I’ve been teaching myself spanish for 4 or 5 years. I have read several collections of stories written for language learners (not real) I’ve read a novel written for beginners (not real) I’ve read a novel written for children(not real) this year I read a terrible YA thriller (some would say real, but not me) –and as of yesterday, I have finally read a REAL book en español, one written for adults and considered to be a classic and an actually good book. The book was El Túnel by Ernesto Sabato, and I enjoyed it a lot. It even partly inspired the current thing I have been writing for the past few months.
Next year my goal is to read 3 real books in Spanish.
I wonder how long it will take, though, before I stop wondering what I’m missing. Even though I enjoyed the book, I feel that I certainly missed many subtleties, hints, tone, and etc. How long will it be before I can read fully fluently? and is that even possible without writing fluently, or speaking? Because, as confident as I feel reading, I can barely speak the language.
Though, reading is the main reason I want to learn languages anyway. If I can read Spanish fluently and never speak a word, I’ll be perfectly satisfied.
Jonas David 