A few updates:
I just finished "El bosque de los pigmeos" by Isabel Allende, which is the third book in her series which follows Alexander Cold and Nadia Santos on adventures around the world. They are excellent books and I recommend them to anybody learning Spanish. I started reading "Como agua para chocolate" the other day. Compared to the first time I
tried to read it, it is a lot easier this time around. It is tough going from Allendes style of writing to this style. Although the genere is basically the same, each author writes differently. I have also been watching an episode or two every night of my telenovela.
This has put me on track to finish my "100 day challenge" ahead of schedule. As a matter of fact, I plan on finishing the reading and TV portion by the end of tonight. After I reach my goal, I will probably increase it in order to keep making improvements before my trip to South America next month.
Here are my numbers so far:
pages read:
927/1000TV minutes watched:
1630/1800conversation hours in Spanish:
33/45Although not part of my goal I have been trying to make YouTube videos a constant part of my Spanish diet. This week I was busy but so far I've logged in
534 minutes.
Here are a few observations I've made so far:
Listening: My listening skills are getting a lot better. They aren't perfect, but watching tons of TV without subtitles has forced me to listen and I can finally see improvements. I would rate my listening at a 7/10 for TV/movies and a 9/10 for conversations with native speakers (1 on 1).
reading: I feel like I've done more reading than i actually have. I need to seriously step up my game and start logging in a few hundred pages each week (that's what I would like at least). I have started to read more in order to become a better listener, not necessarily because I want awesome reading skills (a lot of people suggested that I do more reading to improve listening skills). It might be hard for me to tell, but so far my extra reading hasn't made a big improvement in my listening skills. Here is how I know why: sometimes during my telenovela I will hear a character say something. I will understand most of it but may have missed out on a few words. I will rewind, flip on the subtitles, and then actually have trouble reading and comprehending the subtitles!
My theory is this: If you can't understand the transcripts of what somebody said, there is no way in hell you are going to understand them when you take away the words on paper and can only rely on your listening.I have noticed the same with some of my reading: I will read a paragraph and understand a good portion of it. But.....sometimes I will reread it to make sure I got everything especially if it seems very important. More often than not, the second time I will read everything and realize that there are a lot of things that are a bit blurry for me. In Spanish (and other languages I'm sure), you could misinterpret a conjugation and end up really confused at the end of a paragraph.
Here are my goals for today, and for the week.
Today:
I basically have the entire day off and no family obligations (everyone is out of town, I have the house to myself). I plan on alternating between my telenovela: El Señor de los Cielos, and the book I am currently reading: Como agua para chocolate. I plan on finishing the book today, and finishing at least 4-5 episodes of the show (I count each episode as only 40 minutes, but this should help me reach my 1,800 minute goal).
For the week: I have a new language partner who I will be working with each week. I'm hoping to squeeze in at least 4 hours of conversation practice each week with him, and a few more hours with other language partners and my tutor. If only I had more free time and more Spanish speaking freinds. I try not to think about it, but if I was getting at least 6 hours of conversation practice in a week my level would be so much higher
I plan on bumping up my TV/reading each day this week, and hope to knock out at least 12 episodes (40 minutes each) and a few hundred pages. Based on my schedule, these are very tough goals but I'm determined to bring myself up to a very solid C1 in Spanish.
Okay everyone, thanks for reading. I hope this log is somewhat useful or inspiring to other people. I mainly use it to keep track of my progress, motivation, goals, as I go along. If somebody else is reading it and getting ideas then I think that is awesome! As always, feel free to leave some comments or advice!
. I won't become discouraged and will just keep pushing through, but can't wait for the day when I have the listening comprehension of a native speaker (or close to it). 
