A few rules

I find it so confusing!

Edit: Thanks to everyone for all your help. It is much appreciated.

In my native language, the word "dream" (sueño) are two different words:

1. Dreams like sleep and see the vision.

2. Dreams like think, make plans and invent everything.

How can I portray this in Spanish so my girlfriend (from Panama) understands me?

Hey folks, I've been hovering around A2 level for around two years now. My studies have largely been in spurts, so a few weeks/months on and a few months off. In the past, my biggest problem has been the inconsistency. This year I'm determined to refine my A2 level so I can eventually move up to B1.

My comprehension is more or less there on good days, but my speaking has gotten worse the more time I put into my studies, inside and outside of the classroom. At the moment, I'm 2 weeks into a 2x/week DELE A2 course and since I've started classes my speaking has tanked to around A1 level.

I know I have the vocabulary because when I speak to myself or to folks when I'm out and about (I'm American but live in a Spanish speaking country), the language flows naturally, even if I make minor mistakes. But in class my mind goes blank, I can't remember anything, especially words I already know, and I can hardly string together a passable phrase or sentence. Because of this, my instructor doesn't make much of an effort to correct me when I'm called on during class. And frankly, this might be part of what's fueling the poor performance. I've only one week left (I enrolled for ~one month to try it out) and have decided to do the best I can until it's over.

After that, I plan to switch to 1:1 conversational tutoring online, and attending a structured conversational IRL meet-up.

I had high hopes for an IRL class environment, but it seems like this one isn't the right fit for me. I'm not sure if it's the formalized class structure that's throwing me, or something else entirely. I don't feel nervous or anxious in class, a tad stressed at times, maybe? But that doesn't set it in until I notice the slack in my skill level/performance.

Any insights on what might be at play here? I do study and practice outside of class, but I think the main issue is a lack of meaningful practice and fluency in speaking. Aside from the steps I plan to take, any other tips on what else I can do?

Of course they can never fully be replaced but I'm now almost 2 years into learning Spanish and I'm getting tired of mindlessly memorizing vocabulary does anyone know more engaging routes to study? If the answer is reading, do you have any recommendations for authors or books? I appreciate the help.

Hay algunos frases o una manera de hablar como un pirata? Por ejemplo en inglés decimos cosas como "shiver me timbers" o "I be..." en vez de "I am..."

Hay algo así en español?

And is a cuss word or just some playful word for sun?

For context: I'm a native speaker from Spain, living in the UK.

In Spain we say "ser uña y carne" for two people who are inseparable. I've read that in Mexico people say "ser uña y mugre" instead.

Native speakers, especially from Mexico: which one do you use? Does one sound warmer and the other more jokey? Would either sound odd said about a couple or best friends?

Hablando con una amiga me di cuenta de que no sé si esta expresión se usa fuera de España. Nosotros la usamos cuando alguien complica algo que es sencillo.

¿La conocéis en México, Estados Unidos u otros países? ¿Se dice igual o cambia algo, por ejemplo el número de pies?

¡Gracias!

So I was born in Canada with Salvadoran roots for 27 years of my life I spoke Spanish w my mom and dad.
I had a kid w wife and she is not Spanish speaking.

She told me speak to our kid in Español otherwise he’ll lose it given that most of our community speaks Cantonese and English.

But I had an experience this morning that put in doubt. I went to go buy sausages from a Mexican butcher and they told me that my Spanish has an accent and that they are referred to as the “authentic Mexicans”

It was horrible. Not going there again. My kid is almost 1 I been speaking to him in Spanish since month 4-5. Very little to no English he gets that from daycare.

Any suggestions here I’m at a loss.

Whenever I put okay and cool in deepl it spits out vale and genial. But I've NEVER heard anyone say these words. Especially on Colombia . Is it that rare? Or is it just anecdotal and do people actually use vale and genial in normal convo

I use the words okay and cool all the time

Hello everybody! Could you recommend me some good books to read in spanish?

What do you think about the books in www.languagethroughliterature.com/spanish ?

Im looking for this podcast I listened to one time. It was two Hispanic girls talking about their lives. Usually they were sitting outside. One had kind of blonde curly hair and the other and wavy black hair. They may have been from Mexico.

I know that almost every verb requires a "personal a" when it refers to a person or a pet ("Veo a Pablo").

I'm Italian, and the personal a doesn't exist in Italian (although I have noticed that some people from Southern Italy use it when they speak Italian).

Given the fact that I don't use the personal a, sentences like "Veo a Pablo" sound very weird to me (it sounds like "I see something to Paul").

Do Spanish speakers "know" that the a of "Veo a Juan" is not the same a of "Doy algo a Juan"? Or do they think "I see to someone" instead of "I see someone"?

se le va otra pasada completa por la cuadra

Meaning "he completes another full lap of the block". I can't understand why it's "se le va" here and not just "va". This is from an Argentinian novel if that's relevant

Believe it or not, google and chat gpt can not give me a definitive answer on what is said in this clip.

It is a clip from the movie “Training day”, but the Spanish dubs are turned on (there are no spanish subtitles available).

In the original English version Denzel says “hows your Espanol” then Ethan replies “Mas o menos” but they changed it to something else in the Spanish dub since that line wouldnt make sense anymore.

EDIT:

The answer is “como estas tu calo” and response is “Leve Levis” which means “hows your slang” (a particular Mexican kind) and the response means “so so” with “leve” meaning “slight” and the second word “Levis” is the jean brand (according to commenter) thrown in for alliteration. Ill keep this post up on the extremely rare chance someone ever has the same question.

el español moderno es mi idioma nativo, pero hace poco me interesó el español medieval así que me gustaría empezar a aprenderlo para saber si seguir, así que quisiera saber si ustedes tienen algo de información para que yo pudiera seguir

from my general understanding the “lo” in a redundant sense refers to a concept or idea or object already mentioned preceding a verb where as a direct object pronoun will refer to an actual object ?

Questions for anyone from or familiar with the dialect spoken in Chiapas, Mexico - I couldn’t find any natives actually clarifying, especially the second question

1. Is voseo really that commonly used in some parts of Chiapas?

2. If it is, do they use voseo along with tuteo or strictly just vos?

(Vos tenes vs tu tienes)

I hope this is an okay sub to put this question in, I saw one of the flairs was “dialects” but please let me know if it’s more appropriate to be posted somewhere else, and thank you to everyone in advanced!!

He visto esta frase pero sinceramente aún no entiendo cuándo cabe usarla en vez de "en" (p. ej. el ejemplo de Wordreference "La nueva especie fue descubierta a la altura de la selva amazónica")

I can't seem to find an explanation of this online. I've seen the word reciente placed before and after the noun. Is there any guidance for when it's best to put it before vs after?

When I am practicing should I try to say the complex sentences I want to say in my head and get the wrong? Or should I aim for extremely simple basic scripted conversations. I feel like I’m burning myself out. A sentence can take an upward of 15 seconds for me to say because I’m searching for new, woke up words, etc.. it’s really making me despise speaking practice. I also don’t feel any improvement. It is very discouraging.

I really would just like to know from some of you veterans how you decided to tackle speaking practice early on. Also, I would like to know. When did you start to see improvement on your speaking? For reference I have about 30 hours of speaking practice and 130 in ci reading etc. really any tips in general would be greatly appreciated.

I just feel incapable of doing this and its breaking my spirit because I’m genuially passionate about it

I’d say my level of Spanish is intermediate at best. I’m Mexican-American and I spoke it more as a kid and have lost a lot of the confidence/knowledge of the language. Once I learned that my wife was pregnant I made sure to start studying and regaining some of that ability.

She’s a newborn so she won’t be talking any time soon but I want to get in the habit of speaking it with her. Anyone else have tips or insight into teaching your kid Spanish even though you’re still learning?

Every dinner with my partner’s family ended up with the same joke about my terrible Spanish. I kind of got tired of sitting there lost while everyone was chatting, so I decided to learn it in secret. For six months, I used apps and flashcards during my commute without telling anyone. Last weekend her dad made another comment, and I answered him directly in Spanish: "I've been practicing for six months so I can understand your jokes." The table went quiet, then he laughed and gave me a hug. My partner was completely shocked, and she mentioned later how much it meant to her.

Felt good to finally sit at that table and actually be part of the conversation."