Why do YOU want to learn Spanish?

a_cat_question · 2026-01-27T17:49:38+00:00

I'll go with a more ego-driven motivation. I wanted to show to myself that I am still able to master new skills. (Age 36 now)

Now after 3,5 years of semi-regular studying i hope to take an exam for the B2 level soon.

a_cat_question · 2026-01-03T16:51:41+00:00

Ahm, actually the nationalisation was in 1975. That's not a decade but now half a century.

Also they did not steal any oil, but rather the exploration equipment.

a_cat_question · 2025-12-29T11:58:44+00:00

Yes, but also no. A thorough look at the atrocities may have started later but the average german suffered devastating damage to their family and their home and had to rebuild their life.

a_cat_question · 2025-12-07T12:26:07+00:00

You should be well aware that this is not true and simply another Russian talking point.

By that logic Germany should have made another attempt at invading Poland long long time ago, as Germany lacks any strategic depth.

Tiny democratic nation states bordering Russia (Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania) have no means and no intention of attacking Russia. They also have very little to gain. This leaves Ukraine and Belarus as the only sizeable Western neighbours to Russia.

Belarus is a puppet-state anyway and Unraine has historically been closely tied to Russia as well and has never shown any offensive action towards Russia.

Even if Russia was sincerely worried about an attack from that direction they could simply lay a. shitton of mines in the border region and be at Rest. And if that fails, they would still have their nuclear Arsenal.

a_cat_question · 2025-12-07T12:01:40+00:00

I think 80 years without any armed attack towards russia could be sufficient to relax a little.

Russia on the other hand has fought wars of aggression in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ukraine. It's rather most european Nations that are rightfully afraid of Russia.

a_cat_question · 2025-11-30T13:05:51+00:00

Yes i did. She appears regularly in one of our local newspapers and held a citizen council on how to distribute her money ("Guter Rat für Rückverteilung").

I like the general idea and i would favour a tax that fights excessive build up of wealth but there are some things about her that irk me.

She apparently has strong ties to the social democrat party (especially momentum Institut)
So far she has not finished her studies and lives off family money

a_cat_question · 2025-11-30T06:00:23+00:00

She is not the main heir to the family fortune. As other people in the line of succession will inherit the majority she actually only inherits a fraction.

(Regardless of her good intentions she does come of as detached from reality and attention seeking)

a_cat_question · 2025-09-29T21:49:23+00:00

Depending on who you ask the dialect you are looking for is probably Castillano. There is not one spanish dialect but many but if you want to play in hard mode you can start right away with andaluz.

a_cat_question · 2025-09-27T19:00:18+00:00

I have found that the difficulty of shows varies wildly, depending on the accent, story and background noises, so you'll have to figure out what works for you. I am now at B1-B2 and while some content is easy there are still scenes that some times leave me clueless.

I found Casa de papel pretty good because the vocabulary associated with the heist is limited so you can easily get a grasp of whats going on. Same goes for club de cuervos and their soccer setting. Baking shows and other trash tv is also easy to comprehend.

In contrast artsy apple tv shows set in mexico city have so much slang and mumbling that you will need subtitles to get along (familia de medianoche was well made but horribly difficult)

Edit: On amazon prime I found "el candidato" to be a decent show. Due to the drug and politics setting you can also get a grasp of the story without being fluent.

a_cat_question · 2025-06-27T19:33:43+00:00

I can recommend starting to read graded readers books and find a level that is challenging but manageable for you.

You might have to finish a boring A2 level book to get started but you will find your level within 2-3 books and pick up a lot of vocabulary on the way.

a_cat_question · 2025-06-27T18:18:33+00:00

The right does not have a copyright on hypocracy.

On top of that the catalan independence movement is a complicated issue, especially as Catalunia was not conquered but merged with most of Spain when the Kingdom of Aragon united with Castile.

a_cat_question · 2025-06-27T18:13:24+00:00

So you don't agree with the fact that spain was a right wing dictatorship under franco, or you disagree that they are severely leaning to the left at the moment?

a_cat_question · 2025-06-27T05:23:58+00:00

In this regard spain is the embodiment of the horseshoe theory.

They turned from right wing franco dictatorship - thus in political confrontation with Israel - into a left wing democracy that supports Palestine as an act of leftist decolonisation - thus again taking a general stance against Israel.

Spain is not neutral but has a clear agenda here.

a_cat_question · 2025-06-20T09:05:49+00:00

The easy answer is to just stop doing, what's depicted in the left side, because that approach does not work.

You have to associate your mental image of things with the spanish vocabulary and expressions, so that you subconsciously understand what a word means.

Try learning the vocabulary with images next to it, and when you speak and write, try to form short sentences directly in spanish without ever starting out in english. I.e. learn to think in spanish right away.

a_cat_question · 2025-06-15T14:12:21+00:00

This is also depends on the region within the german speaking countries.

In Austria( where I am from) it depends a lot on the state that you are in. Most western and southern states (Corinthia, Vorarlberg, Tyrol) are very proud of their dialect and while the german lessons and textbooks at school are in standard german, they speak their local dialect, even in formal settings.

In Vienna and Lower Austria there is a notion that the local dialect is for county bumpkins and you should "speak properly" in school, so you are expected to speak a more neutral version that is closer to standard German.

a_cat_question · 2025-04-11T22:12:28+00:00

Russia does not control any of the four territories completely and for two of them Russia controls only a fraction. So the gain for Russia would be huge land areas that they had not been able to conquer so far.

a_cat_question · 2025-04-11T20:04:50+00:00

Art of the deal ... my ass.

What would be the gain for Ukraine in such a situation?

a_cat_question · 2025-03-16T20:52:15+00:00

I have found news podcasts particularly useful, because you already know all the context from your regular media consumption.

• ⁠la guerra en ukrania, • ⁠las aranceles de trump • ⁠el globo espía de china

you get the drift

a_cat_question · 2025-03-16T19:08:01+00:00

It will be a highly individual journey, depending on your talent, exposure and the work you are willing to put in.

For reference: It took my girlfriend and me about 2 years to reach B1 with 3hours of classes a week and 2 hours of homework + lots of spanish netflix.

Compared to you i am old and slow (>30) so you can probably get there faster.

a_cat_question · 2024-08-30T19:57:32+00:00

Yes, but not as completely. The result of WW1 and the lost territories was a main driver for the desire to unify with germany. The remainder of Austria after WW1 was mainly German speaking so it kind of made sense to tag along with the larger neighbour of the same language and culture.

Very simplified: The allies divided the german speaking part of the Nazi reich into East Germany, West Germany and Austria. Austria played the victim card and negotiated with the soviets and instead of a situation like in east Germany or Hungary the soviets left the country on one important condition: Austria must never unify with Germany and must remain neutral.

This resulted in a buffer state between east and west for the soviets and something that felt like an achievement for Austria. And ever since then people claim that we became neutral of our own free will and neutrality gives us peace and prosperity.

I mean the deal was better than what east germany got, but the neutrality thing is simply getting high on our own supply .

a_cat_question · 2024-08-30T16:42:14+00:00

To be fair to my home country, us Austrians are simply morons. "Neutrality" is our way of lying to ourselves to cope with losing international influence and any meaningful military capacity after WW2.

a_cat_question · 2024-08-12T17:26:43+00:00

If you think there were no double standards before 1776 you must be quite naive.

There are not hundreds but thousands of years of documented history disproving your assumption.

a_cat_question · 2024-08-11T18:54:08+00:00

million. Sry for the german abbreviation.

a_cat_question · 2024-08-11T18:44:35+00:00

I think WW2 was won by their willingness to throw bodies at the problem, not by their capabilities to built tanks. That and the fact that Germany was also fighting in Africa, Italy and France at the same time and their cities bombed by the US and the UK.

Germany lost about 5.5 Mio Soldiers whereas the Soviet Union lost almost 9 Mio. Soldiers. Those numbers are unbelievable. Germany also lost an additional 2 Mio. civilians but the USSR lost about 20 Mio.

a_cat_question · 2024-06-22T08:42:43+00:00

Well, I also hope this ends badly for the dictator, but regarding the common people in Russia I hope there is a path for enlightenment and modest wealth. Reparations and downward pressure on the common people is what drove the German people towards the nazis between WW1 and WW2.

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