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I'm old and would like to learn to speak Mexican. Recommendations.

I went to Germany in 2019 for work. I prepared for it by using Duolingo (free app) for about 3 months before going. Obviously in addition to my right foot practice for the autobahn. I thought it was useful. I remember sitting down at a build your own burger joint there and reading - really reading most of the menu. The joke I made with all of my German colleagues was that I was "practically fluent". I could go to a restaurant, get seated, order drinks all in German. But somewhere between drinks and dinner the Germans would hear me and my other American colleague talking English and would switch for us without asking. It's for sure a use it or lose it and my advice would be DO NOT SKIP THE SPEAKING EXERCISES. Otherwise you'll read it well but you'll never be conversational.

With any approach, you're gonna get out of it what you put into it. Do one lesson a day on duo and you'll never progress. Pay for a class at a community college and you'll get there faster. Spanish isn't too bad I don't think I took 2 years in high school. At least their pronunciation is mostly consistent unlike English (who decided tomb and room should be pronounced the same way???) the verb conjugation will throw you for a loop but it's mostly the same just a few exceptions.
 
You have made it this long with out learning another countries language. Dont cave now. :laughing:

I dont even try much anymore. They sure as hell havnt put much effort into learning English... If they cant bring a translator with them, they probly oughtta go elsewhere
 
Slander said:
I worked with a few Mexicans, a Spaniard and a few Puerto Ricans on a crew and those mofos could barely understand each other. :laughing:
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I'm Spanish. This is how we sound to them :laughing:

 
unstoppable778 said:
I went to Germany in 2019 for work. I prepared for it by using Duolingo (free app) for about 3 months before going. Obviously in addition to my right foot practice for the autobahn. I thought it was useful. I remember sitting down at a build your own burger joint there and reading - really reading most of the menu. The joke I made with all of my German colleagues was that I was "practically fluent". I could go to a restaurant, get seated, order drinks all in German. But somewhere between drinks and dinner the Germans would hear me and my other American colleague talking English and would switch for us without asking.
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They didn't want to tell you that you were butchering it.:flipoff2:
 
snivilous said:
Was gonna say the same, I work with a lot of Spaniards and as far as they're concerned Mexican is absolutely butchered Spanish and way different.
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That's a bit unfair in that most Mexicans one sees here (same as Puerto Ricans in the North East) tend to be less affluent, less educated immigrants. Most Spanish speakers I know here cannot write in Spanish, not well anyway.

I have a well educated Mexican colleague here and his Spanish is just as rich and correct as anyone else's.
 
My wife's trying to learn via Rosetta Stone to speak with our nieces who will be bilingual. The reality is they will probably just teach us:laughing:
 
DRTDEVL said:
They didn't want to tell you that you were butchering it.:flipoff2:
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Oh I for sure was, but they at least appreciated that I was trying. You're better off saying "es tut mir leid, ich bin American ich sprachen kine duetsch, du sprachen english?". Rather than pointing and going "English please".
 
The customers who come in only speaking spanish will usually put their boss or supervisor on the phone but I'm mostly business to business. I have had a couple who we would have to mime everything out. Even had a few get pissy like I was inconveniencing them by not speaking spanish.

Worst case, I can call a couple of my installers and have them translate but El Salvadorian and Mexican have small differences on the technical names for things and "chingadera" is not useful when you are on the phone and can't point at something.:lmao:

The guys who leveled out my yard asked me several questions through google translate on the phone, one even offered to buy my Jeep, seemed to work well enough.
 
DRTDEVL said:
No. I was there before that really existed.
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"du sprachen Sie" isn't a thing

It's either sprachen Sie or sprischt du


Source : That's my Babbel lesson from yesterday :flipoff2:
 
I have tried over the years, I probably spend 30-40 days a year in Baja and I have been doing that for 20 years.... My Spanish is really bad.
I do agree some of the free ones like dual lingo and babble do not have real mexican spanish, but I am sure there are others that offer it, so just make sure you are looking for mexican spanish if you purchase something.
Most of the mexicans I know learned english from kids programming, like sesame street. I have tried that and it does help.
The thing that helped me the most was asking them for help. One guy had a wife that was a school teacher in mexico and was more than happy to private tutor me. I did give up on that as I got busy, but I'd love to start again.
 
Blugreenformula said:
I am 44 years old and own an Automotive repair facility. Since we live in an agricultural area, we have quite a few Mexicans and Guatamalan's. I do work for quite a few of them, and expect their numbers to increase as time goes on. According to a few guys who are bilingual, my shop is one of very few they trust, and from a business standpoint, it makes sense that being able to communicate without a translator would be a major benefit.
So question: How do I learn brown person talk?
Is the old school book method best?
Take a collage class?
Babble (Online App)
Any recommendations are appreciated.
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Maybe they trust you because you speak english.
 
TRINDU said:
Fuck 'em, you don't need their business.

If they need your business, they'll learn English.
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As a business owner you're gonna turn paying customers around because they don't speak your English ?
Green dolla bills isn't a language.
 
Whoever said Google translate or something similar. It has gotten me out of a few jams. Besides Spanish had to use it fer a guy that was Turkish.
 
Bebop said:
As a business owner you're gonna turn paying customers around because they don't speak your English ?
Green dolla bills isn't a language.
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Yes, going on 7+ years with that policy.

if it's a good shop, in this climate, he should have a several week backlog... subsequently not needing to pander towards no-speakies.
 
DRTDEVL said:
They didn't want to tell you that you were butchering it.:flipoff2:
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I tried to order food at a border town in poland, english didn't work, gal asked if I spoke German, in German, so I asked of she spoke Hindu in hindi, then we both stared at each other until somebody else came up :laughing:

Butchered is better than nothing, beer and hand signals are universal though
 
TRINDU said:
Fuck 'em, you don't need their business.

If they need your business, they'll learn English.




Correct, they also hate each other more than whitey ever could.
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I worked with 2 bothers that were El Salvadoran. One of them would laugh if you called him Mexican, the other would get pissed😄 I just told him he’s a southern mexican
Would use my hands to show imaginary map

Canada
Usa
Mexico
Southern mexico(South America)

He wasn’t raged out mad but it was more of a “yeah fuck you” and shook his head. I learned a few of the bad words so I knew when he was talking shit or I would call him one if he was being estúpido
 
Archer said:
Being a business owner myself I can kinda see where your coming from but....

I got a crazy idea, how about they learn our language instead of us learning theirs to appease them. Last time I looked we speak English in The United States, learn it or leave.........:stirthepot:


.
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:shaking:

If the OP can speak to them in Spanish he can help them learn to business in English. :idea:
 
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