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

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the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Fri May 12, 2017 8:05 pm

Generally, any time I get reminded that I'm speaking a foreign language, my speaking deteriorates. If I can forget that fact, I speak much better.

This!

Now that I think about it, the same is true for me and I think something that happened recently illustrates that well. I let a compliment go to my head. Just last week I was speaking with a new co-worker who learned I could speak Spanish after overhearing me speaking with a group of people. Later on, we struck up a conversation and it was going well. We were talking about the job, general get-to-know-you stuff and our city. Then she decides to compliment my Spanish and ask where I learned it because she’d like to improve her English.

Well, upon hearing this I subconsciously try harder not to make any mistakes and sound better. I take the compliment but shortly after, start speaking haughtily. To her, I was probably just searching for a word I didn’t know, but I knew I was frantically trying to remember even basic words and cobble together basic sentences. I think what you said about being reminded that you’re speaking a foreign language is absolutely right in my case. Being relaxed and comfortable plays a significant part in how well I speak. "Well" is always relative for me since I'm sure I make plenty of mistakes daily.

……………………………………………………………..

Time for a second update this week. I just finished my final entry for this writing stint I’ve been doing. Overall, I am happy with how it has gone and it feels great that I actually did it (minus two days). On a subjective note, I tend to think a bit more in Spanish and I’m more confident when speaking. Likely, because I know what I’m saying isn’t complete gibberish.

Towards the the end of the stint, I was being corrected less on outright grammar mistakes and more on things that just sounded odd or were slightly off. I’m paying better attention to basic things like gender agreement and have been told I handle orthography pretty decently. I still haven’t gotten the hang of the period vs comma thing in Spanish. Commas are more commonplace in Spanish, but I still have not been able to get this quite right.

Linguee has been helping with the expressions I needed to search for. There have been a few. Ultimately, these sentences have been added to Anki and I’ve already found myself using a few of them in everyday conversations.

I’d like to work on my writing a bit more in the next couple months; maybe starting in June. Whatever I decide to do will bring me closer to achieving the goals I set for myself at the beginning of this year.

These next two weeks I’m going to work on:

-1. Waking up earlier - I’d like to get all of the heavy lifting done before my day starts and that hadn’t always happened during this last writing challenge. On days that I didn’t start early, I found myself having to complete things after work when I was already tired, or it was cutting into time normally reserved for other things. I’d like my evening to reserved for fun or relaxing things.

-2. Reading.

-3. La niña - Ideally I’d catch up to James29. I think I started before him but he’s now way ahead of me.

-4. Creating a list of things that I would like to be able to talk about better or am otherwise unable to express myself sufficiently on.

-5. Finishing The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close.

-6. Catch up on current events … in Spanish - I doubt James Patterson or Stephen King could spin a better tale than some of the latest developments in current events globally. I’d like to catch up on things. No work planned, just listening and reading.
4 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Fri May 26, 2017 7:01 am

I’ve never been one for routines, but I’d like to try something new. Starting June 1, I commit to devoting 4 hours per day towards improving my Spanish, for 10 weeks.

Every two weeks, I’ll choose a topic of interest. I’ve already decided on five topics that either have high conversational value, or are of high interest to me. The idea is to really push myself by writing on some really touchy topics while maintaining a degree of tact and substance.

The plan is pretty simple:

Hour 1:

- Spend 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week, intensively reading an article on said topic. I plan to choose a new article each day; preferably from an editorial. Readlang will be used to help with the acquisition of new vocabulary.

- Spend another 25 minutes, 5 days a week, listening narrowly on said topic; new video or podcast, each day. With these, the plan is to just listen and enjoy.

Hour 2:

Write on my reflections of the chosen article. My writing will be argumentative in nature, and will possibly be posted to Lang-8. Here, word count is not everything, but I’m aiming to write:

- Weeks 1-4 - 250 words, 4x/week and one 500 word essay on chosen topic each week. (6,000 words total)

- Weeks 4-8 - 350 words, 4x/week and one 500 word essay on chosen topic each week (7,600 words total)

- Weeks 9-10 - 500 words, 5x/week (2,500 words total).

Hour 3:

- Twice a week, spend one hour with a tutor. We’ll discuss my writing, talk a bit about the topic and address 5 questions that I will have prepared for them, before our session.

- Thrice a week, spend one hour reading extensively. This will likely be a book, but could be a series of articles.

Hour 4:

- Spend 30 minutes each day one either FSI Spanish, or GdUdE C1. The other 30 minutes will go towards a break where I see fit.

----------------
A Few Notes:
----------------


• As things stand, I will have written only 18,600 words, or about 37 pages of 12 pt, single spaced text. I don’t expect miracles, and in fact, don’t think this a particularly ‘hard’ challenge. After this challenge, I hope that writing will be much easier for me and that I can lessen the intensity, but continue improving. I write numbers, but the most important thing is creating a habit.

• I’ve chosen topics that I’d like to be able to express myself on, or that I just have a general interest to learn more about. This should make the intensive reading and extensive listening pretty pleasant.

• I chose 5 topics for this challenge; two weeks per topic. I want to give extensive listening a chance to work. Plus, these are topics I’d really like to understand better.

• This is more focused time than I usually spend “studying” Spanish. To facilitate this, I have not only committed to waking up earlier, but have also asked for a bit of flexibility with my work schedule.

• As part of my commitment to a couple other challenges, I’ll be working through FSI Spanish and Gramática de Uso del Español C1-C2. I’m also trying to complete my own version of the Super Challenge, so watching TV will be part of the mix too.

• Given the nature of the topics I plan to write about, there will be a lot of room for misunderstanding. I’ve concluded it would be best to work with a professional tutor who already knows me fairly well. Also, finding someone on Lang-8 who is willing to correct a page of text, with the exacting detail I’m hoping for, might be a challenge.

• I chose argumentative pieces because they’re more likely to involve topics I’d like to be able to discuss, and I’m like to have to make repeated use of certain structures (I’m thinking subjunctive, here). Since I care about these topics, I’m more likely to remember the associated vocabulary I’ll need to learn.

• I’ll only be following this plan 5 days per week. I’d like to keep my evenings and weekends free to do whatever I feel like.

• 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.

At the start of the year, I set out to do a few things: read at least 5,000 pages, watch 9,000 minutes of series/movies, get 200 hours of focused speaking practice, and write 20,000 words. Of all these goals, writing seems to be where I need to focus the most effort since, as of now, I’ve only written about 4,000 words. Also, over the course of my Spanish learning journey, it’s the skill I’ve practiced the least. This 'chellenge' should put me in the vicinity of reaching those number by the end of the year.

At the end of this, I expect to be able to write more in less time, find it easier to start writing, and be able to express myself better on a few topics.

-------------------------------
To measure progress I’ll:
-------------------------------

-1. Write spontaneously the same question before starting the challenge, and after completing it. I won’t share either copy with my tutors until after the challenge. I’ll be comparing the time it took me to write on the topic, the types of errors made, and vocabulary use.

-2. Record my Skype lessons from week 1 and week 10. I’m focusing on writing, but I’d like to see if there is any noticeable difference in how I speak.

-3. Start commenting on forums made for Spanish natives.
8 x
"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Wed May 31, 2017 9:11 pm

The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close - A workbook designed to give "in-depth coverage of this essential element of grammar."

After two months of sporadic work, I’ve finally finished TSSUC and think it was very much worth my time, although it didn't have to take that long to complete it. This workbook begins with explaining, in a very broad sense, when the subjunctive is used and how to form it’s four tenses. Things got interesting here because I was expecting the usual WEIRDO explanation. That came, but the author went further by suggesting that readers not think of the subjunctive in terms of what is known, or believed to be true, but instead in terms of the clauses involved, be they:

• subordinated noun clauses
• subordinated adjective clauses
• adverbial clauses or
• hypothetical or contrary-to-fact statements.

It’s this style of presentation that makes TSSUC unlike any other resource I’ve read on the subjunctive until now.
Each chapter begins with a roughly 3 page explanation of it’s area of focus, and ends with about 6 pages of different exercises designed to drill the concept. The exercises include:

• “match the following independent clauses on the left with their correct dependent clauses on the right’
• “fill in the blanks using the proper for of verbs in parenthesis”
• “translate the following from English to Spanish/ Spanish to English” drills designed to practice
• Fill in the blanks, using either present indicative/subjunctive, imperfect indicative/subjunctive, to preterit indicative of the verbs in parenthesis.
• On line A, translate the following cause-and-effect, or factual or if-then, statements. Then, on line B, transform them into hypothetical statements, in Spanish. In a few cases hints have been given, but a god dictionary could be helpful.
• Etc.

Overall, I thought the exercises were well designed and helpful, but could have been a bit more challenging. The number of exercises provided throughout the book was sufficient for me, but someone looking to drill the subjunctive ad nauseam, may want supplement TSSUC with another resource. For me, neither of the previous two criticisms were a real deal-breaker since time spent with native materials, and other courses like FSI and GdUdE will provide further reinforcement.

It’s easy to take a quick run through the table of contents; the book is divided into 7 chapters. The first chapter deals with how to form the different tenses. The second chapter tries to answer the question: which subjunctive is the right one, once it’s determined that it should be used. The following four chapters explore each of the different clauses that may trigger the subjunctive, and the final chapter ties everything together with a series of comprehensive exercises designed to practice all that had been taught throughout the book.

Things I liked about the workbook:

-1. It went beyond WEIRDO – Explaining how the use of the subjunctive often depends on the type of clause involved really brought things into perspective for me. I’m not sure I saw the subjunctive explained in that way, before.

-2. Explanations are comprehensive, but short and supplemented with examples - Each chapter only had about 3 pages of explanations and 6 pages of exercises. This would be equal to about a 1.5-2 pages of and FSI sized text, followed by exercises. The examples were often contrasted with cases in which it may seem appropriate to use a certain tense, but not be.

-3. Explanations were only as technical as they needed to be, and practical – Sure, I had to remind myself of the different types of clauses and a few other grammatical terms, but overall, I’d say that took 10-15 minutes to do. For the most part, there was no un-necessary technical jargon.

-4. The course itself was short – This, I found, kept the author to the essentials. I felt the attitude of the author was, “I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the subjunctive, but nothing more … ok, maybe just in the first chapter where we’ll review how it’s formed … but nothing else.”

-5. The author tries to explain the logic of the subjunctive as a native Spanish speaker sees it, but afterwards, contrasts it with how we may express something in English.

-6. The answer key has explanations, where appropriate. - A tutor wasn’t needed to use this book.

-7. The progressiveness and controlled nature of the exercises – In the first couple chapters, the reader is told precisely what kind of answers are expected. For example, the first chapter explains that the subjunctive will be used in all cases, later, it’s decided that only certain forms of the subjunctive will be expected, and by the final chapter, it’s a ‘free for all’ with the student left to think their way to the correct answer which may involve any form of the subjunctive, or not.

Could the course have been better? Sure! However, beyond what I’ve read in TSSUC, and the time I’ve already spent learning about the subjunctive, the only thing left to do is to listen and read a lot; exposure, interaction and time are now the missing ingredients.

The 'course' is marketed towards upper intermediate-advanced students. Although I didn’t learn anything that I considered to be particularly advanced, it was very helpful to have a solid understanding of how conjugate the different forms of the subjunctive and, at least a basic idea of how they function. The meat and potatoes of this book are; the explanations that detail when the subjunctive may be required, and examples distinguish between shades of meaning. In my opinion, I don’t think I would have benefited from TSSUC as much had I still been grappling with things like the third person plural of the preterit, for example. Not that it’s hard to progress through the book otherwise, just that it would have probably taken me longer and have required more supplementary material since this book is primarily focused on drilling how and why it is used, not how to form it.

Any special technique to progress through the book?

Not really.

I ran through the first chapter where conjugations were reviewed, but past there, I went as slowly as my attention span would allow. Also, I highlighted key examples or points that I either, felt were helpful, or completely new to me; there are between 2-7 things highlighted in each chapter. A few months down the line, I might re-read only the highlighted sections of the book as a refresher.

Many concepts stuck pretty well because I had either been encountered them many times before (reading, listening, writing corrections, tutors, etc), or because I was already quite familiar with being correction on the subjunctive and using it in certain contexts.

Chapter 5 has a list of “always adverbial expressions” and “sometimes adverbial expressions”. I added the “always” category to Anki and took time to really think about why those from the “sometimes” category were as they were.
Other than that, I did every single exercise as intended. I usually don’t do this, but because it’s such a short book, I decided to milk the book for all it was worth. Also, I wanted to be sure I wasn’t fooling myself into thinking I could do the exercises, when in fact I couldn’t.

… and with this, I’ve completed the first of three courses I intend to complete as part of the Output Challenge. Now, its on to FSI Spanish & the rest of GdUdE C.

Personal notes:

- Although not too often, I found myself misspelling the imperfect subjunctive of verbs that have irregular stems. “trajeran” is one example. For some reason I tried to include a y in there.

- "Anticipation" is a large part of the “sometimes list."

- Belief vs doubt – creer vs dudar/ no creer

- I’ve been overusing the imperfect subjunctive, at times. I always understood that the imperfect subjunctive can be used to make a request in a more polite way; much like the use of the conditional. According to how I now understand things, in certain contexts, the imperfect subjunctive can be more like beseeching than asking politely.

- The subjunctive is a set of verb forms required in clauses of certain types; that’s all. What one knows or believes to be true is irrelevant for determining whether the subjunctive should be used. Think logic & function of subjunctive … not English.

- Surprisingly, I actually “know” how to use the subjunctive better than I thought. None of the exercise were hard. The few times I got something wrong, I usually understood why. With time and mindfulness, I think things will become more automatic.
7 x
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Stelle
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby Stelle » Wed May 31, 2017 9:33 pm

the1whoknocks wrote:I’ve never been one for routines, but I’d like to try something new. Starting June 1, I commit to devoting 4 hours per day towards improving my Spanish, for 10 weeks.

Every two weeks, I’ll choose a topic of interest. I’ve already decided on five topics that either have high conversational value, or are of high interest to me. The idea is to really push myself by writing on some really touchy topics while maintaining a degree of tact and substance.

The plan is pretty simple:

Hour 1:

- Spend 25 minutes a day, 5 days a week, intensively reading an article on said topic. I plan to choose a new article each day; preferably from an editorial. Readlang will be used to help with the acquisition of new vocabulary.

- Spend another 25 minutes, 5 days a week, listening narrowly on said topic; new video or podcast, each day. With these, the plan is to just listen and enjoy.

Hour 2:

Write on my reflections of the chosen article. My writing will be argumentative in nature, and will possibly be posted to Lang-8. Here, word count is not everything, but I’m aiming to write:

- Weeks 1-4 - 250 words, 4x/week and one 500 word essay on chosen topic each week. (6,000 words total)

- Weeks 4-8 - 350 words, 4x/week and one 500 word essay on chosen topic each week (7,600 words total)

- Weeks 9-10 - 500 words, 5x/week (2,500 words total).

Hour 3:

- Twice a week, spend one hour with a tutor. We’ll discuss my writing, talk a bit about the topic and address 5 questions that I will have prepared for them, before our session.

- Thrice a week, spend one hour reading extensively. This will likely be a book, but could be a series of articles.

Hour 4:

- Spend 30 minutes each day one either FSI Spanish, or GdUdE C1. The other 30 minutes will go towards a break where I see fit.

----------------
A Few Notes:
----------------


• As things stand, I will have written only 18,600 words, or about 37 pages of 12 pt, single spaced text. I don’t expect miracles, and in fact, don’t think this a particularly ‘hard’ challenge. After this challenge, I hope that writing will be much easier for me and that I can lessen the intensity, but continue improving. I write numbers, but the most important thing is creating a habit.

• I’ve chosen topics that I’d like to be able to express myself on, or that I just have a general interest to learn more about. This should make the intensive reading and extensive listening pretty pleasant.

• I chose 5 topics for this challenge; two weeks per topic. I want to give extensive listening a chance to work. Plus, these are topics I’d really like to understand better.

• This is more focused time than I usually spend “studying” Spanish. To facilitate this, I have not only committed to waking up earlier, but have also asked for a bit of flexibility with my work schedule.

• As part of my commitment to a couple other challenges, I’ll be working through FSI Spanish and Gramática de Uso del Español C1-C2. I’m also trying to complete my own version of the Super Challenge, so watching TV will be part of the mix too.

• Given the nature of the topics I plan to write about, there will be a lot of room for misunderstanding. I’ve concluded it would be best to work with a professional tutor who already knows me fairly well. Also, finding someone on Lang-8 who is willing to correct a page of text, with the exacting detail I’m hoping for, might be a challenge.

• I chose argumentative pieces because they’re more likely to involve topics I’d like to be able to discuss, and I’m like to have to make repeated use of certain structures (I’m thinking subjunctive, here). Since I care about these topics, I’m more likely to remember the associated vocabulary I’ll need to learn.

• I’ll only be following this plan 5 days per week. I’d like to keep my evenings and weekends free to do whatever I feel like.

• 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.

At the start of the year, I set out to do a few things: read at least 5,000 pages, watch 9,000 minutes of series/movies, get 200 hours of focused speaking practice, and write 20,000 words. Of all these goals, writing seems to be where I need to focus the most effort since, as of now, I’ve only written about 4,000 words. Also, over the course of my Spanish learning journey, it’s the skill I’ve practiced the least. This 'chellenge' should put me in the vicinity of reaching those number by the end of the year.

At the end of this, I expect to be able to write more in less time, find it easier to start writing, and be able to express myself better on a few topics.

-------------------------------
To measure progress I’ll:
-------------------------------

-1. Write spontaneously the same question before starting the challenge, and after completing it. I won’t share either copy with my tutors until after the challenge. I’ll be comparing the time it took me to write on the topic, the types of errors made, and vocabulary use.

-2. Record my Skype lessons from week 1 and week 10. I’m focusing on writing, but I’d like to see if there is any noticeable difference in how I speak.

-3. Start commenting on forums made for Spanish natives.

This sounds like a great plan! I'm looking forward to following along with your progress, and I may try something similar. I hope you'll share your topics with us! (Or if they're political in nature and you don't want to post them, perhaps you can send them to me in a pm?)

¡Buena suerte!
1 x

the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Wed May 31, 2017 9:51 pm

¡Muchísimas gracias, Stelle!

I'll be sure to post the topics here, although I'm not sure you'll find them very interesting :lol:
0 x
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby FrannieB » Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:12 pm

I just read your whole blog - thanks for sharing.

I'm doing an intense push to get to B1 - maybe I'm there maybe I'm not I don't feel like it - I'm at the stage where I know a know a lot but I'm also fully aware of how far I have to go. My goal is to be a B2/C1 speaker and you log gives me some great advice on where to go next.
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby James29 » Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:48 pm

Great post on the subjunctive workbook. My thoughts on it were roughly the same. I thought the B level grammar book was better on the subjunctive. I believe the C level book has quite a bit of subjunctive also. Keep up the good work. You motivate us!
0 x

the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Wed Jun 07, 2017 6:04 am

FrannieB wrote:I just read your whole blog - thanks for sharing.

I'm doing an intense push to get to B1 - maybe I'm there maybe I'm not I don't feel like it - I'm at the stage where I know a know a lot but I'm also fully aware of how far I have to go. My goal is to be a B2/C1 speaker and you log gives me some great advice on where to go next.


Hey Frannie, thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m still figuring out this intermediate thing, but am glad that the log may be sparking a few ideas for you. I’m interested to know what you will decide to do regarding the DELE in October. Especially since sitting the exam in 2018 may be a real possibility for me; I’m not sure which level either.

As a side note, it took me a while to feel like I could really claim B1; maybe after 1.5-2 years of fairly focused studying. Sure, tutors and others around me seemed confident of my ‘intermediate status’ before then, but it took a while to feel right claiming it. With the work you’re putting in, I’m sure you’ll be there in no time, if you’re not already.

For me, I kept looking for the day I’d reach B1, and it seemed to come without me even realizing it. I’m sure there were many ‘ah-ha’ moments, but two in particular come to mind. Without too much detail, the first came when I was able to take a road trip with four friends to a nearby state and spend the whole day just interacting in Spanish. One person in particular refused to speak to me in English, and it turned out to be OK. The second time was with an associate, who as long as I had known her, had spoken with me in English. One day, she had a few things that she wasn’t happy with at work and opted to explain the whole situation in Spanish so I would ‘understand her better.’ That conversation led to a larger meeting with others, and she trusted me to translate for her, and communicate her thoughts in English. The fact that she spoke with me was humbling, but as it relates to language, it showed me that people were starting to consider it less of a burden to communicate with me in Spanish.

Later, certain grammar points, and ways of expressing ideas just started making more sense. It’s hard to say exactly when this happened. Suddenly, it seemed, it was easier to process the things I was listening to, and I was no longer searching for the same basic words … I was instead searching for other, slightly less basic words. Rather than being frustrated when someone would, without warning, start speaking in Spanish, I was starting to enjoy it. Switching between English and Spanish was starting to become less of a challenge.

Anyway, the hardest part was believing it would happen. You don’t seem to be struggling with that. Oh, and sorry about the long post .. I can get carried away sometimes. Best of luck as you prepare to head to Guatemala!

James29 wrote:Great post on the subjunctive workbook. My thoughts on it were roughly the same. I thought the B level grammar book was better on the subjunctive. I believe the C level book has quite a bit of subjunctive also. Keep up the good work. You motivate us!


Thanks James, and I appreciate the encouragement. I only have the C level GdUdE, but may consider picking up the B level grammar book afterwards just for extra work with the subjunctive.

By the way, reading logs from members such as yourself is part of what keeps me motivated, and believing that this whole language learning thing is indeed possible.
0 x
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the1whoknocks
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Re: A(nother) Spanish Log - Transition from Intermediate to Advanced

Postby the1whoknocks » Wed Jun 07, 2017 4:35 pm

I’m back from an unexpected, but much enjoyed, trip to New Orleans (NOLA). Now I understand why my co-workers from the area are so chill … The Big Easy. Excellent jazz, great food, local attractions, and a cool night scene all made for a great time. If I had planned better, I probably would have been able to visit some Spanish speaking areas and venues, but my time there was limited. I remember being told that it was the end of visitors month or something like that in Alabama, that explained why the rest areas even had welcoming committees, free food, and music along with local treats.

I’ll be back to experience more of NOLA’s rich culture, there is a lot that I'd still like to see there. Still, it’s not a city that has me clamoring to return tomorrow. For me, it's main draw is it's uniqueness; I’ve never been to a place like New Orleans, and I don’t think I’ll ever be to one. It’s just different. … And, I have never seen garbage so many trucks at 1 AM. Usually, I laugh when someone tells me I'm in a 'dangerous' area, but I definitely found myself to be more situationally aware than I might have otherwise been. ... A very different city indeed.

During the actual trip, I didn't listen to much Spanish, not even during the drive. I was with others who didn't speak Spanish and I decided it was better just be in the moment, so except for a few songs here and there, I decided to put Spanish aside. Anyway, I delayed starting the 10 week push until yesterday. There were a few pressing things I needed to give priority to. So far, my work schedule has been working out. We'll see how long that lasts. Two days down, 48 days to-go!

--------------------
"Weekly" Update
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During my last 'weekly' update, I committed to doing a few things:

-1. Waking up early - I’ve managed to start waking up about two hours before the time I usually do. On most days, this should give me enough time to shower, have a good breakfast while listening to/ watching something, and move ahead with the 10 week plan.

-2. Reading - I’ve been reading, Latin King - Mi vida sangrienta by Reymundo SAnchez. I first heard about the book after a friend of mentioned that that he was reading the English version. A few days later, I noticed it while browsing the Spanish section of the library, and decided to grab it, and am glad I did. It’s not a book I would have rushed to pick up on my own. What started as a ‘movement to improve the quality of life’ of immigrant families in Chicago, Illinois, has morphed into the largest Hispanic street gang in the US; Latin Kings. Gang stuff aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it has been to read the book, so far. To my eyes, the author, or the translator, has a very readable voice. Even better, the story is interesting enough to keep me reading, despite that there are a few words I don’t know. There is an average of 4 unknown words per page. The story is exactly 361 pages long and I have about 50 pages to go. More to come on this book …

-3. La niña - As of today, I’m now on episode 50 of La niña. I didn’t quite catch up to James29, but at least I’m not trailing behind by double digits anymore. The gap was closer to 20 episode a few weeks ago.

-4. Create a list of things I'd like to be able to express myself better on in Spanish - Originally, the plan was to discuss very controversial topics, and this list had 23 items on it. Narrowing things down was hard because there is so much that I’d like to be able to discuss freely in Spanish. I’ve decided that I will eventually make it through the entire list, but will start with topics that I’ve actually tried to discuss within the past 3 months - I’m going with:

Immigration in the US - What might sensible immigration policy look like? How are other countries handling immigration? How do justice v.s. morality might come into play? Why is immigration good/bad for growth? Should immigrants be given more rights? I have an opinion on all of these questions, but more than once, have had difficulty expressing them to my satisfaction in Spanish.

Politics, and current events - Given the US’s political climate at the moment, I forsee this being more like a game of ‘whac-a-mole,’ than focusing on one thing. Still, there are usually a few news stories or developments that dominate the headlines, and I’ll try to focus on these.

Feminism - Admittedly, I’ve never tried to talk about feminism, in English or Spanish. I have an idea of what it is about, but am otherwise ignorant on the matter. A few weeks ago I was at a talk where one of the speakers declared that, “everyone should be a feminist, even men.” As a guy, I wasn’t sure whether to clap or frown in disdain, so I did nothing. I’ve been meaning to read up on this for a while, and am deciding to so in Spanish.

God & Religion - I’d like to be able to articulate my views on this matter.

• Still deciding - There are some strong candidates, but I’m going to wait a few weeks to see how I feel, and then decide. If push comes to shove, I’ll just pick something from the list.

-5. Finish TSSUC & catch up on current events - Done and done. Although, I now remember why I stopped watching the news for a while.

For the next 10 weeks, the focus will be investing at least 4 hours per day to improve my Spanish. I'm feeling good.
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"Wax on, wax off" - Mr. Myagi

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

Postby James29 » Wed Jun 07, 2017 7:51 pm

I think the B level grammar book would be too easy for you. I felt like it was more for people who were at a low B1 level.

New Orleans is great! It is the only place in the US where I have felt like I was in a totally different culture or country.

Just as fair warning, I am now also watching Ingobernable and I am almost done with that. When I finish Ingobernable I will go back to watching nine episodes of La Nina each week... and I will once again pull ahead of you. :)
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