What has been the most frustrating thing for you?

[scribbler135]

I mean, in the process of learning Spanish...?

For me, it's definitely listening to people and being able to understand them. Even after spending several hours of work with books and guides and even listening to audio examples, a fluent speaker comes along and totally blows me out of the water....

Yourselves? I guess I'm venting for the most part. Thank you for indulging me!

[aleCcowaN]

We're on the same boat. Intellectual studies have sometimes that result. It's like learning to ride a bicycle and reading a book to reinforce it: you'll fall less times, but not at the very beginning.

A trick I learnt -but it may backfire- is watching films with subtitles (in my case, in English both movies and their subtitles) and alter the synchronization to show the subtitles one second in advance -so you are prepared for what you're gonna hear- and as your hearing comprehension improves you may end up setting the subtitles one or two seconds behind so you can catch up anything you have lost.

It doesn't work for everyone, but it's worth a try (almost all I know of English comes from that, participating in forums and consulting dictionaries).

[poli]

I used to think phone conversations were daunting, but not so much now. Listening to other people's conversations that do not include me is challenging to me. I'm not a good eavesdropper.

[acopperyonyx]

El más cosa dificil es escuchar a gente hablar Español. Puedo leo Español bastante bien.
----------------------------------
The most difficult thing is listening to people speak Spanish. I can read Spanish pretty well.

[Glen]

Welcome, scribbler. What tripped me up - and often still does - is the placement of direct and indirect objects where they don't go in English, for example Se lo doy: "To him it I give" instead of "I give it to him."

Just a matter of practice I reckon.

Good Luck, and welcome to the forums!

[kelsiep]

I totally agree. I speak Spanish all the time with my relatives and this still frustrates me to no end! It gets so confusing. I would say that it's the only thing I really get confused with in Spanish.

[Premium]

The grammar is definitely very different but that wasn't the hardest part for me. Things like "¿Qué me ibas a decir?", simple questions or phrases, were so hard to understand because they use different words to say something in Spanish. Not like in German or English.

[greengoddess]

I do love the language. I consider it my most prized goal right now, to learn Spanish. But I am out of college and so doing it on my own. I'm looking to take a class at the university I teach at, but only if it is almost free. I am only an adjunct professor.
I guess I need to see if my library might have a free class or get my courage up to join the Meetup Group that is in my area. I can be a type of personal who gets really overwhelmed with "finishing" something, so this is teaching me a great deal of patience and the method of "baby steps." My Ph.D./dissertation should have taught me that, but I guess I need a lot of practice.

[Glen]

Welcome greengoddess, and you're on the right track being here in the Forums; just stay with Tomisimo & you'll learn more than you can ever put into practice. I sure have!

[Valeria]

Mas frustrante?
Conjugaciones de los tiempos. Muy deficil memorizar todos.

Aparte de eso, espanol es relativamente un lengua fácil.

[Chabeli Iglesias]

Nothing so far.

[Sancho Panther]

I'm convinced that a Hispanophone would find English much harder to learn than an Anglophone learning Spanish.

English is so utterly illogical, whereas Spanish does generally follow a distinct formula (with fairly logical) exceptions.

[poli]

That's right Sancho, but so many Spanish speakers also speak English. Very few native English speakers know much Spanish.

[alain97]

Originally Posted by Valeria

Mas frustrante?
Conjugaciones de los tiempos. Muy deficil memorizar todos.

Aparte de eso, espanol es relativamente un lengua fácil.

Difícil*

Ánimo que con dedicación lo podrás lograr

[lordhelmit]

Either past tense conjugations or trying to understand native speakers. My girlfriend is from Puerto Rico and lives with her mother and uncle, and I'm over here every day...they speak Spanish almost exclusively lol. So fast!!! I can catch a few words here and there but meh. If you have Netflix, you can switch several shows audio and subtitles to Spanish. Often I listen in Spanish with Spanish subtitles, but sometimes I listen in english with Spanish subtitles. it does help.