Ab Initio Failing spanish ab initio

[georgeoshardo]

Help! I'm in first year IB, I'm failing spanish ab initio. I'm getting level 1s and 2s, and the other person in my class is doing a lot better than me. What do you suggest I do? If I work really hard from now till the exams, is it possible to get my grade up to a 5 or a 6? Is it possible with ab initio? I feel like I know no spanish at all.

Thanks.

[cjy]

I really don't understand how you can be getting a 1 or a 2. Anyway, the best thing you could do is go to Spain for a few weeks in an intensive course. Practice your grammar and buy a vocab book such as Palabra por Palabra and learn vocab from there as it comes from authentic Spanish sources. Learn your verbs and irregulars and learn a more impressive grammar point than is required, such as the subjunctive. But only do so when you have your basic grammar nailed.

[georgeoshardo]

I really don't understand how you can be getting a 1 or a 2. Anyway, the best thing you could do is go to Spain for a few weeks in an intensive course. Practice your grammar and buy a vocab book such as Palabra por Palabra and learn vocab from there as it comes from authentic Spanish sources. Learn your verbs and irregulars and learn a more impressive grammar point than is required, such as the subjunctive. But only do so when you have your basic grammar nailed.

Yeah I'm incredibly bad it seems :/ I'll look into that book, but a trip to Spain is out of the question

[alefal]

Hey there!

Two keywords when it comes to learning languages is 'practise' and 'repetition.' You should aim to do a lot of simple exercises in the beginning, trying to complete the task before you look at the key even if you're completely stuck. If you've done something wrong the first time, redo the entire task to get the feeling of how it should look and sound. Do this often and on a frequent basis - increase the difficulty when it's suitable. When you feel you completely understand one aspect of the language (for instance the present tense), move on to another aspect. However, also make sure you don't forget the aspects you've already learnt by doing exercises that make use of the previous aspects you've gone through.

Exposing yourself to the language is also very important. At this stage, you probably won't be able to read and understand newspapers or even short stories, but you should try to read texts in your textbook, for instance. Jot down words you're not familiar with, and make yourself a vocabulary test (you could make these very easily on Quizlet). Watch Spanish movies and TV series is also useful - this way you'll learn how the language sounds, and you could actually learn a few expressions as well (I have actually learnt quite a bit of Korean by watching Korean films with subtitles). If you have a Facebook or other social media accounts, change the language to Spanish.

Another very important thing is to communicate with your teacher. Ask him/her what you're doing wrong, how you can improve and whether or not he/she can provide you with help. If you feel the feedback you receive is not good enough, tell your teacher that.

Finally, there are many internet pages that offer free courses in Spanish. Check them out, some might prove to be more useful than you think!

Good luck!