James29's Spanish and French Log

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the1whoknocks
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby the1whoknocks » Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:53 am

Congrats on your latest business developments. I’d wish you, ‘good luck’ moving forward, but I suspect that luck will have nothing to do with your success. I’ll just wait to read about it when it happens.

James29 wrote:
the1whoknocks wrote:Cuatro estaciones looks good but is challenging my comprehension skills a bit. Some people I understand perfectly, and others leave me saying, “say what now?” I think I’ll watch this one slowly. Thanks for the mention.

They definitely got me with the trailer and the online articles. As you've mentioned, it’s been a trudge getting past the 12th episode of Sobreviviendo a Escobar. Episode 25 looked encouraging because of a familiar face, but things didn’t go as hoped. You might like start liking things a bit more somewhere around episode 40; that's when the plot seemed to start developing, for me. Without saying too much, the series probably should have gotten to this point much sooner. One thing I did get from the series is a slightly better understanding of the contoversy surrounding JJ's release. However, the series itself could have been better ... or, maybe I'm just tired of narconovelas. :)

Apparently there is a documentary about him (not the Netflix one) and he used to work in the US after the end of the cartel. It was a conversation in passing, so I may have mis-understood.

Oh, and you're probably thinking of Victor from La niña (prison guard's brother). Don Miguel (Belky's father) plays a Colombian government official in season 3 of Netflix's Narcos. It's always cool being able to recognize an actor/actress.

Any thought on your next novela? Or, are you thinking French?


Was the model that got busted taking cocaine to New York in some other novelas? I'd be curious which ones.

I just got past the point where the fast forwarded 5 years (somewhere around episode 30 or 32). Hopefully it will have some more plot now.

Cuatro Estaciones is definitely a good show. Don't feel bad about comprehension. I found it pretty tricky. I did not find the Spanish too hard, but it was just hard to follow everything that was going on.

I think I'll start Club de Cuervos next. The third season is coming out soon so there should be about 40 episodes to work through. It has audio description too. It also looks a bit different which will be nice. I always like watching "different" things in Spanish.


Jennifer, right? I tried finding out her real name but have had no luck, but in any event, I have not noticed her in any other novelas that I have seen. I’ll keep an eye out for her though. That’s the thing with this series – everyone has talent and the acting, overall, is not ‘cheesy’ but the storyline needed more work.

Cuatro Estaciones is probably mostly an accent thing, for me. I’m going to continue watching it and see if my comprehension of the show improves.

It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on Club de Cuervos. It’s definitely, ‘different’ as far as novelas go, but I really enjoyed watching it. In fact, I’d say that it and Ingobernable are the two novelas I have had the most ‘fun’ watching, so far. It is a comedy at heart so should at least be a nice break from the narco stuff. I thought CdC was a goofy and well made series ... even a bit serious at times.
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westminstress
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby westminstress » Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:40 pm

I watched the first episode of Club de Cuervos and it was *not* appropriate for my subway commute! I was not personally offended or anything, but I think someone looking at my screen and not having any context easily could have been. Are all the episodes like that or just the first one? It seemed like a good show, but I need to keep it pretty clean while commuting.
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James29
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby James29 » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:01 pm

westminstress wrote:I watched the first episode of Club de Cuervos and it was *not* appropriate for my subway commute! I was not personally offended or anything, but I think someone looking at my screen and not having any context easily could have been. Are all the episodes like that or just the first one? It seemed like a good show, but I need to keep it pretty clean while commuting.


Well, I have not yet started Club de Cuervos, but I know what you mean about these Netflix produced shows. They are often times inappropriate.

I'm watching Historia de un Clan and it is a bit twisted and sick. I understand that it is based on a true story, but the way the show is made just does not really appeal to me. Netflix seems to glorify some fairly disgusting things. I'm not sure who they are trying to appeal to.

Historia de un Clan is actually a decent show for learning Spanish and it is fairly well done in terms of acting, etc. It is about a family that kidnaps people and then demands ransom from their families. It is a pretty short series. I think I am on about episode 5 now.

Sobreviviendo a Escobar is pretty sick in its own way too. It is a 60 episode series about killing people, drug dealing, back stabbing, smuggling, etc. I found myself watching it after the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas and it really just made me sad that Netflix puts out this garbage. The only reasons I am watching it is that it has the audio description function which makes it great for Spanish and I am too stubborn to quit things.

I am looking forward to Club de Cuervos as it is apparently a comedy and will be a nice break from what I've been watching.

I'm also slowly working my way through Atlas Shrugged. I get 15-30 minutes in here and there. It is going to take a LONG time to get through the book at this rate, but I don't mind. I love the book. I know the book fairly well and am really looking forward to some of my favorite parts.

I do the Spanish meetup every week and am speaking Spanish at work more regularly.

My marathon training is starting to wind down and I'll be running less in the next couple weeks - prior to the marathon. Then, after my marathon I'll be spending much less time on the treadmill. That will give me a good chance to make a good big dent in Atlas Shrugged.

Well, not much else going on in the world of Spanish.

Nothing at all happening in the world of French.
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coldrainwater
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Audio Description

Postby coldrainwater » Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:30 am

Thank you for mentioning the audio description feature of Netflix! Long-term, I think it may also be a great tool for generally broadening the scope of what we can enjoy for those of us who have more pure listening hours available than viewing hours. It adds a helpful dimension to my current efforts to bring TV series and movies to podcast format for off-screen listening. In the back of my mind, I figure it would be nice to improve TV comprehension without having quite as much required screentime (in my case, effectively truncating the months needed to reach level X of comprehension without shortcutting the total hours required or invested). For movies, I like the idea because it adds a bit of much-needed dialogue density in a way that isn't too artificial. Used as a google search term, I found a succinct list of resources (cine para ciegos in IVoox for example) on offer without much trouble.
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James29
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Re: Audio Description

Postby James29 » Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:18 pm

coldrainwater wrote:Thank you for mentioning the audio description feature of Netflix! Long-term, I think it may also be a great tool for generally broadening the scope of what we can enjoy for those of us who have more pure listening hours available than viewing hours. It adds a helpful dimension to my current efforts to bring TV series and movies to podcast format for off-screen listening. In the back of my mind, I figure it would be nice to improve TV comprehension without having quite as much required screentime (in my case, effectively truncating the months needed to reach level X of comprehension without shortcutting the total hours required or invested). For movies, I like the idea because it adds a bit of much-needed dialogue density in a way that isn't too artificial. Used as a google search term, I found a succinct list of resources (cine para ciegos in IVoox for example) on offer without much trouble.


The audio description is great. For anyone trying to pick up comprehension from watching TV this is a must have tool (at least at the beginning). Today I was watching and thinking to myself how much time there was in between conversations in many of the scenes. This is particularly true in an action show where the characters are running around avoiding bombs and gunshots, etc. I love it. I'm definitely going to look for the cine para ciegos. I'll finish out all the shows on Netflix with the feature and be on standby for any new ones that come out.

I was traveling this past weekend and did not get a chance to update my log so I'll do it quickly now.

I'm still watching Historia de un Clan and Sobreviviendo a Escobar. I don't really like either of them much. I don't have the desire to turn them off or quit them, but they are definitely not something I'd watch again or recommend to someone unless you are watching solely for the benefit of improving Spanish comprehension. For learning they are great. I'm somewhere around episode 7 in the Clan and I think I'm on 46 in Escobar.

I'm not running as much right now so I'm spending the extra time reading Atlas Shrugged. Right now I'm on page 175. I'm moving through the book at a snail's pace, but I love it so I don't mind if it takes me six months to finish it. I'm listening to the audio book and following the text.

I have a new employee who is a native Spanish speaker. She speaks perfectly and is super easy to understand. I think this will be great.

I'm not doing too much else in Spanish.

Nothing going on in French and I don't see myself spending any time in the near future getting back to French.
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James29
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby James29 » Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:05 pm

Much of the same this week. My home computer needs to be replaced which is a pain. But, it still works fine for Netflix... just no typing with the keyboard.

I've got one more episode of Historia de un Clan. I'm somewhere around episode 46 in Sobreviviendo a Escobar. I got quite a bit done in Atlas Shrugged. I, of course, went to the local meetup. I also was out of town for a day and went to a meetup in a nearby city. That was kind of cool. It was a nice change of pace.

I'll be traveling a bit this week too. Hopefully I'll get further into Atlas Shrugged. I forgot how much of a thick book this is. It is going to take forever so I need to work it into my day more often. I find I don't mind reading just 4 or 5 pages every now and then and just stopping at the end of a page. I never like to do that, but I think I need to do it because the chapters are so darn long.

No French. We'll see what happens when I reset everything after finishing Atlas Shrugged.
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James29
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby James29 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:13 pm

This morning I went out "off the grid" and sat by a mountain stream and read from Atlas Shrugged in Spanish. This was one of the little things I'll definitely remember about my Spanish journey. Nothing except the stream, the woods, me and Spanish! My phone was not ringing and I was not getting emails or texts.

The marathon I've been training for is tomorrow. It is in the mountains so this morning I went out to scope out the course and brought my book with me. It is odd how I associate my running so much with my Spanish. I spent roughly seven hours a week on the treadmill watching telenovelas in Spanish for the past eleven months. It has been amazing for my Spanish. It has also been so good for my health. Before I was not fat or anything (maybe a tad bit pudgy) but I was definitely out of shape. I was horribly inflexible and my joints hurt if I tried to do anything. Now, after running with Spanish for so long I feel like a new me. This week I bought four new pair of pants because all my old clothes are too loose! I'd never be able to spend that much time on a treadmill watching something in English.

I'm now sitting here in the hotel room eating rice and pasta while I watch daytime TV on Univision. I don't get Spanish TV at home so this is a real treat. The daytime telenovelas seem easier than the more popular ones I watch on Netflix. The acting is obviously lower quality but they speak much more clearly. It really feels like I can understand all of it without even thinking about it. I notice more nuances now than I did a year or so ago. I notice more subtle word choice distinctions.

I really need to read more. TV is helping my comprehension but I can feel myself grasping a bit for vocabulary that is starting to slip out of my brain. I also have not studied any grammar for years. That C level book is always staring me in the face. When I finish Atlas Shrugged (and this marathon) I'll reassess and figure out what to do next.

French is non-existent in my world. Maybe I'll pick it up again soon. I think if I ever have a trip to somewhere with French as the native language I'd get motivated again. I suppose I can keep my fingers crossed for Guadeloupe or Martinique.
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James29
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby James29 » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:57 pm

It is about time I update my log. My home laptop has a broken keyboard so I'll be out of my Sunday log update routine for a while. I'm still chugging along with Spanish.

I'm running much less on the treadmill now. I'm watching one episode of Sobreviviendo a Escobar every morning when I run. I've got 13 episodes left. I have given up following the story and I just listen to the conversations and narrator. I can quite easily understand everything but I am just not at all interested in all the murdering, double crossing and drug dealing.

I'm spending more time reading Atlas Shrugged. I'm on page 406 so I'm just about 1/3 of the way through. Great book. I can understand everything very easily. There is probably about one word, on average, per page that I don't know. I'm reading on a paper book so there is no Kindle pop up dictionary. But, I'm listening to the audio book which is great for numerous reasons. It helps me listening to spoken Spanish but it also pushes me along through the book faster. I am pretty sure the narrator reads faster than I would read silently in Spanish.

I got together with some native Spanish speaking friends and also went to a meetup. That's about it.

I'm just going to continue with doing more of the same with Spanish and eventually find some time to study some grammar.
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iguanamon
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby iguanamon » Fri Nov 10, 2017 4:40 pm

James29 wrote:My home laptop has a broken keyboard so I'll be out of my Sunday log update routine for a while.

I've replaced my keyboard on my laptop three times in five years. You can buy a replacement keyboard for most brands and models from China for about $10 US including shipping on ebay. I replaced mine in less than five minutes. It's an easy fix. No special tools needed except for a Phillips head screwdriver, at least for my Toshiba Satellite. Of course, you can find a tutorial video on youtube to show you how to do it step by step.

Just before I went to Europe, my keyboard went out. As a stop gap, until the replacement arrived, I bought a wireless keyboard at Office Max for about $20. It worked great, the package even included a wireless mouse. Good luck, and good to see that you're still "chugging along" with Spanish. It's a part of your life now and will always be with you.
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James29
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Re: James29's Spanish and French Log

Postby James29 » Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:19 pm

iguanamon wrote:
James29 wrote:My home laptop has a broken keyboard so I'll be out of my Sunday log update routine for a while.

I've replaced my keyboard on my laptop three times in five years. You can buy a replacement keyboard for most brands and models from China for about $10 US including shipping on ebay. I replaced mine in less than five minutes. It's an easy fix. No special tools needed except for a Phillips head screwdriver, at least for my Toshiba Satellite. Of course, you can find a tutorial video on youtube to show you how to do it step by step.

Just before I went to Europe, my keyboard went out. As a stop gap, until the replacement arrived, I bought a wireless keyboard at Office Max for about $20. It worked great, the package even included a wireless mouse. Good luck, and good to see that you're still "chugging along" with Spanish. It's a part of your life now and will always be with you.


Cool, I never would have thought a keyboard could be replaced. For some reason there are a couple keys that simply do not work. I actually tried to remove the keys with a screwdriver but could not get them off. I never would have thought of using the screwdriver to remove the whole keyboard and replace it.

Yup, Spanish is really just a part of my life now. I don't even consider what I do to be "studying" or even trying to improve my Spanish. I'm just using the language and loving it.

Hope you are doing well. Remember, that your island is the first place in the country where the sun rises for a reason.
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