Postby NoManches » Wed Jun 06, 2018 4:44 pm
Where to begin?
Reading:
I have been reading for a minimum of 35 minutes each day (vs 30 minutes). My reasoning is that it is very easy to squeeze an extra 5 minutes in each day, and if I have to skip a day of reading during the week I will make up for it (as long as I read for 35 minutes on the other 6 days). At least this way I won't feel really guilty if I miss a day which is very likely given my work schedule.
I am wrapping up Nacidos para Correr and have been listening to the audio book at work and on my runs. I find the book incredibly interesting and I love how much I am learning about the Rarámuri. My desire to run has increased a lot, and I am starting to feel a lot healthier after only a few weeks of running again. The best part about running? I get to listen to a podcast or audiobook in Spanish!
I have read about 30% of La Tumba and really like it. I have been reading a lot before bed which means when I pick the book up again I have to go back a few pages from where I left off (since I am often in zombie mode when I read before bed). I plan on finishing it by tomorrow.
A new edition of Muy Interesante came out the other day and I have already started reading it. I am pretty sure I read the last two editions from cover to cover, although on the Kindle it is hard to keep track of what you read in a magazine. I plan on reading this edition from cover to cover as well. I like how I am learning words in Spanish that I don't know in English. I've always felt like the Spanish side of me is a bit different than the English version of me. Now I'm at the point where I can talk about some things in Spanish but if I do it in English, if have to use some Spanish words because I don't know the English equivalent. This is very minor right now but will increase over time. I have no problem with this happening to me.
Television:
I am on episode 32 of 64 in the series Por amar sin Ley. I find the show very easy to understand. It does not have a lot of slang and the characters speak with easy to understand Mexican Spanish.
I decided to start Club de Cuervos over again from the beginning (previously I have watched the 1st and 2nd season). I was so frustrated watching it because the show is AWESOME and I wasn't understanding everything. I watched the very first episode yesterday and found it a lot easier to understand than the first time I watched it. Progress!!
Listening:
I am doing a better job listening to podcasts and audiobooks at work. I started to listen to "la Sentencia" which is one of the newest Radio Ambulante episodes. It was more difficult than I would have liked. I keep saying it but it is seriously time I spent a little extra effort with different Spanish dialects (in this episode the woman is Dominican). I am listening to the show right now as I type and it is a lot easier to understand than the other day when I was driving and listening to it. Maybe I'll save the harder podcasts for when I'm not working. At work when I'm multitasking I'll listen to clearer, well produced, podcasts that don't have a lot of background noise.
Speaking:
I have been practicing once each week with my online tutor. A few weeks ago I thought my speaking had gotten worse while my other skills stayed the same. I am starting to realize that my speaking has gotten worse, but it just seems worse than it is because I am getting so much input. I'm hitting a point where I can listen to things (or read them), and understand them, but have some difficulty talking about those same topics at the level I want to talk about them. I noticed this happened to me a lot when I was at an estimated B1 level and now it is happening again. Oh well. I think more input will make my passive vocabulary more active as I encounter words a lot more, and that should fix the problem. The other problem is that now I want to use specialized/technical/more elegant words to describe things that I would have previously described in a basic manner.
Goals for this week:
-Finish reading Nacidos para Correr and La Tumba.
-Start reading other books on my "to read list"
-Catch up on Radio Ambulante episodes while I run
-Finish season 1 of Club de Cuervos
-Fill up free time with reading the magazine Muy Interesante and listening to podcasts/watching the news in Spanish
5 x
DOUBLE Super ChallengeSpanish Movies : Spanish Books :