Numbers are usually given little more than a short overview in traditional Spanish language programs because Spanish numbers are considered “easy.” In theory, they are:
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece…
Veinte y uno, veinte y dos
treinta y uno, treinta y dos
cuarenta, cincuenta, seisenta, ochenta, noventa, cien…
The pattern is simple enough to remember. The problem is that native Spanish speakers rattle them off so quickly it’s difficult to make heads or tails of what’s being said. Even advanced Spanish learners have trouble with numbers. Embarrassingly, they can still cause me quite a bit of trouble from time to time, because it’s something that can’t be practiced with a book and it’s not something audio programs the likes of Pimsleur focuses on.
Unfortunately, I think this is truly an area where “practice makes perfect.” I don’t know of any secret tools or techniques that are truly effective for this type of thing. So why did I bother writing this post if I don’t have any ideas on how to overcome the problem in question? I think it’s important to remind ourselves there’s no substitute for hard work. Often, we as consumers come to believe there’s a secret formula or easy answer for every problem we might have. Thus, we become susceptible to falling for every scam in town. Sometimes, you just have to do things the old-fashioned way. Nobody said learning Spanish would be easy, did they?
