A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

[the1whoknocks]

A list of series I have on my radar. I've come across a few before, then forgot about them. This time I figured I'd save it here; as a record, and because I like crossing off things from lists. All the 'definites' add up to about 2 Super Challenges worth of watching material. With a few good movies, I should be busy for a while.

I'll update as time goes on.

Argentina/ Chilie
- El Marginal
- Prófugos - HBO (yt)
- Epitafios - HBO
- El Hipnotizador - HBO (?+)

Colombia
- Made in Cartagena- Starz
- Infiltrados - Starz
- El Cartel -Starz
- Sobreviviendo a Escobar, Alias JJ (coming soon to Netflix)
- El Señor de los Cielos (Mexico & Colombia) (?+)
- Fugitivos (?+)

-La esquina del Diablo (?) ...
-La suegra (?-)
-La vendedora de rosas (?)
-Rosario tijeras (?)
-Sin tetas no hay paraiso (?)

Cuba & Caribbean
- Celia

México
- Sr. Ávila - HBO
- Capadocia -HBO
- La Reina del Sur
- La Fea más Bella
- El sexo débil (?)
- Señora Acero (?)
- El cartel 2 (?)
- Dueños del Paraíso (?-)

Netflix Shorts
- Cuatro Estaciones el La Habana
- Juana Ines
- Estocolmo
- Historia de un Clan
- Llámame Francisco
- #Hoysoynadie (not a Netflix Original, but short and on Netflix)

Spain
- El Internado

Venezuela
- El Comandante - Andrés Parra, the same guy who plays Pablo Escobar in [i]El patron del mal, plays Venezuelan ex-president Hugo Chávez. Parra and crew try to mimic the Venezuelan accent, and some do a better job at that than others. Still, the acting and plot seem good.[/i]

(?) - It's popular, and has received good reviews, but I haven't decided to watch it.
(?+) Same as above, am leaning towards watching it.
(?-) Same as above, but am leaning towards not watching it.

Suggestions, or comments always welcome!

[the1whoknocks]

During some office chat I caught myself admiring the steady improvement of the English of two people we knew in common. Maybe I just like that they laugh at more of my jokes … who knows. All this got me thinking about how I might measure my own improvement with Spanish. I feel my Spanish is improving, but how can I measure it? To do so, I’ve re-read, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba by Garcia Marquez, but this time marking words differently based on two things:

-1. Underline – I’ve never seen or heard this word before, and I have no idea what it means based on context.
-2. Underline with […] – I’ve either seen this word before, but don’t remember its exact meaning … or, I am fairly confident of its meaning thanks to context.

Most of the words I just underlined tended to be nouns, while words I underlined and placed in brackets formed a nice group of adjectives, adverbs and a few nouns. I plan on following this process with two more books by authors from at least two other regions. The idea is to revisit these books in six months and see how many of these words I may learn by then.

I’d also like to complete a DELE style C1 writing prompt soon, and re-attempt it a few months later. Also, with my tutor’s permission, I’m going to record our Skype session next week and one at the end of the writing ‘challenge.’

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‘Weekly’ Update:
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I’m returning to the writing plan on Monday. Tutoring sessions have been booked for the next four weeks, and my tutor has been given a heads-up that I’d like to focus on my writing. I’ll write 5 times a week, but I’ll use tutoring time to refine the 500 word (1 page) essay of the week. Rather than GdUdE & FSI, I'm going to work through Glossika; I'm following their 8 week plan. All else is the same.

I’m on episode 5 of Netflix’s El Chapo, and after reviewing the options, I think I’m going with Fugitivos as my next telenovela. Although not my first choice, it’s the only Colombian based telenovela that I’m interested to watch which I'd have access to without adding another subscription. Since it’s only 40 episodes, I’m pushing to have it finished by the end of July. Next month, I intend to beg, borrow or steal a subscription to HBO Now or Starz Encore; maybe I’ll just sign up.

I’ve been re-reading Latin King – mi vida sangrienta and occasionally watching Breaking Bad. I enjoyed reading Latin King the first time, and am a bit of a Breaking Bad fan, so none of this is really a sacrifice. Long story short, I started meeting with a group of teens who are working to improve their English. Their only excuse for not watching a series in English is that they couldn’t understand it - we’ve agreed to meet a couple times a week to discuss the series and chat if, as a group, they could decide on a series they’d all like to watch; Breaking Bad it is. The eldest of the group decided to pick up a copy of Latin Kings to read in English, so we’ve just been asking each other questions about vocabulary and such. I’m supposed to be helping them, but I’ve been learning a lot from these kids. Not to mention, they’re hilarious … and English is a bit weirder than I had originally thought.

...............................................

I’m definitely feeling better about my Spanish than I was six months ago. Looking back, I’ve mostly just read (not much) and watched TV. I've done a bit of writing, but only a couple thousand words at best. And, it looks like I threw in occasional grammar study for good measure. Still, I’m dreaming more often in Spanish, and I find myself thinking in the language for more extended periods of time. It’s a good feeling. I have almost zero issues understanding when someone randomly starts speaking with me in Spanish, but depending on the day, I sometimes still need a warm up period if I need to respond with more than a few sentences.

To be fair, I do get to speak Spanish pretty often at work - It's been a few months since I've worked with a tutor.

I can’t say I’ve learnt much vocabulary from all this TV watching, but I do believe it has been very helpful. Beyond 'feel' for the language, it’s helping to reinforce (consolidate?) facts I’ve studied. It’s really hard to put my finger on it, but in terms of speaking … small things like which preposition goes after which verb, the correct use of the imperfect subjunctive, or even just more natural mulletillas are all just working themselves out, or so I think. I won’t know for sure until I start working with a tutor again, but little by little I feel my Spanish is becoming less stilted (textbook-like). That said, I do need to get back to studying, and make an effort to improve my active vocabulary.

I’m looking forward to hiking this weekend, so whatever I watch or read before bed will probably be it for this week … looking forward to a productive 'next week'.

[James29]

Thanks for the suggestion of Fugitivos. I put it in my Netflix list and think I might do it next. I'm going to do some searching, but that looks pretty close to what I need right now.

Also, you are right with the whole teleonvela thing in terms of what we get out of it. I definitely am not learning vocab. In fact, I feel like I've been losing vocab since I've switched from primarily reading to primarily telenovelas. However, my comfort in the language and my ability to comprehend what is going on is much better. I feel totally comfortable now just going up to random people and chatting in Spanish now and I'm not afraid of having comprehension problems. Watching so many telenovelas seems to just give me more of a feeling for how natives would say things and little ways they connect words and thoughts, etc.

I'm curious how you find out when new shows will be hitting Netflix. I really love La Nina because it has so many episodes and it has the audio description function. I'm really hoping there are some more long Netflix original telenovelas coming out. The "shorts" all look good, but they only last a week or so at the rate I'm watching episodes.

[the1whoknocks]

Thanks for the suggestion of Fugitivos. I put it in my Netflix list and think I might do it next. I'm going to do some searching, but that looks pretty close to what I need right now.

The trailer for Fugitivos piqued my initial interest in the series, but I’ll give it another week to see if things pick up. I’ve only watched the first two episodes, but it's taking a while to really get into it. I’m interested to read what you decide on, and would change novelas if you were to find something on Netflix you were really excited about. Since the shake-up in their line-up, it's really slim picking on Netflix for longer telenovelas that I could watch.

I'm curious how you find out when new shows will be hitting Netflix.

This site has been pretty accurate with reporting Netflix's new or discontinued series. It's also nice that the site suggests series (mostly English language ones) one may want to keep an eye out for, and offers interesting commentary of Netflix related stuff. There is another one I remember using, but I see no trace of it. I’ll keep looking, and let you know if I come across it again.

I really love La Nina because it has so many episodes and it has the audio description function. I'm really hoping there are some more long Netflix original telenovelas coming out. The "shorts" all look good, but they only last a week or so at the rate I'm watching episodes.

Same here. My favorite thing about all the Netflix Originals is that they have all, so far, been well produced and have watchable story lines.

It's not exactly, "beaches and business" but you might keep an eye out for Sobreviviendo a Escobar, alias JJ. It looks like it will be a Netflix Original, and may have some of the features you're looking for. It's scheduled to hit Netflix August 1st. This series aims to recount the life of one of Escobar’s top hitmen after he turns himself over to authorities. Old habits seem to die hard with this ‘sole survivor’ of the Medellin Cartel, as from what I’ve read, he leads a life equally as brutal as the one he had while raining terror at Escobar’s side.

Apparently, he’s been released from prison, has a book deal and a YouTube channel. It’s all pretty controversial stuff. Still, the acting seems to be very good, even if considered a bit much by some.

Like you, I’m not one for narco themed stuff … although, my latest choices of books and novelas may suggest otherwise. I’m just a pushover for a true story. The fact that this all really happened is what I find interesting (shocking?). While watching El patron del mal, it was fascinating to be able to search online, or speak with my tutor (at the time) and other Colombians, and see that many of the scenes from the series depicted real events. For many reasons, I thought [edited to remove spoler] saddest scenes.

I’m really looking forward to Netflix carrying El Comandante sometime this year; I remember reading somewhere that we could expect it, “sometime in 2017.” Supposed to be another true story, and the production quality seems decent.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide.

[the1whoknocks]

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"Weekly" Update
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This week was long, but gratifying. Each day I found myself in the office each day by at least 5 AM, engaged in some sort of physical activity, writing something in Spanish, making progress on a few side projects and keeping a few commitments I made. This was one of those ‘hump-weeks’ where I find myself working 10+ hours a day. Strangely, I think the more I had to do, the MORE I got done. I’m happy to return to my ‘usual’ sleep schedule this week.

I returned to the writing plan. Before starting out, I knew life might get in the way so I've said:

Life gets in the way. If, for some reason, a day comes that it’s not prudent to commit 4 hours, I will do my best to at least read an article, and write 100 words.

With the help of articles from CNN en Espanol and El País, I've written 1,762 words. I’m going to spend a bit more time looking for sources of longer articles for the remaining weeks of the challenge, and record them somewhere in this log.

As a side note, there seems to be a disconnect between the Spanish language news media, and the English language news media. By that I mean their focuses are distinctly different – If I were to only watch the news in English, or only had English speaking friends/ co-workers, I might not realize that there is a whole segment of the population worried about the future of DACA and DAPA. And Venezuela? … It’s just interesting how the language one speaks can determine what counts as news. The atmosphere, and what is considered important just seems vastly different depending on what station I'm taking my news from. It just reminds me of the need to get to know others who are of different backgrounds.

My tutor sent me an interesting writing prompt: ¿qué valor crees que tienen la bibliotecas hoy en día y cuál será en el futuro? Piensa en los libros digitales.

It’s not a particularly challenging topic, but made for some nice discussion during our session. I struggled a bit to write on it, partly because I tried to do so at 3:30 AM (a mistake; I’m simply not prepared to write anything substantial in Spanish at that hour) and partly because I felt everything I was going to write was very basic; Libraries present economic and social benefits was pretty much all that occurred to me at the time. The fact that I had planned to be at work about an hour later probably had a lot to do with the writers block. Anyway, I’ve since read some articles on the topic and will have an article written for her, in addition to my usual 1 page essay, on Wednesday. In 10 or so weeks, I’m going to attempt a re-write of this prompt and compare the two.

Tutoring went well. Apart from the piece I wrote we just took the time to catch up. A couple things I said sounded a bit un-natural, but overall I think I was able to notice exactly when something I said was off. Without a doubt, my speech is more fluid than it was 6 months ago - I was able to compare Skype recordings. However, I am still dumbing down my thoughts and struggling to actively recall words I thought I knew a few months ago. I’m not terribly alarmed by this since I think writing will help me recall, and activate, more sophisticated vocabulary. I’m going to continue booking sessions a month in advance – makes it less likely that they won’t happen. I definitely would have passed on our session this week had it not been planned ahead of time. Oh, and my accent is better!

El Chapo is finished, and am on episode 3 of Fugitvos. I’m not sold on Fugitivos yet, but will give it until the end of the week to pick up. I also met two new potential exchange partners online. They seem serious, and our interests seems to coincide, so I’m anxious to see how we get along during our first chat later today.

Struggling to work Spanish into my life this week not only encouraged better use of my free moments, but reminded me that any little thing I can do in Spanish really does add up. Why do I do I still Google things in English? I commit to doing anything that can be done in Spanish, in Spanish. Somewhere along the line I got away from that.

Anyway, on to a better week!

Personal Notes:

- The increased physical activity these past few weeks is paying off. Without really trying anymore, I’m eating better, able to focus more, and really power through my days. Drinking a glass of water upon waking up is good too. I’m not gassing out during sparring sessions anymore. Also, I'm managing stress better, I think.
- If it can be done it Spanish, do it in Spanish (except this log)
- Decided to sign up for a century bike ride through the mountains at the end of September. I should find out where this will be and actually sign up sometime soon. Also need to increase # of rides per week.
- Books due on 27th – finish them.
- Read up on lo/le – came up during tutoring.
- 3

[James29]

I'm planning on starting Fugitivos tomorrow. I hate starting something and not finishing it. I've got a couple more telenovelas on my list I might try. Keep us updated in whether or not it gets any better.

[the1whoknocks]

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"Weekly" Update
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Alright, time for an update before two weeks become three. This one is long-ish, so I decided to divide it into sections.

Reading & Writing:

It’s been a good couple weeks, and I’m finally falling into a nice rhythm with the whole writing thing. I’ve been committing two hours, usually before my days starts, to searching for articles/ videos and to writing. Immigration has been the topic of focus and I think I’ll be spending more than two weeks on this one. With recent policy announcements from the White House, there has been a lot of discussion on this topic in the media. It’s nice to see more attention being paid to Immigration policy in the mainstream media. Although, I have been disappointed with overly simplistic solutions poffered by some to ‘fix’ our immigration system. I usually use articles during my intensive reading time, but lately I’ve been making good use of Tierra de todos written by Jorge Ramos. Here, Ramos passionately outlines why he supports comprehensive immigration reform. All this as I seek to develop my own perspective on the matter.

I’m also reading a few other books but I’ll post more when I actually get through them. I should probably stick to one at a time, but at least I’m reading consistently; about 4 days a week before bed.

Grammar:

It’s the one thing I try to do each day without exception since it’s effectiveness is based on spaced repetition. It’s now taking close to an hour (about 50 minutes on some days) to get through the GSR portion of Glossika’s 8-week Intensive schedule. Starting off, only 30 minutes were needed. I missed a few days after my first week, but now have a 6-day streak going that I intend to maintain.
I should be doing the GMS portion of the program, but decided to leave that alone until I’m unable to follow the GSR portion … Until the GSR sentences become so long or complicated that I’m unable to effectively complete the drills.

I ‘gotta’ say, these drills aren’t as bad as I thought they might be. In fact, I’m enjoying them in a way. I think there are a few reasons for this:

- I do the drills while either biking (on a mostly empty sidewalk, to and from Krav practice), or pacing in my office much to the amusement of those who catch me. I had to stop doing them at home … too boring.
- I know all the vocabulary, and have experience speaking the language.
- I know enough Spanish to work through the errors. When I encounter one, I just repeat the correct thing. I’m sure they’re errors because a few translations got raised eyebrows from natives at work who overheard a few of the tracks. That said, knowing what I know now, I would still opt to use Glossika, and will finish the program. It's disappointing because, some of the errors on the GSR tracks are just careless, even if fairly obvious, in my opinion.
- Responding correctly to each drills is like a game of sorts.
- I’m interested to see how things will turn out after the roughly 30,000 repetitions. The idea that this may bring results keeps me going.

Readlang:

I’ve been using it to read news articles with the intention of reviewing flashcards. I've only been reviewing cards sporadically; not every day. I’ve been incorporating any words I’ve found interesting into my writing. If it’s a word I have not been able to incorporate, I’ve been content with just letting it go until I see it again. My writing is the focus during my weekly tutoring session, and Skype sessions, so I'm getting added repition there. Time will tell how effective this approach truly is, but it feels OK.

Speaking:

Things took an un-expected, but welcome turn in this arena. A few people messaged me on italki hoping to set-up language exchanges. Of the masses, things seem to be going very well with two of them and it looks like we might be in this for the long term. We’ll see. I’ve been averaging about 4 Skype sessions per week; between 30-60 minutes total for each. It’s unexpected since I really didn’t plan to be Skyping this much during the challenge. However, I enjoy talking with these people, so I'll continue when our schedules allow.

Conversations have been very good, and they’ve been kind enough to comment on my writing too. I usually just ask them to read it quickly, and highlight any parts that they find unclear or would would otherwise change. I’m speaking with a tutor once a week and our focus is my writing.

Telenovelas:

Telenovelas will likely be a significant part of my Spanish learning routine for a while. I might work through a series intensively one day.

I only got to episode 12 of Fugitivos before the end of the month. It’s a watchable series, but just wasn’t holding my attention like I had hoped. Surviving Escobar – Alias JJ was released last week and I’m already on the eighth episode. It has everything one might expect from a narconovela: posturing, swearing, guns, distressed spouses … but no drugs, yet. So far, it’s been about what’s been going on since Escobar’s demise as los paramilitares, cartels and guerillas all try to re-organize themselves and essentially fill a power vacuum. The focus for all this revolves around one a guy who was one of Escobar’s top henchmen, Popeye (alias JJ). JJ works to establish himself a power player, and form alliances, while incarcerated. … In short, the series is about everything above, but only as it relates to JJ.

Escobar dies in (I think) the second episode. The reports were right … the violence is a bit more graphic in this series; there are two scenes in particular that are swirling in my mind as I’m watching this. The acting and quality of the series seem good so I'll keep watching. Although, and it's holing my attention well the jury is still out regarding what I think of the series overall.

Accountability:

I’ve always believed that if I wasn’t willing to do something for myself, then no-one can really make me do it. However, I'm always open to trying new approaches. I was messing around on YouTube a while back and came across the idea of getting an “accountability partner’ for my writing challenge after I started skipping a few days.

I picked someone from the office who I respect and asked them do nothing but to ask me once a day if I’ve written my quota in Spanish for the day. She was a natural pick since we occasionally talk about what I have going on in Spanish anyway. She also spent some time studying Spanish in Mexico and knows a bit of German having lived a while in Germany, so she's familiar with what it's like to be learning a language.

The agreement we have is that she asks the question, and I answer. She also has access to the Google doc that I use for the challenge as verification. That’s all. Making a commitment, and knowing that each day I will have to tell someone that I either failed or succeed has been serving as a surprisingly effective motivator. I still fall short some days, but always make up for it in the following days ... it’s nice that she was an English major in college … she always has interesting input as a bonus. She’s so good at this that I sometimes wonder if she missed her calling as a teacher.

Other News:

I’ve been doing better with maximizing the time I spend in Spanish. I slip into English sometimes, but I’ve slowly been making the transition to ASATT. I’m going as far as getting rid of my cable provider, opting instead for a service that offers a greater selection of Spanish language programming. I’m looking at Playstation Vue and Sling TV with their optional addons. The bonus is that I’ll be able to use these services when I’m away from home, making accessing Spanish programming more convenient.

I’m noticing a nice synergy going on thanks to the time I’m spending with Spanish. Little features of the language I notice during Glossika are now more noticeable to during conversations, or while reading and watching TV. Same thing with vocabulary. Words that I’ve had to look up, not jump out at me when encountered randomly. I’m going long stretches where I understand everything crystal clearly on the news, but there are times where I have to piece things together.

I’m sure there are thing’s I forgot, but I can always include them in another post.

……………………

Feel free to skip this part … I just need a record of this:

Now, I really WANT to speak Spanish. I still have rough says speaking-wise, but I also have some good days so I’m becoming content with just rolling with the punches. I was shocked last week when I spoke Spanish for two hours straight while losing track of time. When I looked at the clock, it was about 9:30 pm. As we were chatting in the restaurant I’m thinking, “OK, I can spend about 30 more minutes, but then I'm calling it a night because I need to do this, that and the other before bed.” Well, it morphed into one of those conversations that you don't postpone if it can be avoided, and I made peace with the fact that there were some things I would have to do another day.

In my mind, it was 10:35 pm max. Moments later, I noticed the time on the home screen on another patron’s phone and it was 11:43 pm. I had completely lost track of time! I was truly shocked. The thing is, unless I’m on vacation, is not something I do … it just doesn’t happen. Well, it didn’t used to happen. What I think is noteworthy about this experience is the fact that my Spanish became more fluid as the conversation went on. In the most spontaneous of ways, I was able to focus exclusively on the people before me, communicate in Spanish, and lose track of time.

The conversation was entirely organic, and we started off with them speaking in Spanish, and me speaking in English so we got our points across fully. Then I was asked to speak in Spanish, so I did … and I just never stopped. We were talking about life decisions and I really had to think about what I needed to say because I had never said any of this in Spanish. I wasn’t rattling Spanish at tongue blistering speeds, but the pace was steady. I was really taking care to ensure I understood everything they were saying, and they seemed equally attentive to what I was muttering. I was surprised that no one was asking clarifying questions. Was I being understood? I eventually decided to check and I got, “oh no, your grammar is spot on which makes me sure your saying exactly what you want to say. I’m just pausing to think about what you said.” … what can I say, my wisdom (and humility) abound.

I'm surprised with all I was able to express. A little proud even. Granted these were people I was confortable with and that likely played a part in my performance. I think a few weeks in a native speaking environment might do wonders for me one day.

[the1whoknocks]

Daily, I think subjunctive is starting to make sense on a more intuitive level. This morning I found myself randomly thinking about it’s usage following cuando … Is it, “Cuando llega or cuando llegue? It depends? With time to think about it, I can usually choose correctly. I’ve “known” the rules for a while, but it’s starting to make more sense on a personal level.

While speaking yesterday, I found that most of times I self-corrected or paused were thanks to the subjunctive. Sometimes, it was thanks to a word I didn’t know or couldn’t remember. At least I’m paying attention to it more, and it’s probably a sign that I’ll start using it correctly without pausing so much. … it’s not even the use of the imperfect subjunctive that’s getting me anymore; it’s the “present” subjunctive!

Subjectively, I’m more comfortable now during more extended exchanges in Spanish. Mentally, I’ve just been telling myself to, “relax and just speak.” That’s been working for the most part. The less I try to save face, the better things usually turn out. Also, I usually remember something I struggle with the next time I need to use it ... even without Anki. Granted, I’m not talking about terribly sophisticated vocabulary or phrases here, and when corrected I try to create a mnemonic or something.

Eg: maña … a man jumping up and shouting “ya” because he is skilled at doing something.

Vocab acquisition feels slow without flashcards though.

In terms of writing, awkward English phrasing (an understandable amount), prepositions (por and para occasionally rear their ugly heads) and precise vocabulary seem to be offering the most opportunities for improvement. Here, I’m usually using the subjunctive correctly.

[the1whoknocks]

Not a whole lot going on this week. I’m still keeping up with my regular rides and activity level. Not too much overtime at work either.

So far, I’ve written 5,068 words. A bit less than the ~6,000 I was shooting for, but it’s a start and I have good momentum moving forward. Writing has been good for helping me to use the language in ways that I may not have otherwise. It still takes me a while to write exactly what I want to say, but getting started is just something I do now. I tend to edit as I write, and I know that’s part of what is slowing me down. Another reason for the delay is because I am writing about things that I don't necesserily have a fully formed opinion about - I am learning, as I am reading and writing. Writing in a stream of thought, and returning to edit may help, but I have not gotten past the idea of writing things I know are not perfectly perfect (although nothing I write really is ‘perfect’).

Articles are being taken from the usual places. I haven’t made time to search for new, perhaps more casual, sources ( Vice mexico, as an example). Everything, so far, has been news based.

I took a few quotes from Ramos’ book, Tierra de todos, to double as writing prompts while I’m on the topic of immigration:

- "Todos los hombres son creados iguales" (Declaracion de Independencia)
- “Los felices y poderosos no se van de su país” (Alexis de Tocqueville)
- “Hay muy poco que sea más extraordinario que la decisión de salir de tu país y vivir en otro” (John F. Kennedy)
- "Debemos tomar partido. La neutralidad ayuda al opresor, nunca a la victima. La accion es el unico remedio contra la indiferencia. La indiferencia es el mayor peligro de todos”. (Elie Wiesel).
- "Ahora es el momento de arreglar nuestro Sistema migratorio (Barack Obama).

I like the idea of using quotes, and think I might use them more frequently. I argue for and against them, regardless of my own opinion. Just as a test, I posted a piece to Lang-8, and to Italki ... On both sites I received corrections within two hours. I probably won't post too often, but it's nice to have the option.

I had 4 Skype sessions again this week; 30 minutes in English, and 30 in Spanish ... If they don't feel like practicing, we just continue a bit longer in Spnaish. In a way, I used to dread Skype sessions … or at least they used to wear on me. I think this is because it was a real challenge to express myself, even a year ago. Now I have a few things going for me:

-1. I like talking to these people – I’m not wasting time trying to find people to have an exchange with. Apart from two people, we’ve all ‘known’ each other for two years or more.

-2. Although with imperfect grammar, and lacking vocabulary, I’m able to just talk - Now the challenge is to refine that, and add to it. An exchange is no longer stressful, even when I’m in unfamiliar territory. I’m not concerned with just letting the conversation happen … an advantage of having gotten to know these people over the years, I think.

Glossika is starting to leave me a bit tongue-tied. It may be time to start “GMS’ing” soon. One thing I do like is that sentences that have tongue-tied me tend to become easier after two or three days of just “GSR’ing.” I would not have discovered this for myself had I been using the GMS files as intended. That said, still no new vocabulary! The biggest benefit so far is that it gets me repeating Spanish more than I would have been doing otherwise.

Everything has been looking up. I still have days (yesterday) that I simply wish not to speak Spanish … usually I’m tired, and just can’t be bothered knowing that I am making mistakes .. particularly around new people ... it’s a pride thing, for sure. But then I wake up the next day (today), and I’m fine.

I’m on episode 14 of Sobreviviendo a Escobar, and I like where things might be going. The violence is down a bit, and the story seems to be shifting to how JJ intends to prove himself as an asset to survive his new life (things took a dramatic, and for him, unexpected turn last episode). Oh, and I've offically ditched cable and added some Spanish programming - Now, for the few times I turn on the TV, I have something in Spanish to tune to.

[the1whoknocks]

Still thinking about it ... Even better in the city where I became inspired to finally take the leap. October 3, 2018 & November 10, 2018 are the two dates to remember.

http://chicago.cervantes.es/en/diplomas_spanish/diplomas_dele_prices_dates_spanish.htm