M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Sat Jun 08, 2019 5:21 am

MorkTheFiddle wrote:In addition to big novels, the late Gabriel García Márquez wrote a number of interesting short stories. I recommend reading a couple of them in English to see whether you like them before plunging into the Spanish originals.


I read Memorias de Mis Putas Tristes a while ago and enjoyed that one. I have seen some other short stories of his hanging around in some of the bookstores I like to go to find Spanish literature. Suggestions are always welcome.

MorkTheFiddle wrote:Finally, there is Como Agua para Chocolate, a lot of fun (the movie, too), by Mexican writer Laura Esquivel (though I believe it bombed with a readers group here :cry: ).


I really enjoyed that one. It showed that you do not have to have some epic story - or be really heady - to execute a clever concept. I also have a soft spot for Mexican slang, food, and culture so that book was a fun little journey for me.

I have not read much in the way of Magical Realism just yet, but what I have read has been varied and enjoyable.

MorkTheFiddle wrote:Continued success!


To you as well. :)
1 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Sat Aug 10, 2019 5:29 am

Spanish

I am about twenty pages away from finishing La Llamada del Tribu. I learned about a few political philosophers I had never heard before, and I will have to revisit this book for all the useful political philosophy vocabulary that was in it. Some of it was not so useful since Mario Vargas Llosa has a very ample vocabulary, and uses words that I would not necessarily use in my native language. Anyway, it was a good book, and the next time I find myself in a bookstore in Spain I might want to pick up something by José Ortega y Gasset.

Speaking of Spain, my wife and I went to Spanish happy hour tonight and chatted with a lady who was originally from Barcelona. Normally Spaniards are a bit difficult for us to understand since we are both used to Spanish from the Americas, but this particular lady's accent was not much of a problem at all. We have also had quite a few not-so-great experiences with Spaniards, so it was nice to repair that a bit with someone who was really warm and friendly. My Spanish felt pretty rusty since I am not getting much output practice due to my studies. If I can manage it, it would be good to get some tech vocabulary in so I can talk more about what I am learning, and to talk shop with all the software developers and sys admins that like to go to that meetup.

German

The road is going to be really long with this language at the rate I am moving with it. I will learn it one day, but it will probably take me twice as long as it would for most people. I keep at it with the Duolingo, and it seems that some things are starting to sink in a bit more while other things feel as new as the first time I was exposed to them. I have been poking away at the One Punch Man mangas that I picked up on the last trip to Germany, but it is slow going. I am going to need to finish getting through them, scribbling out the vocabulary for the dialog, and then just rereading them until I do not need my vocabulary lists anymore. It's hard to get much time in with the university studies and all, but I love German and having to take the long road with this language is not going to dissuade me from learning it.
3 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Thu Jan 02, 2020 12:48 am

Happy New Year, everyone!

It's that time of year again when I try to post language goals knowing full well that uni is going to suck up every little minute of my time and brain power. This year let's just say no to doing that.

I have been keeping my Duolingo streak up for German just to keep things warm until I can resume some serious study. Over the winter break I flirted with a few books in Spanish before I settled on doing something simple: Reading a Michael Connelly book in Spanish that someone gifted me for Xmas. Nothing like reading characters near the Mexican boarder using slang from Spain. :roll:

My hope is to hit a couple meet ups before the next semester starts.
3 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Fri Jun 12, 2020 7:37 am

Spanish

I have been trying to integrate some of my university studies with my language goals by finding some notable figures in the Spanish-speaking world who are in the field I am studying to follow on social media. Hopefully immersing myself in their material will help my industry-specific tech babble vocabulary as well as help me with generic communication about my studies with laypeople.

German

I am taking a bit of a pause on the only thing that I am currently doing for this language: Duolingo. I noticed that keeping up my streak and having to constantly keep practicing lame ass phrases like "Der Mann und der Junge, die Frau und das Madchen" was making practice feel tedious and boring. That's not what I want to associate with German, so I stopped. I will probably leave Duolingo alone for a while and use the time I used to give to it to the DW application ("Nico's Weg").
6 x

User avatar
lingua
Blue Belt
Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby lingua » Fri Jun 12, 2020 10:13 pm

I've pretty much given up on Duo for DE and PT. It worked well for me with Latin but with DE/PT I lose interest quickly. Too much repetition, too many stupid sentences. I find myself bored. I may continue to use it once in a while but not as part of my daily routine.
4 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Sat Aug 01, 2020 5:29 am

Well, here is a reset for my progress: I had a stroke.

Not at 89, not at 95, but at 42. Oh well.

The good news: I can remember how to do everything. The night that I went in was just like a nightmare that I can not seem to overcome. I can remember, for example, how to boil noodles. I can remember my wife's name. I remember last Tuesday when the dryer went out and it needed to be fixed. It's all there.

The bad news: writing needs to be re-learned. I can remember how to clean the microwave, but I cannot for the life of me recall about how to write about it. Vocabulary needs to be relearned. I have millions of words in my head that just stare at me blankly when I try to call them forth. The blankness in my head that I can't get to work on dimensions of words and operations solves itself in a way that is not correct, but still I must follow it. An finally memory is non existent. What is happening and when... I have no idea. Fortunately, this can be planned around.

Spanish

I can understand this perfect well, with some obvious leaks and needs for rest. I do not know how well, however, my spoken Spanish will translate. Probably slow and with plenty of pauses like my native English.

German

German is gone. I can understand it a little, but translating it is way too much work.

Fuck 2020. Fuck it in it's stupid ass. Fuck in it's stupid ass without lube.
7 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:48 pm

Things that effect my head: # 269

Holding two separate pieces of information. For example, thinking of the letter r and thinking of the a color. I cannot do both at the same time, and one thing thing will need to give way.

Spanish

Surprise surprise, my ability to listen is light years above where my ability to speak is. Back to this problem again.

Having a mind that gets hung up on an imaginary word like "tungstenatior," and will not move on to find another word related to the the first word is hard to have in another language. Why would this feature not be enabled for my other languages?
0 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:31 pm

Things that affect my head: # 157

My password retrieval with the computer in my hands vs. it away.

Spanish

I decided to not get to involved, but get my feet a little dirty. I tried to get involved in a bit of a conversation that tested my ability to recall. I wasn't a long conversation, it was just a quick recall via HelloTalk. I recalled something in Spanish via type-text and it took forever. Mostly there was the some bits that did not transfer over right away to English - which is why I think German is giving me such problems. For example, "me da lastima" or something like that take me a moment to think of.
1 x

User avatar
M23
Orange Belt
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 6:58 am
Location: Colorado (USA)
Languages: Analog languages - English (N), Spanish (intermediate), German (n00b). Digital languages- Java (n00b)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2186
x 297

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby M23 » Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:10 am

My brain therapy is going well, thank you for asking.

Spanish

I finally got around to attending a Zoom meeting for my Spanish group. My speaking is trashed. I can understand with a high degree of fluency but I can't make much sense if I express it. I have the same work to do in Spanish that I have been doing in English. It's frustrating to see my brain unable to make connections and at a loss for even simple phrases. On the bright side I will be attending the Zoom calls from now until the beginning of the new year when I go back to school.

Let's get Spanish back and then... well, we will continue to ignore it because I have school. :roll:
4 x

User avatar
lingua
Blue Belt
Posts: 951
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:23 pm
Languages: English (N)
Maintaining: italiano (B2/C1ish)
Studying: português, Latina
Dabbling: siciliano, Deutsch, français, piemontèis
Abandoned: ไทย, español
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=12257
x 2024

Re: M23's Language Log: Spanish and German

Postby lingua » Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:43 am

That must really be frustrating M23. Hopefully, you will see improvements over time.
0 x
Super Challenge 2022-23:
DE: books: 0 / 2500 film: 1654 / 4500
IT: books: 3065 / 5000 film: 5031 / 9000
PT: books: 2921 / 5000 film: 5010 / 9000

Output Challenge 2023:
IT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 84 / 3000
PT: write: 0 / 50000 record: 0 / 3000

PT: Read 100 books: 28 / 100


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests