FredH8,
It is what it is.
There is “la quiero enviar” and “quiero enviarla," it seems some places in the spanish speaking world prefer one form over the other, the first trips me up while the second rolls easily off my tongue.
Maybe the structure has to do with two verbs together, “quiero enviar," maybe since the first verb is conjugated that dictates putting “la” either in front of the first verb or behind the second unconjugated verb.
If the verb is conjugated as in “ Se la servimos” the “la” has to go in front of the verb, and to even try to say the incorrect “se servimosla” just doesn't flow.
I could be wrong, but I understand it's a great gramatical sin to put - me te se le les nos la las lo los - on the back of a conjugated verb, unless it has “ndo” tacked on the root verb.
But how to explain all the “pasale, muevele, apurate, pongole” et all I've heard in person or in mexican movies?
It is what it is.
And then there are things like “watchalo” and “watchalote” you might hear on a worksite, but that's pure, bastardized slang that somehow gets past the usually very disapproving mexican mind concerning spanglish and onto the indiscriminate mexican tongue.
About “te busco” being incorrect…
In the second lesson of the second course where mauricio hides a book from carmen there is “te mentí," “I lied to you.” “te miento,” “I lie to you” is in the present, so is “te busco.” However, as I understand it “buscote” would be wrong, wrong, wrong.
Juan's explanation of me te etc… is entirely in spanish as he doesn't believe in cluttering up the learning of spanish with english.
His gripe is that the learning of spanish is drowned out with all the english spoken by the instructor dominating the lesson. But we have to start somewhere…
Retired, he was a professor of spanish at a university in london.
I believe juan left grenada, spain in his early 20s, he's a native speaker of castillian spanish.
The “thick skull…”
When I was young I was sometimes described as having a photographic memory. It's now like the lense is smeared and the aperature is set to the wrong f-stop…
Despite what everyone says about about just throwing your spanish out and don't worry about making mistakes it's my firm conviction that a native speaker won't go very far out of the way beyond the occasional correction to help you learn the language unless they really like you or there's something in it for them. It's a lot of work for them.
The something in it could be someone wanting to learn english, but that's a waste of time unless both parties already know enough of each other's language to at the very least minimally communicate combined with mutual reciprocity.
The other something in it is money, the universal lubricant. Even in an adult education language course which is free of cost to the student the teacher is paid by the local school district.
Then I imagine there's always english speaking staff in latin american resorts getting paid to be nice to annoying tourists.
And unless you are very conversational or know the person in a friendly way don't try it with the staff in a restaurant in either the united states or anywhere else where the native speakers all speak english. They're tired, their feet hurt and they're too busy to waste time on you.
I tried it several times in the US. I pronounce very well, then when the words don't follow and I drop off they tend to first look at me questioningly, then get a blank look on their face, won't talk with me in either language, and screw up my order.
It's hardly scientific in my limited polling, but whenever I have brought that up with descendents of mexicans who speak spanish the reaction is always the same: they look past me with a wistful “yep” look on their face and say the same two words - “that's true.”
So I intend to enroll with baselang in a couple months or so while continuing with Rocket Spanish.
And yes, you'll get to understanding spanish, it takes time. And, as I said elsewhere, there will always be the slang, accents, local coloquialisms, mumblers, supersonic speakers, dialects, slurring together or ommiting vowels and consenants in words, and those who cut their sentences short to baffle you in perpetuity - but it will definately get much, much easier with time.