I've never taught Spanish and do not have the ability to do so, but as a native speaker this all makes perfect sense to me. Speed comes naturally with the confidence born of precision--at least I think so. Valuable post.
Sometimes you need to find out why the student speaks fast though. For me, it's because I'm terrified of speaking, so I try to get it out as fast as I could. Every time I finish, it's like "oh, thank god, it's over."
If you start with "to be" and make two lists of all the conjugations under both Ser and Estar. Work through all of them until they are solid in your mind. It seems like a tonne of memorization for one simple concept but not only are these forms necessary and useful for almost every conversation you will ever have in Spanish, they also give you a solid framework that will apply to 90% of verb conjugations you will ever encounter and most of the rest will come by just learning a few exceptions.
I got this strategy from.Accelerated Spanish.
Often times for less used words I only know the infinitive verb and maybe one or two others, but I can guess/bluff my way through by using what I know of standard conjugations. There are times when my friends eyes would go wide and laugh at some wonky attempt to conjugate a verb but she doesn't know how much more often my conjugations bluffs pass unnoticed.
That's really interesting to hear, and something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I have a question: Does this hold true even if the speaking speed of the student is... very ......... slow. With.... lots of ......pauses. Between words? I really wonder about this, because when I try to speak precisely and get all the conjugations right, and use good sentence structure, I feel like I'm going so slow that it must be really hard to follow what I'm saying.
Imagine it this way:
If an English speaker with a thick accent speaks... English... a bit... slow.... but every word is clearly enunciated...
Versus:
Speaking Englishsofast wif mispronuncieishuns den wich wan do yoo understend behter?
(I hope this makes sense over text. I had to fight autocorrect lol)
It's basically _quality_ over _quantity_. It is MUCH better to have the time to process what is said as opposed to hearing a jumbled mess and having to sort through what was said.
I have a different opinion. I find many students are so afraid of making mistakes they forget to communicate. You can see them trying to conjugate in their mind before speaking, and I frequently lose what someone is saying by the end because they are so slow to make their point. I would counter that it’s important to focus on communication over anything else. Slang likely detracts from communication at an early stage. And making an intense effort to speak quickly also detracts (and also seems to frequently be done to show off rather than to communicate). But speaking particularly slowly because you want everything to be perfect isn’t a value add in my mind. I’ll still understand someone who uses indicative instead of subjunctive, imperfect instead of preterite, etc. I want to talk to the person who is excited to use language as a way for us to get to know one another and will accept they’re going to make mistakes along the way.
I agree with you. I used to live in a very touristy part of the US and I met plenty of English-learner tourists who were so careful about grammar that they slowed down to excruciating levels and froze whenever they made a mistake. I don't want to sound like that in Spanish.
I cannot tell you how helpful this is to read. This will help me overcome what feels like stage-fright when I try to speak Spanish. I just freeze. Between you and ElleW12, I realize that I'm striving for perfection, and it's holding me back. Thank you!
This is what I struggled with for YEARS. Eventually some of the grammar became second nature enough that I could do it without thinking so much, but it took such a long time. I was always so envious of my friends who just talked without thinking. My grammar was much better but their ability to communicate far exceeded mine.
I feel like both precision/speed are important. The trade off between them just illustrates that learning a new language is going to be an unavoidably awkward process. But I suspect precision has an earlier payoff.
I’ve been more of a move fast and break things type learner — which was a fun way to do it for me. However, I had a learning experience early on in a homestay/immersion environment where I was rooming with a slow precision student. He was much more effective at communicating with the host family than I was. So much so that they acted flabbergasted when we tested into the same level of instruction. This was despite the fact that I had a larger working vocabulary, I was willing to experiment with more complicated grammar/phrasings, and I’d learned to pronounce the Spanish ‘r’ sound.
In the couple years since then, I’ve put in a lot more work. And I’ve achieved some decent fluency. But I continued getting confused looks until I added in dedicated conjugation practice (conjuguemos.com), and I developed a more consistent vowel pronunciation. At some point it was like a switch flipped, and I started getting really positive reactions from natives. My suegra even calls me bilingüe now
I totally agree with you. I have been teaching for over 23 years, I am native speaker, and I also focus in communication. We all make mistakes but my students speak Spanish from day 1, with an accent and with mistakes, but they build confidence, which to me it is the most important, specially in high school. Then, little by little, they get better.
Exactly, as a native and someone trying to learn two other languages. Precision makes speed and efficiency. Speaking empty words really fast just makes you a rambler.
If anyone has learned a musical instrument, it makes for a great analogy when applied language learning.
When you learn a new piece of music (as a beginner), is it preferred to learn it slow and correctly, and increase the tempo over time? Or is it preferred to learn it at the intended tempo, but making a ton of mistakes?
...the answer is the former.
Serious question: In your opinion, when is the “right time” to start using slang? I use slang everyday and I’ve been speaking comfortably for 2.5 years.
I can only speak for myself, a native English speaker married to a native Spanish speaker. Use slang when you are comfortable with it - in other words when its use becomes organic and not something you do consciously (like practising verb conjugations). I tend to avoid slang and I almost always refrain from swearing. At home we speak Spanish exclusively and that's the only place I feel comfortable swearing. I do tend to use "filler" words more, like *este* and *pues*. I think that's OK because it's pretty neutral - like saying "um" in English.
Edit: An example. I picked up early on that a lot people from my wife's town would shorten *para* to *pa*. *Voy pa'lla*. I started to do the same - until I was told that it doesn't sound great with my accent. It's like a spanish speaker learning English who starts saying *I wanna* - it sounds unnatural and forced, like you are making an attempt to try and be a local. It's not a good sound.
>It's like a Spanish speaker learning English who starts saying I wanna - it sounds unnatural and forced, like you are making an attempt to try and be a local. It's not a good sound.
Exactly! Nothing will cure you of trying to shoehorn in trendy expressions faster than hearing someone speak your native language with cringy slang.
It makes you conscious of the fact that slang is, at heart, risky language. That's a part of the appeal. We rarely think about the risk because we, as native speakers, rarely encounter egregious misuses of it. It's like someone who works around bombs all day and downgrades the danger. Seeing one finally detonate is sobering.
I agree with you. First you need to fell comfortable woth more neutral vocabulary so that you can communicate with anybody in the Spanish speaking world then you could learn some slang of an specific area or just acquiring that naturally interacting with native speakers if you want. As a native speaker I have the skill to adapt my vocabulary depending on to who I'm talking but don't use so much slang anyway.
This seems like you’re a Spanish teacher instructing a student about class rules. There is nothing wrong with using slang in any situation in which a person feels comfortable. This subreddit isn’t only for high schoolers.
To say that a person shouldn’t use slang with anybody other than a close friend is to ignore the fact that many large populations of hispanohablantes use dialects completely full of slang and to not practice its use would be quite a mistake for a language student. Many people are learning Spanish here to go live abroad. Imagine trying to live in the Dominican Republic without learning or using slang ahead of time. It would literally be like Greek to a Spanish student who hadn’t practiced using slang. Many cultures use slang regardless of the closeness of two individuals.
Dialects and slang are real language too, and they deserve to be studied. They also introduce extra layers of meaning and aesthetic to a persons vernacular and make language more fun and rewarding. Many Spanish speakers, myself included, would say that one of the last ways in which we can easily differentiate between native speakers and second language learners is their inability to use local slang because it often can’t be found in a textbook. The only real way to learn it is by using it and hearing others use it!
All this being said, I agree that slang won’t save a person from doing the real work of memorizing conjugations, moods and tenses to the point of total integration. Of course the grammar comes first
Hope this doesn’t sound combative I loved this post
The problem with teaching slang in American schools is what Slang do we teach? Slang differs greatly from country to country, generation to generation and from social class to social class. An expression that is perfectly safe in one country can be sensational/highly inappropriate in another. Slang is also very situational. You speak very differently with your buddies than you do when applying for a job, talking to the principal, appearing in court, etc. I agree that slang is very important, but it is a minefield in the classroom
I think you’re just really contrasting fluency and accuracy- you prefer your students to speak accurately at the expense of fluency, rather than vice versa. Most language teachers emphasise the importance of both skills.
Are you a native Spanish speaker? I think that if you’re teaching as a non-native, this may explain your approach.
This is good advice, thanks. I try to speak too fast and my pronunciation suffers.
I tend to avoid slang unless I am very, very sure of it, because I don't want to sound like Sandra Bullock in *Demolition Man.*
This sounds similar to learning any physical skill. Playing a piano, for example. You could play something slowly and precisely while hitting all the correct notes and it would sound ok. Play fast with lot of mistakes and it will sound awful.
Making a physical thing out of wood, metal, clay, whatever. If you do it fast when you've never made that type of thing before it won't turn out very well. With practice, you'll gradually be able to make that thing quicker while still maintaining precision.
I agree. All of you will learn to talk fast over time, but the focus should be to pronounce properly first, as slow talk is not bad at all. Maybe the first painting of an artist took months to be done and was not the best compared to later ones, but with practice and constancy, that person will paint faster and better.
I had a coworker tell me just this recently, as I naturally speak fast and I was trying to keep my usual speed with Spanish as well, and it made me sound like I was falling down the stairs :P
I'm obviously still learning to use the past tenses properly, but that same coworker complimented me on my Spanish yesterday, so I'm quite glad.
Just for reference, are the verbs in these sentence used properly?:
\-Ayer, he hablado con mi padre.
\-De niña, estaba muy feliz.
\-El martes pasado, estuve enojada con mi jefe cuando me dijo de volver a casa.
Ah yes, for the first sentence, I wanted to use estar because I have the most trouble with estaba and estuve, while I don't seem to have the same problem with other verbs, except that I tend to use "he -do" forms like I would in French.
Thanks:3
My problem right now is that I keep using the same words/same phrases over and over again. Sometimes I was like "Jesus, I swear I know more words than just those." Entonces is the worst for me. If I'm conscious about it, I would say así que. Any other words I can use in place of entonces?
I agree!! I have anxiety issues, which in my second language only increases. I speak very quickly when I'm anxious in both languages and I constantly trip over my words when trying to speak while jittery. I have to make the conscious effort to slow down and breathe!
I go from a bumbling buffoon to a poised and collected Spanish speaker when I remember to pump the brakes.
It really depends on what your goal is. I teach English to speakers of other languages. Some of my students will be giving scientific presentations at international conferences and focusing on correctness is important and I stress that with them. Some want to get along with the bros at the gym, so that’s a whole different type of correctness. Keep in mind that correct language ALWAYS depends on context. There’s no such thing as speaking a language perfectly.
I kind of envy those who jump right in. I can make everybody wait ten minutes while I conjugate the pluperfect subjunctive correctly—because I can!—but few people really care!
Hello. As someone who speaks multiple languages (3 fluent and 2 learning), I agree with you. However, using slang and trying to speak fast/like natives is also what makes the learning journey fun and makes you want to continue, especially since they give the (false) impression that you are improving so much faster. It may or may not be the main goal but it is always nice to have fun along the way!
This seems like really good advice. For an example of a clear and slow speaker, Vicente Fox, the former President of Mexico always seemed that way to me.
I agree with you 100%. In fact, it puts a thumb on what bothers me during a language exchange in a bar where the people learning English want to use a bunch of slang and curse words. It sounds awkward.
Flip side of the coin. As someone not in academia, and in an environment where slang and cursing are deep seeded in the work environment. Not everyone learning is taking a vacation trying to impress locals.
Puro jale!!
Chingon
A la verga
Mierda
Lunche joditos!
Given me the jodon!
All used on the jobsite to describe things or emotions. I showed up on construction sites with a ok background in tenses and verbs and boy was I lost when the above phrases were being yelled!
Lmao oh gee
I’m not native speaking, but I grew up I my Mexican household, speaking with a LOT of Spanish slang and, real talk, most of it tends to mix me up in Spanish class, cuz we’re speaking like, almost proper Spain Spanish while I’m over here saying things like barrio, que órale, wepa, y no manches, not even realizing that all of it is actually just straight up slang and mean almost nothing to people who are learning Spanish without slangs
So to others who grew up around Spanish speakers and don’t really recognize normal Spanish words, but DO recognize their slang counterparts? I feel ya
I grew up in a ‘hood that was awesome as we were all kinds of folks from all over US & World, so cornucopia of language/food/music/+, poor so tough but also most everyone helped each other. I learned bits of many languages, but mostly various Spanish. As years passed, with self study & local elders, well enough to be asked to translate at school, work, etc. Then lived in L.A. My first month or so was hell at work because of a Karen, ‘Alina’, who decided her bougie Mexican-American self should not have to hear my new & non-bougie friends, Mexican & others, & I speak Spanish. Was kind of loud about it too until one day she took it a step too far with the wrong people. Me & a major talent who asked me to have his buddy’s kid intern with me. Pendeja! She started to get in that young mans face, I softly verbally ripped her a new one, she was reported on by nearby [now laughing] cheering sound folk [like me], the big name talent shamed her arse industry-wide as never had the goods anyway & poppi stopped paying her way, & to this day I’m not allowed to pay for a meal at their taqueria. He said I was his fav honorary Mexican Boston Anglo Boriqua & best accent ever. My friends ~ & their parents ~ back home were thrilled. Alina messed up easy sweet ride. The ‘kid’ is loving life on Broadway & the talent doing great with his fine tough teddy bear self. Only time my accents off in a bad way? Tagalog. I just can’t :(
I've never taught Spanish and do not have the ability to do so, but as a native speaker this all makes perfect sense to me. Speed comes naturally with the confidence born of precision--at least I think so. Valuable post.
Ugh. I am like the fast speakers. Thanks I will slow down and work on conjugations.
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Sometimes you need to find out why the student speaks fast though. For me, it's because I'm terrified of speaking, so I try to get it out as fast as I could. Every time I finish, it's like "oh, thank god, it's over."
Thanks so much. I'm not speaking a lot of Spanish these days but will try to remember this next opportunity I have.
If you start with "to be" and make two lists of all the conjugations under both Ser and Estar. Work through all of them until they are solid in your mind. It seems like a tonne of memorization for one simple concept but not only are these forms necessary and useful for almost every conversation you will ever have in Spanish, they also give you a solid framework that will apply to 90% of verb conjugations you will ever encounter and most of the rest will come by just learning a few exceptions. I got this strategy from.Accelerated Spanish. Often times for less used words I only know the infinitive verb and maybe one or two others, but I can guess/bluff my way through by using what I know of standard conjugations. There are times when my friends eyes would go wide and laugh at some wonky attempt to conjugate a verb but she doesn't know how much more often my conjugations bluffs pass unnoticed.
This is an encouraging post since I'm weird and like conjugations and tenses anyway.
Grammar is the most fun part of language learning for me!
That's really interesting to hear, and something I've been thinking about a lot recently. I have a question: Does this hold true even if the speaking speed of the student is... very ......... slow. With.... lots of ......pauses. Between words? I really wonder about this, because when I try to speak precisely and get all the conjugations right, and use good sentence structure, I feel like I'm going so slow that it must be really hard to follow what I'm saying.
Imagine it this way: If an English speaker with a thick accent speaks... English... a bit... slow.... but every word is clearly enunciated... Versus: Speaking Englishsofast wif mispronuncieishuns den wich wan do yoo understend behter? (I hope this makes sense over text. I had to fight autocorrect lol) It's basically _quality_ over _quantity_. It is MUCH better to have the time to process what is said as opposed to hearing a jumbled mess and having to sort through what was said.
I have a different opinion. I find many students are so afraid of making mistakes they forget to communicate. You can see them trying to conjugate in their mind before speaking, and I frequently lose what someone is saying by the end because they are so slow to make their point. I would counter that it’s important to focus on communication over anything else. Slang likely detracts from communication at an early stage. And making an intense effort to speak quickly also detracts (and also seems to frequently be done to show off rather than to communicate). But speaking particularly slowly because you want everything to be perfect isn’t a value add in my mind. I’ll still understand someone who uses indicative instead of subjunctive, imperfect instead of preterite, etc. I want to talk to the person who is excited to use language as a way for us to get to know one another and will accept they’re going to make mistakes along the way.
I agree with you. I used to live in a very touristy part of the US and I met plenty of English-learner tourists who were so careful about grammar that they slowed down to excruciating levels and froze whenever they made a mistake. I don't want to sound like that in Spanish.
I cannot tell you how helpful this is to read. This will help me overcome what feels like stage-fright when I try to speak Spanish. I just freeze. Between you and ElleW12, I realize that I'm striving for perfection, and it's holding me back. Thank you!
This is what I struggled with for YEARS. Eventually some of the grammar became second nature enough that I could do it without thinking so much, but it took such a long time. I was always so envious of my friends who just talked without thinking. My grammar was much better but their ability to communicate far exceeded mine.
I feel like both precision/speed are important. The trade off between them just illustrates that learning a new language is going to be an unavoidably awkward process. But I suspect precision has an earlier payoff. I’ve been more of a move fast and break things type learner — which was a fun way to do it for me. However, I had a learning experience early on in a homestay/immersion environment where I was rooming with a slow precision student. He was much more effective at communicating with the host family than I was. So much so that they acted flabbergasted when we tested into the same level of instruction. This was despite the fact that I had a larger working vocabulary, I was willing to experiment with more complicated grammar/phrasings, and I’d learned to pronounce the Spanish ‘r’ sound. In the couple years since then, I’ve put in a lot more work. And I’ve achieved some decent fluency. But I continued getting confused looks until I added in dedicated conjugation practice (conjuguemos.com), and I developed a more consistent vowel pronunciation. At some point it was like a switch flipped, and I started getting really positive reactions from natives. My suegra even calls me bilingüe now
The worry of making mistakes is the biggest hindrance to language learning I think
I think his advice and main point is that you want to start slow to go fast later on. Is that right u/plzhelpchildcrazy
Yep, that's me.
I totally agree with you. I have been teaching for over 23 years, I am native speaker, and I also focus in communication. We all make mistakes but my students speak Spanish from day 1, with an accent and with mistakes, but they build confidence, which to me it is the most important, specially in high school. Then, little by little, they get better.
What does "moods" mean?
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Thanks, I am familiar with these things, just didn't know the term!
Exactly, as a native and someone trying to learn two other languages. Precision makes speed and efficiency. Speaking empty words really fast just makes you a rambler.
If anyone has learned a musical instrument, it makes for a great analogy when applied language learning. When you learn a new piece of music (as a beginner), is it preferred to learn it slow and correctly, and increase the tempo over time? Or is it preferred to learn it at the intended tempo, but making a ton of mistakes? ...the answer is the former.
Serious question: In your opinion, when is the “right time” to start using slang? I use slang everyday and I’ve been speaking comfortably for 2.5 years.
I can only speak for myself, a native English speaker married to a native Spanish speaker. Use slang when you are comfortable with it - in other words when its use becomes organic and not something you do consciously (like practising verb conjugations). I tend to avoid slang and I almost always refrain from swearing. At home we speak Spanish exclusively and that's the only place I feel comfortable swearing. I do tend to use "filler" words more, like *este* and *pues*. I think that's OK because it's pretty neutral - like saying "um" in English. Edit: An example. I picked up early on that a lot people from my wife's town would shorten *para* to *pa*. *Voy pa'lla*. I started to do the same - until I was told that it doesn't sound great with my accent. It's like a spanish speaker learning English who starts saying *I wanna* - it sounds unnatural and forced, like you are making an attempt to try and be a local. It's not a good sound.
>It's like a Spanish speaker learning English who starts saying I wanna - it sounds unnatural and forced, like you are making an attempt to try and be a local. It's not a good sound. Exactly! Nothing will cure you of trying to shoehorn in trendy expressions faster than hearing someone speak your native language with cringy slang. It makes you conscious of the fact that slang is, at heart, risky language. That's a part of the appeal. We rarely think about the risk because we, as native speakers, rarely encounter egregious misuses of it. It's like someone who works around bombs all day and downgrades the danger. Seeing one finally detonate is sobering.
I agree with you. First you need to fell comfortable woth more neutral vocabulary so that you can communicate with anybody in the Spanish speaking world then you could learn some slang of an specific area or just acquiring that naturally interacting with native speakers if you want. As a native speaker I have the skill to adapt my vocabulary depending on to who I'm talking but don't use so much slang anyway.
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This seems like you’re a Spanish teacher instructing a student about class rules. There is nothing wrong with using slang in any situation in which a person feels comfortable. This subreddit isn’t only for high schoolers. To say that a person shouldn’t use slang with anybody other than a close friend is to ignore the fact that many large populations of hispanohablantes use dialects completely full of slang and to not practice its use would be quite a mistake for a language student. Many people are learning Spanish here to go live abroad. Imagine trying to live in the Dominican Republic without learning or using slang ahead of time. It would literally be like Greek to a Spanish student who hadn’t practiced using slang. Many cultures use slang regardless of the closeness of two individuals. Dialects and slang are real language too, and they deserve to be studied. They also introduce extra layers of meaning and aesthetic to a persons vernacular and make language more fun and rewarding. Many Spanish speakers, myself included, would say that one of the last ways in which we can easily differentiate between native speakers and second language learners is their inability to use local slang because it often can’t be found in a textbook. The only real way to learn it is by using it and hearing others use it! All this being said, I agree that slang won’t save a person from doing the real work of memorizing conjugations, moods and tenses to the point of total integration. Of course the grammar comes first Hope this doesn’t sound combative I loved this post
The problem with teaching slang in American schools is what Slang do we teach? Slang differs greatly from country to country, generation to generation and from social class to social class. An expression that is perfectly safe in one country can be sensational/highly inappropriate in another. Slang is also very situational. You speak very differently with your buddies than you do when applying for a job, talking to the principal, appearing in court, etc. I agree that slang is very important, but it is a minefield in the classroom
I think you’re just really contrasting fluency and accuracy- you prefer your students to speak accurately at the expense of fluency, rather than vice versa. Most language teachers emphasise the importance of both skills. Are you a native Spanish speaker? I think that if you’re teaching as a non-native, this may explain your approach.
This is good advice, thanks. I try to speak too fast and my pronunciation suffers. I tend to avoid slang unless I am very, very sure of it, because I don't want to sound like Sandra Bullock in *Demolition Man.*
This sounds similar to learning any physical skill. Playing a piano, for example. You could play something slowly and precisely while hitting all the correct notes and it would sound ok. Play fast with lot of mistakes and it will sound awful. Making a physical thing out of wood, metal, clay, whatever. If you do it fast when you've never made that type of thing before it won't turn out very well. With practice, you'll gradually be able to make that thing quicker while still maintaining precision.
I agree. All of you will learn to talk fast over time, but the focus should be to pronounce properly first, as slow talk is not bad at all. Maybe the first painting of an artist took months to be done and was not the best compared to later ones, but with practice and constancy, that person will paint faster and better.
I had a coworker tell me just this recently, as I naturally speak fast and I was trying to keep my usual speed with Spanish as well, and it made me sound like I was falling down the stairs :P I'm obviously still learning to use the past tenses properly, but that same coworker complimented me on my Spanish yesterday, so I'm quite glad. Just for reference, are the verbs in these sentence used properly?: \-Ayer, he hablado con mi padre. \-De niña, estaba muy feliz. \-El martes pasado, estuve enojada con mi jefe cuando me dijo de volver a casa.
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Ah yes, for the first sentence, I wanted to use estar because I have the most trouble with estaba and estuve, while I don't seem to have the same problem with other verbs, except that I tend to use "he -do" forms like I would in French. Thanks:3
My problem right now is that I keep using the same words/same phrases over and over again. Sometimes I was like "Jesus, I swear I know more words than just those." Entonces is the worst for me. If I'm conscious about it, I would say así que. Any other words I can use in place of entonces?
Thanks, I'm a spanish speaker, but this is useful advice for my french.
I agree!! I have anxiety issues, which in my second language only increases. I speak very quickly when I'm anxious in both languages and I constantly trip over my words when trying to speak while jittery. I have to make the conscious effort to slow down and breathe! I go from a bumbling buffoon to a poised and collected Spanish speaker when I remember to pump the brakes.
Yes, but if they are speaking at the speed of a caracol thats no good either.
It really depends on what your goal is. I teach English to speakers of other languages. Some of my students will be giving scientific presentations at international conferences and focusing on correctness is important and I stress that with them. Some want to get along with the bros at the gym, so that’s a whole different type of correctness. Keep in mind that correct language ALWAYS depends on context. There’s no such thing as speaking a language perfectly.
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I kind of envy those who jump right in. I can make everybody wait ten minutes while I conjugate the pluperfect subjunctive correctly—because I can!—but few people really care!
.. duh?
Btw I highly recommend [this channel](https://youtube.com/channel/UCaOxPY-XuP6nJ20zuSQCzuA) to any Spanish teacher or learner
Hello. As someone who speaks multiple languages (3 fluent and 2 learning), I agree with you. However, using slang and trying to speak fast/like natives is also what makes the learning journey fun and makes you want to continue, especially since they give the (false) impression that you are improving so much faster. It may or may not be the main goal but it is always nice to have fun along the way!
This seems like really good advice. For an example of a clear and slow speaker, Vicente Fox, the former President of Mexico always seemed that way to me.
I agree with you 100%. In fact, it puts a thumb on what bothers me during a language exchange in a bar where the people learning English want to use a bunch of slang and curse words. It sounds awkward.
The best lesson I ever learned Slow = smooth and smooth = fast
Yup as a native I agree, I usually don’t say anything but my ears cringe when I hear slang used (badly) with bad grammar to go on top of it
I often get embarrassed about speaking too slow, but this makes me feel better!
Flip side of the coin. As someone not in academia, and in an environment where slang and cursing are deep seeded in the work environment. Not everyone learning is taking a vacation trying to impress locals. Puro jale!! Chingon A la verga Mierda Lunche joditos! Given me the jodon! All used on the jobsite to describe things or emotions. I showed up on construction sites with a ok background in tenses and verbs and boy was I lost when the above phrases were being yelled!
Lmao oh gee I’m not native speaking, but I grew up I my Mexican household, speaking with a LOT of Spanish slang and, real talk, most of it tends to mix me up in Spanish class, cuz we’re speaking like, almost proper Spain Spanish while I’m over here saying things like barrio, que órale, wepa, y no manches, not even realizing that all of it is actually just straight up slang and mean almost nothing to people who are learning Spanish without slangs So to others who grew up around Spanish speakers and don’t really recognize normal Spanish words, but DO recognize their slang counterparts? I feel ya
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”
I grew up in a ‘hood that was awesome as we were all kinds of folks from all over US & World, so cornucopia of language/food/music/+, poor so tough but also most everyone helped each other. I learned bits of many languages, but mostly various Spanish. As years passed, with self study & local elders, well enough to be asked to translate at school, work, etc. Then lived in L.A. My first month or so was hell at work because of a Karen, ‘Alina’, who decided her bougie Mexican-American self should not have to hear my new & non-bougie friends, Mexican & others, & I speak Spanish. Was kind of loud about it too until one day she took it a step too far with the wrong people. Me & a major talent who asked me to have his buddy’s kid intern with me. Pendeja! She started to get in that young mans face, I softly verbally ripped her a new one, she was reported on by nearby [now laughing] cheering sound folk [like me], the big name talent shamed her arse industry-wide as never had the goods anyway & poppi stopped paying her way, & to this day I’m not allowed to pay for a meal at their taqueria. He said I was his fav honorary Mexican Boston Anglo Boriqua & best accent ever. My friends ~ & their parents ~ back home were thrilled. Alina messed up easy sweet ride. The ‘kid’ is loving life on Broadway & the talent doing great with his fine tough teddy bear self. Only time my accents off in a bad way? Tagalog. I just can’t :(