NoManches - Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

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MamaPata
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby MamaPata » Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:23 pm

westminstress wrote:I'm just curious, what podcasts do you like the best? I used to listen regularly to Radio Ambulente but the show has been on hiatus (though coming back soon, I hope!). I also listen to the VOA news podcast (which I like most for the segments on Latin America where they feature the voices of real people from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world). But I would love to learn about other good shows.


Have you tried Democracy Now? They have news podcasts available in Spanish, which I really like.
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby James29 » Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:58 pm

NoManches wrote:A few odds and ends:

Yesterday in another post I mentioned that I would share the books I use for learning slang & idioms in Spanish. They are as follows:

Breaking Out of Beginners Spanish
The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide
Quick Guide to Mexican Spanish
Quick Guide to MORE Mexican Spanish
Cabo Bobs Definitive Guide: Mexican Slang 101
Cabo Bobs Definitive Guide: Mexican Humor 201

In my opinion, these books are AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE when it comes to learning Spanish, especially Mexican Spanish. I own all of them in Kindle format (and 5 of them in paper format) so I can easily search for a word and instantly have a list of matches. The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide is incredible, and lately has been my companion as I make my way from a low advanced learner to a hopefully a person who has a C2 level in the language (one day I hope).



I went through a short period of time where I was determined to learn slang and idioms. I checked out tons of books. The best I found was "The Red Hot Book of Spanish Slang and Idioms." It is extremely comprehensive and has the translations going in both directions and the country of use. Also, Cassell's Colloquial Spanish is GREAT. I loved it so much I read it twice.
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby NoManches » Sat Nov 05, 2016 12:16 am

westminstress wrote:I'm just curious, what podcasts do you like the best? I used to listen regularly to Radio Ambulente but the show has been on hiatus (though coming back soon, I hope!). I also listen to the VOA news podcast (which I like most for the segments on Latin America where they feature the voices of real people from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world). But I would love to learn about other good shows.


This is what I'm subscribed to right now:

VOA - Buenos días America
Democracy Now! (I actually stopped listening for a while since their accent is so different. I didn't want to pick up a weird accent or anything, but shortly after decided that it would be good for my listening comprehension.
NHK World Radio - I think Iguanamon recommended this to me a long time ago. News from Japan but in Spanish.
Chilango (the podcast from Revista Chilango)
Los testigos de Crimen (They stopped making episodes but there are a TON available and they are super interesting)
Por el Placer de Vivir with César Lozano - Interesting show, easy to follow, many different callers exposes you to different accents (mainly women call the show...but not always)
Horror a la Media Noche - This show is really cool. I just tarted listening to it....people call up to talk about "paranormal activities". Even if you don't believe in that stuff this show is very interesting with many different callers (sometimes people call and its hard to hear because they are on the phone with bad reception or lots of noise, but it makes for good practice)
El Explicador - Awesome show! I highly recomend, especially if you like using Spanish to learn new things.
Radio Ambulante - This is a show you have to listen to!
Martha Debayle - Not sure what the name of this show is...but the host is Martha. This show is definitely directed towards women but I really need to improve my listening skills so I just started listening to it to expose myself to new stuff.

***Gente de Confianza - This show is super advanced and I still have trouble following it. 3 or for younger guys (mid 20's ?) talk about current events. Lots of slang, lots of dirty language, lots of political and cultural references, lots of times where 2 or more people are talking to each other really fast. When I can follow this show with 95% comprehension I will know I'm making progress with my listening comprehension. ***

I'm subscribed to a few more but these have been the only ones I like or find useful.

I'm really dedicated to improving my listening skills and my plan right now is this: Listen to all of these podcasts as frequently as I can. Get used to the host in each show and as I do so, continue to branch off and listen to new shows about new topics. I'm really hoping that by the end of the year my listening skills will reach a whole new level. I've made a ton of progress this year and I think these podcasts were the main reason!
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby westminstress » Sat Nov 05, 2016 1:53 am

Thanks! Some of these sound interesting and I will check them out. I do listen to democracy now en español sometimes but I don't like the English interruptions and there isn't a wide range of accents. I prefer VOA for the diversity of accents, plus I enjoy following the Latin American news especially the movement for a referendum in Venezuela. I only listen to the sports sometimes and usually skip the entertainment segment but the rest of the show is great.

I agree Radio Ambulante is tops - great production values, really interesting content, and a wide range of speakers from all over the Spanish speaking world.

But some of your other suggestions sound good too!
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby NoManches » Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:00 pm

I will update my log a day early since I have plans to be in Mexico all day tomorrow.

Most of my exposure to Spanish has been made up of classroom time and 1 on 1 conversations with friends, tutors, language partners, etc. On average, I am getting about 4 hours of classroom time in Spanish and 4 additional hours of 100% Spanish conversation each week. I really wish this was closer to 20 hours each week instead of 8 hours, but I'll take what I can get.

As I've mentioned previously, my comprehension is getting better but continues to be my biggest weakness. I have almost no problem with 1 on 1 conversations, but my comprehension is pretty weak when watching movies, some TV shows, or listening to other Spanish speakers talk to each other. My ability to pay attention for longer periods of time while listening to a speech or lecture in Spanish is getting better, but not where I want it to be.

I haven't had has much time to read books in Spanish, although I manage to read about 10 pages every day. I have been reading news in Spanish, which I never really did before, so that is a plus.

TV, movies, and youtube are still important to me although I choose podcasts over "videos" whenever I can.

In the next week (and really until the end of the year), I have some plans that I really think will bring my listening skills up to where I want them to be.

The plan is as follows:

Continue to get my 4+ hours of classroom time in along with 4+ hours of conversation practice.

I have picked 4-5 podcasts that I plan on spending a LOT of time with. 2 of them are nothing more than the news in Spanish, while the other 3 are radio talk shows that I find interesting.

I have made it a new goal of mine that the FIRST thing I will do every day before I get out of bed is read two news articles in Spanish. Normally I wake up and check my phone, going over e-mails and other things work or school related. These are things that I could honestly do later in the day, and aren't of that much importance. I plan on reading these 2 news articles from the VOA (Voz de América) website, so that on my way to work I will be listening to the same news that I read about in the morning. Some people might say that for listening comprehension I should listen first and THEN read. The truth is, when I say my comprehension is bad in Spanish it has more to do with not comprehending what I'm hearing rather than missing out on the actual words being said. Once I get to work, I plan on listening to another podcast (probably Democracy now!), and THEN reading the transcription online. Not sure if I should read then listen, or listen and then read, but if I do it both ways I'm sure it won't hurt.

The rest of my day will be spent listening to "fun" podcasts.

As for TV shows, I want to start adding some variety to the mix. I will continue to watch my telenovelas, but would like to rewatch the show Club de Cuervos since a new season will be coming out soon. Rewatching this show will get me warmed up for the new season, and should serve as a bit of "comprehensible input" since I already know whats going on. Additionally, I will try to start watching a bunch of dubbed documentaries in Spanish. I love documentaries but stopped watching them a long time ago when I decided my time was best spent watching media in Spanish. I know that many documentaries are dubbed in Spanish, but avoided them since they didn't seem as authentic, were almost too easy to understand, and the literal translation from English to Spanish was something I thought would hurt me. Now I see this as an opportunity to get a lot of comprehensible input while exposing myself to new accents and voices.

As for reading, I am currently working on a fiction book in Spanish but have a few non-fiction books that I want to start. I don't see any problem with reading two at the same time, and like how the non-fiction exposes me to more common language (in my opinion) while the fiction exposes me to a much wider variety of vocabulary, and tends to be more fun to read.
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby whatiftheblog » Sun Nov 06, 2016 2:14 pm

Seems like you're doing everything right, NoManches! Good luck. You'll get there, just a matter of time!
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby NoManches » Mon Nov 07, 2016 4:17 pm

Some observations after lots of study time this weekend:

I just started to read articles from Vice Mexico ( http://www.vice.com/es_mx ). Some articles don't really interest me....but I find others to be extremely interesting. I'll be honest: I'd rather read some of these articles than read the news :oops: . I'll continue to read the news, but I find these articles very fun to read....and learning a language should be fun, right?

I just started to watch La Reina del Sur. After 15 minutes or so I was hooked! I then realized that the novela is based off of this book: https://www.amazon.com/reina-del-Media- ... na+del+sur

So naturally, I bought the book to read on my kindle. I am still working on a few other books, so I might let this one wait for a few weeks. I really like the idea of reading a book alongside a show, although it is likely that the book will vary from the show. It's strange because I found this show to be a lot easier than el Señor de los Cielos....although the Spanish accent is pretty tough for me (previously I never found this accent to be tough....but now I do. Weird.) I think I will keep alternating between these two shows, to give myself a variety of input.

I continued to watch el Señor de los Cielos. I am now on season 2, episode 10....meaning I've only watched 84 episodes of this show (~56 hours). The last few days I have been doing a lot of pausing, and rewinding, trying to understand every last line that I can't really comprehend.

One thing I have come to realize is that taking a 10 or even 5 minute segment of a show, and intensively working with it can make a very big difference in overall comprehension. When I treat every piece of audio as an opportunity to improve comprehension, I have more motivation to be patient knowing I will get more out of it in the long run

I have plans this week and in the next few weeks to meet up with some people learning English who are native Spanish speakers. I need all the extra practice I can get, and think this is a great opportunity.

Good luck to all, hope everyone has a productive week.
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby Tati » Mon Nov 07, 2016 5:06 pm

NoManches wrote:A few odds and ends:

Yesterday in another post I mentioned that I would share the books I use for learning slang & idioms in Spanish. They are as follows:

Breaking Out of Beginners Spanish
The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide
Quick Guide to Mexican Spanish
Quick Guide to MORE Mexican Spanish
Cabo Bobs Definitive Guide: Mexican Slang 101
Cabo Bobs Definitive Guide: Mexican Humor 201

In my opinion, these books are AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE when it comes to learning Spanish, especially Mexican Spanish. I own all of them in Kindle format (and 5 of them in paper format) so I can easily search for a word and instantly have a list of matches. The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide is incredible, and lately has been my companion as I make my way from a low advanced learner to a hopefully a person who has a C2 level in the language (one day I hope).

If you like slang and idioms you may enjoy Con dos huevos, by Héloïse Guerrier and ilustrated by David Sánchez. It's a small illustrated glossary, with about 45 entries written in Spanish, English and French. The idioms covered are from Castillian Spanish.

Not really a learning material, but it's a fun read and David's illustrations are both amazing and disturbing (in a NSFW fashion). You can have a look at a couple of entries at http://astiberri.com/products/con-dos-huevos.

There's also a second volume titled Cagando leches.

¡Buena suerte en tu viaje hacia el C1!
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby NoManches » Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:59 am

Not much to report here.

This weekend I was very unproductive in terms of language study. This might be a good thing: sometimes we need to give our brains a rest in order to "rewire" things and give ourselves a break.

The new year (it's almost 2017!), will leave me little time for language study. I think it would be in my best interest to really improve my Spanish as much as I can before things start to get hectic for me. My goal is to squeeze as much study as I can now, that way in the new year I can benefit even more from whatever reading, listening, or conversation practice I can squeeze in. The way I see it, if you are a "B1" in a language you have more tools in your toolbox to take advantage of native material, compared to a person who is an A2 for example. If my listening is at an "80%" then I can get mote out of podcasts than if my listening was at a "60%".

Goals for the next 30 days are:

-Read for one hour each day
-Continue to listen to podcasts whenever possible
-Replace most reading I would do in English with material in Spanish. This mainly refers to news and internet browsing (I'll make an exception this forum lol).

And finally, I plan on increasing my conversation practice each week with native speakers. I speak a lot with Mexicans because I live in an area with a big Mexican population. Also I always thought that it makes more sense to listen to Mexicans if I want to improve my comprehension with them. Lately i see the importance in listening to as many accents as I can, and I believe that listen to accents other than the Mexican accent will actually help my comprehension... especially when I do listen to Mexicans.

I recently met a group of Chileans and will try to practice with them. I'm sure my comprehension of Mexican Spanish will improve (even if it is only a little) if I practice with Chileans and other Spanish speakers.

I supply ultimate goal is to start using Spanish as my dominant language. This will be hard since I HAVE TO use English every day, but I will find ways of sneaking Spanish into my life whenever I can.
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Re: Spanish: B2-->C1 Log

Postby NoManches » Fri Nov 18, 2016 4:41 pm

Well, I have mixed feelings right now in regards to my language skills. I am very satisfied with my listening when it comes to 1 on 1 conversations and most classroom settings. I have no problem understanding my professor and when the entire class is discussing a topic I understand about 95% of what is being said. I am the only non native speaker in a few of these classes so sometimes I miss out on cultural references, jokes, and if multiple people are talking at the same time I find it difficult to hear the main speaker.

As a matter of fact, if the class breaks into small groups to discuss something I find it INCREDIBLY hard to listen to my group members. The noise made by all the other groups makes it nearly impossible for me to hear or comprehend anything. In English this isn't a problem since I can hear bits and pieces of a sentence and make sense out of it (for the most part). Is it possible to reach this level in Spanish? I know the answer is yes but right now I am feeling very discouraged and it seems like I will always have this problem.

For my other classes this week I attended a few lectures with guest speakers. I found it very hard to follow what was being said due to a few factors:
1. There was a some background noise barely muffled by the room we were in.
2. There was a bit of an eco in the room which made things tough.
3. Being tired. By the time I had this class later in the day I had already had 4 hours of Spanish classes or 1 on 1 conversation during the day. Maybe next time I have this class with a guest speaker I should avoid Spanish all day so my brain is well rested?


Once again, I feel like my occasional lack of listening comprehension comes down to concentration problems. When there are distractions, lots of noise, bad sound quality, or when I'm tired, my listening skills are horrible and I simply cannot pay attention. My mind wanders and I have to constantly bring it back to the task at hand.

A this point I am lost and discouraged and have no clue how to solve my problem. The only thing that jumps out to me is:

Keep listening as much as I possibly can and one day I'll reach a point where I'm so used to listening that when I'm put in a tough situation I'll at least understand 80% of what is being said instead of the 50% I'm currently picking up during these situations :oops:

1 on 1 conversation doesn't really require conscious listening on my part. In the other situations I have described, I have to constantly force myself to listen which is very tough and mentally exhausting to do.

If there is ever a day when my listening in Spanish is somewhat close to listening in English, I will be one happy language learner. Until then...I'll just keep trucking along.

Feel free to share your comments or opinions, I am interested in hearing about the experiences of other language learners in my situation.
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