Hola Amigos

[pia]

oh boy, am i happy to find you guys. i've been taking spanish these last 8 months and its a whole different ball game esp. since i am not trying to translate and learn.

i am loving learning the language as it gives me such a glimpse of the culture.

The song Labios Compartidos, by Maná, is the one that got me hooked on spanish. when i first translated it in english (i was a beginner then and needed to translate) it sounded very cheesy but oh my goodness - the emotions they expressed. i cant imagine a song in english being able to express emotion in this way.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pia

oh boy, am i happy to find you guys. i've been taking spanish these last 8 months and its a whole different ball game esp. since i am not trying to translate and learn.

i am loving learning the language as it gives me such a glimpse of the culture.

The song Labios Compartidos, by Maná, is the one that got me hooked on spanish. when i first translated it in english (i was a beginner then and needed to translate) it sounded very cheesy but oh my goodness - the emotions they expressed. i cant imagine a song in english being able to express emotion in this way.

Entonces si ya dejaste la etapa de traducir, por qué no escribes directamente en castellano? Te aseguro que vamos a entender.

Bienvenida a los foros y que disfrutes tu estancia aquí.

[pia]

Originally Posted by chileno

Entonces si ya dejaste la etapa de traducir, por qué no escribes directamente en castellano? Te aseguro que vamos a entender.

aye aye aye. porque encuentro muy dificil hablo y escribe directamente en castellano. i dont want to think in english and then translate. doesnt mean i am a pro at it. just making my life difficult by trying to avoid using 'google translate'.

[Perikles]

Welcome from me. Thanks for the song.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by pia

¡aye, aye, aye! Porque encuentro muy difícil hablar y escribir directamente en castellano.

¡Bienvenida a los foros!
Espero no te molesten las correcciones.

[pia]

Originally Posted by Rusty

¡Bienvenida a los foros!
Espero no te molesten las correcciones.

muchas gracias. no absolutely not. THAT is why i am here. duh. the first rule of grammar i had forgotten. all subsequent verbs are in 'infinitivo forma'.

so if i wrote a sentence like this,

anoche despues me comí la cena, me fui a dar un paseo y llegó a casa y se dio una ducha.

i would still conjugate all the verbs after comer right?!!!

[Rusty]

The 'subsequent verbs' you spoke of are actually verbals (the infinitive being one of the verbals). They aren't verbs, but act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. The Spanish infinitive is the equivalent of the English gerund, which is a verbal that acts as a noun.

'Después de' is the translation of 'after' in the last sentence you posted. This is an adverb of time, so you can use a verbal after it. For example, 'Anoche, después de comer(me) la cena ...'.
'Dar un paseo' is a set phrase. You can conjugate the verb and still use the set phrase. For example, 'di un paseo'. Your sentence says, "I left to go for a walk." There's nothing wrong with the way you wrote it.
I wouldn't continue the sentence with the conjunction 'y' after that. I would start a new sentence, like 'When I returned home ...'. You used the wrong person in 'arrived'. The last phrase you wrote should use either 'tomar una ducha' or 'ducharse'. If the last suggestion is used, make sure the correct person is considered (your sentence had an incorrect person for that part, too).
Does this help?

[irmamar]

Welcome.

[SpaTeach14]

Originally Posted by pia

aye aye aye. porque encuentro muy dificil hablo y escribe directamente en castellano. i dont want to think in english and then translate. doesnt mean i am a pro at it. just making my life difficult by trying to avoid using 'google translate'.

Using Google Translate is really not the best thing to do anyways. Although it is correct a lot of the time, it has its problems. Using a regular dictionary is generally best when translating something. And I know what you mean about not wanting to have to think of it in English to translate it to Spanish. I study with the mind concept of not wanting to have to think of the word in English first as well, which generally works pretty well. But sometimes it helps to think of what you want to say and write first. At least, sometimes it works better for me. But I do still enjoy speaking Spanish much more when I do not have to think about what I am trying to say in English first. Good luck on your studying.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pia

aye aye aye. porque encuentro muy dificil hablo y escribe directamente en castellano. i dont want to think in english and then translate. doesnt mean i am a pro at it. just making my life difficult by trying to avoid using 'google translate'.

Ah, ok. Please don't use a translator, just use a dictionary English-Spanish/Spanish-English.

The big mistake I see people doing in trying to learn another language is that immediately they want to translate from their language to the other. The results, one cannot even start to imagine if it even near ok. Why? Because they don't know the other language. It is that simple, but despite being so simple, people do not see that.

If you want to learn Spanish, start translating from Spanish to English, because the latter is your native language. You will immediately see if there is something wrong with your phrase which does not make sense or whatever. That, in itself does NOT guarantee the phrase will be correctly translated though, but with practice you get closer to your goal, which is to learn Spanish and eventually you won't have any problems with the language.

And I say "eventually" meaning in short time and not YEARS. It is all a matter of practicing and listening to conversation, movies etc.

[SpaTeach14]

Originally Posted by chileno

Ah, ok. Please don't use a translator, just use a dictionary English-Spanish/Spanish-English.

The big mistake I see people doing in trying to learn another language is that immediately they want to translate from their language to the other. The results, one cannot even start to imagine if it even near ok. Why? Because they don't know the other language. It is that simple, but despite being so simple, people do not see that.

If you want to learn Spanish, start translating from Spanish to English, because the latter is your native language. You will immediately see if there is something wrong with your phrase which does not make sense or whatever. That, in itself does NOT guarantee the phrase will be correctly translated though, but with practice you get closer to your goal, which is to learn Spanish and eventually you won't have any problems with the language.

And I say "eventually" meaning in short time and not YEARS. It is all a matter of practicing and listening to conversation, movies etc.

I agree completely with this last sentence. It should not take a long period of time before you start picking up on things quicker and easier. However, if you do not practice much, and you don't really apply yourself, it is only going to make things more difficult.

Many people think that reading it once should suffice and then get frustrated when they forget it. I know its something we've heard throughout our lives, but "if at first you don't succeed, try try again." Keep practicing.

As far as translating, translating from Spanish to English, although more difficult using a dictionary, is much more practical in actually learning the language. Translating something using a translator is only a way to be lazy about it. Taking the extra time to look it up is often more helpful in remembering what you have translated as well.

Read a child's book and see how far you get. Its quite fun and very helpful.

[Caballero]

The great thing about Spanish, is that you should be able to read quite a lot after just a few months of study, and it will become much easier and painless to read things.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Caballero

The great thing about Spanish, is that you should be able to read quite a lot after just a few months of study, and it will become much easier and painless to read things.

Funny you say that. I have had American people reading Spanish in a couple of week. When I say reading I don't necessarily mean understanding, but pronouncing out loud.

[CrOtALiTo]

Hello Pia.

I bid you welcome to theses forums, I hope your stay in the forums, it will be enjoyable.

I have three years and half learning English in this forums, if you're interested to practice with someone, I cheerful to help you.

Sincerely yours.

[pia]

awww thank you guys for the warm welcome.

oh i very much intend to stay. i really need help.

i think its a great idea of translating from spanish. i actually have been picking up local newspapers in spanish to see how far i can go and am surprised how much i CAN actually understand.

academically i 'get' a lot. i know the rules. but applying it and forming sentences and applying it - THAT is my biggest trouble.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by pia

awww thank you guys for the warm welcome.

oh i very much intend to stay. i really need help.

i think its a great idea of translating from spanish. i actually have been picking up local newspapers in spanish to see how far i can go and am surprised how much i CAN actually understand.

academically i 'get' a lot. i know the rules. but applying it and forming sentences and applying it - THAT is my biggest trouble.

Then start by reading and writing in Spanish and then translating to English.

[Caballero]

Originally Posted by chileno

Funny you say that. I have had American people reading Spanish in a couple of week. When I say reading I don't necessarily mean understanding, but pronouncing out loud.

When I said reading, I meant reading and understanding. It's amazing just how easy it is to understand written Spanish, because of all the cognates with English. Reading things like the Bible, religious tracts, books about religion, science, and computers are very easy to read. And once you feel comfortable with those, then you can move onto stories and such.

[Jessica]

welcome, pia ^_^

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by pia

awww thank you guys for the warm welcome.

oh i very much intend to stay. i really need help.

i think its a great idea of translating from spanish. i actually have been picking up local newspapers in spanish to see how far i can go and am surprised how much i CAN actually understand.

academically i 'get' a lot. i know the rules. but applying it and forming sentences and applying it - THAT is my biggest trouble.

In fact that kind to method of learning can be useful and help you.

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Caballero

When I said reading, I meant reading and understanding. It's amazing just how easy it is to understand written Spanish, because of all the cognates with English. Reading things like the Bible, religious tracts, books about religion, science, and computers are very easy to read. And once you feel comfortable with those, then you can move onto stories and such.

I gather you think what I propose is just an isolated action. Read in Spanish without understanding. Which in itself just serves the purpose to make the person aware of the fact that one can read a foreign language like Spanish and be pronouncing it well enough for one to be understood without understanding what one is reading.

If that is done with books like you suggest, and translate them to English, you will be understanding Spanish very well too.