NoManches - Spanish: B2-->C1 Log
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 2:25 am
2018 Reading List (idea inspired by others)
La Última Bala - March 31 - 212 pages
La Caída de una Diva-197 pages
El ladrón del rayo - 75% - 288 pages
A little background:
I've been studying Spanish for 3 years and although I consider myself to be fluent, I would say that I'm still at a "B2" level but very close to being a "C1". I normally hate using this rating system since I've never taken an actual placement test, but most language learners can relate to this system so I will use it in this log. I really need to work on my listening skills, and feel like once my listening skills improve and I can absorb massive amounts of input, that all of my other skills will improve too. Due to my new schedule, I have a decent amount of time to listen to podcasts (while commuting to work), but have little time for other things. My goal right now: improve my listening skills to a point where I can learn from listening. I dream of the day when I can put on a podcast, understand 95% of it, and just sit back, relax, and learn Spanish while I listen.
To make things more interesting: In a little over 3 months I will be heading to Colombia. I have decided to do a "100 day challenge" to improve as much as I possible can before I leave. I will start this challenge on Sunday (April 10th).
Starting on Sunday, I will report in once a week to talk about my progress. I will make all posts in Spanish and encourage any corrections if people are willing to make them, since I still make more writing mistakes than I'd like.
Here are my goals for the next 15 weeks:
Vocabulary: I will use anki every day and plan to learn 500+ new words (5 new words each day).
Reading: I will read at least 1,000 pages. This breaks down to ~66 pages/week or 13 pages 5x's week. This goal should not be too demanding. I'm aiming to read 3 books during this time. Still deciding on intensive vs extensive reading.
Listening: I will listen to music and podcasts in Spanish whenever I can. If there is a time when I am awake and could be listening to Spanish, I will do it. HOWEVER, I really need to improve my listening skills. Therefore, I will dedicate at least 20 minutes 5x's each week to INTENSIVE listening. This equates to 100 minutes each week, or 1500 minutes during 15 weeks (25 hours).
Television: Many people here have said that TV isn't the most effective for improving listening skills. I agree. However, watching TV can be fun, and a great way to pick up on local slang. I plan on watching the show "Metastasis" which has 62 episodes (each one is about 40 minutes long). This is equivalent to 40+ hours of native material. Supposedly the show is really good!
Conversation: This is probably one of the most important things I can do. However, my schedule is really tight. I will try my hardest to have at least 2 hours on conversation each week with native speakers. I have many language friends that I can practice with on Skype.
Gloss: This is something very new to me but many people here have suggested it. I will start at the 2+ level and work my way up. Based on how many other things I plan on doing, I'm not sure how much time I will have to use GLOSS. If people reading this think it is very effective, then perhaps I will give it more attention. If not, perhaps I will use it whenever I have a few minutes to sit down and study.
Writing: I'm not too worried about this skill, but output is output. I will try my hardest to check back in here each week and write a summary of my week and how my language learning went.
So there you have it. The foundation for my 100 day challenge. After I will continue this log but I plan on starting with my "100 day challenge". ALL suggestions, critiques, advice, and words of motivation are more than welcome. Seriously, if somebody thinks I would be better off doing something differently, then I would definitely consider changing my plan. After all, I only speak two languages. Many of you speak many languages and know more about language learning than I do. I really want to improve my listening skills, and if anybody has any advice on how I could do this I'm sure it would help me out a lot.
La Última Bala - March 31 - 212 pages
La Caída de una Diva-197 pages
El ladrón del rayo - 75% - 288 pages
A little background:
I've been studying Spanish for 3 years and although I consider myself to be fluent, I would say that I'm still at a "B2" level but very close to being a "C1". I normally hate using this rating system since I've never taken an actual placement test, but most language learners can relate to this system so I will use it in this log. I really need to work on my listening skills, and feel like once my listening skills improve and I can absorb massive amounts of input, that all of my other skills will improve too. Due to my new schedule, I have a decent amount of time to listen to podcasts (while commuting to work), but have little time for other things. My goal right now: improve my listening skills to a point where I can learn from listening. I dream of the day when I can put on a podcast, understand 95% of it, and just sit back, relax, and learn Spanish while I listen.
To make things more interesting: In a little over 3 months I will be heading to Colombia. I have decided to do a "100 day challenge" to improve as much as I possible can before I leave. I will start this challenge on Sunday (April 10th).
Starting on Sunday, I will report in once a week to talk about my progress. I will make all posts in Spanish and encourage any corrections if people are willing to make them, since I still make more writing mistakes than I'd like.
Here are my goals for the next 15 weeks:
Vocabulary: I will use anki every day and plan to learn 500+ new words (5 new words each day).
Reading: I will read at least 1,000 pages. This breaks down to ~66 pages/week or 13 pages 5x's week. This goal should not be too demanding. I'm aiming to read 3 books during this time. Still deciding on intensive vs extensive reading.
Listening: I will listen to music and podcasts in Spanish whenever I can. If there is a time when I am awake and could be listening to Spanish, I will do it. HOWEVER, I really need to improve my listening skills. Therefore, I will dedicate at least 20 minutes 5x's each week to INTENSIVE listening. This equates to 100 minutes each week, or 1500 minutes during 15 weeks (25 hours).
Television: Many people here have said that TV isn't the most effective for improving listening skills. I agree. However, watching TV can be fun, and a great way to pick up on local slang. I plan on watching the show "Metastasis" which has 62 episodes (each one is about 40 minutes long). This is equivalent to 40+ hours of native material. Supposedly the show is really good!
Conversation: This is probably one of the most important things I can do. However, my schedule is really tight. I will try my hardest to have at least 2 hours on conversation each week with native speakers. I have many language friends that I can practice with on Skype.
Gloss: This is something very new to me but many people here have suggested it. I will start at the 2+ level and work my way up. Based on how many other things I plan on doing, I'm not sure how much time I will have to use GLOSS. If people reading this think it is very effective, then perhaps I will give it more attention. If not, perhaps I will use it whenever I have a few minutes to sit down and study.
Writing: I'm not too worried about this skill, but output is output. I will try my hardest to check back in here each week and write a summary of my week and how my language learning went.
So there you have it. The foundation for my 100 day challenge. After I will continue this log but I plan on starting with my "100 day challenge". ALL suggestions, critiques, advice, and words of motivation are more than welcome. Seriously, if somebody thinks I would be better off doing something differently, then I would definitely consider changing my plan. After all, I only speak two languages. Many of you speak many languages and know more about language learning than I do. I really want to improve my listening skills, and if anybody has any advice on how I could do this I'm sure it would help me out a lot.