-er,-ir,-ar,esta and soy :s

Hola :) I am a real newbie to this...and after a trip to Mexico last year (btw...i am one of those stupid tourists who have been answering "estoy muy caliente" to the question "how do u feel",so i got a good laugh when i read that part of the beginners book!) i totally fell in love with the spanish language! I love how it sounds like thay are singing when thay speak! My language is Norwegian and that just sounds like a boring professor is giving a speach! But i am doing well and learning a lot...i thaught! I just cannot get the grammar correct!! I have been taking a lot of tests online and my best score is 54%!! I keep reading and repeating the chapters about -ir,-ar,-er and esta,ser etc. It seems so easy and i totally understand when i read it, but as soon as i have to make a sentence myself or take a test, i fail! So what i really hope to hear is that those grammar rules isnt all that important!! LOL But really...is there only memorizing(or how ever that word is spelled) or is there some sort of "secret" rule to remember this by, i just dont know about???? Please tell me that there is a pill i can take and then this all will make sense in the morning :p But on the other hand, i have only reached chapter 2 on the first audio part and chapter 4 in the manual and i already feel like i could express what i want or/and need in a spanish speaking country ;) I am a mastermind of remembering words and got a 100%score on a vocabulary test with 150 words in spanish, but its those small words (a,el,son,las etc) that just wont stick to my memory!...i bet there is too much wisdom in there... :P:P:P But besides the grammar trouble, i do get to improve my english while studing spanish...in english, so thats great news! And when it comes to RL, gooood job! I have been looking around and ordering many "learn spanish" programs, but none of them can even compare to RL!!! Thanks Mauricio and Amy for this wonderful opertunity to learn spanish in a fun way :)

Hola Julie! Bienvenidos al foro. Unfortunately, grammer seems to be very important with learning spanish. I agree it is totally confusing, but keep at it and it will sink in. I have trouble with those same verbs you do and am slowly, slowly getting it. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Along with this course, there are free podcasts called "coffee break Spanish" available free from itunes, they start with the basics and are extremely helpful.