How I learned fluent Spanish - Part 1/5

Hi everybody. My name is Daniel. I'm 26 years old and I'm a Chinese-American from San Francisco, California. In this post, I wanted to share my story of how I came to learn Spanish to a relatively fluent level. I won't say that I am close to a native speaker, because I believe that a lack of humility sabotages any language learning.

If anybody is learning English, I think my English is a decent example of the type of English spoken in California/Northern California.

The purpose of this set of videos is to explain the chronology and the experiences that led me to my currently level of fluency. I plan to make a separate video with more specific tips. This video would be useful as a basis for understanding the unique experiences and dedication necessary for an average person, like myself, to learn Spanish.

Here are my notes so you can follow along in the first part:


Background info:
• First Spanish class, 12. Middle school. Chilean teacher.
• First impression: Spanish fun. Different. Langosta/excusado. False friends
• Spanish throughout high school. Don't use outside class. Lack of fluency but good grammatical base.
• Spanish AP tests, scored high.

COLLEGE
• In college UCSD, became interested in Spanish through hip-hop from Spain. Chojin.

HOW? Music CD from my friend. Contained Spanish rap. Fascinating accent.

• Also, Cuban friend. Bus ride home. Encouragement, spoke very fluently.
• Joined MECHA. Spoke to cleaning women hotel.
• Spanish -- hobby. Every day, study 3-4 hours economics, then 3-4 hours Spanish.
• Time invested.
• Notes in Spanish. Behind the Wheel Spanish.
• Grammar books done multiple times: Spanish Pronouns & Propositions, Spanish Verbs & Tenses, Ultimate Spanish Review & Practice.
• Books addressed to English speakers about Spanish: Breaking OUT of Beginner's Spanish. Madrigal's Key to Spanish.
• Summary: IPOD best friend. Always listening to Spanish. Preference: podcast over music. Music doesn't help as much.
• Sample podcasts from wide variety of sources. Desde el baño, Buenos Aires, argentina. Cabreados, Madrid, Spain. Rimbombante, México.

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[dolceveronique]

Hola tu español es muy bueno, yo hablo ingles pero mi acento no es bueno :( me gustaria mejorarlo.. que me aconsejas? tambien estoy aprendienco coreano y despues quiero chino por que es mas dificil... saludos y sigue asi :D

[dychui]

@dolceveronique Hola Dolceveronique :) muchísimas gracias!!! Pues nada, si te animas a subir un vídeo o clip de audio en el que hablas inglés te puedo dar algunos consejos.

Un abrazo y espero que pases por aquí más a menudo!

[MsMilella]

Quiero que seas mi profesor de Inglés!!! por favor, ojalá hablara el Inglés la mitad de la mitad de bien que hablas tú el Español

[dychui]

@MsMilella Hola MsMilella!! Muchísimas gracias por tu comentario :) jeje me encantaría ser tu profesor de inglés, aunque realmente me costaría enseñarlo porque no lo he aprendido "formalmente"... o sea las reglas de la gramática las conozco mejor en español que inglés porque soy hablante nativo de inglés

[cannykicks]

damn, 14 min video and it's only 1/5 of the package? pshhh

[dychui]

@cannykicks :) well it's long, but hopefully it's helpful. Since it is so long I provided notes to accompany the vids if you want to just read the notes!! Thanks for dropping by!

[tavi2000]

FLIPO con tu acento español... jajaja pero si lo hablas mejor que yo!!! y mira que soy de Madrizzzz... en fin, nice accent in English too ;) saludos!

[AlanaPower111]

Im trying to learn fluent spanish while im in college now so when I graduate I will be fluent in both English and Spanish

[rotciv73]

Tu español es muy bueno. No se si hablas mandarín, pero si lo hablas dominas los tres idiomas mas hablados en el mundo; Mandarín, Español e Inglés.

[cannykicks]

@dychui While I am Hispanic, I don't know the language. Being a honors-type student who didn't really hang out with other Hispanic kids, I had no reason to. Until I met a girl last year, and now am just crazy about her. Her English is impeccable, but I want to surprise her someday and try a Spanish conversation. A long and maybe irrelevant story, but I wanted to share something more encouraging than wisecracks. Thank you for these videos.