Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

[Decidida]

Do you think it is easier to read a series than stand alone books? I am not ready for that, yet, but I think I will try to plan to read a series. Thanks for the idea.

[Bex]

Do you think it is easier to read a series than stand alone books? I am not ready for that, yet, but I think I will try to plan to read a series. Thanks for the idea.

It's probably easiest to read a familiar story, like a fairytale you already know or a book you've already read in your native language (I've never read HP before) but yes a series does make it easier because the same writing style and vocabulary is used throughout.

I only chose Harry Potter because with all the books combined it's a lot of reading in total and I needed to stop procrastinating about what to read next every time I finished a book. Using a series just made the actual task of sitting down to read easier for me, so I stuck with it.

[Bex]

Friday update:
Spanish studying: pretty bad...I have read the first chapter of HP so 20 pages and I should have read 250 pages by now because we're already a month into the SC. I'd say I'm quite behind schedule.

I'm doing other studying for a few exams I need to take to improve my career prospects, so that's taking up all my time ATM.

I'm hoping I can get back into a routine of reading in the mornings again but I've been unable to manage it thus far. It's hard to have any sort of routine with both my kids & other half interrupting constantly whilst were all still on lockdown.

Having any personal space at the moment is difficult, I'm trying to juggle my studying time and also I'm feeling highly stressed a lot of the time now due to uncertainty about work/financial/health issues and what happens if my whole life crumbles due to this pandemic.

Basically I'm having a hard time sitting down to read Harry Potter at the moment and I'm finding it hard to concentrate even when I do find the time.

[DaveAgain]

Having any personal space at the moment is difficult, I'm trying to juggle my studying time and also I'm feeling highly stressed a lot of the time now due to uncertainty about work/financial/health issues and what happens if my whole life crumbles due to this pandemic.

Basically I'm having a hard time sitting down to read Harry Potter at the moment and I'm finding it hard to concentrate even when I do find the time.

Hang in there Bex, things will get better.

[Decidida]

Not having to choose the next book is an even better reason to use a series! Thanks. Thanks for reminding me to use stories that I already know.

It is harder and harder for all of us to focus on the things that we used to. Sometimes I wonder if we are even supposed to. Some things I have dropped, not out of failure, but because they truly are no longer relevant.

Hang in there!

[jeff_lindqvist]

Hmm, I thought it was pretty obvious that reading a series is helpful because of the recurring themes, style, characters and what not. No wonder people choose to read the Harry Potter series (or the Bible, for that matter) in several languages.

[Decidida]

Hmm, I thought it was pretty obvious that reading a series is helpful because of the recurring themes, style, characters and what not. No wonder people choose to read the Harry Potter series (or the Bible, for that matter) in several languages.

I don't want to take Bex's log off topic, but the languages that I got the farthest with were Latin, Ancient Greek, and Haitian Creole. I did read the Bible, a few poems and fables, and non-fiction, and found that useful, but Spanish has a vast collection of literature so large in comparison that ... I guess I just did not see the easier opportunity until Bex pointed it out. I knew I was going to have so much more to read and watch, but ... I did not target the series as my primary plan of attack.

Obvious is in context of our past experiences. Logs are awesome because we get to follow someone else with a different context.

[Bex]

I am still here...

My life has gone very sideways over the last month or so...I lost my job and my better half has been furloughed for 3 months but has no position to go back to?!

I've been studying hard to gain some qualifications in my old line of work - business & project management in the hope it will help me get employment.

So my language studying took the hit and I can't see myself getting back to reading or studying Spanish for a while...at least until I've passed my exams by the end of the year. Luckily living in Spain I still get lots of exposure without even trying.

I am definitely still lurking (this place is great for procrastinating) but seems I won't be updating my log for a while.

[DaveAgain]

I am still here...

My life has gone very sideways over the last month or so...I lost my job and my better half has been furloughed for 3 months but has no position to go back to?!

I've been studying hard to gain some qualifications in my old line of work - business & project management in the hope it will help me get employment.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Bex, but I'm glad you're taking a proactive approach to the situation. Chin up.

[AndyMeg]

Thanks AndyMeg it's really helpful to have another perspective and hear of things that have worked for you. Really appreciated.

This got me thinking about writing more and how it would help me to review/apply what I am learning before I forget it, especially as your writing in English is so good.

...I don't do this much because I usually prefer to communicate in written form and because it's not that easy to find native English speakers in my city/country; so speaking is my weakest skill in English...

I wondered if you thought all the the writing you did helped with your speaking as well or there was no noticeable improvement.

Do you think that all the writing you have done has helped you improve your speaking (as a by product) or did just your writing improve?

Sorry that I took so long to answer!

This pandemic has affected us all one way or another and I had to prioritize other things, so I was away from the forum for some months.

I hope you can achieve your goals and things get better for you and your family.

Now, answering your question: I do think all the writing I did helped me with my speaking in the sense that it helped me to become more accustomed to thinking directly (and faster) in English and it helped me gain a better understanding of slang and expressions that are not teached in textbooks or traditional classrooms (when I didn't understand the meaning of some slang or a particular expression, I would either look for its meaning on Google or ask the people I was talking to to explain the meaning to me). But there are still things I need to work on in relation to my speaking. For example, I have trouble with some sounds and sometimes I talk too slowly because I'm consciously trying to get those sounds right. Also, as a side effect of the disproportionate amount of time I invested in reading during the early stages, I got into the habit of mispronouncing some words by saying them in a weird mix of how I would pronounce them in Spanish and how they should be pronounced in English (this is not a problem with non-Latin scripts as long as I don't use romanization, but it has made me pay more attention to the pronunciation of other languages that use the Latin script so that the interference from my native Spanish doesn't become a problem as it happened in/with English).