This is a really helpful explanation! Understanding “se” has been one of my biggest challenges and I can totally relate to the feelings of anxiety that it causes. Glad to know it gets better. Thanks again and would love a SE quiz;) Saludos desde California
Try learning Spanish from the Cubans here in Miami they talk so bloody fast with a thick accent you ain't got no time to examine the context. You guys are great helped me alot with my Spanish
To be fair, I've had these experiences in English too, where I've momentarily struggled to figure out who the subject was. Obviously it happens a lot less frequently in your native language, but it still happens from time to time. It's funny how we beat ourselves up for not understanding every single word in a novel in our target language, yet we just let it go in our native language and don't even think twice about it. I think this has to do with overall understanding, and ease of understanding. Because the overall picture can be vague at times when reading in our target language, it makes you feel like every single word and grammar detail is crucial. However, in our native language, the overall picture is usually very clear, so we find it easier to let go of the minor details, like the odd unknown word, because we're completey understanding the overall message; the unknown word isn't hindering our understanding of the text.
Exactly! 6 to 9 months ago I had a go at reading the first chapter of Harry Potter in Spanish, but gave up because it was too hard. I gave it another go this week and it was much better, but not because I now understood every word. There were still plenty of words I didn’t know, but I now knew enough of the other words that I could still follow the story and sometimes have a rough idea of what kind of thing the unknown word must mean from the context. As you say, this happens (to a much lesser degree) all the time in your native language, and for me the nice turning recent turning point was learning to accept it and carry on regardless (as you would in your native language) rather than stopping to look up every unfamiliar word in a dictionary.
13:00 This discussion is probably my biggest take away from genuinely learning to speak a language (rather than just pass an exam like in secondary school). It is a question of repeating something until it becomes 'natural'. I found a lot of Spansh structures felt alien and overly complicated when I started but then with time it just became something normal. It's kind of strange but it seems to happen subconsciously, similar to how the phonetics of a language initially seem like a babel of noise but then slow, subsciously, get recognised as words without you even having to mentally think about it. And strangely I've found that other Romance languages such as Italian or Portugese, simply through familiarity with Spanish, seem far less alien when reading or hearing them even if I don't understand all the words. The grammar and phonetics seem to be picked up and recognised even if the vocabulary isn't clear in a way that it wouldn't be with say Polish or Icelandic. One of my pet subjects is medieval architecture (I recently got back from Burgos for this exact reason) and yet I had never heard of The Pillars of the Earth before, so I really should pick up this book.
Oh, I think that you'd LOVE The Pillars of the Earth, then. I totally agree. Learning consciously is very hard, when we really learn by copying, mimicking, imitating, observing... which is mostly subsconscious :) Cx
Hi Gordon and Cynthia. Couldn't se lo puso also mean,- he put it on them. (On them it he put,) where the se is a replacement for les. Or of course, she put it on them or you formal put it on them. But, I know, you can't explain every little nuance and intricacy. Anyway, like you Gordon, se has driven me to despair for more than five years but finally I think I'm there with it. O mejor dicho at least now I've got a fighting chance with it. Thank you both for your great work.
@@tonyrodd6348 Thanks for your answer. To be honest is wasn't really a question, more of an observation. I should've worded it better. But thanks all the same.
Se gets right up my nose. I could send 10 messages a day to my Spanish friend asking, 'what does this se mean, what does that se mean'?....and it looks to me like half the time it's not needed because the verb conjugation does the heavy lifting. Aaaaarrrgghh it's sooooo annoying 🤯
Remember that just because he/she is Spanish, they may not know the grammar behind everything. It's always best to ask a teacher. You'll get there, Dave. Frustration before success :) Cx
11:40 Yes Pleaase do a Se video! 😭🙏🏼
A se quiz would be great!
This is a really helpful explanation! Understanding “se” has been one of my biggest challenges and I can totally relate to the feelings of anxiety that it causes. Glad to know it gets better. Thanks again and would love a SE quiz;) Saludos desde California
I've been saying the same thing for years about "se" like the subjunctive has nothing on "se", with the subjunctive the rules seem pretty clear.
i love your videos. great energy and connection. i’m learning a lot
¡Gracias, Marc! :) Cx
Try learning Spanish from the Cubans here in Miami they talk so bloody fast with a thick accent you ain't got no time to examine the context. You guys are great helped me alot with my Spanish
¡Gracias, Michael! Cx
To be fair, I've had these experiences in English too, where I've momentarily struggled to figure out who the subject was. Obviously it happens a lot less frequently in your native language, but it still happens from time to time.
It's funny how we beat ourselves up for not understanding every single word in a novel in our target language, yet we just let it go in our native language and don't even think twice about it.
I think this has to do with overall understanding, and ease of understanding. Because the overall picture can be vague at times when reading in our target language, it makes you feel like every single word and grammar detail is crucial. However, in our native language, the overall picture is usually very clear, so we find it easier to let go of the minor details, like the odd unknown word, because we're completey understanding the overall message; the unknown word isn't hindering our understanding of the text.
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo. Cx
Exactly! 6 to 9 months ago I had a go at reading the first chapter of Harry Potter in Spanish, but gave up because it was too hard. I gave it another go this week and it was much better, but not because I now understood every word. There were still plenty of words I didn’t know, but I now knew enough of the other words that I could still follow the story and sometimes have a rough idea of what kind of thing the unknown word must mean from the context. As you say, this happens (to a much lesser degree) all the time in your native language, and for me the nice turning recent turning point was learning to accept it and carry on regardless (as you would in your native language) rather than stopping to look up every unfamiliar word in a dictionary.
Me encanta os videos. Yo quiero aprender espanol, porque voy a viajar a Espana.
Gracias, Anna. ¡Suerte en España! Cx
You guys are hilarious 😂. Thanks for the lesson!
Gracias :)
The mental imagery of victim is such a great help.
We're glad it helped you! :)
Thanks to you both for another great video.
¡Gracias a ti! Cx
13:00 This discussion is probably my biggest take away from genuinely learning to speak a language (rather than just pass an exam like in secondary school). It is a question of repeating something until it becomes 'natural'. I found a lot of Spansh structures felt alien and overly complicated when I started but then with time it just became something normal. It's kind of strange but it seems to happen subconsciously, similar to how the phonetics of a language initially seem like a babel of noise but then slow, subsciously, get recognised as words without you even having to mentally think about it. And strangely I've found that other Romance languages such as Italian or Portugese, simply through familiarity with Spanish, seem far less alien when reading or hearing them even if I don't understand all the words. The grammar and phonetics seem to be picked up and recognised even if the vocabulary isn't clear in a way that it wouldn't be with say Polish or Icelandic.
One of my pet subjects is medieval architecture (I recently got back from Burgos for this exact reason) and yet I had never heard of The Pillars of the Earth before, so I really should pick up this book.
Oh, I think that you'd LOVE The Pillars of the Earth, then. I totally agree. Learning consciously is very hard, when we really learn by copying, mimicking, imitating, observing... which is mostly subsconscious :) Cx
Hi Gordon and Cynthia. Couldn't se lo puso also mean,- he put it on them. (On them it he put,) where the se is a replacement for les. Or of course, she put it on them or you formal put it on them. But, I know, you can't explain every little nuance and intricacy. Anyway, like you Gordon, se has driven me to despair for more than five years but finally I think I'm there with it. O mejor dicho at least now I've got a fighting chance with it. Thank you both for your great work.
Yes. In this context, "se" is the indirect object pronoun and can be translated as "to him", "to her", "to them".
@@tonyrodd6348 Thanks for your answer. To be honest is wasn't really a question, more of an observation. I should've worded it better. But thanks all the same.
Sí, claro. Se lo puso = He/She put in on or He/She put it on someone else or them, aunque para 'ellos' la frase no es tan común.
Please do more advanced videos porfi
Se gets right up my nose. I could send 10 messages a day to my Spanish friend asking, 'what does this se mean, what does that se mean'?....and it looks to me like half the time it's not needed because the verb conjugation does the heavy lifting. Aaaaarrrgghh it's sooooo annoying 🤯
Remember that just because he/she is Spanish, they may not know the grammar behind everything. It's always best to ask a teacher. You'll get there, Dave. Frustration before success :) Cx
The “sponsor” announcement sounded like an American “midwestern” accent, which is our standard.
Really helpful video but the spelling of the word “celing ” is incorrect. Should be Ceiling. Gracias
Typo! Oops! Cx
Cuándo va a hacerlo
¿El qué?
3.30 hahahaha
So not... me puso?
Me puso would be 'he/she/it put me...' or made me...' (made me mad, made me nervous...) Cx