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I learned Spanish by living in Latin America for three years, then coming back to the US and marrying a Colombian. My gringo accent is pretty thick, especially when I'm tired. At the same time, I use a lot of Central American slang because 99% of my exposure was on the street, so people always ask where I'm from. Honestly, nobody ever bothered me about my accent at all. In fact, the women seemed to love it.
I do agree with NYWD about adults learning a new language if they were not exposed to other languages until later in life. It's downright hard for many of them, even if they want to learn. After about 40, it's just about impossible for somebody with no foreign language experience to get anything close to proficient. I always try to err on the side of patience with immigrants.
I learned Spanish by living in Latin America for three years, then coming back to the US and marrying a Colombian. My gringo accent is pretty thick, especially when I'm tired. At the same time, I use a lot of Central American slang because 99% of my exposure was on the street, so people always ask where I'm from. Honestly, nobody ever bothered me about my accent at all. In fact, the women seemed to love it. .
Where in Latin America did you live for three years? Colombia? or somewhere else?
Nice. I was in Nicaragua a few years ago. Thanks for the reply.
Anytime. Just as an FYI, I was able to acquire legal residency by opening businesses that really didn't require much money at the time and we grew them quite nicely, then sold. It probably takes a larger investment today, but who knows. Look into it if you're really considering the move. Life is a one time proposition and I hate looking back with "what ifs".
Much of my time in both places was on the Caribbean coasts, which are culturally a good bit different than elsewhere. There are large black populations of Jamaican ancestry and they speak some really whacked out English. It was actually easier to communicate with some of them in Spanish. Others spoke really good English. I also lived in a San Jose suburb and spent time working in Jaco too.
I learned Spanish by living in Latin America for three years, then coming back to the US and marrying a Colombian. My gringo accent is pretty thick, especially when I'm tired. At the same time, I use a lot of Central American slang because 99% of my exposure was on the street, so people always ask where I'm from. Honestly, nobody ever bothered me about my accent at all. In fact, the women seemed to love it.
I do agree with NYWD about adults learning a new language if they were not exposed to other languages until later in life. It's downright hard for many of them, even if they want to learn. After about 40, it's just about impossible for somebody with no foreign language experience to get anything close to proficient. I always try to err on the side of patience with immigrants.
But trying is key. Many people in my city have from foreing accents when speaking English.... that does not mean they dont understand what they are saying or what is being said to them at least at a basic level. My husband does not speak English perfectly and never had any formal traning on how to speak, read or write in English, but when he does not understand something he translated it online or asks. Practice is the only way to improve. Accents are not a big deal. It is understanding that matters.
Regarding accents... I will admit I love certain accents and even if the guy is not my typical type with certain accents the attraction level goes up regardless of other factors.
It's important to keep in mind that Spanish is way harder than English for foreign language learners.
Perhaps written Spanish, but I think English has a lot more built in curve balls than Spanish does. English is filled with inconsistencies. The same letter groups have various pronunciations, sometimes letters are silent and other times not, many words have double and even triple meanings. Despite being spelled the same, the words are often pronounced differently, etc, etc, etc. OTH, Spanish is mostly phonetic and while there are some irregular verbs, once you get the verb conjugation down, the battle is half over. Everything else comes fairly easy. Also, the inconsistencies in Spanish are more forgiving. If you say "la agua" or "el foto", people are going to know exactly what you mean even though it's "el agua" and "la foto".
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