For a while this week I actually felt like I was regressing. I was having trouble recalling words that I should have known. Not very common words like también, así, algo, etc. I have always had trouble remembering words like that!
But the more I think about it, I think it's more likely that I'm still fighting impatience and I'm kind of getting bored with Duolingo and Memrise. I can only review "Me gustarían dos cervezas" so many times! Maybe it was just one of those weeks.
I have noticed something weird. I usually have Despierta América on in the mornings when I'm home. I tend to understand more of the language when I'm passively listening. When I actually sit and watch a show or movie in Spanish I don't feel like I comprehend as well. I wonder if I'm not distracted by the images. Or maybe I'm just distracted by all the mujeres hermosas on the Despierta América!
My Spanish comprehension is improving, but I still think my biggest issue is lack of vocabulary.
I tried a little experiment last night. I watched an episode of Extr@ en Español on YouTube. If I didn't understand what was said I would rewind it and listen again. If I still didn't understand what was said I would turn on the Spanish subtitles. Then I would turn off the subtitles and listen again. It seemed to be effective. I'm going to keep trying this and see what happens, except I'm more interested in Latin American Spanish right now so I'm going to find a Latin American show that I can do this with.
I'm fighting my way through
La telaraña de Carlota. I have the English version and have Google Translate open when I read. I'm almost done with the third chapter. I'm relying less and less on the English version and Google Translate, but it is slow going. I read a sentence and try to understand it before I start looking up words. It's mentally exhausting. It's fun, though. I bought this book because I thought that a children's book would be easier to read. I'm learning a lot of vocabulary, but it's mostly about a farm. I'm not sure how often knowing how to say llave inglesa or pocilga is going to be helpful in real life. When I finish this book I'm going to try to find a book that is more current with more conversational vocabulary. Any suggestions?