Sorry this is likely to be a long waffle of my disorganised thoughts again...but I find it useful to write thoughts down sometimes. Any feedback on any of this, as always, is gratefully received...
I feel like I am adding Spanish vocab all the time with all the input from the Super Challenge, FSI, textbooks etc. but with no real direction. My routine is really input heavy with no output. I need to find a way to activate some of the stuff I have in my head by myself at home, as I obviously have a lot Spanish in there but I just can't spit it out. I also need to concentrate on the common spoken vocabulary I am missing.
I should be able to get back to FSI and reading next week as my kids finally go back to school. at the moment I am tempted to just get the SC & FSI volume 2 completed and then change my routine completely to focus mainly on speaking and spoken vocabulary.
At the moment I'm thinking I might....
1. Finish the Super Challenge using DaveAgains' method:
DaveAgain wrote:I read each chapter in English, and then read and listened in German.
but obviously in Spanish. I'll try and finish Harry Potter 4.
2. Finish FSI volume 2 - I think this would take around 6-7 weeks.
Once that's done, maybe in the new year... I'm thinking I might set-up a new routine, something along the lines of...
1. Set a listening/watching challenge for myself. Maybe 100 hours Peppa pig to start with? Then moving onto slightly harder such as the Simpsons, with an aim to eventually be able to watch chat shows. I will be listening/watching as much as I can because if the SC had taught me anything Input is still key and listening/watching is definitely my favourite type of input. I have a long term goal in mind of 1000 hours.
2. Start Glossika 2 GSR (old school) , I know it's not really speaking but I find it really does help with my pronounciation and automaticity. And it also only takes 25 minutes every day so I can easily fit it in.
3. Start writing using the top 4000 spoken words, to create sentences I would actually use myself. I'm not sure if I would use SRS to revise sentences or just read them aloud from my notebook as revision? Maybe cloze sentences on Anki would be useful, I could add speech and say each sentence outloud?
I think using the top 4000 words from subtitles, would give me some focus to start with when creating/writing my own sentences. I hope it would be useful to start being able to say what I want to say using common vocabulary from speech, even if these sentences are quite basic to start with.
I will also start to steal useful sentences from podcasts, YouTube, Netflix etc and add these to my notebook of spoken/useful sentences as well.
4. Arrange either a language exchange partner or italki lessons once or twice a week. Note things I'd tried to say but couldn't and add to my sentences list to work with as above.
At the moment this is my vague plan for the new year/end of SC. But I'm not sure it's the right way to go, I'm especially unsure what to do with any sentences I collect in my notebook.
I'm trying to emphasise conversational vocabulary and add more speaking practice, I definitely want to emphasise things I enjoy doing, whilst still getting lots of input. It seems to be a tricky balance, especially time wise.