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Spanish is not a hard language; I picked it up easily. It's just quite different from what you're familiar with, which would be the Scandinavian languages and English.

I can't offer specific tips for Spanish that wouldn't apply to any other language. Come with an open-minded approach; Each language has its own unique, beautiful inner logic. Practice as much as you can and read to expand your vocabulary. Spanish has some very irregular verbs that can be a pain in the neck, but I was fortunate enough to have a Spanish teacher to practice them with, so I got over most of those.

Last but not least, "My mother lives in Norway" would be rendered "Mi madre vive en Noruega".

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As Jeru says, you have to understand the inner logic, and that's only possible through practice.

I guess I could comment on a few "regular irregularities" that are easily explained from an etymological point of view, but if you're not acquainted with that it wouldn't be helpful at all, and it may confuse you even more.

OK, I'll just comment on one: the diphthong "ue", when it's not in the tonic syllable, often turns to "o"; "ie" often becomes "e". This is because of the way tonic short "o" and "e" evolved from Latin.

As an example: bien vs. benéfico.

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idioma is language

yep

algunos might be some.

yep

tratando is used with estar when you want to say you are "doing" something

the ando or iendo is added on to the root of the verb to make the "ing" in english

estoy tratando = i am trying

estamos nadando = we are swimming

estamos comiendo = we are eating

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  • 1 month later...

I've taken...four years. I quit two years ago. I can haggle with illegal immigrants on how much I'll pay them to do my yard, though.

It's really all about the conjugation. If your Scandinavian languages are like English, then most of what you have to do is remember one or two endings for each tense, with irregulars.

Spanish and the other Romance languages usually have five or six endings for each tense. There's also a greater deal of seperation between the tenses, allowing for greater specificity in language.

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Studied Spanish 2 years, I got bored :| But it seems that I can still understand written Spanish...

Spanish and French are so similar, there's no surprise that you didn't find anything excitingly different about Spanish (as you would with Japanese, for example). It depends on what you expect and want in a language.

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The conjugations aren't hard in every-day conversation once you're so used to them you can say them without thinking. How do you think the Romans effectively used their case declensions? Not to talk about the Finnish. :P

However, for some strange reason the irregular verb "andar" is too hard for me. I've grown accostumed to wrong forms like the subjunctive 'pretérito imperfecto' **andara (instead of anduviera), and I often say that out loud, even though I studied Latin for 3 years and I know perfectly well it comes from Latin anduvieram. Or a similar word - I'm not sure so maybe 'perfectly well' was an overstatement.

Written French and Spanish are close enough, but once actual sounds come into the equation, French is too different to understand for Spanish speakers. Unlike Portuguese and Italian, for example.

What year are you guys in?

I'm just beginning my 22nd year.

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  • 3 weeks later...

K, Mi madre tengo en Norway translates to:

My mom i have in Norway.

If you want to say she lives in Norway then you say:

Mi madre vive en Norway.

If you want to say she is from Norway then you would say:

Mi madre es de Norway.

Spanish is easier than English, don't think that it is difficult because it isn't.

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