e.z.b's spanish log

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e.z.b.
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby e.z.b. » Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:26 pm

Sí, voy a buscar las Potter-cabezas :D Muchas gracias por su ayuda.
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iguanamon
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Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=797
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby iguanamon » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:26 pm

Perhaps "potter-head" would translate better formally as "los aficionados de Harry Potter". After some searching, it appears that "potterhead" may be being borrowed into informal use in the Spanish-speaking world. Check out this twitter account Potterhead español :D
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sfuqua
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Languages: Bad English: native
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Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby sfuqua » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:34 pm

I skipped the Pimsleur stage, although I later did Assimil and (most of) FSI. I feel I have some surprising holes in my Spanish. I may have a 7000 word passive vocabulary, but I am quite capable of pulling a blank on the simplest thing. I doubt that i ever get to it, but I sometimes think I should work through Pimsleur at lunch or something, just to get faster at basic "tourist speak".\, even though I doubt if there is a single word in the in the course that I don't know.
Somebody at my level shouldn't ever, ever stumble on, "Mucho gusto."
One other thing you might want to try if you have a smart phone is the HelloTalk app. The community there is very nice, and there seems to be someone there willing to chat at almost any hour of the day. The app has a built in translation function, so you can chat at a higher level than your current level will let you reach. You can use this app noting what you need help translating, and use it to add sentences to anki.
Another thing you might want to look at, that is pretty fast to implement in a short timeframe, is Shekhtman islands. Here you basic memorize a small set of paragraphs that you think might come up in conversation. You can throw them into conversation and sound like you have a higher level of language than you really have, so that your native speaker interlocutor will keep talking.

Some people have claimed to have actually, uh, I think the nice term is "fallen in love", using only the language they learned from Pimsleur, Perhaps they were particularly good looking.
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荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

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sfuqua
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1642
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:05 am
Location: san jose, california
Languages: Bad English: native
Samoan: speak, but rusty
Tagalog: imperfect, but use all the time
Spanish: read
French: read some
Japanese: beginner, obsessively studying
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9248
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby sfuqua » Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:57 pm

Of course, I draw a blank in English every now and then myself.
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荒海や佐渡によこたふ天の川

the rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky Way
Basho[1689]

Sometimes Japanese is just too much...

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James29
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby James29 » Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:28 am

e.z.b. wrote:
James - as far as Living Language goes, do you think it's worth purchasing? And I'm a bit confused about all the different offerings. Currently on their website there's no 'ultimate beginner course', although they do have an 'essential' and 'complete' version both of which are fairly affordable: http://www.livinglanguage.com/products/ ... l-complete. I found the ultimate beginner course on Amazon, but it was $100+ which is a bit out of my price range. I'm also looking at checking it out through interlibrary loan, but there are so many different versions I'm not sure which one will be the most useful!


I don't think they make the ultimate course anymore... or, if they do, they package it as part of something else. If you live in the US, they are widely available at libraries. Both my home town library and the library in the city where I work had the Ulitmate courses. Maybe you can buy just the book online and then "borrow" the audio from the library... or just check it out a few times. Some of the newer Living Language stuff is not as good as the old stuff. The only beginner course I am aware of that I support would be the Ultimate. I would not pay $100 for it.

Edit: the Living Language Ultimate Beginner-Intermediate is on Amazon for $0.01 for the book. The package is not too expensive either. http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Spanish-Beginner-Intermediate-Complete-Reference/dp/1400021189/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439861390&sr=8-1&keywords=living+language+ultimate+beginner+spanish
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e.z.b.
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Languages: English (N), Spanish (beginner)
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby e.z.b. » Tue Aug 18, 2015 2:21 pm

¡Muchas gracias James! I don't know why I could only find the super expensive version. I think I'll go ahead and add that to the Pimsleur for my coursework, as suggested.

Sfuqa -the islands sound great. I'm having a bit of a stage fright issue -- I've been driving my SO nuts by narrating everything I'm doing in Spanish, but the moment I want to say something to a native speaker my brain goes completely blank :? Guess I know what I need to work on... I'll definitely check out the HelloTalk app, thank you!

Iguanamon - hahahah that's awesome, now I have a twitter to follow :D

Goal for today: add a whole bunch of vocab flashcards to Anki from my lonely plant phrasebook & start working on the preterite tense

In other exciting news, I've graduated to intermediate level on LyricsTraining! Not sure if there's any real significance to it, but it's fun & I woke up this morning with a Spanish song stuck in my head
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e.z.b.
White Belt
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:26 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (beginner)
x 9

Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby e.z.b. » Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:33 pm

Latest update:

On Unit 19 of Pimsleur... I wish they didn't have us spend so much time counting! But it's definitely useful in building automaticity so I'm plugging away.

Just received my copy of the Ultimate Spanish book, and the audio should be available at the library in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm working through the earliest chapters in the book since they're pretty easy at this point. I figure I'll go back through and listen to the dialogue once I have the audio.

I'm on Episode 19 of Erase Una Vez and thoroughly enjoying the chance to binge watch TV and feel good about it. I'm also nearing the end of Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosfal book + audiobook. I'm on Episode 13 of Destinos, but I'm find it slow going. I just wish Raquel would pick up the pace a bit with her search!

Overall, I'm starting to see significant improvement in my comprehension, which I'm really happy about. For Erase Una Vez, I've been watching a few scenes at a time without looking at the transcript, and if I understand at least 70% or so, I move on. If not, I read the english transcript (can't find one in Spanish sadly), and then re-watch the scene once or twice until I can understand it better. As far as Harry Potter, I can typically understand at least ~80% if I just listen to the audiolibro, and almost all of it if I'm also reading along. I think when I finish it, I may move on to a book I don't know quite as well.

I'm working through my frequency word list and am at around 800 words in my Anki deck. My main focus right now is getting into more of the grammar - I've been using my grammar book combined with studyspanish.com. I love that the site has straightforward explanations followed by quizzes. Feeling pretty good with present tense, regular preterite, and the perfect past/present/future. I need to work on the irregular preterite verbs and the imperfect.

Now it's probably time for me to start speaking to real people... :shock:
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e.z.b.
White Belt
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:26 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (beginner)
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby e.z.b. » Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:37 pm

A quick question - does anyone know of any TV shows that are in spanish (or dubbed), with spanish subtitles that are available online? For Once Upon a Time, you can pick between dubbed or subtitled, but not both. Thanks!
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James29
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Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby James29 » Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:29 pm

I believe every show on the Telemundo website has subtitles in Spanish available. Check both the Telemundo site and the youtube site for Telemundo.
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e.z.b.
White Belt
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:26 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (beginner)
x 9

Re: e.z.b's spanish log

Postby e.z.b. » Fri Aug 21, 2015 6:21 pm

Tiene razón, ¡gracias! Es perfecto :) Ahora tengo un nuevo proyecto. Solo necesito decidir cual [o que?] programa quiero ver.
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