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Learning Spanish is screwing up my spelling

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Zach
November 14, 2006, 09:33 PM
Since I have been learning Spanish, I've noticed my spelling errors have increased dramatically. Now, I frequently catch myself mixing English and Spanish words...like spelling "necessita" instead of "necesita", "música" instead of plain "music" and a ton more.

Anyone else experiencing this? Muchas gracias, español.

Tomisimo
November 15, 2006, 10:52 AM
You're not alone. I've experience and complained about this first-hand on many occasions and I know plenty of people who have gone through the same thing.

IMO, part of the problem is based in the fact that Spanish is "easier" to spell since it's largely phonetic- words are spelled like they sound, and English is much less so.

One approach I've taken to try and combat this problem is I "say" the hard-to-spell English words in my head as if they were Spanish. This is especially useful with the vowels. In English we tend to drop unstessed vowels to the "schwa" which is kind of an "uh" sound-
- Fitness
- Business
The "e" in those 2 words is more like an "uh" to me... so... if I'm having a hard time remembering how to spell "business", (since when pronounced it sounds more like "biznus"), what I do is say it to myself like this "buh - see - ness" and that somehow sticks and helps me remember the spelling.

HAOLE BOY
November 20, 2006, 04:11 PM
OH YEAH, ME TOO.

sosia
November 21, 2006, 01:12 AM
for me its more a vocabulary's problem. Sometimes I want to say something and I find the perfect word but in the other language. Like "Hoy estoy en stand by", for example. Saying "Hoy estoy bajo mínimos" or something similar don't pop so easily.

Dragynspire
November 22, 2006, 07:37 AM
I wish i had found this site a long time ago... readin them makes me fell less stupid.... u guys know what i been going through... gracias por todo

Tomisimo
November 22, 2006, 09:40 AM
@ Dragynspire. Better late than never. :)

As far as vocabulary problems, I've had a similar problem, but it seems that it only happens when I'm speaking English my native language. Sometimes I can't think of a word in English, but the Spanish word comes to me. The opposite doesn't happen in Spanish.

cmeadow2
January 29, 2007, 11:10 AM
you know, i thought i knew more about spanish then i do, now i feel a little daunted i keep having to check the meanings as i read your posts! :P
thanx for the help though i have always wanted to learn panish and this is great.
Gracias por Ayuda. ;)