A language learners’ forum

Jaleel10 wrote:Hey, guys. It's been a while o/

How're the Spanish studies going?

Hi Jaleel. Te conozco en Discord. El servidor de Clara.

I know we have a book club thread, but is there a book recommendation thread? Something where we can say "I like X, Y, Z books/genres/series in Language 1, does anyone know of similar books in Language 2?" Would that be appropriate here?

I've been reading translations of books I like/books similar to ones I like in English, but I'd like to branch out and read some native thrillers/action novels (and non-fiction) by native Spanish authors. But there's a lot of books out there, and a lot of less-than-good ones I don't want to sift through, so I think a thread like that could be valuable, since I doubt I'm the only one with this issue.

jmar257 wrote:I know we have a book club thread, but is there a book recommendation thread? Something where we can say "I like X, Y, Z books/genres/series in Language 1, does anyone know of similar books in Language 2?" Would that be appropriate here? ...

That is totally appropriate. You can either do it here, or create a thread ala A French Book Reading Resource. There are some avid readers in Spanish here... though several may have become less active on the forum.

To get started choosing books, check out America Reads Spanish.

jmar257 wrote:I know we have a book club thread, but is there a book recommendation thread? Something where we can say "I like X, Y, Z books/genres/series in Language 1, does anyone know of similar books in Language 2?" Would that be appropriate here?

I've been reading translations of books I like/books similar to ones I like in English, but I'd like to branch out and read some native thrillers/action novels (and non-fiction) by native Spanish authors. But there's a lot of books out there, and a lot of less-than-good ones I don't want to sift through, so I think a thread like that could be valuable, since I doubt I'm the only one with this issue.

The wiki has a list of recommendations for the superchallenge:

https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... ns_Spanish

This link was included, which I found useful:

http://americareadsspanish.org/home/ess ... ading.html

iguanamon wrote:That is totally appropriate. You can either do it here, or create a thread ala A French Book Reading Resource. There are some avid readers in Spanish here... though several may have become less active on the forum.

I may go ahead and create a Spanish Book Reading Resource this evening, posting some books I've already read and others I have but haven't gotten to yet (translation + Spanish originals), especially if others are interested.

iguanamon wrote:To get started choosing books, check out America Reads Spanish.

Thanks, I'll give it a look.

SCMT wrote:The wiki has a list of recommendations for the superchallenge:

https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... ns_Spanish

Unfortunately there are only a handful and, selfishly, none of the fiction seems to interest me.

jmar257 wrote:I may go ahead and create a Spanish Book Reading Resource this evening, posting some books I've already read and others I have but haven't gotten to yet (translation + Spanish originals), especially if others are interested.

I just remembered that there is indeed a Spanish Book Reading Resource thread already created by kanewai. So, no need to create your own. Just go to the thread and post.

iguanamon wrote:

jmar257 wrote:I may go ahead and create a Spanish Book Reading Resource this evening, posting some books I've already read and others I have but haven't gotten to yet (translation + Spanish originals), especially if others are interested.

I just remembered that there is indeed a Spanish Book Reading Resource thread already created by kanewai. So, no need to create your own. Just go to the thread and post.

Thanks! That's good, I didn't really want to make my own

Training listening comprehension.

Hi!
I read through the podcast recommendations on the first page, and I got some excellent suggestions. But seeing that the post is 4 years old, have any of you got any new tips?

I prefer material intended for natives, and if possible with transcript. The VeinteMundos webpage seems to be discontinued. I was able to download a few of these and they seem great, but maybe not too challenging for listening since it is based on a text that is carefully read.

I think the podcasts from RNE are excellent, and I subscribe to these:
- Un idioma sin fronteras
- Nómadas
- Documentos
- Biblioteca básica

But they haven't got transcripts, of course. Do you think a transcript is important for training listening comprehension, or is a kind of extended listening where you don't understand everything just as beneficial?

tungemål wrote:But they haven't got transcripts, of course. Do you think a transcript is important for training listening comprehension, or is a kind of extended listening where you don't understand everything just as beneficial?

I don't know what's best, with a transcript or without a transcript, but it can certainly be done without a transcript.

tungemål wrote:I read through the podcast recommendations on the first page, and I got some excellent suggestions. But seeing that the post is 4 years old, have any of you got any new tips?

It's in that post, but I second the recommendation of Radio Ambulante. They have free transcriptions on their site and the podcast itself generally has interesting episodes. Notes in Spanish has transcripts as well, but I think you have to pay? Encuentro de Mentes and Tertulia are two others (available on Stitcher for sure, probably elsewhere) that I listen to occasionally, but I've been slacking with podcasts recently. Not sure if those two have transcripts.

tungemål wrote:But they haven't got transcripts, of course. Do you think a transcript is important for training listening comprehension, or is a kind of extended listening where you don't understand everything just as beneficial?

I think the transcript is super beneficial in early to intermediate stages, I can't really talk beyond that because I don't incorporate that into my studying anymore really. Not that I shouldn't, but I don't, unless you count reading subtitles while watching Spanish TV.