Hank's Adventure in Spanish (Now with 100% more Welsh!)

[Hank]

Thank you for the suggestions James29. If Hunger Games is more difficult I should probably try something else next. I had considered Harry Potter so that may be a better choice. I'll take a look at Cajas de Carton and Alex Rider.

[James29]

I would read whatever book interests you most. Hunger Games may have simply been more difficult for me because I was not at all familiar with the story and the story is a bit out of the norm. If there are any of those books that you have already read in English that would make a HUGE difference in comprehension. Make sure you are having fun.

[Hank]

Everything is going well in my Spanish studies. I'm not too far away from finishing Duolingo. I have a long way to go with Memrise, but I haven't been using it as long. I'm glad I found Duolingo first. I think Memrise is good for reviewing, but I think I learn better with Duolingo.

My listening comprehension is improving. I'm starting to be able to comprehend much more of what is being said, and I'm starting to be able to make out more words even if I don't know what they mean. I feel like I'm on the cusp of pretty good comprehension. I watch Despierta América every morning that I'm home and occasionally Cómo Dice el Dicho which comes on right after Despierta América. I hadn't listened to my Chuy Lizárraga cd in a while, but I played it on the way to work yesterday morning and I can understand quite a bit more of it. Too much slang, though. Although, for some weird reason, I'm starting to be able to understand the slang as well. I guess that since Banda is considered regional to northern Mexico it's northern Mexican slang?

I have been reading more. I'm almost finished with La telaraña de Carlota. I also have been trying to make it a point to read at least one news article per day. Thanks to Montmorency for suggesting Veinte Mundos. I haven't listened to the audio, but the stories are much more interesting than the stories on Yahoo Español. I don't think even Spanish could make stories about the Cardasians interesting. I decided to take James29's advice and read Alex Rider next. It seems like a good story and it's more current. I ordered the Spanish and English versions which should be here soon. Since I was on Amazon spending money I went ahead and ordered a cd from Banda Carnaval.

I have been forcing myself to do more extensive reading. I started feeling like intensive reading was becoming a crutch. I wanted to force myself to use my knowledge of Spanish and get out of the comfort zone of "If I don't know a word, I'll just look it up". I'm surprised at how well I comprehend written Spanish when reading extensively. Especially the news stories. One thing I have learned is that it's best to read the entire sentence before looking up any unknown vocabulary or before getting frustrated because I don't understand the sentence. Another weird thing, occasionally I will read aloud to my wife and translate. It seems like I comprehend better when I'm reading aloud.

[Hank]

Time for a new entry in my log. Where does the time go?

My studies are going well. I don't feel like I have made any major breakthroughs, but I'm still plodding along and still having fun.

I received the Banda Carnaval cd that I ordered. It's not quite as good as my Chuy Lizárraga cd. There are a few weak songs on it, but I'm still enjoying it. I could understand quite a bit of it. I think the parts where they shout the city that they come from and their catchphrase are funny. "¡Mazatlán, Sinaloa chiquitita! ¡Yes la Carnaval!" They do that a few times. That seems to be fairly normal in Banda. The sound from the speakers in my Jeep is very clear, and it's easy to hear the vocabulary. Easier than my television. I wonder if I should invest in some good quality TV speakers? I wonder if that would help my listening comprehension?

I understood some spoken Spanish yesterday. We were on an emergency call where the patient and her mother were speaking English. Suddenly the mom asked the daughter in Spanish if she wanted a jacket. It was cool to be able to understand what she said. I'm not sure why she switched to Spanish, since she was speaking English very well up to that point. Stress I suppose.

I finished La telaraña de Carlota and started Stormbreaker, the first book in the Alex Rider series. I ordered both the English and Spanish versions so I could have a parallel text, but the Spanish translation doesn't follow the original English very closely in some parts. I guess the translator took a lot of liberties in the translation. I haven't been using the English version. It was a slow start, but I'm comprehending fairly well after a few pages. I'm also starting to be able to figure out more words because of context. I didn't have much luck with that in La telaraña de Carlota.

I would like to read some books originally written in Spanish, but I haven't found anything that interests me yet.

[Hank]

My streak on Duolingo is up to 121 days. It's kind of pointless, but it does motivate me to at least do a little study on the rare days I don't feel like it or when I'm busy. The end is in sight with Duolingo. It has given me a good base caused me to get into learning a new language, which I have wanted to do for years. I'm glad I found it. A life without Duolingo seems a little scary at this point because it has been such a part of my learning plan.

I haven't been keeping up with Memrise quite as well, but I still do at least a couple of lessons most days. I wish there was a way to make it review only what you want to review and not go over "la carne" over and over. Maybe there is and I just haven't looked hard enough.

Reading in Spanish has rekindled my interest in reading. I have read very few books over the last 25 years. When I was in elementary school and high school I read all the time. In fact, I used to get in trouble in elementary school because I was reading books when I was supposed to be doing other things. I have an ever growing list of books that I want to read in Spanish if I can find them. This is unrelated to language learning, but I had a meeting last night and my wife wanted me to drop her off at the book store. I went in to get a hot chocolate and on one of the displays was a copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I have wanted to read that for a long time, so I bought it. It isn't in Spanish. I hope that's okay.

I'm about a third of the way through Stormbreaker. The story has been a little too unbelievable for my taste, but I'm enjoying it well enough. It's fun to see words that I had to look up in earlier parts of the book that I understand when I encounter them later. I'm also starting to get a good grasp of verb conjugations even though I couldn't explain them to someone. I think a little textbook work on verbs may be in order in the near future. I bought a copy of Cajas de cartón which was suggested by James29 if I remember correctly. I'll be reading that next. It doesn't sound terribly interesting but I want to read it because it was written by a native Spanish speaker. I assume it was originally written in Spanish. I'm still sticking with trying to read at least one news article per day as well.

It's gratifying when I write something off the top of my head and then post it on Lang-8 and it isn't a total train wreck. I have worked on some corrections where I just couldn't figure out what they were trying to say. Put the native translation on your posts people! My writing is far from perfect and far from eloquent (I think of it as "caveman" Spanish), but I can do it. I still have to think about it, but I suppose it will get better with practice. More vocabulary will also be a big help.

[Hank]

Yesterday was a good day for listening comprehension. Vi La casa de Mickey Mouse. Chip y Dale se escondieron todos los cocos. ¡Mickey y sus amigos no podían tener una fiesta de coco! Y vi Handy Manny. I find both of those shows fairly comprehensible.

Last night I watched the first episode of El hotel de los secretos on Univision.com with Spanish subtitles. I have mostly stayed away from subtitles so far. One reason being that the general consensus seems to be that they aren't terribly helpful in listening comprehension. Another reason being that I have been unable to understand the Spanish subtitles due to lack of vocabulary. And they go by so stinkin' fast! And a final reason being that I'm not much of a multitasker. I can either read or listen, but generally not both. It occurred to me, though, that I'm able to understand the horrible, computerized voice on Duolingo Spanish now due to reading and listening at the same time.

I had a blast watching El hotel de los secretos. I was able to understand the subtitles well enough to fully understand what was happening, and even with the speed that they go by I was able to figure out a few words due to context. It was kind of like forced extensive reading at a blazing speed. Listening while reading the subtitles was a real eye opener. I started picking up words that seemed to be run together and the way they dropped letters. Instead of "El hotel de los secretos" it was more like "l otel d lo secretos" or more precisely "loteldlosecretos". I know that the "h" isn't pronounced in Spanish, but I'm trying to make a point here. I also enjoyed the story.

I want to stick with this for a while. I think it helped my listening comprehension.

[Hank]

Discouragement appeared again this week. I'm guessing it was due to two things. I got to the Duolingo lesson on Subjunctives, which I found very unhelpful, so I did some research on the internet. While I get the gist, this seems like a foreign concept to me. Obviously more study is needed. While I was studying someone wrote something like "Proper use of subjunctives is even difficult for a lot of advanced Spanish learners". Even though I have been making good progress, this just highlighted how far I have to go and that learning is going to be slow going from here on out. Kind of depressing. Also, with the end of Duolingo in sight, I got a little freaked out because I felt like my studies would be unstructured and I also dislike change. The combination of these things discouraged me for a few days.

I'm prone to stress, and my mind gets to running away with me at times. I ended up sitting down and just thinking about my future with Spanish. Letting the seemingly unending cycle of what-ifs run it's course. It always amazes me how well this works. Quit fighting! Your brain is trying to figure things out. Let it work. First of all, I decided that it's not a big deal if I never master subjunctives. I'm still going to study the subject. Maybe I won't be terribly eloquent with output, but I'm ok with that. It's not like I won't be able to communicate. Then again, maybe I'll become a subjunctive master! I also came up with a structured learning plan. I don't know if it's any good, but it's a plan. I'm reenergized and ready to go.

Hi. My name is Hank. I'm addicted to El hotel de los secretos. I'm only four episodes in, but I'm loving it. I started watching this with Spanish subtitles in an attempt to improve my listening comprehension. Unfortunately I get so wrapped up in all the twists and turns that I forget to pay attention to the dialogue. I feel like this has been a big help in both listening and reading comprehension. I followed the first three episodes very well, but I got a little lost in the fourth episode. I had helped a friend move a woodpile and I was too tired to keep up. I knew I missed some important points, so I went through the transcript. I was a little embarrassed that the stuff I missed was stuff that I knew, but everything made sense afterwards.

I'm making good progress with Stormbreaker. There's still a lot of vocabulary that I don't know. Mostly descriptive stuff. But I'm learning and having fun. I was planning on continuing with the series after this book, but I'm not sure now. I think it's at a good level for me, but I feel like it's kind of poorly written and I'm not really feeling an attachment to the characters. The story is a little too unbelievable for me. I'm going to read Cajas de cartón next and then reevaluate.

[Allison]

It's funny—although the subjunctive is complicated, I feel like the rules about when to use it are comprehensive and concrete enough that I am more often confused by and mess up the imperfect/preterite distinction when writing my own stuff than I do the subjunctive (though I certainly mess that up too!). I don't know if I'm typical or not, but I see the subjunctive as something that is intimidating at first but very doable and capable of being split into comprehensible rules, like WEIRDO or whatever you're using. On the other hand, "use imperfect for description" is easy to say and less easy for me to put into practice when writing on my own. The subjunctive is definitely something that can be expected to knock you off your feet at first, but I'm confident you can work it through.

Also, I know that the loss of a spine for your studies can be disconcerting so I'm glad you have a new plan that you're excited about, but the fact that you're coming to the end of Duolingo and outgrowing a part of your studies is a great sign of your progress and a cause for celebration! Go, Hank!

[Lorren]

Congratulations on how well you are doing!

There are some grammatical concepts that are tricky - like subjunctives. I would encourage you to keep on working with Duolingo even after you finish the tree. I try to keep my Spanish tree gold, even though I finished it last year. Most of the time, it is gold, even if I don't touch Spanish for a few days. It takes a while to get to that point though - at first it seems like that thing turns color way too fast.

I've found that Duolingo practice really helps me practice those tricky concepts, like subjunctives, and I find that helpful. Even today, there are some skills that pop up for me to do, even in Spanish, and I dread doing them because they're a challenge... but it happens a lot less with Spanish than it used to.

When I do extensive reading, I usually just write down an unknown word, or if I'm reading it on my Kindle, I highlight it. Then I move on. It's something that's easy to do if you understand the story, although if the story is too difficult to comprehend, I have to look it up.

Keep up the good work!

[Hank]

Thanks for the encouragement Allison and Lorren. I know I'm going to go through spells where I get discouraged. It's annoying, but not a big deal. It's an interesting phenomenon when a hobby becomes more than a hobby and becomes a part of your life. It's probably a good thing that it doesn't happen very often. Three or four years ago I started teaching myself how to play guitar. This was something I had dreamed about since I was a kid. I can't imagine my life without a guitar in it (well...several guitars at this point ), and I suspect that Spanish is there as well.

I finished the Duolingo Spanish course this morning. I thought that would feel like more of an accomplishment than it did. It felt more like "I'm FINALLY done with this thing!" I suspect that it was due to the fact that I had already advanced past the final few Duolingo lessons, except for subjunctives, because of my other Spanish studies. I'm glad I found Duolingo, but I'm glad I realized that I needed to study outside of it as well. On balance, I actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm thinking of going through another course on Duolingo just for fun, but I don't want to hinder my Spanish studies. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously at this point, but I don't know if I could do that. I would just want to get a little base going for a time when I felt like I was ready to seriously tackle another language. Welsh interests me, but it seems like it would be difficult to keep up with anything but reading books. There doesn't appear to be much native Welsh media available to people living in the U.S. I took a year of German in college and I enjoyed it. We'll see.

I had a little disappointment this week. There's a supermarket in my town that sells Mexican soda pop. I have tried a few of them. They're good! Especially piña flavor. I had heard about Mexican Tuti Fruti soda pop. I really wanted to try it. It sounded very exotic to me. The supermarket had some the other day. It's just fruit punch! That's not very exotic!