Tenses, Direct and Indirect Objects, Articles, Oh My!

[AutumnBreeze]

Hey ya'll! I've been trying to get on here more, but if any of you have a toddler in the house you must know how difficult it is to focus on many of the things that you want .

Anyway I'm interested in your accounts of how you tackled each part of grammar when you first started learning Spanish. I've been using the ¡Exacto! grammar book in conjunction with some of my other learning material. I love the book but am overwhelmed at times with how to put everything together.

I'm good with conjugation in the present tense but I'm kind of struggling with getting the other tenses down. Not the conjugating per se but more so when to use what with what and where. Then the articles, objects, etc. Sometimes I have trouble with organizing how to best approach learning something .

I've neglected my studies the last couple weeks as so much has been going on, and that's not helping.

Hmm, I'm thinking this does not make much sense lol and my kiddo is starting to get really ticked off that I'm on the computer. Will try and get back later .

[Tomisimo]

I understand you completely. When I started learning Spanish, I thought they were just teaching me disparate, unrelated things-- verb conjugations, pronouns, the subjunctive, etc-- and the hard part is putting it all together and speaking it.

Really the only advice I have is to just have patience. Keep on learning all the different parts of the language, and as you learn it will all slowly come together. One by one, all the different things will "click" and they will make sense. So just keep at it, and you'll see that as time passes you will have an increasingly better grasp of the whole picture.

[AutumnBreeze]

Thanks Tomisimo . I think maybe I just needed to hear someone else who can relate to help me regain my perspective .

Estudié para cinco horas anoche. Estoy tomando notas bueno penso.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by AutumnBreeze

Estudié para cinco horas anoche. Estoy tomando notas buenas, creo/pienso.

The word for isn't needed in that expression.
Keep up the good work, but don't get burned out. Five hours is a lot of studying!

[Fazor]

Our school started offering foreign language classes in seventh grade, and I chose Spanish. Our 7th and 8th grade Spanish was actually just the first-year (Freshman) Spanish class from high-school spread out over two years, so you could learn at a slower pace.

Anyway, I stuck with it all through high school, giving me 6 years of instruction. Then in college, after going to an art school for a year, I transferred back to a traditional school. There, I needed some language classes for my major, so I went back with Spanish. I think I had about two or three more classes in college.

Yet I never really got tenses down. Now, five or so years after all that, I decided I wanted to try again. This time around it all seems to be coming easier to me. I don't know if it's because it's, well, the second time around . . . or if it's because this time I'm learning as a hobby rather than something I have to do.

Now, that's not to say I'm the master conjugator, or that I'm great with the other parts of the language. I have a lot to learn. But it does seem to be sinking in finally. This site certainly helps with that.

So I guess if I had to sum up my technique, I'd say it's been a slow, long process. Heh.

[AutumnBreeze]

Originally Posted by Rusty

The word for isn't needed in that expression.
Keep up the good work, but don't get burned out. Five hours is a lot of studying!

So true! lol Just logged my time at 2.5 hours this time . Estoy descando un rato limpiar la casa.

Thanks for your input Fazor . Long and slow works though .

[Fazor]

¿Qué es 'descando'?

[Rusty]

She meant descansando.

Estoy descansando un rato antes de limpiar la casa.

The present progressive tense is frequently overused by learners of Spanish. If you aren't in the very process of resting, you should use the present tense instead.

Descanso un rato antes de limpiar la casa.
= I'm resting a bit before cleaning the house.

[Fazor]

Ah, gracias. I recognized the tense, but I couldn't find the correct infinitive.

[AutumnBreeze]

Originally Posted by Rusty

She meant descansando.

Estoy descansando un rato antes de limpiar la casa.

The present progressive tense is frequently overused by learners of Spanish. If you're are in the very process of resting, you should use the present tense instead.

Descanso un rato antes de limpiar la casa.
= I'm resting a bit before cleaning the house.

Ahh, I see.

As I learn how to work with the language I keep finding that I run into issues with being too literal .