Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno
Of course, but how do you do that if you do not know the words in English and do not translate?
What was first the chicken or the egg? 
Assuming you are not 5 years old and do not read or write... |
I DO think he was contemplating the wrong thread.
Hernan - that is EXACTLY what I want to do. I WANT to learn like a toddler learns to speak his native language ... by seeing things and understanding words for their meaning, without using another language to "define". Starting with the most basic words, of course...... Obviously, I need to translate sometimes, but with the basic words (nouns that represent objects, action verbs, etc.), I want to have a basic mental image of what it means when I see/hear/use the word.
"Manzana" MEANS something to me ... it does not speak the word "apple" in my brain. When I see/hear/think/use the word "manzana", I see a red fruit that I enjoy eating (and using to make pies). I don't go back to the English. I want to have a comprehensive feel for at least these basic nouns and verbs that I will NOT need to translate.
It's like basic definitions in mathematics. There are certain words that you don't define (point, line, plane), and you use these terms to build definitions for all of the other terms. I want to have a basic vocabulary in Spanish that I do NOT translate into English. These words will then help me define other Spanish words......