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by dazc 3566 days ago
Yes, learning Spanish is tough and July/August is pretty hot, so much so I returned to the UK for 2 months.
2 comments

I'm in Sevilla for several weeks and was told by locals to come in September rather than August, due to the heat letting up. So far, it's been 40-45C every single day (save for the past few), and that leaves me couped up in the apt.

I'm missing Lisbon, where I usually live (over 300 days of sun yet it never really gets unbearably hot). I can't imagine being in Andalucia during the entire summer, though I hear Granada isn't as bad (probably due to being 30 min to the mountains and 30 min to the beach).

There's unusual weather in Europe at the moment. The UK recorded their hottest September day since 1911.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/13/uks-hottest-...

I'm in Alicante. It's been around 30-32C for the past two weeks which is hot enough to make me lethargic for most of the day. I couldn't bear 40-45C.
I can speak maybe 5 words in Spanish but I was usually told that it was easy to learn?
I find the vocabulary isn't that hard to learn as you pick up new words each day and eventually they stick. The grammar required to put those words together is another matter though.

It really does depend on your situation though. I have one to one lessons twice a week but it's not really enough as I manage to get by without having to speak that much during the week.

However, I know people who have picked it up fairly quickly because they are working in a public facing environment where they really have to learn fast.

The grammar required to put those words together is another matter though.

I wrote down a grammar card with all the verb conjugations (-AR, -IR, -ER verbs) and carried it in my pocket everywhere. When I couldn't remember, I (as soon as practical) pulled it out of my pocket and double-checked.

The most difficult one for me was getting la/el correct. Although by that point I knew the correct gender of each noun, it didn't come out correctly when speaking quickly.

I have started doing something similar - I have a notebook with some basics that I can refer to while attempting a conversation.

It helps, a bit, and is lot more convenient than firing up google translate every two minutes (which isn't that much use for a lot of grammar anyway).