How do I get better at another language? - the last update on the language learning thread was over a month ago so i'm doing this

[Osama Bin Laden]

I know practice makes perfect but I'll explain my situation without PL too hard. I am someone who wants to be fluent in another language, I've always tried to learn Spanish ever since as a child, but never truly understood the work that goes into learning a language. I am more fluent in it now, but I don't have any friends or native spanish speakers to really improve my skills. my pronunciation is dogshit and I've only more or less a few months ago started getting used to the spanish language as is. the question is, how do i get better at speaking a language when I have no friends to speak spanish with. most hispanics i've met are pretty nice when you tell them you are learning spanish but a good majority also aren't so.

Spoiler: same shit but spanish

hola, mi amigos de kiwifarms. soy lguien que quiere tener fluidez en otro idioma, siempre he tratado de aprender español desde que era niño, pero nunca entendí realmente el trabajo que implica aprender un idioma. Lo hablo con más fluidez ahora, pero no tengo amigos o hablantes nativos de español para mejorar realmente mis habilidades. mi pronunciación es mierda y hace más o menos unos meses que comencé a acostumbrarme al idioma español tal como es. la pregunta es, ¿cómo mejoro hablando un idioma cuando no tengo amigos con quienes hablar español? la mayoría de los hispanos que he conocido son bastante simpáticos cuando les dices que estás aprendiendo español pero una gran mayoría tampoco lo son.

 

[Kamen Rider Faiz]

Podria ayudarte con la prática

Spoiler

I could help you with the practice part

 

[Catgirl Enthusiast]

Immersion. Listen to spanish language podcasts watch telenovelas etc. Even if you don't understand everything they are saying you will hear the words you are learning repeatedly and they will click in your brain. You'll be like I know what that means at first until eventually you just hear the word enough and you don't have to think about what it means. It will become interchangeable in your mind with the English word. That will only help you understand the language though. Recalling and speaking words must happen in another part of the brain or something. You have to actually practice conversation otherwise you will hear and understand everything the other person is saying and struggle to speak back to them.

 

[Osama Bin Laden]

Immersion. Listen to spanish language podcasts watch telenovelas etc. Even if you don't understand everything they are saying you will hear the words you are learning repeatedly and they will click in your brain. You'll be like I know what that means at first until eventually you just hear the word enough and you don't have to think about what it means. It will become interchangeable in your mind with the English word. That will only help you understand the language though. Recalling and speaking words must happen in another part of the brain or something. You have to actually practice conversation otherwise you will hear and understand everything the other person is saying and struggle to speak back to them.

that's what i've been trying to do for a bit, i think it's more with how to speak..? the easiest way i've been able to explain it is i didn't realize how difficult it is for an english speaker to switch the way they speak when it's in another language.

for example, english, you speak in the first and third person. however, spanish is more or less in the third person. and it throws me off when i'm trying to be funny or speaking and i have to say.

"i'm ready for spanish class" but to say it in the beaner way is "estoy listo para clase de espanol"

 

[Catgirl Enthusiast]

Each language has it's own peculiarities. You can't try to directly translate what you want to say into another language. English is actually super complicated and nuanced just like every other language is super complicated and nuanced in it's own way. We both learned English by listening, talking, and reading. It's no coincidence that well read individuals generally have a well defined vocabulary. Kids don't really get good at English until they are like 10 or 12. It took them a decade of immersion and conversation to become mostly fluent. In the real world when you are trying to speak cross language and culture a three year old's grasp of language is enough to get your point across usually and the other person will be impressed that you took the time and effort to learn their language even on a base level.

 

[The Evil Midnight Bomber]

Read books and watch movies/tv shows in spanish. Maybe try participating in the spanish language board on here.