Listening in Spanish. Section "Listening" of the Unified State Examination in Spanish

Students studying a foreign language in Russia are vitally lacking in sounding speech. This is easy to see in the example of students who have completed a month or more internship in Spain: they understand the language much better than others, use more idiomatic constructions, speak more clearly, with better pronunciation, livelier and freer. And this is not surprising: for a month of immersion in a foreign language, the brain accumulates a critical mass of sounding material that it is able to process adequately - and without our conscious participation. Living in Russia, this critical mass should be created artificially. Ideally, the student should listen at least half an hour of speech daily. This figure may seem too high, but it must be borne in mind that

sounding speech is the main source of information for us, the brain is used to extracting information from the sounding environment
the main interaction with the outside world, in which speed of reaction and perception is required, will occur precisely in sounding speech
without listening to a large amount of sounding speech, it is impossible to form an adequate pronunciation
technically it is easier for students to listen than to read (it is not necessary to allocate time for listening, you can listen to dialogues while driving, at lunch, in the subway ...)
we more easily retain the information we read than the information we listened to, so it is more important to form a listening skill
The student gets used to the speech of the teacher very quickly, but the speech of other native speakers causes him serious problems of perception

Therefore, it is so important, on the one hand, to put as much listening as possible in the lessons, and on the other hand, to strongly recommend sounding resources to students to study at home.

Objective

It is important to understand that when working with audio, there can be several goals. However, the main goal is one, the perception of the meaning of the record. Therefore, the main part of the work should be focused on finding meaning, even with a partial misunderstanding of the material. Moreover, this partial misunderstanding will haunt the student throughout the entire period of his training (and therefore for years, if not all his life), so it is extremely important that the student

Formed resistance to linguistic stress and did not worry because of a partial misunderstanding of speech
Formed the necessary strategies for understanding, in particular

Emphasis on certain elements of speech (verb, verbal clitics, names, numbers and other factual material)
Restoring the meaning of a word from the context

Hence the conclusion: in addition to specific pronunciation exercises, start with deciphering the general meaning of the entry (which, in fact, is being discussed), and only then move on to private tasks (answer specific questions in the text).

Types of Specific Listening Tasks

Practicing the pronunciation of certain sounds

As a rule, any foreign language course includes sounding material for practicing new sounds for the student. There are two fundamentally different strategies: we can give a phonetic course first, or we can do phonetics as we learn the language. Let's make a reservation right away: the first strategy is vicious. This is proved by generations of graduates of the Faculty of Philology with their terrible “philology” accent. It turns out that months of working out words that are meaningless for the student (these are the ones that are usually found in phonetic courses) do not help him pronounce meaningful words correctly in free speech. This is normal: after all, in speech, words are pronounced differently, merge with each other, are accentuated in a certain way ... This does not mean that exercises for reading sounds are meaningless: no, they work, but only in conjunction with reading meaningful dialogues for the student.
Instead of practicing words without determinants, it will be much more useful to read phrases like

en la estacion, del metro, a mi casa

Practicing intonation

Again, intonation is best studied through dialogue. Of course, the general norms for reading declarative, interrogative and exclamatory sentences should be explained and minimally worked out on phonetic material. But the real practice of these types of intonations begins only in the main course. In the section of pragmatics that analyzes exclamations, in the section of grammar that studies interrogative words, the emphasis should be on pronunciation.

Catching the right information from the general flow

Any teacher knows that names are the worst to remember, then numbers and dates. This is partly due to the fact that the brain focuses on the analysis of the grammatical forms of a foreign language, and names devoid of an internal form fall out of its sphere of interest.
That is why the tasks in which we focus students' attention on recognizing names, titles, numbers and dates are so useful. We can do this as one of the listening tasks, after the students understand the general meaning of what is happening. However, it can be helpful to ask students to concentrate on recognizing names the first time they listen, otherwise they will not recognize or easily forget the names of people who have just introduced themselves to them!

Catching certain lexical and grammatical units (filling in the gaps)

This is one of the most common tasks. However, it should be used very carefully. There are two reasons. First, parse all Words in spoken speech are extremely difficult, so asking students to fill in the gaps with what they hear can lead to frustration and frustration. Secondly, consciousness is incomparably better at recognizing words in an already meaningful context. Therefore, you should start with listening aimed at understanding the general meaning. If this general meaning is incomprehensible to students, this means that the task is too difficult for them. You can try to simplify it by retelling the content before listening, sorting out new vocabulary, or even working out difficult-to-perceive phrases separately in exercises specially created for this listening. But it will be easier to give the task easier.
Alternatively, you can ask to recognize exactly the words with which you worked in the lesson. For example, "out of this list of 10 words, you should hear 5." It is better if these are words related to each other in meaning, then they will not only be recognized, but will also be better absorbed in the mind of the student.

Recognition of the desired linguistic structure

A typical task is "find all uses of Subjuntivo" in this interview. Of course, this task should be auxiliary, and not the main one: nevertheless, looking for a grammatical form in an incomprehensible text is more harmful than useful. However, after a general semantic analysis of the text, this task may be useful. The fact is that it is extremely useful to teach to fix attention on certain lexico-grammatical structures. Students often make mistakes not out of ignorance, but out of an inability to pay attention to constructions that are not in their native language (say, Subjuntivo). It is even more useful to ask them to pay attention not to the Subjuntivo itself, but to the main sentence that invokes it.
You can search for past tenses (or indicators of time that define them), verb constructions, etc.

Definition of a communicative situation

This is a very useful kind of work in the initial stages of language learning. The teacher puts 3-4 sounding fragments and asks students to determine what kind of communicative situation (acquaintance, greeting already familiar people, farewell, conversation in a store, clinic, etc.) is being discussed. Ideally, it is better to use movie fragments, so that later, as an answer, you can put not only sounding speech, but also a visual image, so that it is securely attached to speech formulas.

Partitioning/Ideas

This kind of work is useful in more advanced stages. An interview or conversation is used as material, from which students must isolate the main ideas.
Often, students get so used to having to recognize grammatical forms rather than meaning that they think they understand the text when they can identify all the forms. This, alas, is not so! Therefore, all tasks for rethinking the text will be extremely useful!

Finding common sense

This type of task is the cornerstone of working with any kind of texts. However, “general meaning” is, unfortunately, a vague concept. It includes the following components:

Determine the participants in the conversation, their names and functions (for example, Anna asks for something, and Maria agrees)
Determine the communicative framework, frame (for example, “at Mary’s house”, “in a restaurant”)
Determine the success of communication, whether the participants managed to solve the problem
Define a specific task (what Anna is asking for)
Determine the conditions (why asks, why, in what form, etc.)

To make it easier for students to recognize the general meaning, they usually resort to asking specific questions. However, the teacher can make the work more fun if he includes students in a communicative situation, for example, “you are Maria's best friends and you know that her boring friend is always asking for something from her. You decide to eavesdrop on their conversation, prepare for the fact that you will have to convince Maria to refuse. In this case, listening will become active, as students will be vitally involved in the process of perception.

Working with songs

Songs can be a great stimulus for students and the learning process in general. Free, metaphorical speech and vivid images are better imprinted in memory, and rhythm and melody help the assimilation of the text. The main question is what songs to play. Of course, there are certain “educational” songs that more than one generation of teachers work with, the purpose of which is to work out a certain grammatical construction ( ¿ Quevoyahacer? de Manu Chao, Ojala de Silvio Rodriguez, etc.). However, it is worth understanding that, in fact, all these songs are much more difficult to understand than it seems, and be prepared for rejection or misunderstanding on the part of students.
It may be helpful to ask the students to vote for the songs they like. The tastes of the teacher do not always (and in my case, almost never :) coincide with the tastes of the students, and what the students like will be remembered by them incomparably better than what they do not like.
The easiest and most harmful way to work with songs is to fill in the gaps in the printed text. I have heard complaints from teachers more than once: “I put on a simple song for them, I ask them to fill in the gaps in the text, but they don’t hear.” It `s naturally. If students are unable to grasp the general meaning of a song, their minds will probably not be able to pick up words in contexts they don't understand, and even if they do, there will be little benefit from it. You should first introduce unfamiliar vocabulary, talk about the song, retell it in simple text, and only then proceed to listening.
It is much more useful (as in this development) to try to understand what is being said in each verse.

Radio, podcasts, series and movies

Of course, one should strive to ensure that students understand the original sources, and not specially constructed recordings. In this sense, TV snippets and serials will be much more useful than audio recordings, since the situation itself will give students the keys to understanding the text. It must be admitted that regular TV viewing can be an indispensable tool for learning a foreign language in Russia.

Noise and interference

In no case should you be afraid of interference in sounding speech, on the contrary, you should create them! In life, we almost never hear the interlocutor well: he is standing with his back to us, loud music is playing behind the wall near the neighbors, and children are screaming in the yard. For this - albeit gradually - we must prepare students!
However, interference should be avoided in examination listening sessions: the very acoustics of the hall and the wheezing of the speakers will create sufficient interference!

Pace and adaptation

Many teachers try to avoid notes with a natural pace of speech. However, this is the pace we have to get used to. Students should be able to recognize the constructions they have learned at any rate of speech.

Most recording software allows you to slow down or speed up the music file somewhat. I highly recommend that teachers learn this technique and have multiple copies of the audio file at different speeds. Then the same listening can be listened to first at a slightly slower pace, and then at a natural pace.

Subtitles and transcripts

Everyone knows that students - especially those who study the language in Russia! prefer to read than to listen. This is a universal feature of our consciousness. Therefore, be sure that by playing a recording and printing a transcript, or by playing a film with subtitles, students will use the visual channel to recognize the meaning.

How to "fight" with original or complex recordings?
The best, albeit time consuming, method is to create dialogues that are similar in meaning and practice them before listening or watching. If time permits, you can watch a fragment of the film with subtitles, and then re-upload it without subtitles.

How to work with listening: recipes

Of course, you should work out unfamiliar words that are important for understanding the sounding fragment BEFORE you put the recording
It is worth "accidentally" working out difficult-to-understand grammatical constructions in exercises
Ideally, BEFORE listening, you should give texts that are similar in structure or meaning to be read.
If one of the tasks of listening is to determine the communicative situation, you can start listening. If there is no such task, it is worth explaining what situation is being discussed so that listening becomes more active.
Before listening, you need to set one or two tasks. Never put listening just like this: "Now let's listen to the text."
NEVER BREAK RECORDING, even if students protest. BEFORE listening, explain that you will play the recording several times and that students should be silent and listen, even if they do not understand everything. Speak aloud that the recording will definitely contain words that they do not understand, and that this is how it should be.
You can divide students into groups and give them different listening tasks. After listening, students will form groups to come to a common understanding. Then make pairs of these two groups, let each student tell his partner what his group understood from the task.
Each recording should be listened to 3-4 times, while the task should be different each time. It is worth starting with a definition of the general meaning. Then you can ask a question about the characters and their goals. Only then you can make out the details.
The most interesting part of listening work is the subsequent discussion in Spanish. Prepare it. Don't forget to give elementary students some metalexics to discuss: noheentendidounaexpressionn,noseloquediceelchico, ¿habeis entendido lo que quiere la chica?Creoquediceestoperonoestoysegura etc. Divide students into pairs or groups to discuss what they don't understand.
Almost always there will be one or two students in the group who understand almost everything. Give them the opportunity to speak in Spanish, but only at the end, let the others say everything they can understand first. It is better if they do this in pairs or groups, then everyone can speak.
You can break a long tape into two parts, put half the group out of the audience (giving them another task), put half the tape in the other half of the group, put them in the hallway (having asked them to discuss what they heard), invite the first half to listen to the rest of the tape, and then organize pairs of two halves of the group to discuss and answer pre-set questions.

Listen to the text and answer the question whether the given statement is true or false (verdadero o falso). Indicate the chosen option (a or b) in the answer sheet.

La Costa Brava está al sur de España.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

Se fueron a la playa el domingo pasado.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

El lugar donde está la playa tiene rocas en el agua.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

En la playa no había mucha gente.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

No hacia muy buen tiempo a causa del viento.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

La gente construia castillos de arena.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

El agua estaba un poco fría, pero al autor le gusta el agua fría.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

Task 2

Listen to the text again and answer the questions, choosing one answer from the three offered. Write the letters (a, b or c) corresponding to the selected options on the answer sheet.

En la playa puedes comer en …
- a) un bar.
- b) un restaurante.
- c) un chiringuito.

Según el texto las toallas no se usan para …
- a) secarse.
- b) tumbarse en el suelo.
- c) ponerlas encima.

Según el texto para no quemarte necesitas …
- a) una crema.
- b) una toalla.
- c) un sombrero.

Si no sabes nadar tienes que ponerte …
- a) una colchoneta.
- b) unflotador.
- c) untraje especial.

Al salir del agua el autor …
- a) se ducho.
- b) se seco.
- c) se tumbo en la arena.

En la playa el hombre no puede llevar …
- a) un biquini.
- b) un banador.
- c) unos pantalones cortos.

Al mediodia el autor se fue a comer y de primero pidió …
- a) ensaladilla rusa.
- b) gaspacho.
- c) ensalada.

Por la tarde el agua estaba …
- a) igual que por la mañana.
- b) mas fria.
- c) mas caliente.

Lexico-grammar test

(maximum points - 20)

Exercise: Fill in the gaps in the text with appropriate forms, choosing them from the options provided. Write the letters (a, b or c) corresponding to the choices you made on the answer sheet.

La casa de los abuelos es enorme con tres (1)_______________ y un (2)_______________ . En el jardín que está (3)_______________ de la casa crecen muchos (4)_______________ frutales. En la planta (5)_______________ hay una entrada grande, con una cocina a la izquierda y (6) _______________ para bajar al sotano. Enfrente hay un (7)_______________ muy elegante donde reciben a los invitados. Los (8)_______________ están en la primera planta y también (9)_______________, en la segunda. Hay dos (10)_______________, uno abajo, cerca de las escaleras y otro en el cuarto de baño. Al final del pasillo hay también un lavadero, cerca de la puerta que da al (11) _______________. Alli guardamos a los perros. Mi perra Luna vive arriba, en, lo que antes era, » (12)_______________ » que tenia mi hermano para criar las palomas. Aquello es muy grande y espacioso y no está totalmente (13)_______________, si no que la pared que va a dar al patio está ocupada por una (14)_______________ metálica. Justo enfrente hay dos o tres escalones que dan a parar a otro rectángulo aun más grande (15)_______________ . Esta habitación es en donde antiguamente tenía mi hermano los (17)_______________ de pelea. Esa habitación también tiene otra puerta pero esa nunca la abrimos porque da a parar a un (18)_______________ en donde no hay más que cuatro o cinco (19) _______________ de mi abuela y no hay (20) _______________.

	a	b	c
1	plantas	veces	suburbios
2	sotano	planta	piso
3	encima	debajo	detras
4	legumbres	flores	arboles
5	sotana	baja	de arriba
6	escaleras	armarios	aseos
7	balcony	salon	cuarto de bano
8	techos	dormitorios	jardines
9	delante	abajo	arriba
10	aseos	baneras	grifos
11	patio	balcony	buhardilla
12	un palo	unpalomar	unas palomitas
13	arrepentido	encerrado	cerrado
14	papelera	body	cartelera
15	a donde	de donde	en donde
16	necesidades	obligaciones	deseos
17	cerdos	caballos	gallos
18	tejido	tejado	tejera
19	plantas	coches	muebles
20	nadie mas	algomas	nada mas

Linguistics

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Exercise 1

On the territory of Spain there are a large number of cities and architectural monuments built during the Roman invasion. What do you know about it? Choose one option from those offered (a, b or c) and write the letters corresponding to the selected options in the answer sheet.

Augusta Emerita fue una antigua ciudad romana fundada en el año 25 a.C., hoy es la ciudad española de …
- a) Merida.
- b) Seville.
- c) Zaragoza.
En las calzadas romanas se colocaban los … que indicaban la distancia de mil pasos.
- a) miles
- b) miliarios
- c) millares
El puente romano es una construcción, completamente indispensable de las calzadas, que permitía cruzar tales obstáculos como los ríos. El puente romano está sostenido por arcos que se llaman también …
- a) los pasos.
- b) las orejas.
- c) los ojos.
Acueductos romanos servian …
- a) para embellecer las ciudades con las construcciones monumentales.
- b) para cruzar los barrancos.
- c) de conductos de agua.
Los espectáculos de lucha de gladiadores tenían lugar en …
- a) los teatros.
- b) los anfiteatros.
- c) las plazas.

Task 2

Remember what you know about the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Write the letters (a, b or c) corresponding to the selected options on the answer sheet.

En el siglo VIII los árabes formaron en el territorio de España un estado que se llamaba …
- a) Al-Andalus.
- b) Andalucia.
- c) Arabia.
La capital del nuevo estado era …
- a) Seville.
- b) Codoba.
- c) Malaga.
Los árabes introdujeron en la península Ibérica una nueva religión, la …
- a) judia.
- b) cristiana.
- c) Muslim.
Los reinos cristianos empezaron a luchar contra los árabes para volver a conquistar la Península. Esa lucha tiene el nombre de …
- a) Reintegration.
- b) Reunion.
- c) Reconquista.
La lucha contra los árabes se termino con la toma de la ciudad de …
- a) Granada.
- b) Madrid.
- c) Barcelona.

Reading

(maximum points - 10)

Exercise 1

Read the text and choose the correct answer to the question. Write the letters (a or b) corresponding to the selected options on the answer sheet.

Texto I

Patricia: ¿Qué tal te ha salido la prueba de Literatura española?

Monica: El test bien, pero el examen oral me ha salido fatal. Creo que voy a suspender.

Patricia: A lo mejor apruebas…

Monica: No creo, 1a profesora es muy dura cuando corrige los exámenes.

Patricia: Si suspendes vas a tener que repetir curso.

Monica:¡Ay! Ya lo se. Pero esta asignatura es muy dificil…

Patricia: A mi me parece fácil. Creo que voy a sacar buena nota. El examen oral me ha salido mejor que el examen escrito. Si quieres… te puedo echar una mano.

Monica: Pues te lo agradeceria mucho. Y tú… ¿qué vas a hacer este verano?

Patricia: Este verano me voy de intercambio y no quiero tener ninguna asignatura pendiente.

Monica: Yo quería irme a hacer prácticas a un colegio, pero no creo que pueda.

Patricia,: ¿Qué ibas a enseñar?

Monica:¡Literatura española! ¡Como olvido todo lo que aprendo…! Seria una buena manera de retener lo estudiado.

Patricia: Yo creo que te pasa eso porque estudias de memoria. Precisamente, para recordar lo que has estudiado no puedes hacer eso. Hay que memorizar, sí, pero también hay que reflexionar, pensar…

Monica: Tienes razón, porque llega la hora del examen y me quedo en blanco.

Patricia: Por eso te digo que cambies de metodo de estudio. Por ejemplo, es muy bueno sacar conclusiones una vez memorizado un tema.

Monica: Lo intentare. Parece muy fácil, pero no lo es.

Patricia: Sobre todo requiere esfuerzo… ¡Anda! ¡No seas tan vaga!

Patricia consigue buenos resultados porque …
- a) estudia de memoria.
- b) tiene un buen metodo de estudio.
Patricia va a ir de intercambio porque …
- a) va a suspender
- b) va aprobar
A Monica le ha salido mejor …
- a) el examen escrito.
- b) el examen oral.
Monica no podrá ir a hacer prácticas …
- a) porque va a suspender.
- b) porque no quiere.
Patricia ...
- a) se va y no podra ayudar a Monica.
- b) le ayudará a prepararse si Monica suspende.

Task 2

Read the text and answer the question whether the given statement is true or false (verdadero o falso). Write the letters (a or b) corresponding to the selected options on the answer sheet.

Texto II

Se alza el Parador rodeado de pinos sobre el monte Gibralfaro y frente a la Alcazaba, desde donde se divisa la Bahía y la ciudad de Málaga con una perspectiva única. Construido a base de piedra y junto al castillo de Gibralfaro, su emplazamiento posibilita una visita a Málaga y es adecuado para la práctica de tales actividades deportivas como golf y tenis en las cercanas instalaciones del Parador del Golf. Los espacios comunes, así como las habitaciones y la piscina del ático disfrutan de hermosas vistas sobre la ciudad y el mar, ofreciendo también un excelente nivel de comodidad y confort. Magnifico escaparate de la gastronomy andaluza, el restaurante ofrece entre otros platos, la fritura de mariscos.

Hay vistas magnificas desde el Parador.
- a) verdadero
- b) also
Al lado del Parador hay un monumento historico.
- a) verdadero
- b) also
Para jugar al golf se tiene que ir a otro Parador cerca.
- a) verdadero
- b) also
La piscina del Parador está en el sotano.
- a) verdadero
- b) also
Se recomienda la comida marina en el restaurante.
- a) verdadero
- b) also

Listening text

Un dia en la playa

El sábado pasado nos apetecía ir a la playa y fuimos a la Costa Brava. La Costa Brava está al norte de España, en el Mar Mediterráneo. Estoy completamente seguro de que aquí hay algunas de las playas más bonitas de España. Estuvimos en un lugar precioso, con árboles al lado de la playa y rocas en el agua. Hacía buen tiempo aunque el viento era un poco fuerte. Había bastante gente, pero no mucha. Se estaba bien. Había gente nadando, jugando en la orilla, buceando, jugando con la arena, jugando en el agua o paseando en la orilla. Unos hacian castillos de arena y otros estaban en el agua con una colchoneta. Mucha gente prefería estar tumbada tomando el sol. También había cometas volando. El agua estaba limpia pero algo fria. No me gusta que el agua esté muy fria. Cuando salí del agua me duche. Si te apetecía tomar algo, podías ir a un chiringuito que había en la arena. Para ir a la playa es recomendable llevar una sombrilla y toallas para tumbarse en el suelo o para secarse. Es necesario ponerse crema para que el sol no queme la piel. También hace falta ponerse un sombrero o una gorra para taparse la cabeza.

Si no sabes nadar es mejor que te pongas un flotador. Algunas mujeres llevan biquini, otras llevan banador. Los hombres siempre llevan banador. En el mar lo puedes pasar muy bien si tienes una moto acuática, una lancha, una barca o un barco. Tambien puedes dar un paseo en un crucero. Ese hombre es bueno en windsurf, lo hace bastante bien.

This section of the exam in Spanish includes 9 tasks.

What you need to know and be able to do to successfully complete the "Listening" section of the Unified State Examination in Spanish:

1. Have experience in listening. Unfortunately, schools today pay very little attention to this aspect, and therefore this section presents a certain difficulty for schoolchildren.

2. Be able to adapt to different listening conditions of audio material. The recording on the exam may not be of very good quality, extraneous noise, etc. - you have to be ready for everything!

3. Be able to adapt to hearing the voices of different timbres (female, male, children's, low, high).

4. Have the skills of listening to the text of a monologue and dialogic nature.

5. To master the strategies of global understanding (tasks of the first type), selective understanding (tasks of the second type) and detailed understanding (tasks of the third type) of the text.

6. Have an active vocabulary within the framework necessary for the successful passing of the exam in Spanish.

How to avoid mistakes when completing the tasks of the "Listening" section:

2. When performing tasks, do not try to understand the message of the text, concentrate your attention on the requested information!

3. When completing tasks, you must fully listen to the text and concentrate your attention to the end, since the answer may be at the very end of the text.

4. You need to be able to highlight key information and be able to filter out information that leads away from key information. That is, you need to be able to focus on the main information and ignore phrases that lead away from the main idea and essence of the statement.

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Why is it so difficult to understand Spanish?
Not understanding Spanish is a pain for most students. The same text, when perceived by ear (listening), can give the impression of some kind of meaningless sound stream, and when it is possible to read it, it turns out that all the words were known.

Difficulty understanding Spanish

How to overcome it?
Since few people know the real cause of the problem, the answer to this question usually begins at the end - with advice on what to do.

The most common advice for understanding Spanish: more regular practice (listening). Listen to songs, watch movies and TV. This option does work, but with advanced learners who have crossed a certain threshold in understanding Spanish by ear (listening). That is, with those who have developed speech skills, the language is put into practice, and now it is enough to either keep it at a good level only through practice, or add language practice to regular training sessions.

But for beginners from scratch or those students who have not yet overcome a certain critical threshold in understanding Spanish by ear (listening), that is, Spanish understanding skills have not yet been formed, this recipe is not suitable. You can listen to a stream of unfamiliar sounds as much as you like, it will not turn into meaningful speech from this!

By the way, in the matter of learning Spanish, many people do not make a distinction between learning itself and language practice. Some are afraid of practice and always put it off until better times, while others try to completely replace training with practice. Both are wrong: effective Spanish learning is based on a well-balanced balance of these two irreplaceable things.

Another tip is to break through this barrier of understanding Spanish by immersion. In fact, we are again talking about practice, but differently organized. First of all, you should know that with this method everything is not at all simple. It is not always applicable and not to everyone, and few teachers today are able to implement it. Immersion means that for some time you do not speak your native language at all, not even a single word. Preferably, don't even think about it. If you imagine for a moment what it is like, you will understand that we are talking about a situation of extreme stress. There have been cases when even well-trained in Spanish people came out of a language immersion with a severe headache and other problems. That is why you are unlikely to find a real method of immersion anywhere now, and what passes for it is not a true immersion. Most often, under the brand of immersion, communicative language trainings are now offered. For lovers of training, this format often helps to talk, but this has nothing to do with eliminating the problem of understanding Spanish by ear (listening).

Another mythical but widespread point of view is connected with the difficulties of understanding Spanish by ear (listening). "To learn to understand Spanish by ear, you need to have a good ear for music." It is not true.

Humans naturally have two types of hearing - musical and phonemic. Unlike musical, phonemic gives us the ability to perceive and understand speech. These species are localized in different hemispheres of the brain and do not have a direct connection with each other. You ask: why, then, among people with musical abilities there are many of those to whom languages are easily given? The point is the following. These people are receptive to the melody and intonation of the language, which is a big plus for learning Spanish. Also, music lessons have a beneficial effect on brain activity in general. And with the speech areas of the brain, musicians have a connection through fine motor skills. (Do you want to learn Spanish faster? Take up playing musical instruments, knitting, beading, or anything else that will make your fingers "think". It works, apart from joking.) the field of foreign languages. But the root of the problem of understanding English lies in the lack of phonemic hearing. So - listening, listening, listening and many more times listening.

This type of hearing is highly sensitive during infancy and early childhood. This is the first and main of all human abilities for speech, which is included in the work. The level of development of phonemic hearing was the criterion by which the old teachers, who, alas, are now “not produced” by foreign languages, determined the presence or absence of a person's ability to language in general. Due to poor phonemic hearing, those entering serious language institutions were rejected. The absence or lack of elaboration of phonemic hearing as a basic step in the study of the Spanish language entails other difficulties. Because it is the foundation of the language as a whole. Either there is a foundation, and then the rest of the “building” is firmly built on it, or a Nif-Nif house is obtained, which will fall from the slightest breath of the breeze.

The good news is that phonemic hearing is present in everyone, with the exception of the deaf and dumb. And it can be awakened to life and developed by certain exercises. It is with the development of listening that work begins with the student in the training programs of the Center for Language Psychology.

Learning Spanish on the principle of separate memorization of words and grammar rules, although it is the most familiar and common way, will never lead you to live communication skills. To be able to communicate in Spanish, it is necessary to understand speech and speak fluently - that is, to respond quickly and correctly in a conversation without translating in your mind every word from Russian into Spanish and vice versa. These are the skills you will learn from the CLP programs, and you can further develop them in practice or improve them during advanced classes with a teacher.

Advice for all Spanish learners: listen to authentic (made by native speakers) recordings as much as possible. Movies, songs, shows - everything that can be truly interesting and feasible for your current level of understanding of Spanish. And although these records, unlike the CLP programs, do not have any system or regimen of control and verification, there will be undoubted benefits from such passive practice - as an addition to the method of learning Spanish that you currently follow.