Video není dostupné.
Omlouváme se.
5 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now If You Have Learned Spanish
Vložit
- čas přidán 4. 05. 2024
- In this video, I discuss 5 things that you should be doing if you are an intermediate or advanced Spanish learner/speaker. Try them out!
If you're interested in learning Spanish, check out my book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Mike-Bens-Guid...
En este video, analizo 5 cosas que deberías hacer si eres un estudiante/hablante de español de nivel intermedio o avanzado. ¡Pruébalos!
Si estás interesado en aprender español, consulta mi libro en Amazon: www.amazon.com/Mike-Bens-Guid...
I translate at church and when I work at the Food Pantry. I read the Bible in Spanish and French. I write my recipes in Spanish. I pay my bills in Spanish and when it says, "press 1 for English", I press the one for Spanish. That one is FUN! LOL......
I love reading the Bible in Spanish!
Thissssss! I can’t believe I forgot to say the paying bills part. I do that also lol
All good points. I am a perpetual beginner in spanish for many years, but i finally decided that i have to go to Mexico this year so now it's a mad dash to learn more. Started doing iTalki twice a week, trying to read more in Spanish, watch vids and listen to speech, looking things up more. Just last week i tried speaking with contractors redoing our bathroom floor, they were Mexican and started laughing and apologized when they realized i understand some of the curse words they used. And what do you know, two have hard connections to Mexico City where i want to go and were telling about things to do... Some of the people commenting here with how they are shy need to be reminded that vast majority of spanish speaking people will adore you just for trying, even if you make mistakes and can't conjugate. Show humility and interest and they will cherish every word you say.
Agreed 100%, once your Spanish is somewhat decent, the reactions will almost always be positive. Glad to know that you are taking your studies more seriously and you will see the fruits of your labor! Te lo prometo!
A great tip for incorporating Spanish into your day to day life is to listen to Spanish audio lessons while you commute, cook, clean, hike etc. It's a great way to make use of time that would otherwise be lost.
Agreed 100%, super helpful!
Do it all the time, it's a good tip
Hi Ben! So I love the shock value of talking with someone at Walmart, or wherever in Spanish. I went back to the university in my 40's to get a spanish degree. I love explaining that Im not a native speaker, ( I'm African american)I just love the language and travel. Im getting a little rusty, so I definitely need to practice more and get more exposure, Im high intermediate but want to always improve. Its amazing the free food I get at places for speaking spanish, and the friends you make.Also Ive gone on missions trips in Guate, Mexico, Costa Rica, La Republica Dominicana, and Honduras and Brazil ( Im learning Portuguese also on my own). I feel like a better global citizen.
I feel the same way, it’s very empowering and whether we admit it or not it sets us apart from the average person. My perspective has changed so much from learning this beautiful language. Que sigamos aprendiendo! I also love when they ask where I’m from and I simply say here. They usually just pause out of confusion lol
You definitely should be occasionally perusing "Mike Ben's Guide to Learning Spanish"..... my hardback stays within reach of my laptop, where i sit on my sofa and either study or watch native spanish youtubers almost every night.... last month i just passed 1 year of spanish learning and tested as B1.... i spend between 2 & 5 hours on italki every week with tutors and/or conversation partners from Mexico. Great video Mike!!!!
Wow thanks! I'm glad it helps and your routine is motivation for a lot of people. That's what it takes, and I bet it is all just fun for you! Que sigas aprendiendo!
I just recently bought the book and I love it. I'm actually about to use it after this video :)
Hopefully you bought the hardback, it is such a substantial book to hold that it is very motivating (at least for me).
My phone has been in Spanish for two years! Remember in Disney World, I asked someone to take a picture for my family with my phone. After taking the picture, he said “are you Latino?” Then I realized it’s because of the language setting in my phone. (I’m Chinese!)
Lol it confuses people! This has happened to me before as well, it’s always a great conversation starter!
Even though I am still in the "learning" phase rather than "learned", I find myself doing a few of these things. I've forced myself to talk to strangers, even if it's replying to someone waiting on my table. If asked what my hobbies are, I now list learning Spanish as a part of my daily hobbies.
Eso! It really makes a difference hermano
I started speaking spanish when I was seventeen listening to mexican music and writing down what the songs was talking about in spanish. Empecé a hablar español cuando tenía diecisiete años escuchando música mexicana y escribiendo de qué hablaban las canciones en español.
This is a great strategy. I did this a lot with Ozuna and Sech's music. It helped a lot!
This something that I've thought about way more often than I've actually done it. Gonna start doing this more often.
Eso!
I thought I was talking to a telemarketer and I was so rude! It was a professor calling to tell me I’d been accepted into grad school. I was MORTIFIED 😩
Edit: One thing I think Spanish learners should be doing is continuing with self talk in Spanish. It reveals gaps in your vocabulary that you can target.
Agreed and that is one of the downsides to point one lol. Hay que tener mucho cuidado con eso
Mr. Ben back again with another banger!
Thanks, which one of my students is this?
Brilliant!!!!
Gracias!
All very good points, Mike. Gracias!!
Thank you!
Great video and good advice as always. 👍
Thank you & glad it was helpful!
Buenos consejor. Gracias!
Es un placer!
liking the consistency!!
Bob! Mil gracias hermano! Que estés muy bien!
Thanks Mike
Excellent work!…How many hours a week would you say that you put into learning Spanish? I guess that it has varied a lot since you started.
I'm glad this helps!
Such a great video!
Gracias hermano!
I feel like this video was directed towards me. I went abroad to learn Spanish, and I consider myself to be B2-C1 level now in Spanish and yet I still feel like I have difficulties in terms of maintaining the language and I can slowly feel myself starting to lose the language because I don’t practice it due to a busy life, however I know I cannot make excuses. I need to force myself to write and read in Spanish every day as well as talk to people on a weekly basis to better that fluency flow like you said. The issue that I have with myself is that when I go abroad for example, I can talk to the people there easily because Spanish is the primary language. But as a black man here in America, it is very difficult for me to speak to people because I feel kind of disrespectful because English is our primary language so if I speak Spanish to them, I feel like I’m disrespecting them in the sense that I am making fun of their abilities to speak English, so I will have to try what you suggested in asking them where they are from first or making small talk or telling them that I went and lived abroad in order to become fluent in Spanish and subliminally tell them that I speak there language so that we can converse. Thank you for the videos Mike, you always keep it real and I always appreciate your insight 💯
I understand your point about not wanting to disrespect people. I simply don’t assume they speak it until I hear them speaking Spanish. Once I hear it, I go for it. You’d be shocked at how great the responses are. Que sigas mejorando hermano!
gracias,,, muy buen consijos Espero que te sientas bien pronto
Muchas gracias como siempre Frances! Que todo esté bien contigo también!
@@MikeBen si todo bien
These are great tips! I’m bilingual but have only just started learning Spanish. This video really helped by highlighting some of what I did intuitively in my second language but can now replicate along the way w/Spanish. + will definitely use the telemarketing trick. 👌😄
Glad it was helpful! Please let me know if you notice a decrease in calls as well lol
Great video. Right now i use spanish as an "excuse" to visit other countries and to learn about other cultures. We are pretty closed minded in the US about the usefulness of learning another language. I often get the question why? Anyway i love the journey spanish is taking me on even though it is hard work right now. I also think its our birthright as humans to be bilingual. Keep up the good work.
That love is going to keep you going and I hope you have safe, fun, and memorable travels through this journey as well!
I am buying your book to support your journey.
Your videos are extremely informative and most of all realistic, with a busy life and to take time, effort, resources in acquiring a language.
Unlike other people who pretend to reach fluency in record time without putting work in, nor ever proving it.
Wow I really appreciate that, comments like this seriously keep me motivated to upload videos !
@@MikeBen Keep up with the great work.
Yes, yes! Your videos are helpful Mike! I am still an advanced beginner/low intermediate learner and force myself to speak to people in stores and at work. It's amazing how encouraging people are. My husband and I are planning a trip to Mexico this autumn and I am both nervous and excited. It is really giving me the push to learn more before then. Good luck with your Masters program Mike! Barbara
Thank you Barbara and that is the key. People are nicer than what some people give them credit for! Que sigas aprendiendo y que les vaya muy bien en Mexico!
@@MikeBen Gracias amigo!
Always great content and guidance Mike. I’m working hard to reach the level where I can start incorporating these tips.
I REALLY NEED THIS TYPE OF EMERSION 💯💯💯
Speak to people and see how it goes!
Checking in from McDonough. I hear Spanish about everyday here!
I hear the same whenever I’m out there! Hay que abrir la boca y conocer a la gente pues!
You forgot to mention another must-do thing: reading spanish authors (specially great literature, like the one from Ruíz Zafón, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, Javier Castillo, Isabel Allende, Miguel de Cervantes, Leopoldo Alas Clarín, etc). Then pick a novel from them and read it along with its official english translation, and compare them. You'll draw interesting insights on how translators decided to translate it the way they did it, and you'll also see that you'll disagree with many of their translations, and reflect on why you disagree, which will radically change the way you think about the languages (both enligh and spanish). It's a wonderful pleasure that monolinguals are unable to experience :)
Eso! Such a pleasurable experience yet so underrated, I legit have 15 books to read like that this summer. Not sure if I can get through them all but that’s the plan!
Thanks Mike: Take the summer to go to Panama and sent us videos 😂
Lol, Juan I will be in Panama once my doctor approves me, hopefully next month. I'm thinking PR or DR soon also. Costa Rica also and back to Peru soon. I'm ready to get traveling! I just need to get back to 100% health wise. I'll keep you all updated!
7:29 ‐ That is SUPER crazy!
I am not quick to say this, but they legit feel like family now.
I need to do this! Unfortunately we don’t have that many hispanohablantes around here.
Dude, I’d actually enjoy this haha
You are 1000% right Mike on telemarketers part. When I get phone calls from telemarkers or some I don’t wanna talk to instead of me getting upset. I just speak to them in Spanish and after a while of I do notice I get less and less calls. Great point you made 😎😎😎
lol, it’s a great way to beat them at their game
@@MikeBen Fatcs 💯💯💯
As a Christian your suggestion to answer telemarketing calls in Spanish is great for me but my husband out did us by speaking in tongues to the telemarketer and now he gets calls in some strange Asian language
Lol that will do it!
Great video.. keep it up! Where’d you go in NC?
Thanks! I'll be in Charlotte, Raleigh and in a small town near Winston-Salem also. It will be a full weekend!
@@MikeBen have fun!
@@ChrissieA33 Gracias!
Great tips Mike. I’m still having trouble understanding the fast pace of the language and I’ve been doing this for years. No matter how much input or conversations I still can’t pick it up any tips
I had this issue. Once I started reading and building my vocabulary, it helped. Also, I'd pick out what I understood and left the rest instead of getting stuck on trying to figure it all out. I'll even ask them to repeat what they said, if I can - that really helped train my ear. I'm working on understanding males now because their voice is sometimes hard for me, but getting better.
Cindy’s tip is perfect for this problem
@@cindys2995 thanks. Sometimes when I ask them to repeat a few times I get that “frustration”. I know a lot of words but connected fast with the speech it’s like “Que dijiste” lol. I was in DR and was talking to people and wondering why they were saying “tambien” because it didn’t go with our convo. It was “está bien” I figured out after a day 🤣🤣. Caribbeans speak really fast. Thanks for the tips
@@MikeBen thanks Mike
lol not going to lie, quite the opposite for me. After awhile people knew I spoke Spanish “intermediate”. I think what’s cool is that I can have convos but in the back of my mind I’m not a translator, it’s only for casual convos 😅. Double edged sword for sure aha
I definitely understand that perspective as well. Sometimes you are like "ya, dejen de llamarme!" jaja
Hey Mike, I know it sounds like you're not traveling as much now. But from your experience, what would be your top 3-4 spanish-speaking countries you would recommend someone to go to?
I can't remember if you've talked about this in a previous video or not.
Thanks man and have a great weekend.
I haven’t recommended any and I’ve only traveled to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Peru. I’d recommend them all but it all depends on what your personal tastes are. As time moves on I’m seemingly enjoying more tropical/Caribbean places over anything else so I really want to go to DR, PR, Cuba, Costa Rica and Panama. It all just depends. I can recommend the four that I’ve visited though, just be safe. Try to meet someone trustworthy from there before hand and that will enhance the experience tremendously!
Hey mike I think i've binge watch a bunch of your videos the past two days. How many total listening hours have you done in spanish and how many listening hours did it take you to feel fluent. Thanks
I haven't quantified it tbh. I couldn't even try to if I wanted to. Overall study hours I could tell you. Listening, I honestly don't know because a lot was passive.
@@MikeBen Okay how many was the overall study hours then? Thanks in advance
I see you’re a teacher. Have you ever taught in Spanish? I’m moving to Colombia to teach.
Once my home is paid off in 2 years I plan on taking years off from teaching here to do that. Not sure the country yet. I’d like to do university level though. Can you send me an email letting me know how you got your job if you have the time:
Mikespanish404@gmail.com
Ben my sister lives in douglassville Georgia when I come to visit her I hope to meet you 💯🫡
Send me an email and we can make it happen. I'm not super close but not super far either. 35 - 40 mins without traffic.
Sorry for errors in text.
No problem 🙏🏾
Hi Mike, random but recently i went to a spanish speaking country after spending 3 years learning. Id say im like a high intermediate level. I could speak with people but i seemed to have a bit of hesitance or shyness to use the language sometimes even though when i did it was fine, they would speak faster than anything id hear on netflix or tv and sometimes use different words so sometimes there was a slight time delay in my comprehension and response, could you relate to this at all when you first went to a spanish speaking country?
This happened to me in Colombia. I'd recommend getting out into the world locally and using Spanish much more. From there you will start training your ear to natural Spanish. Many of the tips I mentioned here can help with that as well. That did happen to me on my first trip to Colombia for sure. In Peru and here in the states it didn't and doesn't happen much anymore fortunately.
@@MikeBen thanks, yes it was definitely a new experience ill be more prepared next time
Hi Mike, I wanted to ask do you read books (fiction and non-fiction) in Spanish? I'm curious to know how long it took you to do this, if you do read books
Yes I read books often in Spanish. Currently I alternate, I read a book in Spanish, then English, then Spanish. I read both fiction and non-fiction but my favorite genres in both languages are historical texts and fiction but with moral lessons. I'll post some of the books that I'm reading on my community tab.
@@MikeBennice man! Thanks for replying
Bro I go to Gwinnett just to run into Latin people 😂😂
You already know lol, Doraville, Norcross, and near the Mall of Georgia. Little Latin America, great opportunities to practice!
I gave up learning Mike. I’m sorry I let you down… Fuck it, I do CZcams now. 😂😂
😂😂😂You've got a lot going on with your card playing and with your channel. Congrats! It's never too late to pick it back up either lol
@@MikeBen thanks brother. I’m still subscribed of course! Always! lol I’ll make you proud one day 😂🫡
@@ValdezPoker 😂😂😂
@mikeben I wanted to know if you got my email
I haven't checked it in a while. I plan on checking today after I finish writing a paper. I will respond. Lo siento