Asturian-American Migration Forum

I need a suggestion for a good book to help teach myself spanish. (Castilian as spoken in Spain not Latin AMerica and Mexico) I am traveling to Seville and Madrid this summer and would like to learn as much as possible before then. I spoke SPanish (maybe Asturianu) as a little child when abuela was around and I seem to understand quite a bit when spoken around me. I would like to see the words written down in a book as I am more of a visual learner. A CD accompanying the book would be helpful though. I tried some of those "learn in your car CD's" and they just didn't work for me cause i need to SEE the words. I have picked up 2 or 3 books at the bookstore that I thought would be helpful until I got them home and found buried in their introductions that they were geared toward Latin American Spanish. I also don't want to memorize phrases, I really want to start learning the language. By the way, I am going to a family wedding in SPain. My maiden name is Menendez and I married a Suarez. Common names in Spain, of course, but we are going to the wedding of my husband's cousin, who is also a Suarez and he is also marrying a girl named Menendez. How funny that this American Suarez cousin went to Spain and fell in love in the country of his great-grandparents.

Hi, Marleen,

Wow, you've got a big advantage in having contact with the language as a child! I'd love to have had that experience. My grandmother died very young. Suronda's dissertation was called something like "Speaking like my grandmother" and dealt with the experiences of the older emigrant women. She also learned Castilian/Asturianu from her abuela and aunts I think. It's a wonderful gift.

If I were interested in preparing for a trip, I'd just read the news or any other topic online that interested me. You can go to La Nueva España, and read all about anything current in Asturias, for example. Or there are lots of Asturian Web sites on different topics. If you'd rather read in print, just print the articles on your printer.

The advantages are that you'll have real information (so you'll be getting up-to-date on what's happening in Spain or Asturias), you'll build your vocabulary, and you'll be learning (in a subtle but effective way) how to speak and understand the language. I did something similar when I was in Spain, and even now I can tell that reading and replying in the forum has improved my Castellano greatly.

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Hola, Marleen,

¡Vaya, tienes una ventaja grande en oir la lengua como niña! Amaría haber tenido aquella experiencia. Mi abuela murió muy joven. La disertación de Suronda fue llamada algo como "Hablar como mi abuela" y tratada las experiencias de las mujeres emigrantes más viejas. Ella también aprendió castellano/asturianu de su abuela y tías, creo. Era un regalo maravilloso.

Si estuviera yo interesado en prepararme para un viaje, lea las noticias o cualquier otro tema en el Web que me interese. Puedes ir a La Nueva España, y leer todo lo corriente en Asturias, por ejemplo. O hay muchos sitios Web asturianos sobre temas diferentes. Si quieres leer en letra, sólo hay que imprimar los artículos sobre su impresora.

Las ventajas consisten en que tendrás la verdadera información (entonces se hará actualizado sobre lo que pasa en España o Asturias), construirás su vocabulario, y aprenderás (de un modo sutil pero eficaz) como decir y entender la lengua. Hice algo similar cuando estaba en España, y ahora mismo puedo decir que la lectura y contestar en el foro han mejorado mi capacidad en castellano enormemente.

I have separated my response to Marleen's thoughts on falling in love with the land of our grandparents from my response to her Spanish text question. For the homeland post, please see:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =2024#2024

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He separado mi respuesta a los pensamientos de Marleen sobre enamorarse de la tierrina de nuestros abuelos de mi respuesta a su pregunta del texto para aprender español. Para el poste sobre la patria, por favor visitar:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =2024#2024

Dear Marlene,

I lived in a Latin American country for ten years before moving to Spain and I haven’t had any major problems communicating. I think it’s like an American going to England or any other English speaking country, except for the accent and some words and expressions the American wouldn’t have any trouble with the language. Besides, there is no such thing as “Latin American Spanish” since each Latin American country has its own accent as well as its own differences in vocabulary.

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Querida Marlene,

Yo viví diez años en un país latino americano antes de venir a vivir a España y no he tenido ningún problema importante a la hora de comunicarme. Creo que es como un estadounidense que va a Inglaterra u otro país de habla inglesa, salvo el acento y algunas palabras o expresiones, el estadounidense no tendría ningún problema con el idioma. Además, no existe el “castellano latino americano” ya que cada país de Latino América tiene su propio acento como variaciones en el vocabulario.

Hi Marlene,

If my memory is correct, one of the earlier editions of "University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary" had a very nice and concise description of the differences in Spanish in various Latin American Countries and various regions within Spain. It may have been the third or fourth edition.

For CD based learning programs, I suggest calling the Spanish department of your local university and asking a faculty member what he or she suggests. Most of us in academe take our teaching very seriously, and are always willing to spend a few minutes talking about our approach to teaching. You can also ask the campus bookstore what texts and CD's have been ordered.

The suggestion that you read the online version of "La Nueva España" and other such newspapers is a very good one.