Amanda's 2022 Log: Spanish and French (and now, Esperanto!)

[philomath]

Today was a busy day. In the morning I got breakfast at a little café, and then I went on a free walking tour. They had English and Spanish options, so I chose Spanish. There were around 20 of us in the tour group, mostly people from Argentina or other parts of Spain. We started in the Plaça del Rei and ended two hours later at the Parc de la Ciutadella. I had a little trouble understanding the tour guide because he spoke very quickly, but I got the gist of what he was saying and still enjoyed the tour. It was definitely good listening practice. Afterward, I went into a couple of convenience stores looking for water and hand sanitizer. Then I got lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

Later, I went to the Picasso Museum, which was very cool. My favorite part was the collection of his paintings based on Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. The galleries had text in Catalan, Spanish, English, and French, so I had fun switching from language to language. Written Catalan isn’t too hard to understand, but I still have no idea how most of the words are pronounced.

I was tired after walking around all day and didn’t feel like having dinner at a restaurant by myself, so I stopped by what Google Maps called a “cured ham bar” for a sandwich. It was just jamón ibérico and olive oil on a baguette, but it was really good.

Today’s language tally:
- English: 2X (paying for lunch, talking to someone at the museum—in my defense, they both addressed me in English first!)
- Spanish: 5X (ordering breakfast, talking to my tour guide, ordering lunch, talking to a creepy guy who approached me on the subway to tell me I look 16 , ordering dinner)

I really like Spain. I would have to go back to Madrid to decide whether I like it better than Barcelona, but I want to go to both cities again, and other parts of the country!

[philomath]

Today I ended up speaking English for most of the day. In the morning, I went on a 3.5-hour food tour, which started at Mercado de Santa Caterina. There, we had a glass of cava and tried a few different meats and cheeses. Next, we went to Torrons i dolços La Campana where we tried Spanish horchata and three types of turrón. The horchata was very different from the Mexican horchata I’ve had in the US; I’m not sure which I prefer. Afterward, we walked to the bakery Brunells, which claims to have the oldest working oven in Barcelona (from the 1700s). We got croissants and coca de forner. While we were walking around, our guide told us about the architecture of the neighborhood and Catalonian traditions. Finally, we walked to Barceloneta and went to a restaurant where we had vermouth, wine, a tapa from Barceloneta called a bomba, and paella.

All of the food was really good, but by the end of the tour I was very tired. I went back to my Airbnb for a siesta and then went to a smoothie shop. I know that in Spain, dinnertime is supposed to be around 8 or later, but I haven’t had the energy to go out for food in the evening! When I went to Madrid back in 2018, I went out for tapas by myself, but it felt a little weird being the only solo diner when tapas are such a social meal. Maybe I’ll go out tomorrow night though, my final night!

Anyway, later I went to Casa del Llibre, which was a big bookstore. Confusingly, they had books in Catalan and Spanish on the same shelf, rather than separate shelves. I kept picking up books and trying to read the back before realizing they were in Catalan. I was a bit disappointed that most of the books in Spanish I picked up had been translated into Spanish. I’m still trying to avoid reading translations, so I kept looking. They had a decent selection of language-learning materials, including a Catalan-Ancient Greek dictionary and a few Assimil books. I ended up buying a book and a graphic novel.

Next I went to Llibreria Jaimes. It’s a French bookstore, but they also had books in Catalan, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. I bought three books in French. While I was waiting to pay, I was trying to decide whether I would address the man at the cash register in Spanish or French. The person in front of me was speaking to him in Spanish, but I’d also heard him speaking French earlier. I ended up getting flustered and replied in Spanish when he spoke to me in French.

Finally I walked back to my Airbnb, taking a few detours to go into some food markets, where most of the stalls were closed for the day.

I only have one full day left in Barcelona, and there are still so many things I haven’t done! However, I think short trips like this are good for solo travel, and I don’t believe in trying to cram a thousand activities into one day in order to see everything. I’ll just have to come back again sometime! That being said, there are a few places I definitely want to see tomorrow.

[philomath]

My last full day in Barcelona started off slow. I slept late, then took the subway to La Sagrada Familia. I knew it’s very tall, but I was still stunned to see it in person. The area was swarming with other tourists, so I took some photos, walked around to get different viewpoints of the details on the church, and then decided to get away from the crowds and get some coffee. I found a little place across from Parc de la Ciutadella and ordered a cappuccino. Unfortunately, the waiter switched to English as soon as I hesitated when he asked whether I wanted the cappuccino to go. I was just trying to decide, not having trouble understanding! I appreciate that people want to be helpful by switching to English, but it does make me doubt my Spanish skills.

Next, I went to a restaurant that my tour guide yesterday recommended and got a glass of vermouth and some tapas. There were a lot of English-speaking tourists in the restaurant, so the waiters spoke to me in English, but I tried to keep replying in Spanish.

Later I went back to my Airbnb for a break, and then I checked out one of the other markets in the area. Next time I travel alone, I think I want to get an Airbnb with a kitchen, because it’s very tiring having to go out for every single meal.

Anyway, after the market I went to Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. I really liked this museum! The art collection was great, and the building itself was beautiful and had a great view of the city.

After the museum, I went to a dumpling restaurant. The key to solo dining in Spain is to sit at the bar. At this restaurant, I walked in and asked “¿Puedo sentarme aquí?”, gesturing to the seat I wanted. I couldn’t quite understand the answer but I took it to mean yes... hopefully I wasn’t wrong!

Even though I’m able to get by speaking Spanish here, I’m definitely not satisfied with my speaking skills. I feel very awkward in Spanish, and probably come off as rude by accident sometimes. For example, at this restaurant, my waiter asked “¿Qué tal?” and I couldn’t decide if I should actually answer in a conversational way or if he was just asking for my order. (At other places, they just said “Díme” or “¿Lista?”) Anyway, I decided to just place my order, which hopefully wasn’t rude.

Tomorrow I’m going back to the US! I’ll write another post about my thoughts on speaking Spanish in Spain. I had a really great trip and I’m already wondering when I can come back.

[philomath]

On my last day in Barcelona, it was thundering and raining when I woke up, but it stopped by the time I left to get coffee. At the coffee shop, I ordered in Spanish, but I didn't understand when the barista asked if I wanted cinnamon on top, so he switched to English. Now I'll remember the word for cinnamon though!

Next, I decided to go to the aquarium, which one of my friends had recommended. They had some really big tanks with sharks in them, which was cool, but it was very crowded so it was hard to see everything. I didn't stay very long. Next time I go to Barcelona, I'd like to go during the off season so there are fewer crowds.

After the aquarium, I walked back to El Born and wandered around for a while, checking out the shops. I went to a bakery and successfully asked whether they had croissants without filling (because all the ones in the display case were filled). Then I wandered around Mercado de Santa Caterina again. It's so sad that you can't bring meat or cheese from Spain back to the US! I would've filled my suitcase with jamón and manchego, but alas.

Anyway, I got a sandwich for lunch, and then it was time to leave for the airport. The man at the security desk complimented my Spanish.

The eight-hour plane ride gave me plenty of time to reflect on my Spanish studies. That post will be next!

[philomath]

Overall, I had a really great trip to Barcelona! I definitely didn't do as much sightseeing as I could've, but I prefer having a more relaxed trip.

Anywhere, here are my thoughts on speaking Spanish...

In general, I think I did a better job compared to my trip to Madrid in 2018. I was able to do things like order food more comfortably, and I also made an effort to ask questions, which is not something I did in Madrid. (For example, asking for help finding things in stores, or asking waiters for recommendations.)

However, as I mentioned before, I wasn't 100% happy with my Spanish skills. Of course not—that would mean speaking perfectly, which is impossible. But I think I can identify a few areas to work on before my next trip to a Spanish-speaking country.

First, accent/pronunciation. I don't need to sound exactly like a native speaker, but I'd like to improve it a little bit. It's mainly my vowel sounds that could use some tweaking. I might give Olle Kjellin's accent addition method another shot or try shadowing. Also, sometimes I get a bit tongue-tied if I try to speak quickly. Simply reading out loud more often might help with that.

But second, there seems to be a psychological component to accent that I need to work on. The best way to explain it is that my accent is the best when I'm speaking by myself, and it gets worse the more nervous I am. For example, when I'm having an iTalki lesson, my accent is still pretty good (and my teachers have told me it's good), but when we're talking about a complicated topic, it goes downhill. And when I'm speaking with someone in person, it gets even worse. It's like I'm embarrassed to have a good accent because I know I can't fool them into thinking I'm a native speaker, if that makes sense. Whatever it is, I'm not sure how to fix it besides working on my accent more and interacting with native speakers in person. I think the "in person" part may really be key. So I'll have to find some language exchanges in Boston.

Next, I need to improve my listening comprehension. Overall, I didn't have much trouble understanding people, but there were a few situations where I was lost. Lately I've been listening to a lot of podcasts from Latin America, so I should listen to some from Spain as well. However, I wonder if podcasts aren't great for listening practice at my level, because people tend to speak pretty clearly in podcasts. Maybe TV would be better.

However, even if I work on all the points above, I'll still have trouble interacting with people the next time I travel. While I can have relatively complicated conversations with my iTalki teachers, I still don't have much experience dealing with everyday situations, so I don't know the most natural way to say things sometimes. To fix this, I suppose I could ask one of my iTalki teachers to roleplay situations with me, but that sounds really boring. Unfortunately, I think this is where living in a Spanish-speaking country might be necessary, to encounter these situations over and over again. But I don't find that too discouraging: I'll continue to improve my Spanish in the ways that I can, and I'll keep learning more when I travel as well.

[philomath]

August Results

Spanish
[ ] Have ten iTalki lessons. (This goal was a bit too ambitious, but I had six lessons, which is a lot more than usual for me!)
[ ] Keep up with Anki reviews. (I did at the beginning of month, but then I forgot about Anki.)
[ ] Finish reading El tiempo entre costuras. (Nope... I'm around 1/3 done with the book right now.)
[ ] Write one journal entry every day. (I only did that for a week or so.)

French
[ ] Keep up with Anki reviews.

Well, I didn't complete any of my goals. However I think I did accomplish a lot! I studied Spanish for 24 hours and had six iTalki lessons. I think my conversational ability improved a bit. I'd like to keep making progress with Spanish in September, although I'm not sure how I'll balance it with French...

[philomath]

September Goals

This month, I want to continue improving my Spanish while also getting back into French. I'm really not sure how to balance the two languages. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to start phasing out Spanish so French can be my priority again. I've been having a lot of fun with Spanish, but I need to get my French to a higher level.

Spanish
[ ] Have four iTalki lessons.
[ ] Finish reading El tiempo entre costuras.
[ ] Keep up with Anki reviews.

French
[ ] Begin doing the exercises in Phonétique essentielle du français A1/A2.
[ ] Have two iTalki lessons.
[ ] Keep up with Anki reviews.

[lichtrausch]

Next, I need to improve my listening comprehension. Overall, I didn't have much trouble understanding people, but there were a few situations where I was lost. Lately I've been listening to a lot of podcasts from Latin America, so I should listen to some from Spain as well. However, I wonder if podcasts aren't great for listening practice at my level, because people tend to speak pretty clearly in podcasts. Maybe TV would be better.

Are there any Spanish TV shows similar to Terrace House or Share Life? The unscripted nature and regular people of these shows provide very natural speech, and unlike the American reality TV I've seen, they aren't trashy.

However, even if I work on all the points above, I'll still have trouble interacting with people the next time I travel. While I can have relatively complicated conversations with my iTalki teachers, I still don't have much experience dealing with everyday situations, so I don't know the most natural way to say things sometimes. To fix this, I suppose I could ask one of my iTalki teachers to roleplay situations with me, but that sounds really boring. Unfortunately, I think this is where living in a Spanish-speaking country might be necessary, to encounter these situations over and over again. But I don't find that too discouraging: I'll continue to improve my Spanish in the ways that I can, and I'll keep learning more when I travel as well.

Have you tried going to Hispanophone businesses in Boston? At one local Brazilian eatery I've been spoken to in Portuguese countless times by staff and other patrons. Not to mention all the Portuguese I've overheard others speaking there. The only problem is I've never studied Portuguese so the only benefit I get is learning a word here and there. Anyway, perhaps there are local Hispanophone businesses that would provide you with these kinds of everday interactions?

[philomath]

Are there any Spanish TV shows similar to Terrace House or Share Life? The unscripted nature and regular people of these shows provide very natural speech, and unlike the American reality TV I've seen, they aren't trashy.

It looks like there's one called Insiders on Netflix; I might check it out!

Have you tried going to Hispanophone businesses in Boston? At one local Brazilian eatery I've been spoken to in Portuguese countless times by staff and other patrons. Not to mention all the Portuguese I've overheard others speaking there. The only problem is I've never studied Portuguese so the only benefit I get is learning a word here and there. Anyway, perhaps there are local Hispanophone businesses that would provide you with these kinds of everday interactions?

Good idea, there actually are a few hispanophone businesses in my neighborhood. No one has ever spoken to me in Spanish, but I could try speaking first.

[philomath]

01Sep22–05Sep22

Spanish
01Sep22: I watched two episodes of the reality show Lady Tamara on Netflix, without subtitles. It's a bit boring in my opinion, but there are only six episodes, so I might as well finish it.

02Sep22: I watched two more episodes of Lady Tamara.

03Sep22: I had a 30-minute lesson with Diego. We discussed my trip to Spain and riding bikes.

05Sep22: I listened to another episode of Radio Ambulante. Later, I had a 45-minute lesson with Brian. We spent the first half of the lesson talking about my trip to Spain and the second half talking about the podcast episode. After our lesson, I made flashcards for all the words Brian wrote down in our Google doc.

French
02Sep22: I did Chapter 1 of Phonétique essentielle du français, which explained how to pronounce each letter of the alphabet. I already know how most of the letters were pronounced, but not all of them. It's definitely useful to know. There were nine audio clips for this chapter, and I played each clip once or twice while repeating after the speaker.

03Sep22: I watched YouTube videos for 30 minutes.