Stelle's Log (Spanish and Russian)
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 3:34 pm
Hello LLORG! It's been a while!
Life got in the way, and I realized a few days ago that I've done nothing language-related in well over a year. And I'm not just talking about formal study. Somehow I find myself in a position where I haven't read a novel or watched a single episode of a TV show in Spanish since 2018. Don't ask me how it happened, or why the switch flipped so suddenly, but there it is.
Anyway, I guess I'm back!
Language background
I grew up in a bilingual city and a bilingual family, speaking both French and English. I teach in a French Immersion public school, and I have a side-gig teaching ESL online, so second language acquisition is both my career and my hobby.
I started learning Spanish in 2013. I started with self-study using a mish-mash of resources, connected with language partners and tutors over Skype, and then spent six weeks in 2014 walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I completed the Super Challenge, which helped me solidify my Spanish through reading and watching/listening. In 2017, my husband and I took a sabbatical and spent six months studying and backpacking in Central America. I'm comfortable calling myself an advanced Spanish speaker.
In the years since 2014, I've dabbled in a few languages. I casually studied Tagalog to probably an A2-ish level (although as far as I know, there are no formal language tests for Tagalog). I can understand most of the dinner conversation at my in-laws' house, and that's more than enough for me. I briefly studied Esperanto, and was able to comfortably hold an hour-long conversation with someone on italki, but I quickly learned that a conlang wasn't really for me. I played with Italian, getting to a decent receptive level, although my productive skills are laughable. I can comfortably read simple novels and watch dubbed TV in Italian, but I can't hold a conversation to save my life.
I spent about a month in 2018 dabbling in Russian, and I absolutely loved it! I loved the challenge of learning Cyrillic, and for some strange reason I found it especially fun to work on my pronunciation. About a third of my second grade students speak Russian at home as a first language, and I loved saying random stuff to them: "I eat chicken! I see a horse!". They thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. I didn't commit fully to learning Russian, because it just seemed like too much work. But I have some new-found motivation, and this is my current language focus - and the impetus for reviving my language log.
Looking forward
My Spanish is solid. I can do everything that I want to do with it. I picked up La Casa de los Espíritus last night, and - while I'll admit that my brain did a few somersaults on that first page - I settled in quickly and found myself reading comfortably. I would like to improve slowly by reading novels and watching TV shows. I had a long-term Skype conversational tutor, but my last session was in July 2018. Money is tight this year, so no tutoring for the foreseeable future. I am considering finding a language partner instead.
I'm committing to 30 minutes per day studying Russian. I started on Friday. Woo-hoo! I'm on day three! This is meant to be relatively stress-free and fun, so no serious textbooks for me. I'm using Memrise, Duolingo, Anki, and a program called Living Language that I received as a gift. I realized that I have 80 dollars' worth of italki credits, so I booked a 30-minute session with a tutor on Monday. I'm also in contact with some potential language partners. I know that I can dabble as much as I like, but I will not commit to learning a language until I start speaking to someone, even though it feels scary and impossible at first.
All right, Пойдем!
Life got in the way, and I realized a few days ago that I've done nothing language-related in well over a year. And I'm not just talking about formal study. Somehow I find myself in a position where I haven't read a novel or watched a single episode of a TV show in Spanish since 2018. Don't ask me how it happened, or why the switch flipped so suddenly, but there it is.
Anyway, I guess I'm back!
Language background
I grew up in a bilingual city and a bilingual family, speaking both French and English. I teach in a French Immersion public school, and I have a side-gig teaching ESL online, so second language acquisition is both my career and my hobby.
I started learning Spanish in 2013. I started with self-study using a mish-mash of resources, connected with language partners and tutors over Skype, and then spent six weeks in 2014 walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I completed the Super Challenge, which helped me solidify my Spanish through reading and watching/listening. In 2017, my husband and I took a sabbatical and spent six months studying and backpacking in Central America. I'm comfortable calling myself an advanced Spanish speaker.
In the years since 2014, I've dabbled in a few languages. I casually studied Tagalog to probably an A2-ish level (although as far as I know, there are no formal language tests for Tagalog). I can understand most of the dinner conversation at my in-laws' house, and that's more than enough for me. I briefly studied Esperanto, and was able to comfortably hold an hour-long conversation with someone on italki, but I quickly learned that a conlang wasn't really for me. I played with Italian, getting to a decent receptive level, although my productive skills are laughable. I can comfortably read simple novels and watch dubbed TV in Italian, but I can't hold a conversation to save my life.
I spent about a month in 2018 dabbling in Russian, and I absolutely loved it! I loved the challenge of learning Cyrillic, and for some strange reason I found it especially fun to work on my pronunciation. About a third of my second grade students speak Russian at home as a first language, and I loved saying random stuff to them: "I eat chicken! I see a horse!". They thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. I didn't commit fully to learning Russian, because it just seemed like too much work. But I have some new-found motivation, and this is my current language focus - and the impetus for reviving my language log.
Looking forward
My Spanish is solid. I can do everything that I want to do with it. I picked up La Casa de los Espíritus last night, and - while I'll admit that my brain did a few somersaults on that first page - I settled in quickly and found myself reading comfortably. I would like to improve slowly by reading novels and watching TV shows. I had a long-term Skype conversational tutor, but my last session was in July 2018. Money is tight this year, so no tutoring for the foreseeable future. I am considering finding a language partner instead.
I'm committing to 30 minutes per day studying Russian. I started on Friday. Woo-hoo! I'm on day three! This is meant to be relatively stress-free and fun, so no serious textbooks for me. I'm using Memrise, Duolingo, Anki, and a program called Living Language that I received as a gift. I realized that I have 80 dollars' worth of italki credits, so I booked a 30-minute session with a tutor on Monday. I'm also in contact with some potential language partners. I know that I can dabble as much as I like, but I will not commit to learning a language until I start speaking to someone, even though it feels scary and impossible at first.
All right, Пойдем!