Learning Spanish

[TSJMajesty]

I'm planning on going back into business for myself in 2026, and I've decided it would be a great benefit for me to learn Spanish since my business is residential construction.

So I'm just wondering if we have anyone else here who learned a 2nd language as an adult (especially if it's Spanish.) If so, what can you recommend?

I want to focus on the ways I would use the language in the trades, as opposed to becoming completely fluent.

In a few videos I've watched so far, it seems I'm finding there are different types of Spanish, depending on where a person is from. So probably one of the first things I'll need to determine is where most of the workers in my area are from, if there is such a percentage, just so I can efficiently focus my efforts.

Thoughts?

 

[newholland]

id just drill duolingo whenever i had a few minutes (literally five minute lessons and drills) and practice consistently with the native spanish speakers around me so i could learn idioms and funny shit to say so i didnt read like a robot- and also just push my vocabulary so id sound like myself. nobody likes jefe when hes a dictatorial signpost.
besides for saying 'move this and clean that'.. it really helps to say- lunch smells awesome... im so hungry i could eat my shoes right now.'

 

[newholland]

oh- meantime- not to dissuede you of learning tradespeak at all. i haveta do that too- but the good will that gets generated by allowing dorky human interactions about somebody's kids, the horrible weather, admiring their car, or even just saying thank you for busting ass today takes morale to infinity cause people feel seen and appreciated. i swear that made the hugest difference to my overall well being at work.

 

[TSJMajesty]

oh- meantime- not to dissuede you of learning tradespeak at all. i haveta do that too- but the good will that gets generated by allowing dorky human interactions about somebody's kids, the horrible weather, admiring their car, or even just saying thank you for busting ass today takes morale to infinity cause people feel seen and appreciated. i swear that made the hugest difference to my overall well being at work.

I've already come across that fact in just a small amount of google searches. Very cool!

Some product that focuses on construction Spanish went so far to say that if you're out there trying to learn Spanish, they will have a greater desire to learn English.

Would Duolingo work well for me to have on my phone and in my earbuds while I'm working on stuff around the house, or is it the type of app where I have to be constantly interacting physically with my phone?

 

[newholland]

I've already come across that fact in just a small amount of google searches. Very cool!

Some product that focuses on construction Spanish went so far to say that if you're out there trying to learn Spanish, they will have a greater desire to learn English.

Would Duolingo work well for me to have on my phone and in my earbuds while I'm working on stuff around the house, or is it the type of app where I have to be constantly interacting physically with my phone?

eh.. it takes a fair amount of interaction- but its such a brief period that its not super painful. the joy of that is you can jam in a buncha little sessions if you have some time, and one if you dont, which i always found encouraged my leveling up!

im absolutely onboard with making folks feel like part of a team- and ive sure seen in real time how folks reciprocate feeling like it matters that you can communicate- so kudos to ya!

 

[Piing]

Yo soy Español, y a veces no entiendo a algunos sudamericanos

e.g.: in Spain the verb "coger" always means "to take" (official Spanish). But in Mexico and Argentina they understand "to fuck".

You can imagine what they think when they listen to us saying "I am going to take you on an adventure", "I am going to take the dog", "I am going to take that fish", etc.

Down there, when they do not mean to fuck, instead of saying "coger" (to take) they say "tomar" (to catch), "agarrar" (to grab), or "pillar" (capture).

 

[fetishfrog]

When my wife’s ex husband was working as a server, the Mexican cooks kept calling him ‘maricon’, which he assumed meant, ‘the American.’

Pro tip, it does not mean ‘the American’.

 

[TSJMajesty]

When my wife’s ex husband was working as a server, the Mexican cooks kept calling him ‘maricon’, which he assumed meant, ‘the American.’

Pro tip, it does not mean ‘the American’.

I'd rather be a maricon working on the floor, than slaving in that hot kitchen.

 

[DrewJD82]

I've already come across that fact in just a small amount of google searches. Very cool!

Some product that focuses on construction Spanish went so far to say that if you're out there trying to learn Spanish, they will have a greater desire to learn English.

Would Duolingo work well for me to have on my phone and in my earbuds while I'm working on stuff around the house, or is it the type of app where I have to be constantly interacting physically with my phone?

I haven't read all the replies, but I have one employee who knows slightly less English than I know Spanish and we do 90% of our communication through Google Translate. And yes, your employees will be that much eager to learn English if you're learning Spanish at the same time, as long as they're the kind of employee that cares. Whenever I have a new project for my guy I'll pick a few words for each of us to learn that relate to the task and we usually get them to stick by the time the job is done.

I'm at the point now where I can listen to people speaking Spanish and have a general idea of what they're talking about with no specifics. The biggest thing is showing your guys you're putting effort into learning, that will gain you so much more respect than the guys who put zero effort into it and completely remove any "lazy gringo" connotations right at the gate. It's a point of pride with me when my staff introduces me to their family or when we're onboarding a new employee and they say "This Drew, no gringo!" because 'gringo' doesn't just mean white dude, it generally means "lazy white asshole who is going to boss us around and can't do a single bit of work as well as we can". NOT being that guy will go a long, long fucking way.

 

[DrewJD82]

I'd rather be a maricon working on the floor, than slaving in that hot kitchen.

Depends; is it in season or not? I used to serve when we were in season then go to the kitchen when it wasn't. Hahahah those nights making $200 in 4 hours on the floor can QUICKLY turn into making $25 in 6 hours when it gets slow and the heat of that kitchen starts feeling a LOT cooler!

 

[TSJMajesty]

Depends; is it in season or not? I used to serve when we were in season then go to the kitchen when it wasn't. Hahahah those nights making $200 in 4 hours on the floor can QUICKLY turn into making $25 in 6 hours when it gets slow and the heat of that kitchen starts feeling a LOT cooler!

Fortunately, when I waited tables, the restaurants I worked in matched the wait staff pretty well to how busy it would be, so I always did well. Heck, when I was 19, I was the only one on the floor on Monday nights at Pizza Hut, and it was my best shift of the week. But I had to bring my A-game.

Tuesdays was just a bit busier, that they put 2 people on, and I made a lot less for almost the same amount of work.

 

[Frankencat]

I did Duolingo every day for a year last year and didn't learn that much Spanish from it. I learned more from working with Spanish speaking people and Google Translate. I'm still pretty lame at it but at least I have the basics and can order food and find a bathroom lol.

Quiero un taco de pollo en el baño.

 

[la szum]

I'm planning on going back into business for myself in 2026, and I've decided it would be a great benefit for me to learn Spanish since my business is residential construction.

So I'm just wondering if we have anyone else here who learned a 2nd language as an adult (especially if it's Spanish.) If so, what can you recommend?

I want to focus on the ways I would use the language in the trades, as opposed to becoming completely fluent.

In a few videos I've watched so far, it seems I'm finding there are different types of Spanish, depending on where a person is from. So probably one of the first things I'll need to determine is where most of the workers in my area are from, if there is such a percentage, just so I can efficiently focus my efforts.

Thoughts?

This is on my bucketlist of things to become more fluent in. I hope I don't end up kicking that
darn bucket into the next life.




My recent funny story was trying to speak Spanish at a local convenience store,
and the young cashier is like, "I'm not Mexican! I am Loatian! Everyone thinks
I am Mexican here! WTF!"

I felt like a total ass. And no, I did not think she was Mexican. I explained my
perspective, and we both laughed..... in a universal language.

Now I am gunshy to practice in public.

 

[la szum]

My secret thought is Latinos don't want more white people to learn Spanish. Then
they can't laugh and talk behind our backs as much.

 

[laxu]

I think the trick is regularly using the language.

I am fluent in Finnish and English, but know a fair bit of Swedish, Japanese and French. I've visited Japan enough times over the years that speaking it doesn't get super rusty, but my reading has gone to shit where I can't remember even all the hiragana and katakana symbols.

By comparison my Swedish and French are on a level where I could read a newspaper and understand the gist of articles, but would have difficulty speaking with someone because I can't remember the right words and structures off the top of my head.

Plus accents can make comprehension much harder. Years ago when I was in Denmark, I thought I could get by with Swedish but I honestly could not understand a thing because Danish sounds like Swedish with a potato in your mouth. Not difficult to read tho.

PS. If you happen to own Samsung phones, try the Interpreter feature. Put the phone on a table where both of you can see it, and start talking. It can work pretty great for allowing conversations in your native language while the app translates it to both of you in text and speech.

PPS. One of my favorite Arrested Development story gags is Gob thinking his girlfriend is having an affair with someone called "Hermano".
"You’re a good guy, mon frère. That means “brother” in French. I don’t know why I know that. I took four years of Spanish!"

 

[Holden Afart]

My secret thought is Latinos don't want more white people to learn Spanish. Then
they can't laugh and talk behind our backs as much.

I think you mean Latinas after us crackers try to put the moves on em.

 

[DrewJD82]

I think you mean Latinas after us crackers try to put the moves on em.

Mostly true, but there’s a subset of Latina women who have white fever and they’re the reason I’ve been eating Dominican and Peruvian food weekly for the last couple of years. There’s also a bit of a thrill knowing that either of them could gut me in seconds without hesitation if they felt implied to do so.