During the past 7 months, I´ve been living in Peru with my boyfriend. I´m no longer formally studying Spanish because it´s not necessary. After living here, I have a much easier time listening to people, understanding colloquial words and phrases, watching movies, understanding songs, etc. I still don´t speak enough but I have trouble doing that in my native language too.
While I´ve been here, I´ve visited different places, read books in Spanish (most by Peruvian authors – these books actually do help me with understanding Peruvian slang and vocabulary in general), I´ve read a book called The Peru Reader as well to learn more about the country (ok, well I´ve read most of it. The plan is to finish it in the near future).
I still have to ask some people to please slow down or explain something more clearly when they talk because it seems I´ve had to get used to each person´s voice individually. I can understand 99.9% of what my boyfriend says whether it´s said quickly, slowly, loudly, quietly – just because I´m used to him.
I speak with relative ease in Spanish and my boyfriend has commented that ¨I can tell it´s way easier for you to speak in Spanish than it is for me to speak in English – you speak at a normal pace with few errors. You can say what you want.¨
Right now I´m focusing on trying to help him learn more English because now the plan is for him to try to find work in Canada with my help. He´s right though about our skills – I would say my Spanish is at ¨basic fluency¨ and his English is intermediate. Well, everything´s a process.
I´m studying Italian with Barron´s complete Italian Grammar Review and I also got a free kindle book from amazon in Itailan - it´s supposed to be funny so hopefully I´ll learn quite a bit and enjoy the story as well. I think I´ll alternate with grammar books and stories. What I love about the PC Kindle app is that I can easily highlight the word and see the definition and if I want, I can make a note for any word or phrase I want. I think it´s a great way to learn. This is how I´m helping José learn more English - and luckily for him, there are way way more funny English books available than Italian books in general.
While I´ve been here, I´ve visited different places, read books in Spanish (most by Peruvian authors – these books actually do help me with understanding Peruvian slang and vocabulary in general), I´ve read a book called The Peru Reader as well to learn more about the country (ok, well I´ve read most of it. The plan is to finish it in the near future).
I still have to ask some people to please slow down or explain something more clearly when they talk because it seems I´ve had to get used to each person´s voice individually. I can understand 99.9% of what my boyfriend says whether it´s said quickly, slowly, loudly, quietly – just because I´m used to him.
I speak with relative ease in Spanish and my boyfriend has commented that ¨I can tell it´s way easier for you to speak in Spanish than it is for me to speak in English – you speak at a normal pace with few errors. You can say what you want.¨
Right now I´m focusing on trying to help him learn more English because now the plan is for him to try to find work in Canada with my help. He´s right though about our skills – I would say my Spanish is at ¨basic fluency¨ and his English is intermediate. Well, everything´s a process.
I´m studying Italian with Barron´s complete Italian Grammar Review and I also got a free kindle book from amazon in Itailan - it´s supposed to be funny so hopefully I´ll learn quite a bit and enjoy the story as well. I think I´ll alternate with grammar books and stories. What I love about the PC Kindle app is that I can easily highlight the word and see the definition and if I want, I can make a note for any word or phrase I want. I think it´s a great way to learn. This is how I´m helping José learn more English - and luckily for him, there are way way more funny English books available than Italian books in general.
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