Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

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Cerebral_Arbitrage
Yellow Belt
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:19 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18782
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Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Tue Dec 07, 2021 12:39 am

Hello everyone. Another Spanish language learner here. Thanks for adding me. I have been learning for quite a while, which means I’ve amassed a lot of learning tools but haven’t amassed a large vocabulary. I love reading your logs and find them inspiring.
Here’s my current routine:
Lengalia for grammar
Clozemaster, Speakly and Anki for vocabulary
Netflix for listening (and reading subtitles). I am shocked to find myself watching “Selling Sunset” in dubbed Spanish with subtitles. It’s like a very slow-moving, predictable yet outrageous soap opera. I find it easier to understand than any other Spanish telenovela I’ve tried.
Percy Jackson – El ladrón de rayo for reading. This might be a little advanced for me. I may download a different book from the library.
I need to see about writing. It's my least favorite task.
I am thinking about signing up for the DELE to add some more motivation. Maybe the B1 in May? We shall see.
12 x

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2113
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Dec 07, 2021 5:56 pm

Welcome to the forum. May your time here be fun and productive.
1 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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Cerebral_Arbitrage
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Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:19 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18782
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Wed Dec 08, 2021 1:48 am

MorkTheFiddle wrote:Welcome to the forum. May your time here be fun and productive.


Thank you so much, MorkTheFiddle! I've actually been a part of this forum before for a short period of time, but I think it's been too long to revive my old account. It's an interesting and smart group of people. I learn all sorts of things from this forum. For example, today I learned about the Yamnaya, did a Google search and spent the next hour down a Bronze Age rabbit hole. Great fun!
2 x

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M23
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Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby M23 » Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:37 am

Welcome to the forum! It's good to see another Spanish learner around these parts. ;)
2 x

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Cerebral_Arbitrage
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Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:19 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Wed Dec 08, 2021 7:40 pm

M23 wrote:Welcome to the forum! It's good to see another Spanish learner around these parts. ;)


Thanks so much for the welcome M23! I will be checking out your log and other Spanish learners' logs to get some tips. There's so much to learn!
0 x

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Cerebral_Arbitrage
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:05 pm

This week:
Video (mostly Netflix) 2 hours 47 minutes
Vocabulary (Clozemaster, Speakly, Anki): 1 hour 38 minutes
Grammar (Lengalia): 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 5 hours, 55 minutes

I’ve been using the Toggl Track app to track my time and I’ve been enjoying it more than I have other time tracking apps. I particularly like that I can use it both on the web and also on my cell. And it’s free - my favorite price.

I hopped around Netflix a lot and discovered some new things to watch with Spanish audio and subtitles. Christi’s log entry (of Christi’s Korean and Spanish studies) motivated me to watch “Guatemala: Corazon del Mundo Maya.” It has been a few years since I’ve been to Guatemala and the video brought back good memories. And she was right! The narrator spoke slowly and was easy to understand. I also watched some “Dragons: Race to the Edge” and “Longmire.”

Lengalia has made grammar easier for me to do, thanks to its slick interface and visuals. Anything that reduces “motivation barriers” is my friend.

The same can be said for Vocabulary. The combination of Speakly, Clozemaster and Anki keeps me engaged. They have slightly different ways to respond to their “flash cards” which I like.

Another week of interesting topics on LLF. “The staying power of colonial languages” taught me quite a bit about language history and policies. Loved it!
3 x
365 Day Challenge: 0 / 365
PFC - Daily Vocabulary Review: 0 / 365
PFC - Read 500 pages: 0 / 500
PFC - Watch 120 hours of video: 0 / 7200

Christi
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Languages: Dutch (N), English (C1), German (B1), Korean (high A2-low B1?)
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Christi » Sat Dec 18, 2021 6:28 am

Cerebral_Arbitrage wrote:I hopped around Netflix a lot and discovered some new things to watch with Spanish audio and subtitles. Christi’s log entry (of Christi’s Korean and Spanish studies) motivated me to watch “Guatemala: Corazon del Mundo Maya.” It has been a few years since I’ve been to Guatemala and the video brought back good memories. And she was right! The narrator spoke slowly and was easy to understand.

Another week of interesting topics on LLF. “The staying power of colonial languages” taught me quite a bit about language history and policies. Loved it!


Nice to hear one of the videos I shared was useful to someone! I will probably share some more documentaries in the future. At the moment I'm mostly watching movies, which I will probably share too in a future update.

Thanks for sharing that post. Will look for it since this is a topic which interests me as well!
2 x
2020 resolution words learned: 472 / 1000
Pages read at end of 2020: 220 / 1500

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Cerebral_Arbitrage
Yellow Belt
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:19 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18782
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Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:50 pm

12/20/2021
This week:
Video (mostly Netflix) 3 hours 36 minutes
Vocabulary (Clozemaster, Speakly, Anki): 1 hour 18 minutes
Grammar (Lengalia): 1 hour 53 minutes
Reading: 1 hour 55 minutes
Total: 8 hours, 44 minutes

I finished a graphic novel for youngsters called "Fantasmas" (by Raina Telgemeier) about the Day of the Dead. Although it was mostly light-hearted, with happy ghosts dancing around, the book also touched on more serious topics like missing loved ones or dealing with the imminent death of a family member. I liked this one.

I’m still reading Ollie Richards beginning stories in Spanish. It is okay so far, but I am easily persuaded to read other things.

Speaking of reading other things, I’m finding Wikipedia in Spanish and another site called “No Sabes Nada” https://www.nosabesnada.com/ great distractions from Ollie. Neither of them require huge time commitments. The latter website doesn’t have a ton of content but it’s easy to read. The last article I read was called “¿Quiénes usaban pantalones y faldas en la antigüedad?” It discussed the history of men wearing skirts and high heels in the olden days. A fun little diversion.

This week, all of my video watching was fixed on “Longmire,” a dubbed series about a Wyoming sheriff and crime solver who drinks too much, talks very little, wrestles with his demons and wears a cowboy hat and a star-shaped badge. The audio and subtitles don’t match up perfectly, but they match up well enough for me to follow along without becoming confused.

My vocabulary routine is still going daily and I continue to tolerate Lengalia’s interactive grammar exercises much better than other methods.

This week I have more time off work and I’m hoping to spend some of it on Spanish. Some of those videos that Cristi mentioned in her log or a few YA graphic novels perhaps? Who knows, I may even be inspired to put extra time into grammar drills - a Christmas miracle for certain.
3 x
365 Day Challenge: 0 / 365
PFC - Daily Vocabulary Review: 0 / 365
PFC - Read 500 pages: 0 / 500
PFC - Watch 120 hours of video: 0 / 7200

User avatar
Cerebral_Arbitrage
Yellow Belt
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:19 pm
Languages: English (N), Spanish (intermediate)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18782
x 205

Re: Logger without a saw & Español with no teeth

Postby Cerebral_Arbitrage » Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:14 pm

12/27/2021
This week:
Video (Netflix) 10 hours 16 minutes
Vocabulary (Clozemaster, Speakly, Anki): 1 hour 12 minutes
Grammar (Lengalia): 2 hour 40 minutes
Reading: 49 minutes
Total: 14 hours, 58 minutes

This week was all about Netflix. I watched a three-episode Spanish Christmas series called Días de Navidad. It was a departure from a lot of typical holiday movies. It included good humor and happy family togetherness, but some of the themes were dark and some troubled relationships weren’t mended by the end of the show. Despite the depressing story lines, I liked this series a lot. In fact, I probably liked it because of the depressing story lines. There is only so much holiday cheer a person can take. I also watched Memoirs of a Geisha in Spanish and of course Longmire.

I didn’t read as much this week. I did find a few Spooksville books (by Christopher Pike) in Spanish. These books are much easier to read than others. I’m guessing they are probably at the same level as the Goosebumps series. In one of the conversation threads, “At What CEFR Level Did You Start Reading Harry Potter,” reineke posted a link to an article that investigated text complexity. The least complex text studied was a Goosebumps title by R.L. Stine. Interestingly, Charlotte’s Web was more complex than Harry Potter. A few years ago, I had tried to read it because I loved this book as a little girl. I thought it would be easier as a “children’s book” but I found it frustratingly difficult. I returned it to the library, feeling defeated. Now, I don’t feel so bad. Thanks reineke!

The new year is approaching so quickly and I’m excited to see what 2022 has for everyone’s language learning plans. I hope everyone has a happy New Year!
7 x
365 Day Challenge: 0 / 365
PFC - Daily Vocabulary Review: 0 / 365
PFC - Read 500 pages: 0 / 500
PFC - Watch 120 hours of video: 0 / 7200


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