Listening comprehension not improving

[SteveB]

I have been learning Spanish for a while now and i really enjoy it. I try to use many different methods to saturate my life with it as much as i can as i don't live in a Spanish speaking country (London)
My speaking has improved very well, i know a fair bit of vocabulary to express myself and ask questions, i think this is due to Michel Thomas and i have a regular language exchange via skype.
My writing and reading is better than it was due to the duolingo app, bi-lingual books and reading things online.
But.......my listening comprehension is terrible! It has improved slightly from when i started but at times i cant understand anything! I use a really helpful podcast called 'Notes in Spanish' which has helped slightly. Villa was very helpful recommending telenovelas to watch but when i watch them i often don't even understand the context.
I have a few Spanish language movies which i have watched with the subtitles on and still i don't understand them, either they aren't clear or use words i have never heard of.
I have had a few embarrassing moments when i have had to speak to someone only to speak very well but not understand a word of the reply

Anyone have any experience with this? Any tips? Its really starting to ruin my learning experience and makes me want to give up at times

HELP!

[poli]

When you use subtitles, do you use English subtitles or Spanish subtitles? I suggest Spanish subtitles (usually prepared for people who are hearing impaired) for Spanish movies. Using this method can be a great help. Watch them a little at a time, and repeat. This may be boring, but if you commit to it, it may improve your pronunciation and understanding.

[SteveB]

Thanks Poli, i have actually tried both. First i tried with no subtitles to see how much i understood. As i didnt hardly get anything i put on the spanish subtitles and found it a bit easier but still very fast and unclear. Soooo i ended up putting the english subtitles on and found that a lot didnt match. For example, subtitles said 'i have' and i didnt hear anything resembling anything close to any form of tener or haber.
Im going to keep going over and over them, maybe half hour at a time

[Villa]

Steve, I have gone through everything you have described
with 4 languages. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French.
Steve, learning a second language is a process. Your goal is to learn
Spanish and to be able to learn you have to enjoy the process of
learning. If you enjoy the process you'll reach the goal of
learning Spanish. I watch 4 hours of Spanish TV at least 5 times a week.
Any where I go in my car I listen to Spanish and Italian audio CDs.
Your mind is picking Spanish up subconsciously even though you
don't know it when you're listening to it. I read books in Spanish and
Italian out load. That's speaking. Try it. If you enjoy all the things you
have to do to learn Spanish you'll be ok. The process of learning
Spanish is more importante than the goal of learning Spanish.
Of course in my case I live with a native Spanish speaker and we
speak only Spanish together. No English.

[SteveB]

Sí Villa, tienes razon. I remember we spoke before. I actually really enjoy learning spanish and i think i told you that i actually want to learn portuguese after as i have enjoyed learning spanish so much. As im writing this im listening to spanish radio waiting for the Real Madrid v Bayern game and i want to listen to it in spanish. I think the comprehension is now holding me back quite a bit. I cant seem to get the knack of it.
But thanks for your reply,your right, you must enjoy what your learning to make learning easier.

[Villa]

Que bien Steve que escuchas el español mientras estas en el computer.
Yo hago lo mismo. Somos iguales tu y yo. Y es verdad habiamos
hablando de estas cosas antes. De todas maneras, poco a poco se va lejos.
Get music in Spanish with the lyrics. Puedes ver las letras/
lyrics a casi todas las canciones en español por el internet.
Diviertate amigo mio mientras aprendas el español.
You're going to be ok.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Steve: Choose something that you like much and then try finding material on that topic. You will get the essential part of the vocabulary and it doesn't matter if you can't understand each and every word; just focus on general ideas. Little by little you will understand more and more.

[SteveB]

@Villa , gracias amigo para tus palabras. Escucho a reggaeton a veces jaja yo sé , no es la mejor tipo de cancion para aprender. I listen to other types also with the lyrics. I either get funny looks because im talking to myself in spanish whilst sitting in traffic or im singing along to Jay Alvarez! jaja

@Angelica, thanks for your input. I listen to the radio when football is on but i do find that on radio shows tend to speak extremely fast. I also try and find workout videos on youtube in spanish. I bought Celda 211 (the film) as i work in a prison i thought this would interest me, it does but the speech is very unclear because of the accents.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Steve: If you like football, try listening to the comments after the game, or the analyses in sports programs. Comentators tend to speak less fast, because it's not the action happening, and producers also insert written summaries each time they're talking about a new subject. There are many sports programs, and some are more playful and relaxed than others; my suggestion is that you start with the more serious ones, because presentators tend to speak more clearly and use less colloquialisms.

I think your initiative to search for youtube videos on exercising will be useful, because you will relate vocabulary with actions, and repetition will make you more familiar with the sounds; don't get anxious if there are constructions you can't follow right away, try focusing on following what you already know.

If you didn't succeed with a program or a movie, don't worry; try again after a certain amount of time. You'll see you understand more.

Also, try improving your own pronunciation. When I was learning English and I couldn't really understand, it was because I expected English to sound a little more like Spanish, and I pronounced vowels and consonants pretty much as I did in Spanish. If you like songs in Spanish, try not only singing, but also reciting the lyrics; or if you can have a transcript of the things you're hearing, repeat them (over and over) the way they're pronounced, so you can get flowing both, what you hear and what you can say.