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Old November 21, 2017, 07:36 PM
AngelicaDeAlquezar's Avatar
AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is online now
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Mexico City
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Native Language: Mexican Spanish
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You have to take into account the nature of the words and the fact that very rarely a literal translation will give you the actual meaning of a sentence or expression.
If you're trying to learn with a dictionary, you need a very good one that will give you all the meanings of a word, just keep in mind that no dictionary will give you conjugations. For that, you'll need a conjugation manual. (My recommendation is Larousse's Conjugación Lengua Española.)

So, if you're trying to make sense of "Te extraño tanto", you'll have to know that the word "extraño", can be a conjugated verb (I miss), a noun (a stranger) or an adjective (strange/weird). So, when you check the word in a dictionary, you will find these two last meanings, but not the first one, so you'll need to learn how conjugations work. And I'm not counting the "te", which may be a confusing pronoun, as it's used in many different grammatical cases.

As for how to understand Spanish speakers, well, it's just a matter of practice and increasing your vocabulary. You may read blogs, books, magazines, etc.; listen to songs; watch videos; talk to people... It's all a matter of systematic dedication and lots of patience.
And in my experience, never expect to understand each and every word said all the time. Grasping general ideas of what is being said depends on how much you actually have learnt, so don't despair, it will come with time. That's the same about cultural features and ways in which some words or expressions may be interpreted. It's only through interacting with the native speakers that you'll learn when and how to use certain pieces of language.

My only advice is don't try to translate anything. Learn expressions in context and take them as they are (like "me llamo..." for "my name is...", which are different ways to say the same in both languages); take one piece of language at a time and practice in different sentences and situations, until you feel confident that you know its meaning and usage, then it will be easier to move on to different ones.

Don't worry, it's not easy, but never impossible.
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