Help, I speak English with Spanish words...
I know a lot of Spanish words and phrases but still cannot quite understand native speakers. So far, my Spanish education has failed to teach me how to form Spanish sentences. I kinda get the 'lo' function in some Spanish sentences... but I feel utterly blind to the bigger picture. I don't need ear training for this, I need some mental understanding of the issue.

Can anyone help me with a reference to an article or a mid-level course that aims at spoken sentences or some magic description that can blow the clouds of confusion away?

Question

Help, I speak English with Spanish words...
I know a lot of Spanish words and phrases but still cannot quite understand native speakers. So far, my Spanish education has failed to teach me how to form Spanish sentences. I kinda get the 'lo' function in some Spanish sentences... but I feel utterly blind to the bigger picture. I don't need ear training for this, I need some mental understanding of the issue.

Can anyone help me with a reference to an article or a mid-level course that aims at spoken sentences or some magic description that can blow the clouds of confusion away?

Answer

I really like the "practice makes perfect" series of workbooks.  You can buy them on Amazon

Answer

I also find it difficult to make sentences in English, maybe I can help you with Spanish

Answer

Hello Dianna
I know that the articles can be something confusing, but it’s a little simpler than you think. Of course, first of all you need to understand that Spanish has masculine, feminine, neutral and plurals nouns, and the article has to match the noun’s gender.

For Singular nouns we have:
—LA	(feminine)  la niña es bella.
—EL	(masculine) el carro de mi hermano es azul.
—LO	(neutral) lo bueno de vivir es poder reir cada dia.

For Plural nouns are:
—LAS	(feminine) las paredes de mi casa son verde.
—LOS 	(masculine) los niños juegan en la calle.

If you have any question, just ask me. And don`t worry if you don't understand, the key is in not to give up and keep motivated. Good look!

Answer

Hello, Dianna.

I understand your needs, I would like to talk to you as soon as possible to explain why you are not that comfortable building sentences and how you can start building that great picture to express yourself in Spanish. Words mean nothing if you do not understand the culture whithin. As Eugene Nida explains, you will achieve fluency and a great conversational skill in the moment you understand how the Spanish culture is related to its words. Despite this, you still can achieve some fluency because words mean something. But real fluency comes when you understand why you are using those words and not others. Imagine that you are in a boat, that is the English boat. Now you have to get into a different boat, the Spanish boat. If you speak Spanish in the English boat maybe people in the Spanish boat will understand some words, even phrases. But as soon as you step into the Spanish boat, life changes and so your speech in the language.

Answer

You might want to check out the babbel course. It's pretty good and it eases you into learning conversations and sentences. https://es.babbel.com/ You have to pay, but you can try out a couple of lessons for free.

Answers · 8

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!