Jaleel10 wrote:Would appreciate any and all advice given.
I'm in (a) rut with the garnering and memorization of new vocab. I basically have three options I want to follow.
- Put it off until I finish Assimil in about 3 months
- Start using Clozemaster
- Read articles (from Veinte mundos) or graded readers and put the unknowns into Anki (or a Gold list or Iversen list)
Because I'm studying Spanish as a hobby and don't really use the language actively, via speaking. So it's hard for me to pin down what to do next and how to approach it. I sometimes feel I'm in a hurry and want to do as much as possible. So any advice would be appreciated.
The issues here as I see them are:
1) You are frustrated because you don't speak Spanish yet. This is normal. It takes time. Even after Assimil you won't be at a level where you won't have more to learn.
2) Memorization is only one tool in self language-learning.
There's nothing wrong with srs. It's a good tool... but are you using it to help you or are you expecting it to do all of the heavy lifting for you? Learning vocabulary comes from multiple exposure. Reading and listening provide that exposure in multiple contexts. We have learners here who use srs and others who don't. I'm one who doesn't use it and haven't used it. Speaking for myself, at this level, I wouldn't worry about memorizing vocabulary. Basic vocabulary will repeat often enough if you are reading and listening. My advice is to finish your course and get some exposure to comprehensible input that isn't overly challenging. In other words, at this level you shouldn't be trying to read Don Quijote or watching Almodóvar movies for learning. You will learn vocabulary naturally as you see or hear it in more contexts.
Twitter is a good way to get some exposure to language with short texts. Parsing 280 characters isn't overly taxing. Trying to parse a literary novel or a film would be overwhelming at this point. Your vocabulary will come along if you're patient, continue to study and get some comprehensible input*. In basketball, a typical score might be 110-90. There is no 110 point shot. The game is one one basket at a time. It's hard to accept but that's the way it is in language-learning too. It takes time and effort. SRS is a good, useful tool but it can't do everything. Reading is a good, useful tool but neither can it do everything. The VeinteMundos articles are a good, free resource. Graded readers are useful. The Bible, Harry Potter, any book with which you are familiar can help. There are many ways to advance beyond courses.
When I was learning Haitian Creole, I did a course and I also used a 17 page pamphlet made by the US Army Corps of Engineers about a fictional raindrop's voyage to the Everglades National Park. It was designed to teach fifth graders in Florida about the water cycle and the wetlands environment. It was printed in English and Spanish too. Wayne Drop can be downloaded for free, legally, with an English language version and a Spanish language version. You can make your own parallel text from it. I spent about a month on it trying to puzzle it out very early in my HC learning. Doing something like this helps you to make your own connections. I didn't enter any of the vocabulary into SRS since I don't use it. When I finished it, I was proud to have been able to read something non-learner intended and it helped me to make my own connections with what I was learning from my course. I then went on to read a learner intended graded reader (with audio) of a condensed Haitian novel. I was also reading Genesis in parallel text, short news articles and twitter (with a dictionary when needed). I've written about it in the post in my signature link at the bottom, in which I describe my use of the multi-track approach.
To sum up, don't try to bite off more than you can chew. Don't worry about knocking yourself out over memorizing vocabulary, if it's important it will repeat. Do get comprehensible input. Finish your course. Be mindful that even though you say you have no intention of speaking or using Spanish productively, over time you may change your mind... it happens. ¡Suerte!
*Comprehensible Input is input which can be made to be understood via the means of a faithful translation, video or photographic clues or by some other means- dictionary, tutor or combination thereof.
Some links to help: Cervantes Institute Free Graded Readings Online
Using GlobalVoices.org to make simple parallel texts