Spanish language Q&A Forum

I've read the answers below, but there are still instances where I'm confused. For example, the test answers say that "Lo están llamando" is the correct translation of "They're calling him." However, I think I saw "They're writing him" translated as "Le están escribiendo." Both take the preposition "a" when the person being called or written is named, and both can use the preposition "to" in English. How is it possible to know that llamar takes a direct object, while escribir takes an indirect object? 

I'm almost 2 years into learning Spanish and I get lost after hearing a couple of words if I close my eyes.  I watch shows and listen to Spanish podcast, and my ear for Spanish has not developed at all.  What could I possible do to change this?

"Mathematics" can be taken as a singular noun. Therefore it seems that a correct format in Spanish would be 

"te gusta mathematics".

Que Onda

I've been studying Spanish for a while and this concept has still eluded me. I was taught that the structure "creo que..." triggers indicative because the speaker believes it to be true while "no creo que..." is subjunctive because it is not a belief asserted by the speaker. However, in English, we might say "I think..." in two different scenarios with different meanings. 

"I think..." could signify me asserting my belief about something such as, "I think the best designer is Gucci," where one could replace, "I think" with "In my opinion" to create a sentence with the same meaning. This example more or less aligns with what I believe the function of the indicative is. 

However, we often use "I think..." to indicate our speculation or doubt about a situation. For example, if someone asks "Hey, did Joe leave already" I might respond "I'm not sure, I think so." In this case, I'm expressing doubt by using "I think" in this context. I'm not trying to say "I [definitely] think Joe left" because I'm not sure if he actually did, and I'm not necessarily sure if I'm giving the right information so I want to imbue this statement with doubt, wait...

While writing this I'm realizing that all the examples I've written could be written in another way that is conducive to the formula for using the subjunctive. Rather than translating "I think that..." as in my second example with Joe, it would be better for me to use a structure that starts with "dudo que..." or "es posible que..." to better convey the meaning of uncertainty or doubt that I'm intending to. I suppose the issue I had was that "creo que" always meant to me "I think" or "I believe" when really a better translation would be just "to believe" since "to think" has some ambiguity in its meaning when translated to English. 

I know this is post was pretty drawn out and I've already answered my question, but I'll still post it anyway just in case someone more knowledgeable wants to add on or correct something I've said. Or, maybe someone else will find it useful.

Saludos

Nathan

In the test the question is "Coloca las plantas _____ sol." I understand that "al" is the correct answer as far as a contraction, but why do you use "a" in this instance? Why is it not "en el sol"?

Is it interchangeable to say something like

Just as 'tal vez' and "quizás" are interchangeable, with no fast rules on them, is it the same for using quizá and quizás or is there some guide for when they can/can't be used?

also, is it impossible to use quizá/quizás/tal vez using future tenses? 
examples:

"Quizá iré a la biblioteca pasado mañana"
"Tal vez conocerás aquel varón cuando venga"
"Quizás recibiré una mejor evaluación cuando mejore mis debilidades en mi trabajo"

Why 'comí' una lubina, then 'tomé' un trozo, but with the same english translation?