Indirect object

Question

As an English speaker, it is very difficult to learn and apply indirect objects in Spanish.

I understand why you need les in the following sentence. It is because you are making dinner "for them." However is there an easy way to remember this construction when you are actually talking. I seem to understand it when I read it, but don't seem to be able to apply indirect objects when I try to speak. Is this common? How do I overcome it? It is like you are saying for them twice. Once as the pronoun "les" and once as "a nuestros invitados.

Nosotros les preparamos la cena a nuestros invitados.We are cooking dinner for our guests.

Accepted Answer

Hola Christine
Yes, these translations are correct and they are more natural to the ones I gave before (I used those to show with more clarity):

Les di un regalo. (I gave them a present = A gave a present to them)
Le compré unos caramelos. (I bought him/her some sweets = I bought some sweets for him/her)

So, when thinking about an indirect object pronoun we must think: to whom/for whom/ on whom...
Inma

Answer

Hola Christine
Yes, it is a common difficulty as in English this usage doesn't exist. The indirect object pronouns are used generally when it is referring to "for him/her/them..." "on him/her/them..." "to him/her/them":

Les di un regalo. (I gave a present to them) 
Le puse un gorro. (I put a hat on him/her)
Le compré unos caramelos. (I bought some sweets for him/her)

When we have a repetition of the pronouns, e.g. Le cantaron una canción a ella. (They sang a song for her - they dedicated a song to her) it is a bit more difficult. We have two lessons about this, one specific for gustar and another general lesson on repetition of indirect object pronouns. Have a look:
General lesson double pronouns
Gustar double pronouns
Saludos
Inma

Answer

Thank you Clara. It helps me to see the way you tranlated the sentences as follows:

Les di un regalo. (I gave a present to them)

Le puse un gorro. (I put a hat on him/her)

Le compré unos caramelos. (I bought some sweets for him/her)

Not to be confusing, but I have also seen it translated like following, which I think creates the confusion in translations for English speakers but I think are also correct translation, yes?

Les di un regalo. (I gave them a present ) Is this translation correct?

Le compré unos caramelos. (I bought him/her some sweets) Is this translation correct?