How did you learn your Spanish?

[lejohnson]

Other - combination university classes and studying at a school here/immersion. I came here to study the language when I was a very basic speaker (after 1 semester of Spanish in college), which for me I think was the key to learning the language quite quickly...

 

[wineguy999]

Other - Grew up in Texas, so learned the basics in grammar school. Spoke Tex-Mex/Spanglish until I married an Argentina. Now a lifetime student of Castellano.

Must admit that I sometimes enjoy being corrected by the locals in Texas - until I inform them in my best Castellano that they don't really speak the language at all. Nicely, of course

 

[Aleina Dee]

Learned the basics from TVE Spain ( Did Latin at school so reading it never was a problem) and then my partner taught me the finer points of castellano porteño. I still don´t speak well, but do understand the people around me.

 

[Rease]

GringoBoy - When you start a new thread if you scroll down there is an option to create a poll with the thread.

 

[steveinbsas]

Spanish subtitles on almost every program in English on DirecTV.

 

[elclandestino]

Self-study + Spanish language and literature undergraduate studies at UBA

 

[Crema Americana]

I learned it from my mother who is from Spain. I have been with my fiance so long that I've lost a lot of my Spanish accent and sound more Argentine now, but I refuse to give it up completely... I still speak with 'tu' and 'vosotros' and say tio instead of che. I actually prefer the way they speak in Spain but the Argentine has rubbed off on me inadvertently despite my efforts to watch TVE and Antena3 the most possible! Now I'm not so critical of Madonna when she started speaking in her "fake" English accent.

Thankfully my English has mostly remained in tact.

 

[Davidglen77]

My spanish has changed dramatically since I have lived in Argentina. Since I grew up in the same house as my cuban grandmother, AND being from New York City I of course had a very different vocabulary then what is generally used here. Words like "carro" became "coche", "frijoles" became "porotos", "mantequilla" became "manteca", "tu" became "vos", "ven aca" became "vení aca", "guineo" became "banana", "china" became "naranja", "fresa" became "frutilla", "bola" became "pelota", "concha" became "caracol" and I won't even tell you what it took to stop using the word "cojer" and replace it with "tomar" or "agarrar" in most cases, and the list goes on from there. I also speak a lot more slowly and pronounce more letters in each word than I used to. For example, I used to say things like "Mi cajo eh un For" and now I would say "Mi coche es un FORD". Also carribean spanish is full of diminuitives in everyday use, like "come tu sopita", "quieres aguita", "que rica comidita", if you speak like that here it almost becomes laughable and sounds child like.

 

[Gringoboy]

My spanish has changed dramatically since I have lived in Argentina. Since I grew up in the same house as my cuban grandmother, AND being from New York City I of course had a very different vocabulary then what is generally used here. Words like "carro" became "coche", "frijoles" became "porotos", "mantequilla" became "manteca", "tu" became "vos", "ven aca" became "vení aca", "guineo" became "banana", "china" became "naranja", "fresa" became "frutilla", "bola" became "pelota", "concha" became "caracol" and I won't even tell you what it took to stop using the word "cojer" and replace it with "tomar" in all cases, and the list goes on from there. I also speak a lot more slowly and pronounce more letters in each word than I used to. For example, I used to say things like "Mi cajo eh un For" and now I would say "Mi coche es un FORD". Also carribean spanish is full of diminuitives in everyday use, like "come tu sopita", "quieres aguita", "que rica comidita", if you speak like that here it almost becomes laughable and sounds child like.

That's an education in itself!
Fascinating reading.

 

[Gringoboy]

But after dinner, my wife says 'bueno, voy a recojer la mesa'.
I always find that a little odd...lol.