Spanish Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
Spoonary
Blue Belt
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:45 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Español (Adv), Italiano (Int), Esperanto (I try)
x 1656

Re: Spanish Group

Postby Spoonary » Mon Jan 01, 2018 7:07 pm

Allison wrote:Has anyone read La Ciudad de Las Bestias or watched Ingobernable and had strong feelings about either? Also, anyone know of recaps or summaries of Ingobernable so I can remind myself of what happened?


Nope and nope, sorry! I have had my eye on Ingobernable on Netflix for a while though, so I might have to start watching it soonish.

Also, welcome back to the forum Allison! Let's see how long we last, shall we? :P
1 x

User avatar
klvik
Orange Belt
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:40 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (N) Spanish (Intermediate)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3149
x 441

Re: Spanish Group

Postby klvik » Mon Jan 01, 2018 7:15 pm

iguanamon wrote:I thought, following on the heels of the much more successful French Study Group would at least get us a similar amount of activity. I was wrong. They have beat us by a significant amount of posts. That's a shame. We have a lot of members here who are learning Spanish and a lot who speak Spanish as a second language who can help them. We can also discuss anything about the language here in English, and even Spanish if you provide at least a synopsis. Perhaps the lack of activity can be explained by the same reasons TAC was a failure- limited amount of time to devote to posting and diminishing interest in learning over time. Perhaps it is inevitable that almost any group activity on a forum dedicated to such a highly individual pursuit as language-learning, is by its very nature, doomed. I don't know. Prove me wrong!

There are a lot of good tips, advice and media recommendations that get buried in people's logs. If you don't follow their log, you miss it. So, if you have something to share about Spanish that you think may help others, please share it here too. If you want to talk about any aspect of the Spanish language or Hispanophone cultures, you are welcome here at any level. If you are learning the language and want to get connected with others here on the forum who are learning and have learned Spanish, take advantage of the opportunity! ¡Muy Feliz Año Nuevo, mi gente! ¡Pa' adelante en 2018!


I don't think chastising people (albeit in a gentle and diplomatic way) for posting in their logs instead of here is the best way to increase activity in the Spanish Group. I attribute the success of the French group to the welcoming and nonjudgmental environment that has developed in Les Voyaguers (kudos to tomgosse). Don't get me wrong - I don't think anyone who has posted in this group is judgmental, far from it. I think Tom's self-deprecating posts and Teddy Bear vibe was the secret sauce that has helped that group flourish.

From my experience, groups are the most creative when even the most inexperienced, junior member feels comfortable disagreeing with the expert in the room and when the beginners feel comfortable sharing their insights - even if the experts have seen it many times before. If the group is perceived (correctly or incorrectly) as a bastion of advanced speakers, we risk discouraging the contributions of the non-expert lurkers. I have seen this dynamic play out in academics many times.

How can we develop a more welcoming environment? One simple thing we can do is give a shout-out to interesting posts that we see (in logs and in other threads). Quote the post here or provide a link to it. By doing this you are acknowledging that you appreciate that person's contribution and you are also providing a bit of peer review to the content. Of course, it would be polite to respect the original poster's wishes as to where the discussion should take place.
9 x
January 5, 2020
2020 Output Challenge speaking: 66 / 3000

User avatar
klvik
Orange Belt
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:40 pm
Location: United States
Languages: English (N) Spanish (Intermediate)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3149
x 441

Re: Spanish Group

Postby klvik » Mon Jan 01, 2018 7:23 pm

Allison wrote:
Spoonary wrote:Yeah I often look over at the French group and wish our Spanish group was a bit more active, not that I have any ideas for conversation topics or anything. :| Hopefully the whole new year, new me thing will bring people like me back to the language-learning fold for a few months at least :)

Me too to all of this. I'm trying to get back to Spanish and this forum, at this cliche time of year for rededicating myself to things.

For me, getting back to Spanish means, partly, getting back to regularly reading a Spanish book and watching a Spanish TV show. I had gotten a bit into La Ciudad de Las Bestias during 2017, but I restarted from the beginning post-Christmas and that's going to be the book I'm reading. I've watched 8 episodes of Ingobernable, which means I have 7 more to watch, and that will be the TV show I watch. I liked what little I read of La Ciudad de Las Bestias but I didn't get very far. Ingobernable started off very exciting. It started to get into some conspiracy stuff, so I hope I remember enough of the plot when I start watching again.

Has anyone read La Ciudad de Las Bestias or watched Ingobernable and had strong feelings about either? Also, anyone know of recaps or summaries of Ingobernable so I can remind myself of what happened?


I read the entire trilogy and enjoyed it, especially after I found out that Allende wrote the books for her grandchildren. The plot had seemed a bit erratic to me but once I realized she was trying to appeal to all of her grandchildren it just seemed charming.
1 x
January 5, 2020
2020 Output Challenge speaking: 66 / 3000

User avatar
James29
Blue Belt
Posts: 758
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:51 am
Languages: English (Native)
Spanish (C1-ish)
French (Beginner)
Portuguese (Thinking about it)
x 1741

Re: Spanish Group

Postby James29 » Mon Jan 01, 2018 7:27 pm

Allison wrote:
Has anyone read La Ciudad de Las Bestias or watched Ingobernable and had strong feelings about either? Also, anyone know of recaps or summaries of Ingobernable so I can remind myself of what happened?


I watched Ingobernable. I really liked it. It is well produced and the acting is top notch. The plot is exciting and suspenseful... but a bit unbelievable. I will definitely watch season two.
4 x

Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4960
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:46 am
Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
x 17566

Re: Spanish Group

Postby Cavesa » Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:21 pm

I agree this group should be welcoming, and number of posts doesn't mean much. Links to interesting posts in other threads would be a good habit we might get into. There are so many Spanish learners on the forum, that it is even impossible to fit everything in one thread. I actually think bringing stuff for personal logs here could be helpful, as none of us can follow all the logs (no matter how much we love to procrastinate in general :-D), and we could also discuss the stuff here too, without any fear of invading the OPs log too much.

I am back. Learning Spanish actively again. I hope to see a lot of useful discussion in this thread, and hope to be able to contribute.
7 x

User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
x 2070

Re: Spanish Group

Postby Systematiker » Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:17 pm

James29 wrote:
Allison wrote:
Has anyone read La Ciudad de Las Bestias or watched Ingobernable and had strong feelings about either? Also, anyone know of recaps or summaries of Ingobernable so I can remind myself of what happened?


I watched Ingobernable. I really liked it. It is well produced and the acting is top notch. The plot is exciting and suspenseful... but a bit unbelievable. I will definitely watch season two.


I watched it as well, and concur. I’m also looking forward to another season of it!
2 x

User avatar
smallwhite
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:55 am
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
x 4876

Re: Spanish Group

Postby smallwhite » Tue Jan 02, 2018 4:30 am

I think the French study group is more active because people learn French because they are fascinated by French and France while people learn Spanish just because it's big / useful / necessary / low-hanging so they are less enthusiastic overall. Also, I found Spanish pretty straightforward to learn while French has more quirks, making for more questions to ask, more issues to discuss, more discoveries to share... And while I find tomgosse very approachable, I find iguanamon very warm and fatherly, and I think both are equally charismatic leaders, just in different ways.

I wish iguanamon and all members of the Spanish Group an exciting and rewarding 2018! :P
4 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.

User avatar
mjfleck2000
White Belt
Posts: 41
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:07 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA, USA
Languages: EN (N), ES (C1), Irish(beginner)
x 105

Re: Spanish Group

Postby mjfleck2000 » Tue Jan 02, 2018 6:35 pm

Allison wrote:Has anyone read La ciudad de Las Bestias or watched Ingobernable and had strong feelings about either? Also, anyone know of recaps or summaries of Ingobernable so I can remind myself of what happened?



I read La ciudad de las bestias last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is written more for young adults than for older folks... but I liked that because it was easier for me to pick up common vocabulary. I liked the book so much that I read the other two books in the series.

Speaking of resources that I enjoy, I recommend the movie "McFarland, USA". It is based on the true story of a California high school cross country team that is comprised of only Latinos. The movie has both English and Spanish dialog... it switched it to ONLY Spanish dialog ( and turned on subtitles during a few scenes to verify what I thought I heard). It was a very enjoyable, positive movie for the whole family....in English or Spanish :D
2 x
Mike in Vancouver

Spoonary
Blue Belt
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:45 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Español (Adv), Italiano (Int), Esperanto (I try)
x 1656

Re: Spanish Group

Postby Spoonary » Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:04 pm

So I watched an episode of Ingobernable last night and I liked it, despite the genre not usually being my cup of tea. I also found myself really enjoying the experience of listening to Mexican Spanish, which is something I haven't done much of as I usually focus on peninsular Spanish. I'm not the type of person to binge watch series really so I can see the series taking me a while to get through, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next. :)

Edit: The second episode was good too :D
2 x

User avatar
James29
Blue Belt
Posts: 758
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:51 am
Languages: English (Native)
Spanish (C1-ish)
French (Beginner)
Portuguese (Thinking about it)
x 1741

Re: Spanish Group

Postby James29 » Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:46 pm

Spoonary wrote:So I watched an episode of Ingobernable last night and I liked it, despite the genre not usually being my cup of tea. I also found myself really enjoying the experience of listening to Mexican Spanish, which is something I haven't done much of as I usually focus on peninsular Spanish. I'm not the type of person to binge watch series really so I can see the series taking me a while to get through, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next. :)

Edit: The second episode was good too :D


Casa de Papel is great... especially if you want Spain Spanish. It is very well done and I like it even better than Ingobernable.
2 x


Return to “Study Groups”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests