Spanish Tapas log

[tungemål]

I watched the 2nd episode of La casa de papel. I have to admit that this is a cool series. I don't understand much of what they say, less than 50%. It's hard! But I'll continue and see what it'll do for my spanish. I think I'll go over some difficult parts with subtitles after watching each episode.

[tungemål]

I've watched a few more episodes of La casa de papel. I still don't understand much. I started to go over the episodes with subtitles, after having watched it without, instead of just reading a summary. That way I learn a lot, but then it is of course more work. I pick up a lot of useful colloquial expressions.

I haven't realised before now how excellent Netflix is for language studies. Audio and subtitles in several languages. You can click on any sentence in the script and it will play from that point. And so on.

[tungemål]

I finished the first season of "La casa de papel". It is the best series I have watched in a while. It is kind of absurd but at the same time it feels very real. The personalities have depth.

Listening comprehension: watching without subtitles is great for getting used to listening. I think I have improved, but there is still a lot of language that I miss. I decided to rewatch some key parts with subtitles, and this is a very effective way to learn expressions and new vocabulary.

[tungemål]

Ok, the expression "puñetera puntualidad británica" was translated into English as merely "punctuality". Hiding cultural prejudice? But are the British really that punctual?

[tungemål]

I think I need a break from Spanish, because I'm starting to feel burned-out. When I started this log I thought I'd only study for three months, to improve listening comprehension and increase vocabulary. Now it has been almost 5 months. I'm becoming frustrated by the slow progress. That is, I am frustrated by listening to native media and still struggling.

My listening comprehension in German is much better. The reason is either that German is generally spoken more clearly, or just that I am more familiar with the language.

The only thing I'd like to finish is the book I've started reading (on Kindle). I view it more as pleasure reading than study.

[tungemål]

I discovered that I have in fact improved listening comprehension, because it is easier for me to follow the news boletines now. A couple of months ago I found it really hard to understand. So that encourage me to continue.

La casa de papel is still hard to follow, at least without subtitles. I think the extensive listening approach is ok, but I believe progress is much faster if I work intensively on it. That is, looking up words, listening several times to the same segments, and so on. Anyway, I need to finish season two of this series since I'm hooked by now.

Does anyone know what dialects the main characters have? I find Denver hard to understand. I think he's got an Andalucian accent, and a lot of consonants disappear. Two of the characters are eastern european and they speak with broken grammar to emphasise this, but I'm guessing that in reality they speak perfect Spanish. Nairobi I also find hard to understand for some reason, but I don't know if she's got a pronounced dialect. Raquel is one of the characters that are easier to understand, and also el profesor as long as he doesn't speak too fast.

[tungemål]

Al-Andalus
I've read 39% of this book.

I am reading Al-Andalus, on the history of Spain during the Muslim rule. The Arabs invaded Spain in 711, defeating the Germanic tribe that controlled Spain at the time, and ruled for 7 centuries. I didn't know anything about this history so it is interesting to read about. Of course, the Al-Andalus period left a legacy in Spain, also apparent in the language, as there are many Arabic loanwords in Spanish.

Interestingly, this long period that ended with the reconquista in 1492 was for a time viewed as a paranthesis in Spanish history. But Spain was conquered several times and ruled by different powers: first by the Romans, then by the Visigoths, then by the Arabs. I guess since both the Romans and the Visigoths were christians, when the catholic kings kicked the arabs out in 1492 this was regarded as reestablishing a natural order. But I haven't gotten to this part in the book yet.

[tungemål]

41% of the book read.
Not much. My goal for this week is to read everyday, and to read faster.

[tungemål]

44% of the book read.
That is, I didn't fulfill my goal.

I keep listening: mini-stories, news in Spanish, and other radio podcasts. My listening is slowly getting better.

[tungemål]

¡Leo un texto sobre la tapa! Evaluad mi pronunciación:
https://voca.ro/11ZY0HzkTFTR
https://voca.ro/19Fwiuza5kcd

Do I need to work on anything in my pronunciation?