Spanish from the beginning

[Tomás]

I don't own this Madrigal's book, but heard of it quite often. Would you also suggest this for a native speaker of other languages? because from the preview I think it links quite much to english, but I guess that would be fine for me.

It's the basis for the Michel Thomas and Language Transfer methods. Its "English base" is more dominant than an Assimil English base would be, because the method teaches you how to convert English words into Spanish words. While you could certainly learn from it, you would probably not gain as much from it as a native English speaker. If you want to audition the book before purchasing, it can be found on the Internet in pdf format.

[bard]

I agree with the last post. Madrigal's book is, at least in the parts I have studied, based on "converting" english to spanish. I did not know you could preview it in .pdf It is interesting the things you can find in pdf format. No telling how many of them are "legal" but that is for someone else to figure out.

[bard]

I got down to the section on climate on the website [url][/url] http://www.e-spanyol.hu/en/transcript.php [url][/url]
I spoke a little spanish to the teller at the bank. She also is trying to learn. I made a couple mistakes but can see some progress in understanding spanish when spoken.

[bard]

A very busy week, but I am now back in the groove. Anyway, I got down to the "Common Questions" section on this web site: [url][/url] http://www.e-spanyol.hu/en/transcript.php [url][/url]
Also, I got past lesson catorce in Madrigal's book.

[bard]

I got through "Giving Directions" on this website: [url][/url] http://www.e-spanyol.hu/en/transcript.php [url][/url]
I am still working on leccion quince in Madrigal's book. I have been having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after a busy week last week.

[bard]

I got to the "health and safety" section of the website I have been mentioning. It is high time that I explain what process I will be using for actually learning the language instead of just getting the form of it in my head. I will begin detailing this tomorrow.

[bard]

Okay, I got through lesson quince in Madrigal's book.
It is time to specify the method I will use for spanish comprehension. I am going with a Listening-Reading method. I like to read and am a minister, so I will use "The Hobbit" by Tolken and the Bible as literature. I can add more to these but I will have to have the right resources for each book. For example, I have "The Hobbit" in spanish and English, you can get the spanish audio reading for the book (there is a YouTube of it), so I am good to go.
However, I will start with the Bible. The reason is motivation and size of the book. Some have suggested that I would have a problem with antiquated language. This is not a problem. You can get the Bible in spanish and english as modern as you want it. I have decided to go with the New King James English text along side Reina-Valera 1960 Spanish version. I have a nice audio rendition of the RV1960 I can listen to while I read my parallel NKJV/RV1960 bible. The only reservation I have about this approach is that the RV1960 uses the vosotros form. You can get translations that don't use it, but those translations are not widely used by latinos as a Bible (the RV1960 is evidently by far the most popular). I may go through the Reina-Valera and then on the second time through use the ...De La Hoy translation put out by the Lockman foundation. it only uses ustedes. I will use NKJV english text since others that are even more modern (like the NIV) are not real translations but more like paraphrase into english. By using the NKJV I will avoid the thee's and thou's and at the same time have a translation I can compare against the greek and spanish word-for-word.
I wonder how many chapters I can do in a day?

[bard]

I got down to crops and plants on the website I have been referencing. I will finish it tomorrow. I wanted to be done with it before I do an extensive L-R session.

[bard]

I have been listening to native spanish speakers today on this website: [url][/url] http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/index.html [url][/url]
I find it soooooo frustrating that people in any language do not fully enunciate their words. I am from the South and we are awful at communication as a whole due to blending words together as if they are one big word. We also make indistinct sounds as if our jaws are too slack to form the words.
I find it even more disconcerting in Spanish. At least those with a Southern English drawl speak their words slowly, the spanish speakers are flying through it and still not fully saying each word - Arrgh! Anyway, I guess I will just have to get used to it.

[bard]

I am down to "identifying basic colors" in the beginning section of the website I mentioned in last post.