ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:54 pm

My first week back went pretty smooth. Decided to brush up on some easier stuff. I've been doing some light reading from the book, "First Spanish Reader." Going fairly quickly. Not even going to think about another book until I finish this one. 1 book at a time, KISS.

For my listening/speaking portion, I'm reviewing an older homemade Assimil PDF I made with all latin American spanish speakers on mp3. I just listen to those over and over and speak the same sentences out loud. I also do Anki but I'm gonna try and keep that to a minimum, or maybe even scrap it completely.

For a podcast, I found one called "Simple Stories in Spanish," in Itunes library, by Small Town Spanish Teacher. All stories in spanish.
They all last 8-14 or so minutes. Its amazing just how much I still understand after such an extended break. Its for a higher beginner IMO. I've probably listened to 20 stories this past week. I've got 87 podcasts left so I'll probably stick with this just to reintroduce myself to the sounds and words. Then I'll have to find something else.
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Kraut
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby Kraut » Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:36 pm

ShawnP wrote:

:.... just to reintroduce myself to the sounds and words. Then I'll have to find something else.


I hear a strong US-American accent in her voice.

https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/202 ... n-spanish/
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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Tue Sep 13, 2022 12:32 am

Kraut wrote:
ShawnP wrote:

:.... just to reintroduce myself to the sounds and words. Then I'll have to find something else.


I hear a strong US-American accent in her voice.

https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/202 ... n-spanish/


Kraut, you are correct. but she is easy to understand and helps get my ears back in tune. Probably better than jumping straight to something I can't understand and get frustrated. Slow and steady like smoking a hunk of meat.
2 x
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: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:39 am

Another week in the books. Still trying to find my stride. This week only consisted of mostly listening to podcasts with a little reading thrown in. My plan of listening only to the podcast "Simple Stories in Spanish" didn't hold. Its a great podcast to get back into the groove even if the speaker is a fluent white woman that teaches spanish in school. However, I needed a little more variety so I snagged another podcast called "Mexican Fluency" podcast. One of the speakers is a white man from Texas and his Mexican wife. A little more difficult than Simple Stories in Spanish but has a good back and forth conversation.

For reading, I've made it about halfway through the book "First Spanish Reader." It's so boring I'm going to find something else tomorrow. I may just re-read the first Harry Potter book since I've got it in my Kindle. I'll have to think on it.

This coming week will be all listening to podcasts, reading, and a little Anki mixed in. Nothing more. I think I'll wait until January and then start watching Telemundo or Univision shows.
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GERMAN GOALS


: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Sun Sep 25, 2022 10:51 pm

Another decent week. Again, this week consisted mainly listening to podcasts and with reading and a little Anki thrown in. I'm toggling through three separate podcasts right now: Conversations in Spanish and Other Languages, Espanolistos, and Mexican Fluency Podcast. My goal is to listen to each one twice before moving on. None are for beginners, but they don't speak wide open either. Mexican Fluency podcast generally are around 15 minutes each and Espanolistos are generally around 30. Conversations in Spanish and Other Languages generally range from 50-75 minutes and I find myself spacing out after a while due to the length of each podcast. Perhaps its just too long for me at the moment but I'm going to keep at it for at least another week, then I'll reevaluate as I especially like this one.

For reading, I restarted the first Harry Potter book again since I already had it in my Kindle. Currently on Chapter 4. Its slow-going as I have to refer to my translator quite a bit, but that's to be expected. I'll just keep plugging along nonetheless because its interesting.
5 x
GERMAN GOALS


: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Sun Oct 02, 2022 9:43 pm

A terrible week. came down with the flu on Wednesday and have been less than stellar since then. Feeling better today, of course, just in time to go to work tomorrow :(

Probably listened to podcasts maybe 3 hours between Monday and Tuesday, and only got in another chapter from Harry Potter before I got ill. Plan on getting back after it tomorrow with much better results for the week.
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: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Mon Oct 10, 2022 1:30 am

Another week in the books and a pretty good week. I logged just shy of 10 hrs of podcast listening even though I didn't listen Saturday or today. Over the past two or three weeks, I toggled between podcasts trying to find what worked best for me, and I feel as though I've figured it out. I've settled on three: Conversations in Spanish and Other Languages, Learn Spanish and Go, and Mexican Fluency podcast. I do not intend on making any changes. Learn Spanish and Go and Mexican Fluency both have fluent American men with their Mexican wives and CiSaOL are only native speakers thus far. I find them neither too difficult nor too easy, so I'll stick with them.

Continuing to read Harry Potter. However, I will be going on vacation up to the mountains of North Georgia this coming weekend so I wont be doing any reading during that time with no wifi, and I dont see how I can finish the book as I'm doing a lot off work lookups as I'm reading. It's obviously above my reading level but I'm still going to continue on with it.
5 x
GERMAN GOALS


: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Sun Oct 23, 2022 1:48 pm

It's been two weeks since I've updated this log. I try to do it on Sundays, but I took off to the mountains of north Georgia last Saturday. Where I stayed had no wifi or TV, so I didn't get to do any reading of Harry Potter. I actually didn't do anything for input but listen to podcasts. I'm still sticking with CIS&OL, Learn Spanish & Go, and Mexican Fluency podcasts.

I like to add up how many minutes I listen to spanish podcasts and update my log on Sundays. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I logged about 24.5 hours of listening in the last 14 days, but two were spent with family so I got no podcasts in those days. When work doesn't get in the way, it's amazing what one can accomplish. (that might not be much to you language warriors out there). I used to hate listening to podcasts, but its crazy how much one can see a quick improvement in listening skills if one sticks with it long enough. I really enjoy the three I've settled on. All three are slightly above my level and I dont understand every single word that I hear. However, I have noticed a huge change in how fast my ears and brain processes what is being said. Even if I start in the middle of a podcast, I instantly can follow along.

Now that I'm back home, I think I'll let my brain rest today and perhaps go fishing. A nice day here in northwest Florida.
7 x
GERMAN GOALS


: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:36 pm

Another decent week in the book but I took Saturday and Sunday off, as I was out fishing Saturday and I try to just relax on Sundays. For podcasts, I've finished Mexican Fluency Podcast as I've listened to everything twice so far. I've taken it out of my Ipod but not out of my Itunes as I plan to go back in a few months and listen to them all again. Learn Spanish & Go and CiS&OL are my go-to podcasts for the time being.

Still moving forward on Harry Potter 1, currently on Capitulo 14. I'm off to hunt mule deer in New Mexico this coming Saturday morning for a week so I'm going to do my best to finish it up. I've only got 192 pages left, however, I'm still finding I have to look up a lot of words and the sentence structures give me a bit of hassle although I'm faster now than when I first started. Still slow going. We'll see how that turns out.
5 x
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: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV

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ShawnP
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Re: ShawnP's Spanish Adventure

Postby ShawnP » Fri Nov 04, 2022 4:17 pm

Going to post today instead of my preferred Sunday due to my trip scheduled for in the morning. I didn't get in nearly as many podcasts this week as I would have liked as I made a big push to get through the first book of Harry Potter 1, which I did. Since I am unsure on how much spanish input I'll get this coming week as I'll be in a hunting camp, I will hold off on taking my Kindle paperwhite or old Ipad with me. The only thing I'll take is my Ipod that's got way more podcasts on it than I'll need.
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GERMAN GOALS


: 21 / 100 Assimil German
: 03 / 100 100 Hours Visual - YouTube videos/TV


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