It's been kind of chilly here. I know this is the Oregon weather, but it's usually supposed to be warm by this time. Summer in Portland is pretty nice but short, so I hope it'll get better soon, otherwise, I can't enjoy drinking beer outside!
Anyway, I went to my first Spanish class this evening. It's a very beginner's class, so we started with counting numbers from one (uno) to twenty (veinte) then learned vowel sounds, greeting phrases, articles ('the' in English), and read some skits out loud. I found that Spanish vowel sounds are pretty much similar to Japanese, like 'A' is pronounced like あ, and it doesn't change like English. I guess it must be a bit harder for English speakers because English vowel sounds are completely different. 'A' has several different pronunciations depending on the following sounds, like 'a' in 'taste' isn't pronounced 'a' but 'ei,' for example.
Hmmm, maybe I'll improve my Spanish faster than my English when it comes to pronunciation, who knows!
The class is small enough for language class, I guess. There are eleven students: all Americans except one Turkish girl and me.
One student asked the instructor how she could know which nouns were feminine or masculine when she didn't have a dictionary with her. The instructor told us that there were no exact rules for that, so you just kinda have to learn word by word. She didn't seem to be satisfied with the instructor's answer, but I totally understand what the instructor meant. There should be grammatical rules and proper explanation, but learning language also requires continuous practice. You should use it as much as possible in order to acquire a sense of the language. The indefinite/definite article in English, for instance, is one of the things I still have trouble with because we don't have it in Japanese. Countable and uncountable nouns are also hard. But I just try to learn it from listening and reading and apply it into my writing and speaking, or it's called imitation if you will. I'm always like, "I can't explain why I need to put 'the' in this sentence, but it just sounds right for me." Of course learning grammar is very important, but I've also learned a lot of English from the sounds. That's how babies learn their mother tongues, right?
I hope I'll understand Spanish nouns by the end of this term!
Hasta luego! Chao
Anyway, I went to my first Spanish class this evening. It's a very beginner's class, so we started with counting numbers from one (uno) to twenty (veinte) then learned vowel sounds, greeting phrases, articles ('the' in English), and read some skits out loud. I found that Spanish vowel sounds are pretty much similar to Japanese, like 'A' is pronounced like あ, and it doesn't change like English. I guess it must be a bit harder for English speakers because English vowel sounds are completely different. 'A' has several different pronunciations depending on the following sounds, like 'a' in 'taste' isn't pronounced 'a' but 'ei,' for example.
Hmmm, maybe I'll improve my Spanish faster than my English when it comes to pronunciation, who knows!
The class is small enough for language class, I guess. There are eleven students: all Americans except one Turkish girl and me.
One student asked the instructor how she could know which nouns were feminine or masculine when she didn't have a dictionary with her. The instructor told us that there were no exact rules for that, so you just kinda have to learn word by word. She didn't seem to be satisfied with the instructor's answer, but I totally understand what the instructor meant. There should be grammatical rules and proper explanation, but learning language also requires continuous practice. You should use it as much as possible in order to acquire a sense of the language. The indefinite/definite article in English, for instance, is one of the things I still have trouble with because we don't have it in Japanese. Countable and uncountable nouns are also hard. But I just try to learn it from listening and reading and apply it into my writing and speaking, or it's called imitation if you will. I'm always like, "I can't explain why I need to put 'the' in this sentence, but it just sounds right for me." Of course learning grammar is very important, but I've also learned a lot of English from the sounds. That's how babies learn their mother tongues, right?
I hope I'll understand Spanish nouns by the end of this term!
Hasta luego! Chao
I had learned Spanish more than 10 years ago. (I've already forgotten many words and rules, though. haha!) Spanish pronunciation is easier for Japanese. Of course, technically it's different from Japanese sounds, but very similar.
Learning language is very exciting experience, I think! Whenever we learn new language, we learn a culture which the language is used in, too. That is so interesting thing, and also great opportunity to encounter and to know new things.
Enjoy learning Spanish and Spanish culture!
(Please forgive my mistakes in my comment!)
Thanks for your comment. You are right. Learning culture along with language is really important and fun. Think about that you speak Spanish (or whatever foreign languages) with not Japanese but people from Spanish culture. If you don't know their culture, it might cause some troubles between the person and you because of misunderstanding. But if you do, it makes a bit easier to communicate with them.
I'll enjoy my Spanish class! (It's another important thing for learning language, huh?)