Fenderman's 2018 Log

[Fenderman]

I've been going back and forth whether to start a new log for this year or just continue my original log but since I kind of abandoned the other log a few months ago I decided I might as well start a new one.

The good news is even though I went MIA on regularly updating my log, I did not abandon my Spanish studies and averaged a little more than one hour a day towards learning Spanish from the time I started. The part I'm most proud of is that I usually had one or two Italki lessons a week with a tutor which really gave me some much needed confidence in speaking.

So, what are my goals for 2018? For one, I want to increase my daily study average to at least 1.5 hours a day but really try and get two hours. I want to continue with my minimum of two hours of Italki lessons per week with my tutor but also want to find some language exchange partners and try to get even more talking and listening practice because if it's one thing I've really discovered since starting my language journey is listening comprehension is probably my biggest weakness. I also want and need to start reading more in Spanish and working on my grammar.

Finally, I want to become more of a frequent contributor to other members posts and language logs and not worry so much about not having anything worthwhile to contribute because I'm still a somewhat beginner.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. Good luck to everyone in their language goals for the New Year!

[Fenderman]

I haven't posted for a LONG time so I pretty much went against everything I wrote in my initial log so it's a big time fail on my part. I really don't have much of an excuse other than work has been crazy busy and stressful and often not having the energy and desire to post. That said, I didn't completely abandon my Spanish studies and now that's it's summer I have a lot more free time to devote to Spanish.

I've also signed up for the Super Challenge to help keep me on track this time!

[Fenderman]

I've had a fairly good last couple of weeks since my last post. I had 3 italki lessons with my tutor and also completed the following:

Destinos:
I finished the first three Chapters of the textbook and workbook and all of the audio files that go along with each. I also watched the videos for each chapter several times. I'm really enjoying this so far and I encourage anyone to definitely use the textbook and workbook and not just watch the videos.

Pimsleur
Finished Level 2 and have begun Level 3. As much as I find Pimsleur useful, I'm looking forward to taking a break from it after finishing this level and trying something else for my audio studying.

Language Transfer
Finished the first 6 chapters and am enjoying it. I like how the instructor is breaking the language down and not making it seem as intimidating to a beginner. I have to say of all of the study formats I think I look forward to this the most since it's easily digestible.

Finally, I just started the Super Challenge (better late than never) and I read my first book in Spanish! It's geared towards A1 readers so it was perfect for my level. I also watched "The Incredibles" in Spanish since I figured that would be a good choice with the sequel coming out. I found it very beneficial but the dialog spoken was very fast so I'll have to watch it several times to help pickup all the parts I missed.

[Mohave]

Hi Fenderman!

I look forward to following your progress in Spanish! I am a beginner also - I will hopefully finish Pimsleur 1 within the next week. I have also started Assimil Spanish With Ease, and I have the Destinos book. What A1 Level book did you read? I have checked out a few children's book from the library - mostly English/Spanish parallel texts . Best of Luck!

[Fenderman]

I look forward to following your progress in Spanish! I am a beginner also - I will hopefully finish Pimsleur 1 within the next week. I have also started Assimil Spanish With Ease, and I have the Destinos book. What A1 Level book did you read? I have checked out a few children's book from the library - mostly English/Spanish parallel texts . Best of Luck!

Hey, Mohave

Thanks for the words of encouragement. The book that I read is: "Spanish Novels: Muerte en Buenos Aires". It's a series of 5 books that the writer wrote geared towards A1 readers since each sentence is only about 6 words long and uses basic grammar for the most part. I'll include the amazon link at the bottom for you.

That's great you're doing the Destinos book since it seems most people only watch the free videos that are online.

Good luck and I'll be following your progress as well!

https://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Novels-M ... ish+reader

[Mohave]

I look forward to following your progress in Spanish! I am a beginner also - I will hopefully finish Pimsleur 1 within the next week. I have also started Assimil Spanish With Ease, and I have the Destinos book. What A1 Level book did you read? I have checked out a few children's book from the library - mostly English/Spanish parallel texts . Best of Luck!

Hey, Mohave

Thanks for the words of encouragement. The book that I read is: "Spanish Novels: Muerte en Buenos Aires". It's a series of 5 books that the writer wrote geared towards A1 readers since each sentence is only about 6 words long and uses basic grammar for the most part. I'll include the amazon link at the bottom for you.

That's great you're doing the Destinos book since it seems most people only watch the free videos that are online.

Good luck and I'll be following your progress as well!

https://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Novels-M ... ish+reader

Thank you so much for sharing this! I just purchased this book after being able to read the first chapter. It will be nice to feel like I can read something in Spanish! Happy Language Learning!

[Fenderman]

Thank you so much for sharing this! I just purchased this book after being able to read the first chapter. It will be nice to feel like I can read something in Spanish! Happy Language Learning!

Happy to help. I ordered a couple others as well for myself!