Cómo Entender a los Nativos - How to Understand Natives

“Help! I’m studying Spanish, but I can’t understand native speakers when they ask me something!” or the classic, “I don’t have anyone to practice with!”Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.Learning to have a natural conversation is probably the hardest part of learning a language.What the process is really about is finding a balance between genuinely advancing your target language vocabulary (and grammar too of course!) and allowing your brain to do its job. A lot of communication is subconscious. Remember how you learned your first language as a child. You listened and listened and listened….until one day you tried to speak. And then some words, and then sentences, and then out of nowhere - you were a pro.As long as you practice consistently, your brain will do the rest.Jim and May share a few funny stories this week about having difficulties understanding each other’s families while learning their target language. And they provide tips on comprehension when it comes to dealing with natives!Links:An Honest Review of BaselangEpisode 024 - Interview with Connor Grooms, CEO of BaselangAn Honest Review of LingodaDuolingoEpisode 040 - Interview with Polyglot Steve KaufmannLevel up your Spanish with our Podcast MembershipGet the full transcript of each episode so you don’t miss a wordListen to an extended breakdown section in English going over the most important words and phrasesTest your comprehension with a multiple choice quizThank you to our patrons for making this podcast possible:Tiansheng Lian, Jennifer Wilson, Adrian Major, Jenny, Christy Warne, Russ Moore, Annette Baesel, Christian Gonzalez, Jill Heichelbech, Jean Lorio, Rebecca D Robison, Wylie Hargrove, Kristin Royer, Deb Shroyer, RamPandaPuss, Amy, Josh Powell, Hoy Shih, Neil Moore, Craig Stenger, Jennifer Wilson, Paula Lisowsky, Joseph Scriba, Kenneth Revelson, and DJ Brasier.Support the show