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

[Brun Ugle]

I find I have to learn words several times in several contexts to really learn them. Anki or Memrise can be one of those contexts, and can help keep the word fresh until I encounter it again in some other context.

Maybe there's an option C then...create my own Memrise deck using the top 3000 words instead?

Perhaps. They will still be without context, so if you feel you need more context, it might not help. It might also be better to use words that are important to you or that you've come across in your reading or listening. I'm sure you'll end up learning the most frequent words anyway, but they they will be more personal. I have used Memrise decks made by others though. For me, no matter how I do it, I find that I'll know a word in Memrise or Anki and then when I meet it in real life, I sometimes don't recognize it, or I know that I know it from Memrise, but can't remember the word. I just need to see it a lot of times and in different places. I can't just have one method and learn everything, unfortunately.

[kennyaa]

I would probably delete the deck and just trust the most frequent words will pop up so long as you're using a range of sources (podcast transcripts, tutors, novels, news articles).

Another solution is every time you feel like you're getting the same card wrong again and again, put it into Google and find 5 more sentences from different places with this word and add those cards to the deck.

[Bex]

ETA: hopefully you see this, I didn't want to make a second post. Here's how you increase the learning steps in Anki...

Thanks Morgana being able to add in extra learning steps and review one more time on the second day will be really helpful.

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I have decided to delete all my Anki decks except my deck made from sentences I've read. I promised myself when I started using Anki again I would keep it a low level activity and only have one deck...it appears I knew what would happen if I increased my Anki usage but then ignored myself!

Lesson learnt.

I shall however go back to using Clozemaster, I love Clozemaster, I don't know why I stopped. I will continue with it until I finish the 2,001-3000 level. This will cover any missing common vocabulary I may have missed in my Anki deck.

[Bex]

Having had some time last week and mulling things over....

...I have decided to completely change my approach to Spanish or to be more precise my attitude.

I have been for at least the last year doing all my Spanish studying in the morning; "eating the frog" as it were. However I have noticed that this is causing me to see Spanish as something that is a chore and once it's done each day I have a sense of achievement but also a small sense of relief. I rarely go back to it later in the day. This is not good.

I am separating Spanish from my English life, and allow myself to be “done for the day”, I am saying to myself that I am actively studying Spanish but it is just that, something that I am only studying. I need to make Spanish part of my life.

I have decided to make some major changes and flip my routine completely.

1. I am going to create an immersion environment first thing in the day. So from 9am onwards there will Spanish audio in my environment I don't care how, until I have finished all my work & chores for the day....this may be all day if I am very busy with work. I will be careful to keep all the audio as comprehensible as possible.

2. When I have finished all my work I will then start my study time with FSI Spanish.

After (if I have any time left) I will choose one or more of the following:
- Extensive reading
- Intensive reading
- Anki
- Clozemaster
- Netflix/YouTube

I have decided to do FSI first each day so I can keep moving through the program but the rest I will keep as a hobby/downtime activity and something that I do in my free time because it's enjoyable and not just because I have to get it done.

3. If I have done my FSI and at least 1 of my downtime activities and I have some time left then I will just go back to my immersion environment in step 1.

This will give me 8+ hours a day 'with' Spanish instead of just over 1, without any extra study time needed. I am hoping that this simple switch will make a difference not only with my comprehension but also change my attitude* towards language learning in general.

This morning I have created a playlist of 65+ tracks of audio from things I have already read or I am about to read shortly and I am now listening to these on random. Hopefully this will work because something has to change.


* I sound like my old school teacher

[Brun Ugle]

It’s one thing to know oneself and another to actually make use of that wisdom. I’m still working on that myself.

There will always be a few frogs to swallow, but which activities are the frogs can change from time to time. It helps to have at least some fun activities though. I generally save my favorite TV-series for the evening when I’m done all my “real” studying or for the times when I’m too tired to do other things. Having something fun that you associate with the language makes studying it more rewarding.

[Bex]

It’s one thing to know oneself and another to actually make use of that wisdom. I’m still working on that myself.

So true, I know certain activities annoy me and yet I keep increasing them until they're unbearable because 'the internet' says I should.

I generally save my favorite TV-series for the evening when I’m done all my “real” studying or for the times when I’m too tired to do other things. Having something fun that you associate with the language makes studying it more rewarding.

I am starting to get the hang of extensive reading, I have a pile of kids books to enjoy next and I've found a couple of YouTube channels that I'm going to start watching. I've already watched a few Narcos type series on Netflix and I am currently on episode 3 of El Chapo which I've started watching this weekend. I also often watch Spanish TV most evenings, although it it would be more of a relaxing activity if I understood more, it can be quite frustrating at times but it's getting easier.

I watch this most evenings:
http://www.rtve.es/m/alacarta/videos/aq ... ?media=tve

Then an episode of El Chapo.

And then this chat show when I go to bed:
https://www.antena3.com/programas/el-hormiguero/

So if I continue this way I will be immersed in Spanish from dawn until Zzzzz

[Bex]

Spanish since last update, a couple of weeks ago. I've been really very busy but I managed to get some Spanish into my days...

Read 141 pages in total.
8 hours of passive listening.
Finished Season 1 of El Chapo on Netflix.
Now watching Season 2 (Episode 6 next).
4 song lyrics learnt.
FSI up to lesson 8
Not much Anki.

For the Super Challenge I should have read 45 books by now, as of today I have read 42.

I'm happy with my new routine especially the new passive listening. I managed to get many more hours of listening into my week that otherwise wouldn't have been there, just by sticking on my headphones and pressing play.

I have noticed that I am starting to be able to "hear" whole sentences on TV now, last year I was very aware that I could hear each separate word but I couldn't process them fast enough to be able to hear the whole sentence. Now when I am watching say 30 mins of TV there will be 2 (maybe even 5 minutes) where I understand pretty much everything that is said

I am even noticing when the subtitles are wrong on Netflix now as well.

It's nice to be enjoying my Spanish at the moment, feels much better now it's not something I have to get done each day.

I still need to get into a proper routine with the FSI lessons. I do like them and I can see that they are very good for drilling certain grammar points but the LA angle, I still find irritating. I am constantly noticing things that just wouldn't be said that way where I am in Spain, especially the personal pronouns.

I found an app called 'Lirica' that teaches song lyrics in a gamified way and also some of the grammar too. I got kinda obsessed over a couple of days and learnt 4 sets of song lyrics, I then added the songs to my playlist for listening to during my passive listening time.

I haven't been including this passive listening time (washing up, cleaning etc ) for the SC... should I be?

[Bex]

Today I have finished reading 2 more books in Spanish.

The Linguist - Steve Kaufmann.
The Little Prince (adaptado).

Both were enjoyable reads but neither were particularly compelling. I am struggling to find material to read in Spanish because I do not read in my native language, reading is not something I really enjoy as an activity.

I have decided that once I have completed the Super Challenge I will work with Netflix & YouTube as comprehensible input instead of reading.

[DaveAgain]

I am struggling to find material to read in Spanish because I do not read in my native language, reading is not something I really enjoy as an activity.

I have decided that once I have completed the Super Challenge I will work with Netflix & YouTube as comprehensible input instead of reading.

If you have any favourite films or TV series you could look for books/screenplays associated with them.

e.g. BrunUgle has often mentioned reading Star Wars novels in her target languages. I've read the french edition of a short story collection that was adapted into a TV mini-series.

[rdearman]

I think my method of learning Spanish is actually slower than yours, and can be summed up in one sentence. "Don't bother".