Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

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haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
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Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:38 pm

Having lapsed in my prior attempts at reaching a degree of fluency in Spanish, and failing at reaching my target of at least level A2 in the past, I wish to give it another go, but will try to give myself a little more breathing room. I am probably close to A2 in passive language consumption but definitely A1, or worse, with active use of the language particularly speaking. Will focus this time on reading, initially mainly graded readers but wish to progress to native materials sooner rather than later. I definitely also need to work on my speaking ability. I probably can devote 1-2 hours a day to this goal. This should give me a little over 14 months from this post to achieve that target.

I am setting myself the goal of reaching level B2 by the end of 2022, and would like to validate reaching my goal by taking the DELE, or less likely the SIELE to confirm my level by that point. I may possibly also use the SIELE halfway to confirm my level at the halfway point. I don't need the certification, but am doing it to validate my ability, my achievement of the target, and for my own enjoyment.

Updates regarding my choice of materials and progress to follow in subsequent posts.
14 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos

german2k01
Green Belt
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:16 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: English, Urdu, and German
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Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby german2k01 » Thu Oct 14, 2021 5:02 pm

I wonder if using a tool like LingQ will spur on your reading experience as it makes looking up unknown words easy or maybe Readlang whatever floats your boat just throwing in there as a suggestion.

Keeping aside my suggestion for reading for a moment, how are you planning to approach reading if you can describe it over the course of months for example the first 3 months then the next 3 months so and so forth.
2 x

haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
x 131

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Sun Oct 17, 2021 4:52 pm

Currently listening to various segments of News in Slow Spanish, Radio Ambulante using their Lupa app, and working through the A1-A2 version of Gramática de uso del español, with a particular emphasis on verb conjugations. I actually seem to be enjoying the grammar practice.

I am finding the speed of the announcer on the "beginners" version of News in Slow Spanish to be way too glacial, and prefer the "intermediate" stream, although I am not sure I am seeing that much of difference in the complexity of the language used. On the other hand Radio Ambulante goes at a native rate of speaking and I have to run it at 80% speed, with the transcript in front of me to have any chance of understanding the speakers.

Also reading an "A2" reworking of El Quijote on the side but find my progress to be fairly slow.

I do use LingQ, although I find simple vocabulary practice using Anki or Memrise to be actually less tedious. Curious, since LingQ does give you the words in a better context. I am slowly going through episodes of Destinos. I have finally made it to Argentina!

I just watched episode one of Animales Politicos, a documentary on the politics and government structure of Costa Rica, a country that I have visited a total of six times in the last 17 years, and which I do enjoy visiting, to the point of at one point considering buying property there, an option I ultimately decided against, although it may be a consideration again once I retire. I found myself understanding about 40% of the documentary episode but this is with the closed captioning turned on. I do appreciate the fact that the narrator speaks at a fairly slow pace and with very clear diction.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd2npc ... zW4qV8d72Q
4 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos

haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
x 131

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:13 pm

I just tried to "take" the reading comprehension part of the SIELE practice exam:

https://examendemo.siele.org/

I was hoping for a score at the end, effectively testing my level without having to pay for the privilege and without a certificate in the end, but alas this test does not seem to provide you with a score or even tell you what the right answers were.

I think I got the gist of the first two "tareas" somewhat clearly and I suspect I answered them correctly, but it is impossible to know without an answer key. I was completely lost in the last 3 "tareas".
1 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos

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Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
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Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9315

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby Le Baron » Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:28 pm

Do you live in an area with a high proportion of Spanish speakers?
1 x

haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
x 131

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:37 pm

Le Baron wrote:Do you live in an area with a high proportion of Spanish speakers?


Yes, there is a large number of Puerto Ricans in my area, who are notoriously fast speakers, and a smaller number of Mexicans, with a smattering of others from other areas. I am still trying my best to maintain social distancing and a self imposed "lock-down" so my interactions have been a bit more limited, although I am fully vaccinated, including a booster dose of the vaccine.
3 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos

User avatar
Le Baron
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3480
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:14 pm
Location: Koude kikkerland
Languages: English (N), fr, nl, de, eo, Sranantongo,
Maintaining: es, swahili.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18796
x 9315

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby Le Baron » Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:13 pm

haziz wrote:
Le Baron wrote:Do you live in an area with a high proportion of Spanish speakers?


Yes, there is a large number of Puerto Ricans in my area, who are notoriously fast speakers, and a smaller number of Mexicans, with a smattering of others from other areas. I am still trying my best to maintain social distancing and a self imposed "lock-down" so my interactions have been a bit more limited, although I am fully vaccinated, including a booster dose of the vaccine.


Okay. well in the period where you're distancing, use it to go full throttle for six-month's worth of reading, listening and prepare for going out speaking in the world. You have a potential ready supply of sounding-board speakers, which as you'll know is a great boon for any language learner.
2 x

haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
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Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Mon Oct 18, 2021 12:46 am

Watched Guatemala: Heart of the Mayan World on Netflix with the original Spanish narration and with closed captioning on. The narrator's basso profundo, somewhat theatrical, narration was delivered at a slow pace and was very understandable with the closed captioning on. I probably could have done to a certain extent without the closed captioning, but it is the end of the day and I am getting tired. There seems to be multiple documentaries with the same name. The one on Youtube appears to be an entirely different, older, documentary with a different narrator.

I may do a little Anki vocabulary practice before calling it a day.

I find documentaries to be more interesting than the telenovelas many Spanish learners turn to. I don't watch soap operas in English, and while the over-dramatic plot-lines in telenovelas may make following the story and dialogue a little easier, I have struggled with maintaining any interest in the story-lines of telenovelas each time I have tried to watch one in the past. Problem is, finding understandable Spanish language documentaries, maybe a bit more challenging than encountering the ubiquitous telenovela.
Last edited by haziz on Mon Oct 18, 2021 2:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
3 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos

User avatar
luke
Brown Belt
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:09 pm
Languages: English (N). Spanish (intermediate), Esperanto (B1), French (intermediate but rusting)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16948
x 3629

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby luke » Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:31 am

haziz wrote:Problem is, finding understandable Spanish language documentaries, maybe a bit more challenging than encountering the ubiquitous telenovela.

Deutsche Welle has a lot of Spanish language documentaries up on youtube.

YouTube search: dw documentales

Setting your device's language to Spanish may make that search more effective.
4 x
: 124 / 124 Cien años de soledad 20x
: 5479 / 5500 5500 pages - Reading
: 51 / 55 FSI Basic Spanish 3x
: 309 / 506 Camino a Macondo

haziz
Yellow Belt
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:54 pm
Location: USA
Languages: English (L2 but at native level - my primary language), Spanish (Beginner - ?A1), Egyptian Arabic (N but not using the language), Modern Standard Arabic (?C1 passive/reading, A2 active/writing - also not using), French (Studied in school but retained very little).
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19722
x 131

Re: Spanish B2 by the end of 2022?

Postby haziz » Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:11 am

luke wrote:Deutsche Welle has a lot of Spanish language documentaries up on youtube.
YouTube search: dw documentales
Setting your device's language to Spanish may make that search more effective.




Thanks a lot for pointing this out! I watched half of this documentary this morning before work and will finish it this evening.

Thanks for pointing out this great resource!

P.S. Fixed. I initially had trouble embedding the YouTube video directly.

https://youtu.be/3yLoofhSdVc
Last edited by haziz on Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1 x
Spanish:
: 23 / 55 Platiquemos/FSI
: 0 / 10 Aula internacional Plus 2
: 16 / 126 Gramática de uso del español
: 0 / 6 Difusion graded readers
: 1 / 15 Spanish for Reading
: 11 / 52 Destinos


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