Spanish language Q&A Forum

I have noticed that many questions are unanswered. Inma's responses were always very informative and greatly appreciated. So I was wondering if she will be back.

I'm a bit confused on when to use hacia vs. para for "toward" a destination?  Two of the introductory examples in this section indicate para can be used for "to/toward".  One of these examples is "Vamos para la playa porque hay una fiesta".   Would it be incorrect to say "Vamos hacia la playa porque hay una fiesta"?   My sense is that "hacia" means just going toward an end point or destination, without implying an actual arrival or end point.  Is this the difference?  Thanks for clarifying.   

Dear Kwiziq,

In virtually all of the dictations I have completed, I have found that it is quite difficult to discern when a sentence ends based on the speakers voice. This is to say, the speaker lowers his/her voice in a way that implies the end of a sentence, but when the answer is shown it becomes apparent to me that the lowering of the speaker's voice was actually meant to convey a pause. Is this the natural way hispanohablantes speak --- whether from Spain or Central/South America?  Of course, as recommended, I do listen to the dictation before attempting to write it out, but I cannot memorize where sentences end vs. when there is a pause in the speaker's speech. Consequently, I'm constantly guessing at when the sentence ends. I am a native English speaker and typically, when translating spoken English to written form, lowering of the voice signifies a period --- not a pause (comma). As such, I often find it confusing (indeed, quite frustrating) to differentiate pauses from ends of sentences in the Kwiziq dictation exercises.

Pati Inez Ecuamiga