I am a 19 year old college student and I have taken 3 years of Spanish. I can communicate farely well with Spanish speakers and native speakers have told me that I know a lot of Spanish. I am taking Spanish II next year and I am wondering, am I too old to becomne fluent or is it a possibility? It is one of my big goals and do you think it will be too tough or no?? I work with many Hispanics and speak it almost every day. About how long do you think it would take me to reach my goal??
Thank you SO much! :)
2007-01-02 18:51:39 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
oops *become
2007-01-02 18:55:06 · update #1
It depends how you define fluent, but with a lot of work it is possible to become pretty fluent. I have a degree in French, and I am fluent in many situations. To me, this means that I am able to easily communicate complicated ideas with native speakers with some, but not many, errors that are not serious. I am able to understand pretty much everything. However, in some situations I may not have the technical vocabulary. For instance, if I were talking to a mechanic about what is wrong with my car, I would not necessarily have all the vocab I would need, BUT I could explain my way around the words.
I have spend about 6 or 7 years to get to this point, but I have only spent 3 months in a completely French environment. I have found that my friends who lived in a French environment for more than a year are more fluent than me. They make fewer errors orally. So my suggestion to you is to go study as an exchange student somewhere.
Good luck! Learning languages is a great thing to do!
2007-01-02 18:59:51 · answer #1 · answered by mbm244 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what you mean by "fluent", of course. It sounds like you are well on your way. If it makes you feel any better, I started learning Spanish when I was about 23 years old, and I received a score of "Superior" (the highest score) on an ACTFL proficiency test at one point. So it is possible for some people to reach a high level of proficiency as adults. I'd say you're probably almost there. And my guess is that, if you're already able to communicate with the Spanish speakers you interact with every day, you probably don't really need to strive for much more if you don't want to.
2007-01-03 03:17:06 · answer #2 · answered by drshorty 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why not, I started learning Chinese, the most difficult of all the languages I studied, when I was 55. I studied that language formally in class for only 3 months. The rest I studied by myself.
I can consider myself fluent enough in Mandarin and seven other languages. I am not a genius, by the way. I am just an average person with IQ of just 130 according to the test I took last time.
So determination is the key. Confidence that you will be successful is already half the victory.
2007-01-03 03:00:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are young! The time it takes is up to you. I would say immerse yourself in a Spanish speaking country on vacation. You will become totally fluent very quickly!
Good Luck!
2007-01-03 02:55:31 · answer #4 · answered by Harry Merkin 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your never too old. You need to surround yourself with people who speak the language and you be surprised how soon you'll reach your Goal. I had to learn a different language for the military. In the classroom it seemed impossible, but when I started living with the people it becomes easy.
2007-01-03 03:03:39 · answer #5 · answered by djm749 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that you are to old. My best friend moved to Sweden and within 3 months of moving there and taking Swedish classes she was speaking fluent Swedish.
2007-01-03 02:53:44 · answer #6 · answered by Sarah B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is definitely possible. I was in Panama for six years, starting when I was 20. I left there speaking fluently, thanks for true immersion Spanish.
2007-01-03 02:54:18 · answer #7 · answered by Sammy Da Bull 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can probably learn it in a few months
2007-01-04 11:39:27 · answer #8 · answered by Tangy & Cherry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thank you SO much! :) ugh!! u killed it there sorry
2007-01-03 02:53:17 · answer #9 · answered by ________ 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋