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I’m Puerto Rican but I lived in LA my whole life and was pretty much raised by my English grandma. So I never learned Spanish. But I’m really trying to connect with my Puerto Rican culture and learn Puerto Rican Spanish.

I am Puerto Rican born & raised in the Bronx. My Mom never taught me Spanish because in school she was left back for not knowing English. I have anxiety because every time someone speaks to me in Spanish, I am embarrassed. I am almost 50 and I am ready to learn Puerto Rican Spanish. Thank you for giving me inspiration!

Bro honestly, whether you know it or not. You’ve helped me set my foundation on the basketball court, and what you went through is what I went/going through right now. My family is also Puerto Rican and Honduran and I hate being called the “gringo.” It’s so nice to hear your story and honestly I’m inspired and motivated by it. Thank you so much for this video, I really needed it for comfort. You should do more stories of when you were embarrassed if you don’t mind of course. But thank you thank you thank you I’m forever grateful for you.

i love your story! im puertorican and almost 23 and i'm trying to find confidence to speak Spanish. My whole family speaks it and i understand it very well, but it's difficult to speak it at times. i still get sentences mixed up and forget words, but i'm trying

Awwww....I’m a teacher and it saddens me when children don’t embrace their native language. I always tell my bilingual students that knowing more than one language awesome and to keep being awesome. Its like theres this stigma for having an accent or speaking other languages. Also, you bring up a good point with the variations of Spanish as its true with Canadian, British, Scottish, South African, Australian, US south, US north, US east, and US west. At the end of the day we all still understand each other.

I am 73 years old and I have been learning Spanish since I was 15 years old. My first introduction to Spanish was when I was a small child and all through my growing up years our next door neighbors were a Mexican family. I was fascinated hearing them speak Spanish but the kids also spoke English. I did not really learn anything from them but the desire to learn was planted in me. In those days you could not study Spanish in school until you got to the ninth grade and then they only offered two years of Spanish. I was good at it and I loved it. The teacher was not a native speaker but she spoke good Spanish. The first year I got the award for Spanish and that really encouraged me until I found out that I could not win the award the next year too.The second year I slowed down because of that. I was so excited about Spanish then that I decided that I wanted to become a teacher but that never happened. I could tell you about that but I do not want to make this comment too long. Seven years later I started junior college with Spanish as a major and then went on to a four year university so I got a B.A.in Foreign Language (Spanish). Since then I have tried to keep up with Spanish on my own and really have learned much more since then. When I was in high school we did not have TV but we did have shortwave radio and I used to just listen to Spanish broadcasts every night after doing my homework. I listened to VOA and some Mexican stations and also Radio La Habana CUba. In all those years though I never had much experience speaking with natives mainly because of my shyness. I used to practice speaking by reading aloud to myself. As for the type of Spanish I used to think that there was a "Standard Spanish" and I hoped that my accent were neutral. My accent may be neutral but now I know there is no such thing as "Standard Spanish". I prefer the Spanish that is spoken by many Spaniards that do not pronounce the C and Z like S. One of my professors at university spoke like that and I just loved to hear that man speak. To me it sounds very natural but I did not begin to practice it until many years later and now it has become automatic for me.

He’s an excellent teacher. I ought to know because I am taking his course.

I found out that I'm part Puerto Rican, Hawaiian, and Spanish (from Spain), and other. I'm trying to learn my roots, and the language. My family never taught me Spanish, but I took Spanish in high school, I passed with an A+ but, I can't speak spanish, I understand very little. I feel embarrassed when people speak to me in spanish, and I dont fully understand what they're saying. I find your videos very helpful!

No doubt you had a huge advantage with all the exposure to the language your whole life. My 14 year-old niece understands Tagalog because her mother always spoke it to her from birth. She doesn't speak it, but she does understand it. She would always answer her mom in English. However, if she ever decides to appreciate the language one day, she will be able to pick it up so quickly. I wish I would have had that advantage.

I have family in Puerto Rico... but I struggle to understand them. I can understand people from other countries, but not my own people. I feel bad and want to change that. I've always been great writing/typing in Spanish, but I need to improve my ear in order to be able to properly respond in Spanish. Everybody on my Rican side speaks spanish confidently except me. I don't want to embarrass myself. My mom would teach me things here and there and I learned it in school from 6th grade until 11th grade and it definitely wasn't the PR way. I make it a goal to be fluent, but I'm still not there... still not giving up though.

My dad was born and raised on the island and came to the states when he was 24 had me at 25 and did not teach me any Spanish.. he had the mentality that you are in America speak English.. I have 5 children who married Dominicans and my children speak Spanish as well as grandchildren I am learning now at 54 and moving to Puerto Rico permanently and couldn’t be happier!

My mom didn't want me to speak Spanish and my dad wanted me to speak both. So my accent and my speaking is not as strong as it could be. I didn't start studying again until 18. Here I am at 34, I'm almost Cuban/Dominican again lol. Thanks for posting this. I feel better about myself lol.

I love how genuine and transparent this was.

I love that the guy that inspired me to learn moves in basketball is also inspiring me to learn more Spanish. Thank you so much 💯💯

Thanks for this video Rocky 🙏 I really appreciate your personal process, insights and experiences, so lovely to hear. Hope you and your family are all well and getting through lockdown ok ♥️

Loved all the tips in this video! Makes me even more excited to push through my Spanish journey. You’re a great teacher, and very inspiring. Thank you💕

I actually learned about you from the basketball training....it’s dope that you speak and teach Spanish too. Respect!!

I'm half Puerto Rican 🇵🇷 my dad's full blown and he knows spanish but growing up he never talked to me or my brother in spanish he only talked to us in english and our mom was white so she only spoke english

Good vid bro! Takes a lot to be that open so your students have a good learning experience! Shows strength of character bro...bless up! 👊🏽

I have been trying to learn English. You give me hope

Muchas Gracias por este video!!! 🙌🏽

my and your story are so similar. literally to a t. my grandpa speaks to me in spanish 90% of the time. so inspiring to know you learned later in life, as im trying to do now.

You actually made this video! I am from last video when someone else commented it. Your amazing.

Roxky didn't teach me one word in this video but these kind of videos are great. Talking about the why of it. Love this guy.

You gave a lot of gems. Not just for Spanish, but this apply to any other foreign languages. Thank you and keep up the good work. :)

Sounds like you had an interesting childhood. I enjoyed listening to your journey to fluency and found it motivating. I have finally found the time to study Spanish. It has been on my bucket list forever.

thank you so much for this video! i learned a lot. es muy amable, Dios lo bendiga! saying hello from PH 🇵🇭

Rocky, me gustó aprender más sobre ti y tu cuento!

Your story is just like mines I’m Dominican and I’m from nyc I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish and my mom never spoke to me in Spanish because she knew I didn’t speak it but you’ve really been helping me

Gracias! This video speaks to alot of people including myself.

Wow I relate to this so much! Fellow new yoRican who responded to my grandparents in English. Me and my cousins are pissed we’re kit fluent in Spanish now. Def feel self conscious about speaking. So I’m glad I found this channel! More PR dialect videos please :)

This video was very helpful. I've been passionate about learning Spanish since I was a teenager, now that I'm an adult I feel like I have struggled with conversational Spanish and struggle to translate Spanish, lack of confidence. But this video will help me improve. I'm actually going to Puerto Rico in January 2023 and I'd like to know how to communicate with the natives.

This has to be one of the most encouraging videos on KZfaq. The imitation thing is key. I was able to do that with German because everyone learns a standard spoken version in school, which allows them to switch to that version when speaking to foreigners or that is not from the area. I am very comfortable hearing academic Spanish and after 20 years, can’t really communicate with The locals here in central Florida since my ears don’t hear any specific pattern. The technology to slow down music or dialogue, while keeping the same key or pitch, along with transcripts, is an invaluable tool to start to overcome that long-standing hurdle.

Thank you very much. This video was very informative👍

This was a very informative video. Thank you so much for making it.

This is EXCELLENT advice. I was always taught the differences, so I did not realize that if you do not know that national speaking and vocabulary is different for every nation, then you will tend to think that all Spanish is the same. And eventually, you will have to learn the history of your chosen nation. Gracias

I am Swedish moving to Puerto Rico and your videos have helped me so much. I mostly (and preferably) hang with locals when I’m there and it’s so helpful that I’ve been able to learn a little bit of how to talk and to understand Puerto Rican Spanish before I first got there. Now I have a whole lot of Boricua friends, and will have more!! 🇵🇷💕

I can relate to your story so much! Spanish was technically my 1st language. My father was born & raised in P.R. and didn't learn English until his 20's. When my parents divorced, English took over. I understand a lot, but always respond in English. I've been fearful of attempting to speak P.R. Spanish. You're an inspiration! 😁 ❤️ Your videos! Thank you.

I've been trying to learn Spanish for twenty years now, and I've still never managed to construct a single sentence or so much as order a meal. It's super impressive that you managed to pick up enough to be conversational so quickly. I'll redouble my efforts and try even harder.

Your story touched me so much that I was crying. My family is from Spain, but while I was growing up they valued integration into American culture. My great grandmother didn't speak no English, so I learned Spanish when I was little, but I'd lost most of the language along the way. What remained was English versions of Spanish phrases (e.g. didn't speak no English), a few Spanish phrases, and somehow spontaneously going off in spanish in my head or out loud in the car when I'm upset. I've had many spanish speaking friends and visited family in Spain, and got similar responses as those you received, why do I not speak Spanish (read: what's wrong with you?). I became more aware of how much I am culturally Hispanic regardless of my ability to speak the language, and wanted to dive into the language and culture more to make sense on my identity. I took 3 semesters of college spanish, and can text and write pretty well in spanish, even in synchronous messaging. I can pronounce things well, albeit with a hot mess of Leon-Asturiano, Castilian, y EEUU español dialects. But try to get me to converse verbally and I freeze. Whether it's because I can't understand what the other person is saying, or I blank on a super basic word that I've known for years under the invisible pressure to keep the conversation flowing smoothly. Other times I'm fine, with more commonly discussed topics. I do talk to myself ( my most common phrase being dónde está...) because I'm always losing things, but I hadn't been answering myself as you've suggested, so I'll try that also. I just wanted to share because your story resonated so much with my own. Thank you for the work you've put into this channel, I look forward to getting caught up with all the videos

I was born in Ponce pero I was raised in Lancaster PA. Spanish was my first language, but I grew up in foster care and lost out on it quickly and was adopted by a white family. I tried to relearn but gave up like 10 years ago. Definitely improved a lot but still farrrr from fluent. This is a good help in putting it in context.

You are the best ❤ follow you from North Africa . Here we learn Spanish of Spain.

Great piece. The UK says we don't speak English here. They say we speak American English. Your story of growing up speaking English first... is so common. Love the platform. It's so needed.

We have a VERY similar past when it comes to culture, language, and linguistic experience! Thanks for the vid!🌟

Thank you so much for this video!! I can relate so much to your story. I did not grow up in a Spanish speaking household. My mom is fluent in Spanish but didn’t teach my sisters and I. Like you, I could understand some Spanish yet I felt embarrassed that I couldn’t speak it well. I felt intimidated and judged by other Hispanics that looked down on me for not knowing the language. You are so right about fear. It can cripple and hinder us from pursuing new opportunities and meeting goals in life. Thank you so much for your videos. I love your channel. I’m also a fellow student of yours and I am learning a lot from your courses. Que Dios te bendiga 🙏🏼😊

I completely relate to this, I'm Boricua/ Cubana from the Bronx too. I speak fluent Spanish now, the Cubaniche of my father who is from Mantanzas Cuba and the Puerto Rican Spanish of Ponce where my mother is from, but as a kid I didn't like speaking it at all. I went to Cuba and it changed my life. The richness of the culture made me ashamed that I hadn't been serious about speaking properly. The language is a bride to a lot of valuable interactions with our people. I speak it fluently now. I'm using your videos as a tool to teach my kids Spanish properly. They speak Italian everyday because we live in Rome. But I speak Spanish to them and my husband speaks Sicilian and standard Italian to them. It's important that our kids speak the language it's a bridge to our families

Appreciate the transparency and encouragement. The perspective really helps. My major fear is making mistakes and being judged for not understanding everything or keeping up with the conversation. I'm too stubborn to quit though. I've started your program to reinforce what I already know and to try and fill in the gaps. Any other recommendations besides what you've already mentioned?

thank you for this story!!!!!!!!! necissito a oir esto!

Thanks for the video, I have almost the exact some story as you (only difference is I also couldn't understand spanish when I was little so it made it extra hard to learn lol), both parents are "New Yoricans" and my grandparents are from puerto rico. Trying my best now, listening and speaking are still a bit of a challenge!

You are telling my story! Daughter of a Puerto Rican/Cuban father born in the states whose first language was Spanish but would not teach me bc he didn't want teach me "improper" language, and a black American mother who spoke NO Spanish. Always embarrassed by my Spanish friends bc I didn't speak the language, but I do have the Spanish tongue (pronounciation). Now, I want to move to Central America to retire lol! Your tips and lessosn are great. Thanks for sharing.

I think your accent is excellent. I appreciate your videos!

My Dad is Puerto Rican from the Bronx, and I also grew up speaking only English. Trying to learn asap so I can communicate with the Puerto Rican family. It's overdue. So glad I found your channel, great video!

Muchas gracias. This is helpful. I’m not Latina pero like I grew up around a lot of Puerto Ricans so I like their Spanish. as an adult, I’m no longer around them so I have less access to their Spanish but more access to Mexican Spanish which I don’t like as much. I’ll listen to more news and try to focus on a neutral Spanish. Yes please do more Puerto Rican Spanish videos.

I appreciate you a lot. My parents are Colombian and like you Ive grown up around spanish but ive always been afraid to speak it often because I'm not very good and english was always easier. I have been little by little working to improve my spanish but seeing your videos are inspiring and making me really want to learn spanish for good. Thanks for the motivation and making these videos!

Grew up with a speech impediment so I even struggled with English up until middle school. Started learning the speak Spanish in high school. What I knew before was broken but understood it 100%. Now 25 trynna be fluent and you Forsure helped a lot in boosting my confidence!

i’m a korean american and born in la, my mother tongue language is english as well, but every korean automatically thinks i speak it so now i’m trying to learn

Hola! I discovered your channel yesterday and subbed today. I can so relate to your story. I am French-Canadian. My Russian father wanted us to go to English school and not speak French at home. But every weekend I listened to French at mum"s relatives. I picked up French naturally. But anytime I tried to speak it, French people would reply in English. I thought the problem was me. I just had to find more patient, helpful French speakers other than my relatives. Such as at different community groups, security guards, bus drivers, hairdressers, churches and social clubs! Now I am applying this with espan`ol. Gracias!

My lady friend is from Honduras& I told her she is the quiet motivation for me learning spanish.having a Spanish name people assumed I was spanish.by the way,u are an excellent teacher,you give a lot of great points& the long video is to me a great encouragement! Keep it up!

Wooooah, this was really good!!!

This helped, thanks!

Wow almost the same story as me I’m Puerto Rican but I grew up in Hawaii my grandmother was from San Juan also

I love your approach and your advice. And am about a 3rd generation American and quickly our culture lost and it can be painful or embarrassing at times. My family wanted to loose the language to adopt a new way of life and it is understandable in those days. I now want to improve my Spanish as well as teach my child. Learning any other language can open doors to new friends and places. I wish more Americans saw a new language in a positive light because it is not easy. I'm going to try your class along with some others it sounds great thank you.

Love your videos and this video touch my heart because I went through something similar and I am still learning how to speak my Puerto Rican Spanish and your videos is helping me a lot.

I’ve been trying to Learn Spanish found this video and recognized you from your basketball channel.

Great video, great story, very motivating!!

Great advice, bro.

Great video and very encouraging 🙏🏽

I’m 22 years old and I’m Puerto Rican but I was never taught Spanish. My dad was deployed on and off in the military for a lot of my upbringing, meanwhile I would be at home with my mom who doesn’t know Spanish. I’ve been picked on by my cousins, aunts, uncles, and Abuela all my life for not knowing the language. I’m absolutely tired and fed up with not knowing how to speak the language of my people so I’m finally learning. When you talked about needing that desire to learn, I felt that 100%. You’re videos are great brother keep it up! 🇵🇷🙏🏼

I love your channel.

I have great respect for you and anyone who is fluent in more than one language. Great video! I didn't realize that there were different types of Spanish. I thought Spanish was just Spanish. It's funny because I know that there are different types of English like American English, British English, Caribbean English etc. I think I'm going to be focusing on learning Puerto Rican Spanish.

Your story sounds a lot like mine. I’ve always hated Spanish because I was a proud full blooded Puerto Rican that the schools kids called Mexico (I couldn’t speak proper Puerto Rican Spanish) I think you inspired to push myself and learn. My family comes from the campo

Bro our stories are so similar and yet so different that I relate to everything you mentioned in this video!! My quick backstory: I'm Ecuadorian/Salvadorian but never spoke Spanish in my household really. The only time I would make an attempt to speak Spanish was with my Ecuadorian grandmother who only speaks Spanish. My mother was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx,but she is fluent in both languages,but my father was born and raised in El Salvador and came to the US when he was,I believe, 12 or 14 years old. But my dad learned a bit of English from my mother and a bit from just being in this country altogether,no matter how broken his English was. Our parents spoke to us primarily in English and only spoke Spanish when they were yelling at us lmao. They never really took the time to teach us thoroughly how to speak Spanish. I also took Spanish class in school but never took it seriously as you said. But it gave me a bit more foundation with the basics that I was lacking in. Looking back now, I wish I did take it more seriously. Fast forward a couple of years after highschool,my Honduran friend started to teach me a few things in Spanish,mainly insults and our accent (lmao) and it gave me a bit more desire to learn it. Especially when I started to work amongst nothing but native immigrants who spoke nothing but Spanish. It really helped out a lot even though it was an embarrassing struggle to go through but I'm incredibly thankful for it all. Now I have a burning desire to learn it fluently and I'm so grateful from this journey that even though I'm not where I want to be,I'm way better than where I was when I started! I listen to nothing but the artists that you mentioned like Bad Bunny and Anuel,and I've picked up even more Spanish that way as well. I plan on taking your course real soon to continue expanding and learning. Thank you so much for your services and also sharing your story,it's really refreshing to hear someone else explain what I have gone/currently going through. Keep up the great work as you're impacting millions worldwide!

Great lesson! Gracias!🙏🏼🇵🇷

The Boogie Down!!! 👊🏾

I always wished that my mom would speak more Spanish to me I could relate to this story dramatically This gives me a lot of hope though

You are such a help. I am subconsciously learning Nuyorican because of the location because now that I am learning Spanish, I can hear how proper Spanish sounds comparably. Man, we slang it UP in N.Y.C. !

Very good backstory rocky..

I can completely relate to your story as a 1st generation Mexican. I grew up understanding but embarrassed about my inability to respond in Spanish. I can speak better now because I have forced myself to talk in Spanish. I, too, started with listening to Daddy Yankee :) and writing down lyrics to Reggaetón. I still listen primarily to Reggaetón and Salsa. I have a brother in law from Puerto Rico who I can message in Spanish. Needless to say, my Spanish is definitely going to sound like a mix of my native Cali Mexican with Puerto Rican & Caribbean flavor because I now live in Florida. I personally like that you are doing your videos in your Puerto Rican accent because neutral Spanish can be heard everywhere else.

Thanks man I'm interested for the way y teach me gusta

Great video! Would you be able to do a video on the most common Puerto Rican slang terms and more Puerto Rican related things

Hola amigo. I’m Puerto Rican too!

qué bacano parce ,lo espero que este canal crece tan grande como ilovebasketballtv 👍

This was a great video. I think one way to relate this to US english speakers is to give examples of how different even english sound throughout the US. for example form California to New York, to Boston to Alabama, etc. We all kn ow a southern accent is very different than a New York accent etc. I know you probably have other European or Canadian students wanting to learn, but maybe you throw that in also as far as accents.

A mi me gusta tu acento!!

Thank you

yo soy al reves , quiero aprender ingles , saludos desde españa

Rocky, THIS is the video I’ve been waiting for!! Thanks for getting this up so fast after my comment on the last video lol. This gives me even more motivation to learn Spanish! You’re the best Spanish teacher out there and your videos always feel like authentic, real world advice. This is why you’re a cut above the rest. Thanks again my guy! 🙌🏽 #Saludo

I'll be checking for that video covering Dominican Spanish (if you haven't already made it, yet). That's an upcoming vacation spot.

Awesome video B!!!

The Boogie Down!!!

When I started to focus on just one dialect, I seemed to not make as much progress as when I was doing a more broader study of spanish though. My Spanish-speaking friends in Columbia, Venezuela, & Mexico told me that I shouldn't focus on one dialect because as you said Spanish is Spanish at the end of the day so it doesn't matter the dialects that you learn from. They did however tell me to not learn from the Spanish of Spain LOL

Your story is similar to mine...but with Yiddish being the language I didn't learn as a child.

A great video and insights, I have the same challenge with my kids who only speak English and won't speak Punjabi.

Enjoyed the vid. I was thinking about your advice to listen to interviews with Latino artists. I was imagining someone taking the same approach to learning English. So they start listening to interviews with rappers like Little Wayne. That would be so funny to hear a non native English speaker talking English like Wayne and other with slang and all.

I recently decided to learn Spanish... You would think I would know a ton beings I am married to a Mexican who speaks to me in Spanish and we have been together for 14 years... The problem I have is like you when you were young I understand a ton... I just cannot speak it in sentences... I don't know if I'm afraid to sound stupid or what... But I really want to learn...

I have a very similar background. I'm Puerto Rican and my dad is from the Bronx. I was born and raised in Florida. My mom thought I would just naturally pick up the language, but I only spoke English growing up. I'd like to be able to go back to Puerto Rico and actually speak to my family. Last time I went, I ended up being quiet the whole time 😭. I'm improving a lot through KZfaq and music though. I love Myke Towers, Rauw Alejandro, Bad Bunny, etc. I've also been listening to podcasts and reading children's novels in Spanish. Your videos have been very helpful and motivational for me as well! (Also, respectfully, please don't call Latinos "Spanish," we're not Spaniards lol)

Same is true for Sicilian/Italian Americans, 25-35 y/o really never learned our language (fluently) really. Where do you recommend to start, meaning Spain Spanish to me is harder than say Mexico Spanish. The islands are like comparing Sicilian to Italian ie: PR / DR / Spain Spanish. So many slangs. I have more or less chosen to learn Mexico Spanish due to it bordering America. I would like to know which Spanish you think is best to START with. I really like this channel thank you for the help.

Muchas gracias

Yo why is this describing ME growing up? Man, the jokes were cool here and there but it brought me down so bad. I'm committed to it now, using apps, talking to my family, watching Caso Cerrado (on repeat!) But it took me a while. Ill def start introducing more music in Spanish. Watching this was inspiring, keep it going, bro!