Spanish. I know Don Quixote is the famous way to do it
Is it? I assume you're reading further/modern editions, :story: , because on the original (early modern/classical Spanish) you won't understand much.

Comparison between old and not so old but still old:
Quijote.png


Still, even then, there's a lot of terms that people today don't use anymore. Great to learn if you're going to take Spanish far, for day-to-day a lot of this is extra, but it's not going to be me who stops you from reading this, please go ahead. It's good if you're serious about it.

I'll just add that even in the modern version, some terms are archaic/not used anymore like that, or are written differently. To put an example, "mesmo" is used in a more modern version of the text, yet that term is archaic by today's standards, and should be instead written as "mismo" (in 2024, since a long time ago). This is just an example, because there should be a lot more.

mismo.png

- If you ever have doubts about a word, you can look up what the Real Academia Española (RAE) says.

I just love the idea that you learn this way of speaking & try it with spanish people, you'll achieve knighthood in a mere day.


I am not sure about learning, I'm not a teacher, but you can check out "Cuatro corazones con freno y marcha atrás" (completed around 1936) which I remember as a fun little book; it's actually for a theatre play.

Now that I think about it, I think it's pretty good for learning, because it obviously focuses on the dialogue between characters.

Being intended for a theatre play, you may also watch it with actors, but obviously I recommend the book. This is a representation on 1977:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQWtLGFjXa0

This is much more appropriate/closer to current spanish vocabulary (in Spain), if you can understand this, I'd say you're in good shape.


Another good one that I may recommend is "El Conde Lucanor" (Tales of Count Lucanor), this may be for when you feel more confident though.
 
I hope you're not using Duolingo.
Duolingo is one of the shittiest ways to learn a language, no joke. They like turning language learning into a game and have all this woke shit. It's also a bad influence too. I remember when Brilliant.org (That interactive math website that showed up on every learning YouTube video after 2017 due to mass demonetization) used to be a fairly decent math learning site a few years ago but it has turned to shit and tried to be much like Duolingo with it's interface.
 
I've spent about a year in Mexico and I am going there again. Puerto Vallarta and Merida are some of the best cities. Mazatlan and Manzanillo are good too. I'm gonna practice Mt Spanish there (and then still be called a gringo).
I spent a year mostly in DF. It's been a while but you really should stay for a time to explore things like El Palacio de las Belles Artes and Chapultepec Park just to name a couple. The home of the Spanish director Luis Buñuel, Casa Buñuel, is open to the public.

You can also go to Coyoacán to visit the home of Frida Kahlo and then to Leon Trotsky's home across the street to experience the contrast between the two, which to me was a great example of Mexico's historical intelligentsia-the domestic, the foreign and the political. They all existed at the same time, making Mexico the dominant force in Latin America, along with Argentina and Chile as well as Brazil (which, while not Spanish, is still Iberian, European, Indigenous and African like Mexico, making it important culturally and politically).

Mexico City has a unique French tradition, dating from the time it was the seat of the Imperio Mexicano, backed by Napoleon III and French troops. French is a widely used in many upscale places, at least it was when I was there. I believe you'd really enjoy it and as long as you take local custom into account, DF safer than most American and European capitals.
Take pictures of your visit and post them here, regardless of where you go. I'd love to see them. Also if you truly want to learn Spanish, limit contact with anyone from the Anglosphere and try to consume media solely in Spanish. It's hard but it will get easier. I had a French colleague who refused to speak English or French with me and it helped tremendously.
 
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Arrived in Mexico recently and talked to the locals there. They were really nice and appreciative when I spoken their language. Sometimes even given me gifts Learning Spanish for 1 year so far really paid off. I feel I have unlocked so many opportunities. It actually helped me more when many of them don't speak English giving me no choice but to speak their language. And it's also a lot of fun speaking Spanish.
 
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