Preterite,Imperfect etc. I may be in trouble.

Is it essential that I know these terms. I have to confess that I am one of the statistics. I graduated high school not knowing any of this. I also graduated without knowing my times tables, which astounds my husband. But it is true. I've had to educate myself where I needed it to work and make a living. I am wondering if this will slow my ability to learn Spanish at a competent level. I cannot learn these rules because I don't understand them. If it is really a big factor, I will learn it. Although I must say that I am feeling quite daunted with just learning the Spanish.... I don't really want to add this to my plate. But I will if you feel it will greatly increase my odds of being fluent before I turn 100 :)

Teresa, I would say my kids speak English fluently and Spanish a little less proficiently. They are 8 and 6. The 8 year old has only just started learning English grammar. They reached fluency without knowing any of these terms. Probably just like you did when you were younger. I would not get too hooked up on the terms. You do not need to learn Spanish grammatical terms but you do need to know the rules. We all learn by trying to implement patterns. If you harness the power of patterns in languages you will learn faster. For example in the past I could say I walked down the street I kissed my wife I followed the car The pattern I ------ed ------- My kids will mistakenly say I buyed a sweet should be I bought a sweet as they are following the patterns. Then you have to learn the exceptions to the rules Sal2 (Saludos) Nev

Pardon me for asking if this has already been asked before, but how did your children learn Spanish, and what ages are they? I'm interested because I would like my children to learn Spanish as well.

Y tambien, what kinds of resources were used in teaching them? I have yet to find something that seems worthy. I ordered Muzzy, and was highly disappointed.

1st I made them watch loads of Dora The Explorer. Then I bought Disney DVDs that were only in Spanish not in English. Also I bought them Dora The explorer games I also bought them a CD called doki http://www.doki.tv/ They really liked playing this game it was a worthwhile investment. They also had a Spanish lesson for say 1hr each Saturday when they were 4 and 6. There was a Spaniard that lived in our village. And finally I made them move to Mexico and enrolled them in a bilingual school where 50% lessons in Spanish 50% in English. Also for the first year I would not buy CABLE they only watched the local channels only 7 channels but then thats more than you get in the UK. They really enjoyed watching Bob Esponga y Malcolm en la media They will probably never forgive me. Regards Nev

Hola, I have a 5 year old granddaughter. I'm going to attempt to get her interested in Rocket Spanish. She loves Dora. I was thinking about getting some Spanish Dora DVDs. Because they will be totally in Spanish, do you think that a child her age will stay interested - knowing that each child is different? "Just a general question”! I have no Spanish ability as of yet. But expect to utilize Rocket Spanish to get better. I've had the urge to learn for the past 20 years but never followed through. I'm now on a mission! Hitting 50years of age, it's now or never. I went to the Doki site. It seems like a great product for youngster (and maybe me being such a novice). She won't have a lot of access at her age to native speaker but I'm attempting to remedy that. Her mother (my daughter has no interest in learning Spanish :( ). I’m planning on taking at two week immersion course in about a year somewhere in Latin America. I want to get some Spanish under my belt first. I don’t know if I will feel comfortable taking her with me. Should I be this concerned about her traveling with me? Any and all ideas for her are welcome. Previously, Antonio alerted me not to drill her as if she was in the Army – which I think is a very important statement. I want it to be fun for her. If thing go as planned she will be may Spanish partner when she is in my home :) . Thank you, Knezz

I take back my comment on the Doki site. It's not for a youngster! :oops:

Teresa [quo]*Quote:* _I cannot learn these rules because I don't understand them. _[/quo] I think that I undersand what you mean. I'm having a lot of problems with the grammar rules myself. I don't fremember learning all the rules in my native (English) language even though I know how to use them. If that makes any sense. It's just instinctive. Something that I am finding helpful is this book: *English Grammar for Students of Spanish * by Emily Spinelli ISBN 0-934034-33-8 If I knew from who and where I got this suggestion, I would give credit but I don't remember that either :oops:

Thank you, I will look into it.

de nada

[quo]*Quote:* Teresa Quote: I cannot learn these rules because I don't understand them. [/quo] Not only do I not understand them, I refuse to waste my time on it. I speak 2 languages fluently and3 languages satisfactory to all who listen to me . I was the top smooth-talker in school ( in my native language ), and didn't know ( still don't ) any rule. But I agree, that I am a little j.....on those who know. Just keep on listening and talking, you will get there before you are 100.

message for Knezz\n\nhave a look here.\nthey are snippets from one of my emails\nEmail address is [redacted]\n\n(http://www.spanish.cl)\n our classes are with a maximum of 4 students \n...........\nOur teachers are native speakers with University degrees t..............\n\nWe have flexible Spanish courses of 10, 20, 25 and 50 hours in ..bla bla..then continue where you left off when you come back to Santiago.\n\nOur Spanish Course Fees are as follows:\n\n- 10 hours: US$135\n- 20 hours: US$240\n- 25 hours: US$290\n- 50 hours: US$580\n\nThis is payable in US dollars, NZ dollars or Chilean Pesos.\n\nWe also have homestays available where you can live and experience life with a Chilean family. This has a cost of US$120 per week per person and includes breakfast and another meal.\n\nThere is no enrolment fee though a US$100 reservation deposit in advance is required if you \n\nTake a look at some of our students' original comments (in their own handwriting):\nhttp://www.spanish.cl/studentcomments.htm\n\nIf you have any further questions, ..........\n\n\nConstanza Bauer Campos\nSpanish Coordinator\nWOODWARD INSTITUTE\nAvda. Apoquindo 4248, Las Condes\n(56-2)2633847\nhttp://www.woodward.cl