Brushing up on your Spanish

[caitlin_s]

Hola amigos,

I've just started breaking in my boots and have been going for lots of lovely long training walks around Melbourne. I also figured it was about time to start brushing up on my fairly good but rusty Spanish. I've hit upon a fun and efficient way of combining the two activities so I thought I'd share for other preparing pilgrims who already speak fairly decent Spanish.

Method 1. Talk to yourself! Yes, if you do see a sweaty young woman ambling along the Yarra while frowning and mumbling to herself, that is me trying to answer in Spanish the kinds of questions I imagine one gets asked on the camino.... where are you from? what's your reason for doing the camino? what do you do back home? etc etc.

Method 2. Download a bunch of Spanish podcasts. I've found some great ones on the website http://www.ivoox.com, which has hundreds and hundreds of free podcasts on all kinds of topics. I've been listening to intently to them while walking. My favourite so far is 'Nomadas', a travel program from Rrrrradio Nacional de Espana. I've downloaded all the programs about places I've been to or lived in - knowing the context makes understanding easier. (Also, spotting mistakes. Sydney the capital of Australia?! I don't think so, buddy!)

Method 3. Ok, this isn't one that can be safely combined with walking but there are a quite a few 'parallel text' (English on one page, Spanish on the other) compilations of short stories available on amazon and elsewhere, at varying levels of difficulty. I love them because you never have to pull a dictionary out, it's quick to read one before bed, and they're usually translated from an original Spanish text so it's a bit of a cultural lesson too.

 

[colinPeter]

Hola amigo Caitlan_s,
Like the idea of method 3, will give that a try, bit of an alternate idea to listening all the time.
Initially, we used "Spanish in 10 minutes a day" (CD's - Latin America primarily) for our first Camino, I found it great and we got by really well.
This time we are using "Coffee Break Spanish", to improve for our walk in April.
Buen Camino
Col

 

[meisterbalogna]

Catherine, this is great! My Spanish speaking abilities are also fair but rusty so I've been looking at ways to brush up as well. I've been using an audio program called Earworms which combines phrases and conversations with music and tempos so that it sticks in your head and is easier to recall quickly. It's pretty great!

I've definitely been the crazy girl on the train in Boston mumbling to herself in Spanish so I understand the strange looks!

When is your camino?

Best,
Joan

 

[tyrrek]

Hola Caitlin!

I like RTVE.es Radio 5. It's mainly news, but it's good, clear Spanish and helps shift your brain into 'Spanish mode'. You can just have it on in the background while browsing the internet.

The pre-digital solution was just to have a few glasses of beer or wine, after which we are all practically fluent. :wink:

Buen Camino!

 

[robertt]

Something that helps me with reading languages:

I don't worry if the book was originally in the language I want to learn. I pick any book I really feel like reading, and then read it translated, if necessary, into the target language. I don't feel obligated to read Alas or Marquez just because I want to maintain fluency in Spanish. (Plus I've reached an age when I've stopped believing there's any such thing as literature. There's just good reads and bad reads.)

I know this is an odd solution, but, though I'm not especially bright, I do read quite a few languages fluently, and this has been my method.

Have a great Camino

Rob

 

[summerthor]

I am very bad at languages... I've traveled to more than 30 countries and lived in 5 besides my own, including 18 months in Spanish speaking countries. Food and lodging words are the ones you want to brush up on. Most of the pilgrims spoke English as a second language, but the inns and restuarants in small towns... not so much.

 

[jennyb]

Thanks for the tips Caitlin.
I have cd's - SPANISH FOR DUMMIES, which i have downloaded onto my ipod and I listen to this as I do my training up and down the hills around my home. Great company!

Jenny

 

[robertt]

Some good ideas here, for those of us who like the language side of travel. I might take tyrekk's advice and keep the Spanish radio running in the lead up to my next Camino.

Something else worth a shot is listening to any Spanish language song you like along with the lyrics. Once the lyrics are familiar and you know their meaning, listening to the song becomes an unconscious lesson.Popular old favourites like La Paloma and Besame Mucho, where the language is clear and simple, are a good starting point. The more songs the better of course. Lyrics are available on some youtube clips, on special lyric sites or just on people's webpages. If there's a Spanish song you really like, and you're going to listen to it a hundred times anyway, why not memorise a few lines of lyrics and learn their meanings?

 

[Labtails]

Many good suggestions. I am now beginning to work on my Spanish which at a shaky beginner level.
I have tried watching Spanish TV channels, but find that they speak so fast I am not able to understand anything. I have always been better learning the written version of a language where I can SEE it rather than the oral version. I am a much more visual learner.

 

[micamino73]

I would focus first on the 300 most used words in spanish, top ten verbs, it will give you a base. Then focus on simples phrases that you will use on the camino, how far to... Where is the nearest shop, can you stamp my credential etc... Unless you have a good bit of time to invest in learning spanish its not easy to get fluent unless you use it. But it is easy to get a working knowledge of it.

I am preparing some spanish lessons for a friend who wants to do the camino, if you want some course work let me know and i can email you some tailored lessons

 

[annie12]

How DO you say 'will you stamp my credential?' :?
The BBC website has got lots of good resources - there is an interactive mystery drama for complete beginners, Ma Va Loca, which I find useful. No mention of stamps though unfortunately...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

 

[tyrrek]

How DO you say 'will you stamp my credential?' :?
The BBC website has got lots of good resources - there is an interactive mystery drama for complete beginners, Ma Va Loca, which I find useful. No mention of stamps though unfortunately...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

I'd just say something like 'Hay sello?' or 'Tiene usted sello?' They're usually expecting it!

Buen Camino!

 

[micamino73]

Hola, Puede Usted sellar mi credential? Or "tienen un sello para mi credential del camino"

That will get your passport stamped. Sellar = to stampe (or seal) Sello is stamp or a seal.

Remember that 2 L's in spanish are not pronounced as L's but form a new letter themselves worth looking up in google to get thr correct pronunciation

 

[caitlin_s]

Something that helps me with reading languages:

I don't worry if the book was originally in the language I want to learn. I pick any book I really feel like reading, and then read it translated, if necessary, into the target language. I don't feel obligated to read Alas or Marquez just because I want to maintain fluency in Spanish. (Plus I've reached an age when I've stopped believing there's any such thing as literature. There's just good reads and bad reads.)

I know this is an odd solution, but, though I'm not especially bright, I do read quite a few languages fluently, and this has been my method.

Have a great Camino

Rob

I totally agree on that Rob, I've had a grand old time reading Harry Potter in Spanish translation!! (My favourite thing is that Mad-Eye Moody becomes "Ojo-loco"!!)

 

[caitlin_s]

I will give that RTVE one a go, Tyrrek!

The pre-digital solution was just to have a few glasses of beer or wine, after which we are all practically fluent. :wink:

I CAN REPORT THIS TECHNOQUE IS STILL HIGHLY EFFECTIVE!!!

 

[caitlin_s]

I've been using an audio program called Earworms which combines phrases and conversations with music and tempos so that it sticks in your head and is easier to recall quickly. It's pretty great!

I will look this one up too, it sounds interesting!

I'm leaving from Roncesvalles (or possibly SJPP) on April 21!! So excited!!!


C

 

[djheg]

Ye can also open "caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/frances/" the Eroski site,and read your way through in Spanish. Very informative.

 

[ukulele1980]

Hi.

Method No.3 suggested by Caitlin with parallet text is a great idea- english and spanish text
side-by-side. it makes quick referencing so much easier. I found such a book that teaches Spanish through jokes- the english joke is translated line by line into spanish. It makes learning Spanish
more enjoyable, especially when you try out one of the jokes with the locals along the camino.

You can find the ebook on amazon. It's really cheap... i think its $2.99 or something. check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/learning-language ... r+u+joking

I hope this suggestion has helped others who are trying to improve their spanish.

Cheers.

 

[Annon]

If you have several months before your camino, there are many community colleges which teach Spanish as a non-credit course, often at several levels of skill, for very reasonable rates.
I decided I was going to walk the camino in November 2011, but I was taking care of my mother, and knew I couldn't go until she passed away. To keep the fire and hopes alive, I started taking Spanish classes, knowing none whatsoever. My mother passed away this summer, and I'm walking March 2013. I'll be asking my teacher for a few one-on-one sessions practicing travel-relevant conversations.
Two other things have helped: renting movies I like and have watched a few times in English, making sure that they have language options, and then selecting Spanish as both spoken language and subtitles. Despite the fact that the subtitles seldom match the spoken language exactly, it's an enjoyable way to gain skill in following conversations.
Another is to sit in a coffeehouse where people are friendly and work your way through a Spanish textbook. I've had several people offer to sit and speak Spanish with me when they noticed what I was studying. At the price of buying someone's coffee by way of thanks, it was great practice. Finding someone to have conversations with really helps: calling the words in their correct forms out of your memory when you're on the spot.