russhuntley - I'm not a virgin anymore!! je je

Russ

Congratulations you have pasted a major milestone.

Wow, thats awesome, good for you:)

I really aspire to encounter a spanish native at some point. I once met a peruvian woman at work at the very start of this year, but that was when I was still in the 'Errm solo hablo un poco' stage. Embarrasing.

That's great, it must be cool hearing you understand before realizing it wasn't English, trippy experience.

Keep up the good work!

Hey Russ, that's awesome!

I know the feeling, it's hard to describe if you've never done it.

Like Steve said, that's a big milestone right there dude, there's a lot of people who study a lot, and just can't get up the nerve to try, so kudos for the bravery.

And now, every chance you get.... 

Hola a todo mi amigos,

It was definately cool.  I haven't been able to hook up again and talk, what with the Holiday break and all.  I hoping to meet up some morning this week.

The whole thing was so cool, too, because our conversation seemed to have all been played out on Spanishpod at one time in one lesson or another. One thing I did notice was that looking back, I know I didn't understand every word, but the words around them and the contect of the conversation kind of led me to understand.  (at least I hope so).

Another thing I noticed, and I don't know if its a Peruvian thing, specific to my new friend, or what, but it seems that she (and her parents?) speak Spanish a little more slowly than I sometimes hear here. I could process it it easier in my head. I'm looking forward, though, to not processing, but just knowing, the same as if someone spoke English to me.

I'm so anxious to get together and speak, both good anxious (excited to use Spanish for real, and anxiety anxious, feeling like we'll get together and I've already said what I CAN say) haha.

I'll keep you all posted.

Sounds cool.

I know where your coming from on the whole anxiety front though, I would feel that a spanish speaker would be judging me after hearing my horribly gringo spanish, I think that I'm almost definatly wrong though. I'm sure if you made any mistakes, she would be happy to correct you and help you progress.

In my experience, Latinos (like Americans) tend to be generous to language learners; they look past the accent and try to figure out and sometimes even anticipate what you're saying.  It's a big language, so they're used to a lot of accents. 

On the other hand, my experience with French people and Chinese people often can't see past my language learner difficulties like pronunciation or circumlocution. 

These are wide cultural generalizations, of course.  :)

Rusito!!

Felicidades!! Me da mucho gusto saber que puedes tener toda una conversación en español. Creo que los peruanos si hablan mas despacio que nosotros y su acento es claro. Muchas felicidades y practica, practica mucho!!

Hi all
I find that in general when I speak Spanish to Latinos, not only are they very patient with me but they are delighted to see someone trying to learn their language. 

Hi there

I love speaking spanish and I will speak to whoever will listen to me! At first I was shy about it, but the more I did it, the less I worried. I agree with Steve, most Spanish speakers are happy to see you making the effort. Good for you Russhuntly! It's good to have someone to prartice with even for a short while. it's also good to listen to how people say things...you can learn a lot just from that! Books are good but in the end, the only way to really learn is to speak!!!