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

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:28 am

Very Brief History/ Motivation Behind Decision to Start Learning Spanish

A lot about a person can change in two years...

... Some of this is aided by life's more obvious and expected change agents; the people we encounter, situations we face, and life's unexpected detours. Others, often championed by the conscious decisions we make ... or don't.

Attempting to learn Spanish is one decision I am glad to have made in September of 2014. It's one that continues to change me in ways that are hard to articulate. For one, the new perspective on life has been immensely rewarding. The decision to finally go 'all-in' probably began with a gentle but persistent curiosity in the language fostered, in part, by the many Spanish speakers I worked with at the time. They were from all over Latin America but they shared an unmistakable pride in their culture, openness to others and a perspective on life that I could only describe as 'intriguing'. For them, every week there seemed to be a reason to celebrate; be it an official holiday or some party on the weekend. ... Literally, every week, it seemed!

After months of hanging around my Spanish speaking co-workers (in reality they hung around me ,,, because I'm so cool 8-) ) a couple of them began asking why I had not yet tried to learn Spanish. One even offered to tutor me for a while. Truth be told, I've always wanted to learn Spanish, even in my teens. I even secretly thought that it would be cool to be able to speak a foreign language. However, I never attempted to do so. At the time, I was certain that:

1. I was too old - If I had started as a kid I would have had a chance.
2. Learning a language would have been too hard.
3. I didn't have time - I was a full-time student and I worked full-time.
4. I had no clue how to approach learning a language
5. To top off my arsenal of excuses, there was no reputable language school in my area that was within my budget.

Generally, I am pretty confident in my ability to do anything I decide to do but, for a while, I truly believed everything above.

As time went on, I really found myself wanting to be able to communicate with the guys (and gals) fully ... Sure, they spoke English but much of their interaction was in Spanish too. At these moments, someone would have to translate for me if I wanted to know what was going on.

As fate would have it, I received a promotion and decided to travel for the first time to Chicago (a large US city) before starting. It was the middle of August and the only things more awe inspiring than Windy City's architecture and rich history were the people I had the chance to meet. Among those relevant to this entry is a Colombian who was in the city on business. She spoke English almost flawlessly, and I found her Spanish alluring. I went to Chicago alone but I left with a new reason to learn Spanish. My friends at home, the Colombian I met in Chicago and the fact that I would now be leading many people who spoke Spanish as a first (or only) language made need to learn Spanish a bit more real. Suddenly, "una más por favor" and being able to count to ten was not cutting it.

I only remember going home one evening, googling 'how to learn a language' (I don't think I discovered the blog until much later), reading all night on the subject, and awaking the next morning determined to make it happen. Despite the fact that I've since questioned I my preparedness for the task many times, I never stopped trying to improve my level. When I took my first break from actively 'studying' I was able to continue reading, manage basic conversations and watch carefully selected materials.

Now, two years later, I am happy to say that I speak Spanish at an intermediate level. Although some have rated my comprehension skills at B2 I wouldn't feel comfortable claiming to be higher than a B1 (maybe B1+ on a good day). Today, I suppose I'm not as interested in the language as much as I am in the people, experiences and new perspectives on life it affords me. I can see myself learning other languages once my Spanish is at a good level.

This log will detail how I endeavor to make the transition to an advanced learner. As a first time, and relatively inexperienced, foreign language learner being able to look back at my struggles and triumphs will be useful if I ever decide to act on the desire to learn a third language. More importantly, they might be of value to someone else.

Thanks for reading.
14 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

User avatar
Brun Ugle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2273
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:48 pm
Location: Steinkjer, Norway
Languages: English (N), Norwegian (~C1/C2), Spanish (B1/B2), German (A2/B1?), Japanese (very rusty)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=11484
x 5821
Contact:

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

Postby Brun Ugle » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:33 pm

Good luck! I think my Spanish is probably around the same level as yours, so I will be watching your progress with interest. I think you've already discovered that when it comes to learning a language, the most important "talent" to have is persistence and determination.
2 x

the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:55 pm

Random Links:

- Spanish language TV series on my radar
- Coming soon to Netflix
- A Writing Plan


A running list of books, series and movies I've managed to complete in 2017 ... and a progress bar of sorts.

Books

Goal of at least 15 different titles or 3000 pages ... or 5,000 pages if I can stick with it: (1,549/3000)
*Need to read anywhere between 60 and 96 pages of about 250 words a week to remain on target*

1. Tierra de Todos by Jorge Ramos (160 pages)
2. La Otra Carra de America by Jorge Ramos (300 pages)
3. La Travesía de Enrique (115/369 pages)
4. A veces se gana a veces se aprende (215 pages)
5. El coronel no tiene quien le escriba by Gabriel García Márquez (90 pages)
6. Noticia de un secuestro by Gabriel García Márquez (58/335)
7. Confesiones de un gángster económico by John Perkins (161/299 pages)
8. New Penguin Parallel Text - Short Stories in Spanish (100/100)
7. Latin King: Mi vida sangrienta by Reymundo Sanchez (350/350)


Series *Completed 9/20/17*
Goal of 9,000 minutes: (9,470/9,000)
*Will need to watch about 4, 45 minute episodes of something each week to stay on target.

1. Club de Cuervos (23 Episodes x 40 mins)
2. Pablo Escobar, El Patrón del Mal (31/31 x 40 mins)
3. Metastasis (3/56)
4. Ingobernable (15 Episodes x 40 mins)
5. 13 Reasons Why - (13 Episodes x 50 mins)
6. La Niña - (86 Episodes x 40 mins)
7. Sobreviviendo a Escobar - (60 Episodes x 40 mins)

Movies

1. Mi papa, mi abuelo y yo - [i]I worked with this movie intensively to understand every word.

2. La fiesta del chivo

Focused Speaking Practice
Goal of 200 hours: (0/200):

Writing
Goal of 10,000 words - 100 texts of 100 words (60/100):
Last edited by the1whoknocks on Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:43 am, edited 19 times in total.
0 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4957
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:46 am
Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
x 17549

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

Postby Cavesa » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:30 pm

Welcome, there are certainly more of us at a similar point right now. Have a look at the Spanish group thread.

I loved reading your story, it was certainly inspirational (postponing and excuses are somethin i need fight too). Congratulations to having reached the intermediate level already! And i wish you lots of fun and energy during the months and years to come.
0 x

the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:33 pm

As I reflect on my efforts to learn Spanish so far, I realize that what has help me most have been those activities that have somehow become habitual. Depending on which blog/ journal/ book read, it's said that between 45 - 90% of our behavior is based on habit. Although I've never tried to pin down an exact figure I believe strongly in the power of creating good habits and think that figure may actually be closer to 90% than it is to 45%.

Regarding language learning, I've sometimes been guilty of doing more planning than actual work. This year, my goal will be to create more sustainable habits aimed at creating a lifestyle more conducive to language learning while keeping things simple

Overall, I most want to improve how I speak and better understand colloquial language. I need input ,,, and a lot of it. I also need a way to absorb this input; not just understand it but ensure it's improving my production skills.

I'll be doing the following:

Reading

Everything is important but reading more is the number one habit i'd like to create this year.

"Research with very young foreign language learners, found that by
increasing the amount of interesting and understandable written input without
increasing class time, learners had almost double the language proficiency gains of
those who followed a program involving the same amount of class time but with
much less input. These gains were maintained a year later."


- Paul Nation - What you need to know to learn a foreign language

I'll start by reading an hour daily, at least 5 times a week. This will be extensive in nature and i'll only look up a word if it really jumps out at me. I've read that Alex Rawlings doesn't lookup a word unless he's seen it 5 times and I may adopt that approach.

Until March, the goal will simply be to read for time and create the habit; one hour per day/ 5 times a week. Afterwards, the focus will be going through as many books as possible. The books are a good mix of fiction and non-fiction. I will read first thing in the morning.

Speaking

I've been pretty consistent with speaking at least 4 hours per week using a combination of tutors and language partners. No changes planned here; I'll simply maintain this habit. I also have a few friends who speak better English than I do Spanish and we get more caught up on ease of communication than language improvement sometimes. They are completely bi-lingual and willing to speak on Spanish ,,, I will make an effort to Speak more Spanish with them. They don't care about my errors (or they correct me when they do) and neither should I.

Listening

When I don't understand something its usually because colloquial language was used or vocabulary that I lack. There are a few podcasts and radio stations I've been following and I'll continue to listen to those extensively when I'm out and about. I'm working through a movie by transcribing the difficult parts and working intensively (about 30 minutes a day) to understand them. I'll start this process with a series once I finish the movie.

Just for fun i'm also watching Netflix's Club de Cuervos and will continue with another series once I get through it.

Writing

I don't write much if I don't have too. I like the idea of "speed writing" where you choose a topic and write as much as possible about it in 5 minutes. I'll try this once a week for a while and see how it goes. I'll continue summarizing episodes/ articles that we are working with during tutoring sessions. This should add up to at least 400 words per week. The goal is to complete 100 texts of at least 200 words by the end of the year.

Revision

By their nature, I'll repeat words learnt if i'm conversing and writing often. To aid this process I use Readlang while intensively reading online articles, and important corrections I receive during Skype sessions go into Anki. Writing summaries of episodes and articles and then speaking about my general impressions of them should help with consolidation also. I vow not to write unless I have completed the day's reading.

That's all I have planned for this year.

@ Cavesa & Brun Ugle - Thanks for the warm welcome. I've always been fascinated by the amount of effort you guys are able to maintain learning languages. Your progress is inspiring and I look forward to continue following your journeys in 2017.

I'll be sure to check out the Spanish thread!

EDIT: 2/27/17

The idea of completing the Super Challenge seems enticing. Joining would provide an extra reason to continue reading as much as I can and will give me an excuse a reason to watch more Spanish series. I'm joining ,,, kinda.

I'm going to stay with my original goal of reading 3,000 pages, but will be secretly shooting for 9,000. Also, rather than watching what I can, when I can, I'll start aiming for 9000 minutes of Spanish media. I've been covering many more books than I thought I would by reading an hour a day, 5 times a week so the challenging part of this challenge will likely be watching more TV/ movies/ videos.

I intend to complete the challenge by December 31, 2017.
Last edited by the1whoknocks on Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
7 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

User avatar
James29
Blue Belt
Posts: 758
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:51 am
Languages: English (Native)
Spanish (C1-ish)
French (Beginner)
Portuguese (Thinking about it)
x 1741

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

Postby James29 » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:41 pm

Great story! You motivate me.

Can you tell us more about what you did to advance to the level you are at? Also, la Colombiana... are you keeping in touch?
1 x

the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:06 am

James29 wrote:

Can you tell us more about what you did to advance to the level you are at? Also, la Colombiana... are you keeping in touch?


Hey James - I enjoy reading your blog and can’t believe I hadn’t noticed Celia before on Netflix. I watched part of the first episode today and will have to watch more of it once I’m finished with Club de Cuervos.

La Colombiana actually hung out with my crazy family last Thanksgiving. She was in nearby city for work and couldn’t reasonably fly to LA and return for work in time so she spent the holiday with us. We don’t always talk on the phone because of our time difference but we manage to stay in decent contact. I’m pretty sure we’re going to Colombian once I get my life in order :lol: .

Thanks for your question. I never really thought, in depth, about how I reached the intermediate level but it's helpful to consider. Time was probably my biggest benefactor because even today I struggle to stick to a routine or follow a course. I don’t think I’ve done anything out of the ordinary and I definitely would have benefited from more focus and discipline.

Being a beginner felt like walking through a thick fog while being unable to see exactly where I was going. I never kept a formal log so to get an idea of what I was doing (versus just speaking from memory) I referenced the Google Docs used during at the time, old notebooks with dated entries, journal entries published on italki, my Italki calendar and my Skype/Whatsapp history.

With no routine to reference I’ll categorize my experience according to months.

Months 1-3

Everything was new and the challenge here was to just understand how to language worked on a basic level. A week after deciding I would learn Spanish, I booked my first lesson on Italki. After trying three tutors, I found one I worked well with and continued booking a minimum of two 1 hour sessions per week. For better or worse, we spent time dissecting the language and focusing on providing very basic information about myself (who am I, my occupation, likes/dislikes etc.).

More than understanding every aspect of grammar, learning to conjugate verbs and understanding how to use the different tenses was a major focus for me outside of our sessions. I started “Practice Makes Perfect Verb Tenses” by Dorthy Richmond and worked through it sequentially. I really liked this book because of its logical presentation of the different tenses and the follow-up translation exercises at the end of each topic that really reinforced topics well. I would write translations of the short paragraphs on my own and study them. Later, while reading the English version of the paragraph, I would practice translating these verbally and on the spot to my language exchange partners while they corrected me immediately. Their corrections reinforced the work I had already done on my own.

YouTube videos from Gringo Español, Señor Jordan and Professor Jason were particularly helpful with helping me to understand certain tenses. I would choose a tense I wanted to better understand for the week, and then watch relevant videos from all three channels while making my own notes on points I found relevant.

I spent two weeks playing with Duolingo, completed level one of Pimsleur and started working with Michael Thomas and The Language Transfer. While I found the format of the Michael Thomas program very useful found some aspects did not work well for me. I had an easier time completing the Language Transfer, occasionally making my own notes against their recommendation.

For ‘fun’ I’d watch Destinos and Xtra Spanish before bed - I was attentive while watching these but did not make an effort to study the episodes. I also maintained a playlist of Spanish songs that I often had on repeat whenever I felt like listening to music.

Sometimes, I’d work to understand songs from this playlist by searching for the lyrics and listening to it on repeat. Going through the lyrics intensively was great for acquiring vocabulary and grammar that I was ready to understand at the time. However, in some ways it really turned my world upside down. As an example, a friend mentioned that she had to listen to Juanes for her Spanish class. I went home and discovered his song, “A Dios le Pido” and studied every word of this song. I remember being confused by the ‘weird’ endings (que mis ojos ‘se despierten’? Why not ‘se despiertan’? Furthermore, what’s going on with the use of ‘se’?). I acquired much of the vocabulary but it was not until months later when I ‘discovered’ the subjunctive that this song really made sense to me.

I’d also read the occasional chapter from one of the many easy readers I obtained. I’d study something if it particularly interested me but otherwise I’d just read for understanding with the help of the adjacent translation.

I started interacting immediately with people at work and friends as best I could. A shared Google Doc between my exchange partners and I was useful as I recorded things I wanted to be able to say and vocabulary I had asked for during the day. My partners would check the Doc whenever they had time and add suggestions and I’d add everything to Anki along with any corrections from my Skype sessions. At this point, most of my conversations were repeated in nature so all this vocabulary was highly useful for me and learning it had an immediate impact in being able to manage basic interaction.

I was easily spending 3 hours a day with Spanish (not including my attempts to talk at work and with friends). I was engaged in a lot of explicit studying and I had little choice in materials but music was a nice break from the ordinary.

Months 3-6

Three months later I felt ready to increase to 5 Skype sessions per week. My tutor and I transitioned to focusing on really being able to communicate at work. My job was to create a list of all my common work scenarios in English and to take pictures of things at work. We worked on creating mini-speeches (which my tutor would record and I would practice) and describing these pictures with varying degrees of detail. We’d also work review any work related correspondence I had sent during the week. During my Skype sessions I was either role-playing common work scenarios, practicing dialogs I was studying on my own or revising a grammar topic.

I wrote a bit more about how I work with my tutors here -->http://www.forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?t=4017

Studying Spanish became a bit more interesting as my comprehension began to increase. It was easier to incorporate songs and short YouTube videos into my Skype sessions to break up the monotony. I remember my using “Historia de un Taxi” by Ricardo Arjona, for example, to help with the use of the imperfect tense.

During this time I also started working consistently with Assimil and Spanishpod101. I worked with them in a way similar to how Luca Lampariello, and other here on the forum work with Assimil; I’d listen to a dialog many times over (sometimes totaling 50+ times per day), write what I heard the next day, practice reading out loud on the third day. I worked through Assimil for around 7 months with varying effort. I’d often have play the dialogs throughout the day and on the way to and from work/ classes to get extra exposure.

FSI was useful to reinforce grammar points I found I needed to study more but I didn’t stay with it for more than a week at a time. I did find their section on pronunciation helpful and if nothing else, my tutor was pretty relentless on correcting my pronunciation.

Months 6-12

Spanish was beginning not to feel so foreign but the original novelty of learning was definitely wearing off. Although I could understand more Spanish than ever and handle basic conversations I alternated between days of being convinced that I was a linguistic genius and others where I wondered if I’d ever reach B1. My motivation started to wane.

Activity wise, I continued trying to improve my ability to communicate at work with my tutor but also started relying much more on native materials. I started watching my first real series, Betty la Fea, and from my notebook entries on italki, see that I started writing summaries/ reflections of podcasts from Radio Ambulante and others I was listening to at the time.

I began to have more options for interacting with Spanish; videos, series, podcasts, movies etc. I still studied but now it was a bit more on my terms; using materials I found interesting.

Months 12-24

I was doing the same things as before, but in more detail (I tried to be more elaborate during discussions/ writing) and I started focusing on YouTube videos. Sometimes I’d transcribe them, other times I’d just watch them repeatedly and use them as discussion during Skype sessions or write summaries.

My grammar study became more focused. Now I was explicitly studying only those grammar points that I consistently mishandled and while routinely briefly reviewing other points as I came across them using a combination of FSI, and grammar books I have lying around. Grammar study started to become easier and consuming native materials was becoming second nature. I still need to work on reading more. ,,, Although grammar study was more focused, I was probably studying it much less than I was in the beginning.

By this time, many at work were speaking to me only in Spanish as were many of my friends. Communication was not always perfect and my grammar and vocabulary is far from adequate but I started to move away from studying towards using Spanish. Some friends would be genuinely confused when I told them that I had not heard a particular English song - they probably thought I was joking but I simply don't listen to songs in English on my own.

The thing is, many things just became habit and it would require more effort to change them than it would to leave them be. In a way I guess I just became lazy :) . For example:

- My phone and all its apps are in Spanish as are my computers (work and personal).
- I am primarily subscribed to Spanish YouTube channels and podcasts so my feeds and suggested materials tend to be in Spanish. If I want something in English, it’s usually not there in my feed and I have to make the effort to search for it.
- I text daily in Spanish with friends and coworkers and don’t think twice about it. Also fortunate to receive videos or articles they think are interesting. I do the same for them in English, of course.
- I schedule at least 3 Skype sessions per week without even ‘sweating it’.
- Any free time is spent in Spanish when possible.
- I frequent a few local restaurants where I am able to practice Spanish.
- I usually stay pretty busy but when I slow down I can easily spend hours researching random things on the internet - I don’t feel so bad now that I do most of this in Spanish.
- DVR records the news and Sunday talk shows so I’m always able to watch when it’s convenient for me.

…………………………………

My approach really felt chaotic at times. I think the threads which tie everything together lie in the fact that I needed Spanish for work and I have a supportive community of native speakers to interact with. Without either of those two, I think Spanish would be much harder for me.

There really is much more I could write but this post is already painfully long. I’d be happy to share anything else I forgot to mention here. Thanks again for the question.
10 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:45 am

Last week proved to be the best work I’ve done with Spanish all year! I exceeded my weekly goal of reading extensively for 5 hours total, wrote 400 words, and had 3 hour long Skype sessions ,,, Is what I had hoped to be able to write. The reality turns turns out to be much different.

I don’t know what the chances are of falling extremely ill the very day your vacation starts are but I’m willing to bet the odds are pretty slim. I had the chance to drive down to Florida this week and what started as a raspy voice morphed into a sore throat that was painful to the touch, coughing and fever. I was certain I contracted my first ever case of 'strep throat' but I'm happy to have been wrong in that assumption. My idea of adventure for the first three days in the Sunshine State was discovering a new place that sold great soup. Drinking soup, speaking, or even watching TV were barely options. Surely I was being punished for plotting to send pictures of palm trees to all my friends up North who were enduring the harsh winter weather, typical of this time of year.

Reading

I spent a total of 2 hours reading on the beach this week (yes, I had to mention that it was on the beach) – a far cry from the 5 hours per week I was hoping to log. This next week I will log a total of 10 hours.

Writing

None. I will continue with the planned amount of writing for this week. Once caught up on reading I will focus on writing.

Speaking

Funny enough, I had all my Skype sessions planned during the days I was too sick to talk. Physically unable to talk, I ended up cancelling them all but did have a chance to engage in spontaneous conversation during the last 3 days in the city. For tracking purposes, I won’t log this as ‘speaking time’ and will need to make up those lost sessions sometime soon.

Listening

During the drive to and from Florida, I completed two audio books I’ve been listening too for a while; “A veces se gana y a veces se aprende” by John Maxwell and “Los 7 habitos de la gente altamente efectiva” by Stephen Covey. Very easy listening and together the books total about 9 hours.

I also alternated between music and podcasts. One podcast in particular that I have been liking a lot lately is Diario de Confianza. It’s basically a two people who discuss major developments in current events with a focus on Mexico and the US. They live stream on YouTube and Facebook around 6 PM EST multiple times per week and it’s interesting to follow along with the comments sometimes. For me, it’s relatively easy to follow along while driving and I like that it is largely unscripted. Their sister podcast, Gente de Confianza, is much harder for me to follow because of the inter-exchange among the three hosts and the more colloquial language they tend to use. I definitely enjoy both podcasts.

*note to self – find out how to properly write book titles in Spanish.

…………………………………………………….

One of my flat mates was from Venezuela and our interaction was in Spanish for the most part. Once I was able to get ‘out and about’ the opportunity to speak seemed to find me. After spending the day playing dominoes and touring Little Havana and exploring Miami, I’d say I got to speak a total of 4 hours.

It’s usually not hard to feel inspired after a trip to a foreign city but this one has left me feeling particularly motivated to improve my Spanish. While my language proficiency has improved since my last visit to Little Havana I’ve noticed that it’s my confidence in using Spanish that has increased most notably since last year - perhaps I just care less but the conversation definitely felt like less of a strain and I did not have to ask other to repeat much.

I do need to work on improving articulating my political opinions; I got the my main points across but found I was not nearly as nuanced as I would have liked to have been. I also need to work on different ways of saying the same thing. In many cases, I knew different ways of saying something that just did not occur to during the conversation or I tended to either overuse some words – my lack of vocabulary was very evident to me.

Weeks like this happen and in the grand scheme of things it’ll be OK as long as it doesn’t become habit. I left Florida reminded that Spanish will be practical for me outside my life here at home and am excited for the experiences that await.
1 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

User avatar
Chmury
Green Belt
Posts: 402
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:43 am
Languages: English (N)
Castellano (Adv)
German (Int)
Dutch (Int)
Polski - currently inactive, but I will return to it
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1516
x 1026

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

Postby Chmury » Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:44 pm

Reading

Everything is important but reading more is the number one habit i'd like to create this year.

"Research with very young foreign language learners, found that by
increasing the amount of interesting and understandable written input without
increasing class time, learners had almost double the language proficiency gains of
those who followed a program involving the same amount of class time but with
much less input. These gains were maintained a year later."


- Paul Nation - What you need to know to learn a foreign language - page 8.

I'll start by reading an hour daily, at least 5 times a week. This will be extensive in nature and i'll only look up a word if it really jumps out at me. I've read that Alex Rawlings doesn't lookup a word unless he's seen it 5 times and I may adopt that approach.

Until March, the goal will simply be to read for time and create the habit; one hour per day/ 5 times a week. Afterwards, the focus will be going through as many books as possible. The books are a good mix of fiction and non-fiction. I will read first thing in the morning.[/quote]

Primero, ¡bienvenido al foro!

Me gusta la manera en que abordas el aprendizaje de idiomas. Pienso también que la creación de hábitos buenos es tal vez la cosa más grande en lograr nuestras metas. ¿Somos lo que hacemos no? Y no vamos a llegar a ningún lugar sin la práctica constante.

En cuanto a la lectura y el estudio que citaste arriba, me encanta leer eso. Ya que la lectura siempre ha sido una parte fundamental de cómo aprendo idiomas, y trato de leer bastante. Sin embargo no leo tanto como debo, así que tu propósito de leer una hora cinco días a la semana me parece bien, y voy a intentar hacer lo mismo.

¡Espero que te sea un año de aprendizaje fenomenal!
1 x
Hindernisse und Schwierigkeiten sind Stufen, auf denen wir in die Höhe steigen

the1whoknocks
Orange Belt
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2016 6:55 am
Location: USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish (Intermediate)

Probably 'gonna' be next: Portuguese
Mayby one day: French & Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5253
x 347

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

Postby the1whoknocks » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:25 pm

Chmury wrote:
Primero, ¡bienvenido al foro! ...

¡Espero que te sea un año de aprendizaje fenomenal!


Hola Chmury, muchas gracias por la bienvenida. Lamento la demora en responderte, es que no ingreso al foro tanto como me gustaría. Para ser sincero, formar este hábito me ha resultado más difícil de lo que anticipaba pero a ver cómo va.

Estoy completamente de acuerdo contigo en que la práctica constante es muy importante y nos lleva a lograr nuestras metas. Me siento afortunado de haber descubierto a Olly Richards (entre otros políglotas bien conocidos) unos pocos meses después de comenzar a aprender español. Él mantiene un gran blog* con muy buenos consejos sobre cómo aprender un idioma y por lo general, comparto su filosofía en cómo abordar el aprendizaje de idiomas; él también se enfoca en establecer los hábitos y a lo largo de los años he adoptado muchas de sus técnicas de aprendizaje para mejorar mi español.

Me enteré del estudio citado arriba por un usuario del foro; Reineke. Está escrito en inglés pero abajo incluyo el enlace si, por casualidad, deseas echarle un vistazo al documento completo. Sigo con mucho interés, las experiencias de muchos aquí quienes han decidido dedicar tiempo a la lectura y espero poder replicarla por mi mismo y que tú también lo logres.

Anticipo con agrado seguir tu log (no pude encontrar la palabra para decir “log” en español) y leer sobre tu progreso este año. Yo también te deseo un excelente aprendizaje en este año.

¡Saludos!

* http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/
** http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/st ... e_1125.pdf
0 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests