Araminta pecks away at Español

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
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Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Sat Mar 06, 2021 6:33 pm

Hello everyone. I've learned so much from reading your logs, I decided to join the fun. My main problem right now, as I see it, is consistency. I am not good at making myself do things, but I am happy to do them when I’m with someone else. (Exercise comes to mind. I am consistent now with yoga and resistance training because I use Zoom with friends. I was never able to do this on my own.) I am experimenting with Baselang to see if it helps. So far the instruction has been okay, but the most helpful portion has been the reading, listening and writing exercises. They are challenging for me and I’d have more trouble making myself do this on my own. The grammar exercises have been more of a review at this point. I uploaded the free 7 day trial of the Speakly and I’ll start sometime this weekend. I’ve already started with the premade Anki deck “1001 most useful words and sentences” and I am downloading graphic novels in Spanish from the library. I finished the graphic novel “Las Brujas” by Roald Dahl. I liked it so much, I downloaded another. I’m also working through Practice Makes Perfect Verb Tenses, Pronouns and Prepositions and the Subjective as well as Gramatica del uso de Espanol A1-B2. I am starting from the beginning in all of these books, so it’s been easy. I expect it will be much more of a brain drain as I go on. I’m hoping to be able to document my progress in this log.
11 x

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Araminta
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Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:05 pm

3/7/2021 - 3/13/2021

7 hours of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
2 segments of “Speaking Spanish Like Crazy” in my car.
7 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Reading
Finished “Drama” a graphic novel, 240 pages
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day”

Grammar
PMP pronouns – Chapters 1 & 2
PMP verbs – Chapter 1
GdudE – Exercises 1-7

Apps
Anki – 5 news words a day
Speakly – 15 new words a day

Fortunately, I decided to start at the beginning of my grammar books since it has been a while. And of course, wouldn’t you that I have been relearning lessons that didn’t “take” before. For example, in interrogative pronouns, “que” often precedes a noun and “cual” usually precedes a verb or prepositional phrase. It was like a lightbulb had gone off and the world had given me a gift!

I’m finding Baselang’s “skills improvement” section to be the most useful of all of the curriculum I've seen so far. With my tutors, I am often reading texts or listening to audio that are a bit over my head. This pushes me in the right direction. So far, I’ve found daily tutoring a motivator, so I will see how I do with it for the next month.

Compared to everything else I’ve been doing, “Spanish Like Crazy” while driving has been drudgery this week. It’s like nails on a chalkboard, snotty nose or a paper cut level of annoying. I’m beginning to think I don’t like driving and learning Spanish at the same time. I can't figure out why I hate it so much? It seems so innocent.

Sometimes for fun, I’ll go back through old posts and read some of the interesting topics this forum has generated. I ran across this one and it reminded me how much has changed over the past year.

https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=13430&p=161391&hilit=pandemic#p161391

On a happier note, people are still dancing to their PhDs in Helsinki!

https://youtu.be/Kdrh82RVl3M
4 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:45 pm

3-14-2021 through 3-20-2021

This week my boyfriend and I spent time with his mother out of state. I was gone for 3 days and didn’t keep up with my studies while I was there.

3 hours of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
10 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Reading
Finished Una arruga en el tiempo (A Wrinkle in Time) graphic novel, 384 pages
Started La Catedral del Mar (another graphic novel)
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 3 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 3 days this week

Grammar
Virtually no grammar.

Apps
Anki – 5 news words a day for 3 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 3 days


Monday at a meeting, someone was translating for a Spanish-speaking participant. I didn’t understand everything, but I understood a lot more than I thought I would. That baby step felt like a linguistic hug.

We are going to be visiting my boyfriend’s mother again next month. My goal for our next visit is to keep up with my Android based Spanish activities. I really noticed the difference when I was off for a few days.
3 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:24 pm

3/21/2021 - 3/28/2021

I finished an interesting graphic novel for 8–12-year-olds called “Agallas” or “Guts”. It’s been a while since I’ve read children’s books, so I was happily surprised that the topic of juvenile anxiety disorders was being presented to a young audience. I’m liking La Catedral del Mar more now than I did in the beginning.

I need to dig into the reboot of “El Internado"(now located in "Las Cumbres”) on Amazon Prime. I loved the series during its 2007-2010 run. The creepy gothic vibe and soap opera-esque cliff hangers always kept me coming back. I’m crossing my fingers that my Spanish is at a place where I can really enjoy it. I’m thinking I will see how I do if I listen extensively for a while.

6 hours of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
13 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Reading
Finished Agallas (Guts) graphic novel, 224 pages
In the middle of La Catedral del Mar (another graphic novel)
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 6 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 6 days this week

Grammar
Virtually no grammar. This situation needs some attention.

Apps
Anki – 5 news words a day for 6 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 6 days
5 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:36 pm

3/29/2021 - 4/4/2021

7 x 50 minute sessions of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
8 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Watched
Season 1 (8 episodes at about 50 minutes each) El Internado: Las Cumbres.
Turn up your screen’s brightness setting. You’re about to see lots of spooky underground passages, dark, foggy landscapes and people creeping around in the shadows. They throw in chanting monks and close-up shots of ravens as a bonus. I watched in Spanish with Spanish (cc) subtitles. By the end of 8 episodes, I was understanding a lot more though I’m sure some significant dialogue went over my head.

Reading
Finished “La Catedral del Mar” (graphic novel), 192 pages
The history and the plot were very interesting, but I didn’t get attached to any of the characters. Maybe the graphic novel format didn’t allow for a lot of development in that area.
Started “Palabra de Ratón”
It’s an actual book! I’ve graduated to 9-year-old “chapter books.” It was co-written by James Patterson, the famous mystery author.

Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 7 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 7 days this week

Grammar
Virtually no grammar. Heavy sigh.

Apps
Anki – 6 news words a day for 7 days
In addition to the pre-made deck, I’ve created my own deck with phrases I come across.
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 7 days
4 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Tue Apr 13, 2021 5:40 pm

4/5/2021 – 4/11/2021

As a Baselang client, I usually take classes when my schedule allows and enjoy meeting new teachers. The Venezuelan diaspora is very much in evidence among them. Many of my teachers are from Venezuela, but live in Colombia, Peru or Argentina. Most of the others live within Venezuela. Although they do not mention their personal circumstances during our lessons, the situation seems very dire.

6 x 50 minute sessions of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
0 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Watched
My Spanish language partner suggested “Adu” on Netflix. I’m hoping to see this soon.

Reading
“Palabra de Ratón” I didn’t read much unfortunately.
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 7 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 7 days this week

Grammar
Nope

Apps
Anki – 6 news words a day for 7 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 7 days

Overall, not the best week but I’m happy I got some things accomplished given how busy it was.
4 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Mon Apr 19, 2021 3:18 pm

4/12/2021 – 4/18/2021

We were out of town from Thursday through Sunday. My goal was to be able to use Anki and Speakly on my smart phone and I was glad I could squeeze that in. I believe Iguanoman mentioned in one of his posts about noticing synergy in language learning. You become aware of language puzzles you need to solve as you go along. For the past few weeks I’ve been realizing that I don’t know the “rules” for combining two verbs in Spanish. Sometimes there’s a “de” or “a” or nothing in between 2 verbs. I’m realizing that I need to memorize the prepositions that certain verbs need. At least, I’m hoping this is the solution to this puzzle.

3 x 50 minute sessions of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
2 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Watched
Started watching “Adu”

Reading
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 3 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 3 days this week

Grammar
Nope

Apps
Anki – 6 news words a day for 7 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 7 days
6 x

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Araminta
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 2ec7b88c80
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:15 am

4/19/2021-4/25/2021

It celebrated my birthday this past week and it was fantastic. I was able to keep up with my smart phone Spanish apps but there were some days where I didn’t have time to do my Baselang tutoring. I am always impressed with you LLF posters who can juggle several languages.

Kanewai recently posted an interesting Study Time Calculator. It made me think of my own motivation and how it can change from week to week. But interestingly, I become more motivated when I notice the crossover effect. For example, a word I learned in Anki showed up in a book I’m reading. A different one made it into a podcast. I was so excited by this that I almost wanted to listen to my Pimsleur tapes again. Almost.

6 x 50 minute sessions of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
2 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Watched
Nothing

Reading
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 7 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 7 days this week

Grammar
I started a week trial of Kwizik. I don’t think I’m bonding with it the way other learners have. Although it asked lots of good questions, I was hoping for more practice in my problem areas. Maybe I just need to spend more time on it. I created a third Anki deck for “verbs that require prepositions.” We will see how it goes.

Apps
Anki – 7 news words a day for 7 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 7 days
7 x

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Araminta
White Belt
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:45 pm
Location: California, Estados Unidos
Languages: English (N) Español (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 2ec7b88c80
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby Araminta » Thu May 06, 2021 1:13 am

4/26/2021-5/2/2021

I have 3 different anki decks. One of them is the pre-made “1001 most useful sentences in Spanish,” another is sentences I come across in reading and the third contains verbs that require prepositions. Out of all three, the verbs that require prepositions seem to be the hardest to learn. This is surprising because I have very long complicated (to me) sentences in my second deck. It makes me wonder about my memory’s need for context.

6 x 50 minute sessions of tutoring (Baselang)
30 minutes (in Spanish) with my language exchange partner
0 segments of “Spanish Notes Intermediate”

Watched
Nothing

Reading
Read cheesy “thought / reading of the day” in Spanish for 7 days this week

Writing
Wrote a couple of sentences in response to “thought of the day” for 7 days this week

Grammar
Hurray! I have bonded with Conjuguemos. At this point, I am only doing the verb conjugation practice tests. It would be great if they had something more for the independent learner, but I’m not complaining. It’s free! My favorite price.

Apps
Anki – 7 news words a day for 7 days
Speakly – 15 new words a day for 7 days
6 x

clara
Yellow Belt
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:46 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... hp?t=16333
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Re: Araminta pecks away at Español

Postby clara » Sun May 09, 2021 5:41 pm

Just came across your log and am enjoying it! I used Baselang last year but quit earlier this year when the site was flooded with new students and it became impossible to book lessons with my favorite instructors. Do you know if that has eased up? Are you doing the skill building activities within the DELE curriculum or Real World? I don't remember Real World having skill building activities but wonder if they've merged programs, seemed like they were heading in that direction.
0 x
Spanish Goals
22/23 SC Films: 438 / 18000 438 / 18000 minutes
22/23 SC Books: 6454 / 10000 6454 / 10000 pages
2022 Reading: 8061 / 8000 8061 / 10000 8000 pages


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