Bex Spanish log 2019: a definitive guide on the slowest way to learn Spanish ever!

[Bex]

96 pages read this week...and around an hour of listening. I'm relatively happy with these totals because it was a very busy week.

89.6 books read and 88.9 films, so far for the SC.... this is the first time that my reading total has overtaken my films total since I started the challenge.

It's looking like I may just make it.

[Cenwalh]

96 pages read this week...and around an hour of listening. I'm relatively happy with these totals because it was a very busy week.

89.6 books read and 88.9 films, so far for the SC.... this is the first time that my reading total has overtaken my films total since I started the challenge.

It's looking like I may just make it.

Good going Bex!

You say it's the first time books have overtaken films. How long do you find each "book" takes compared to the films?

[Bex]

Good going Bex!

You say it's the first time books have overtaken films. How long do you find each "book" takes compared to the films?

Thanks,

In the beginning it took me hours to read just a few pages.

Now I think it takes me around 2 hours to read 50 pages (a book according to the SC) since I read 48 pages in about 2 hours this morning.

I hadn't really thought about it until you asked but that actually isn't bad. I've stopped looking up every word and now only lookup what I need to in order to follow the story, or just to see if my guess is correct

I do still miss a lot though...it just doesn't bother me as much anymore.

[Cenwalh]

Good going Bex!

You say it's the first time books have overtaken films. How long do you find each "book" takes compared to the films?

Thanks,

In the beginning it took me hours to read just a few pages.

Now I think it takes me around 2 hours to read 50 pages (a book according to the SC) since I read 48 pages in about 2 hours this morning.

I hadn't really thought about it until you asked but that actually isn't bad. I've stopped looking up every word and now only lookup what I need to in order to follow the story, or just to see if my guess is correct

I do still miss a lot though...it just doesn't bother me as much anymore.

So probably a bit harder time wise for you to complete that part of the SC, and definitely before. Maybe one day they'll balance out, that might even by the point... I sometimes miss things too but the extent to which they detract from the text has got so small that I don't go over it anymore either most of the time. I like to compare my progress and methods to yours because we're studying the same language and seem to be at roughly the same level.

Keep going anyway, it's a huge improvement

[Bex]

Weekly update:
Another 96 pages read and 106 minutes of listening

Now I'm on the SC home straight, I'm starting to wonder what I should focus on next.

I will probably (not committing yet) do the next Super Challenge but I'm not sure what to do alongside the reading & listening.

I can't decide between studying/consolidating some grammar, intensive listening, mass extensive listening, transcribing, writing or one of the many, many other options.

Since I'm still struggling at a low B1 level with pretty much everything and still skimming over lots of things when reading, I'm thinking some studying may be the sensible next step?

[Cèid Donn]

When I was at this stage with French the most beneficisl thing (although not the only beneficial thing) for me was to build a broader vocabulary. This is not the most exciting thing to focus on, but it is crucial for getting past the B1 level. I did this by using user-created Memrise (now Decks) courses that focused on vocabulary building, although Anki or old fashioned flash cards would work as well. You don't have to go full SMS with it, but you will need to find some way to buikd and broaden your known and recakkable vocabulary. For example, I also have notebooks where I write down new words for my TLs, and my French one is pretty full at this point. With my notebooks, I include the word, definition and an example sentence, plus any other needed info (pronunciation, gender, conjugation, etc) and I just make a habit of reviweing those words regularly, often reading the example sentence outloud.

Other things are important at this stage too, like refining and expanding your mastery of your TL's grammar, but building your vocabulary is something you can't get around if you want to get to an advanced-intermediate/advanced level, so best start working out a method or methods for incorporating more intensive vocabulary building into your studies that is enjoyable enough for you to actually stick to in the long run--I won't lie here, this is somethong that learners can get burnt out on, so prepare for that and make it as pleasant for yourself as you can.

I know for me I'm already planning on doing a lot of vocabulary building in early 2020, in particular with Spanish, because it's been something that I haven't been working very much on due to focusing so much on my own SCs. Goid luck and congratulations on the work you've done on your SC.

[iguanamon]

Cèid Donn is right. You have to build vocabulary and consolidate what you know. I've never built vocabulary artificially in a language, though, if that's something you can do successfully then by all means do it! Reading, listening, speaking and writing are the ways I have done this. It's about building daily habits with reading widely and listening widely. I read and/or listen to something in all of my languages every day.

If you can find something you can do every day that has variety, this will serve to broaden your vocabulary. In Haitian Creole, I read the Bible every day and read a few news/general interest articles and listen to a podcast. In Portuguese, I listen to a news-magazine show. In Spanish, anything really. The bits you pass over in reading, start to come together, albeit slowly... just not as quickly as monolingual learners expect they should.

The key to using reading and listening to build vocabulary is variety. I listen to RFI Brasil in Portuguese because each half an hour episode has a five minute international newscast with another five minutes more concentrating on the story of the day, then there are features about science, culture, technology, literature, film, music. You get the point. The variety exposes me to vocabulary I wouldn't normally get if I only listened catering to my primary interests. So, seek out variety. You've been reading Harry Potter and that's been great for helping you with reading. Now it's time to get reading more widely and listening more widely- podcasts; youtube; news magazine; documentaries. Just some ideas.

It's also a good time to start watching a series regularly, probably a good idea to ease into it with something dubbed into Spanish with which you already have familiarity- either British or American. There's nothing like a hundred episodes of a series to charge your language acquisition, along with reading. I wish there were the variety of opportunities you have in Spanish for me to take advantage of in some of my other languages.

Also, agreeing with Cèid Donn, yes, definitely do formal study alongside your reading and listening. The Gramática de uso del español series would be a good place to start. Finding someone to speak with would also be a huge help. You are on your way, Bex!!! ¡Bien hecho!

[Bex]

When I was at this stage with French the most beneficisl thing (although not the only beneficial thing) for me was to build a broader vocabulary.....Other things are important at this stage too, like refining and expanding your mastery of your TL's grammar,...

Cèid Donn is right. You have to build vocabulary and consolidate what you know....It's also a good time to start watching a series regularly, ...Also, agreeing with Cèid Donn, yes, definitely do formal study alongside your reading and listening. The Gramática de uso del español series would be a good place to start.

Taking all this into account do you think a textbook (such as Gramática de uso) & Netflix/YouTube series & Clozemaster be a good, combined with the SC?

[iguanamon]

Taking all this into account do you think a textbook (such as Gramática de uso) & Netflix/YouTube series & Clozemaster be a good, combined with the SC?

Yes! As long as you find something with a lot of episodes. Accurate TL subs would be useful. The grammar study will help tie everything together and advance your skills. Please don't forget to read widely, even if it's just a short article, every day. Another good resource to use is the USDLI (Defense Language Institute) GLOSS (Global Language Online Support System). GLOSS has a variety of real world lessons with native materials in listening, reading and vocabulary. You will get a security warning because they haven't got around to updating their SSL certificate. It's not really a risk as you won't be giving over any personal information. The lessons range from raw beginner to advanced. Looking forward to following your continued progress, Bex!

[Bex]

Ok so Clozemaster I can easily do, I like that as an activity. That's that sorted.

And the grammar book should be straight forward as well, I've realised since I started FSI that I'm not that keen on audio courses, I find my mind wanders and I stop listening, especially if I'm not understanding something. I prefer the structure of sitting down at a desk each day and going through workbooks, makes me feel studious

Advanced warning: slight rant ahead...

The Netflix/YouTube thing I'm struggling to get straight in my head, I really enjoy watching celebrity chatshows/interview type programs... it's like my equivalent of eating junk food

I know of one or two Spanish chatshows that I can stream old episodes of on their channels app, but I'm not sure if they have subtitles or not. Does that matter? I start questioning if binge watching this type of TV would help?

When iguanamon mentioned that it was a good idea to watch a lot of the same thing it makes me wonder why, I suspect it's just easier like staying with the same author when reading, same style, vocabulary etc. But I wonder if it actually matters what you watch? Does it need to be easy? Should you use subtitles/transcripts? Or if it just matters that you find something so you can watch/listen A LOT?

I hate not knowing what I'm doing, I've hated this aspect of my learning journey for a long time. I'm a very organised and practical person, if I say I'm going to do something I do it. But I do overthink things and Spanish is the first thing in my life I haven't just been able to plan and then do.

Maybe I should just tackle it like I did the reading in the SC...set a high target and just force myself to reach it however I can?