Sgt Schultz knows nothing!

[Sgt Schultz]

On a personal note, my book released this past Monday.

Congratulations.

Thanks

[Sgt Schultz]

Last night I started my first book for the Super Challenge, Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. It's about 300 pages or so and is the longest Spanish book I've attempted. I read several pages last night before bed and it wasn't too difficult. There were several new words but nothing that would keep me from continuing.

As I mentioned yesterday, I did finish MT this morning. I can't see doing these again, I didn't get much, if anything, out of them. I think I've reached the point where even for a review they aren't worth the time.

I haven't decided on a podcast for drive time but I am thinking about going through Assimil. I never finished it when I was initially learning Spanish. I downloaded the iOS version of Assimil Spanish last night. I really like this version instead of the small paperback version. The exercises are particularly nice because you get instant feedback and it forces you to spell everything exactly right (including accents). I would normally gloss over mistakes like that with the paper book so I see some value in it. As a bonus, the audio can serve as my listening practice in place of a podcast too.

A few days ago I found a thread on this site that rated various Spanish shows (https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... telenovela). There were several in there that caught my attention and I'll pick one to watch soon. I've been thinking about re-watching 2 shows that I really enjoyed La Casa de Papel and Gran Hotel. I don't think there are any rules about re-watching shows for the super challenge.

OK, that's it for today. Have a great day!

[rdearman]

Actually it is specifically said that if you only have one movie you can watch it 100 times. So you'll be fine.

[Sgt Schultz]

Spanish:

I did a fair amount of Spanish reading over the weekend. I got in a good amount of talking and listening with Clara in Spanish. I mentioned to her that we have been speaking too much in English lately and she was more than happy to switch 100% to Spanish. That's what I get for opening my big mouth

I also got a lot of writing practice in Spanish (via WhatsApp) with both Clara and several friends. I feel like Spanish is well covered right now.

I still have not watched any TV/movies. However, I do have Netflix now so I will remedy that soon. Probably starting tonight. My goal is to watch at least 1 hour of Spanish TV per night. I will say that the World Cup is really messing up my nightly viewing habits. I'm a huge soccer fan and the World Cup has a lot of my attention currently.

As mentioned previously, I've now completed the first 7 lessons in the iOS version of Assimil Spanish. The first 7 are free so I'll need to decide if I'll buy it or not. It's only $45 so it isn't terribly expensive. I'm a little on the fence about it since I'm not sure how much I'll learn from it. I would like to complete it just to say that I did though.

Wunderlust:

I'm still fighting the urge to dabble in either German or French. I'd like to have the ability to read French, however, the other skills I don't really have a need for. Although, some basic level of speaking might one day come in handy.

German is appealing because I have been giving a lot of thought to immigrating to Europe. Clara is open to it and has mentioned living in Spain more than once. I wouldn't complain. Germany is also a possibility due to the work available there, which is why I'm considering at least a basic level of German. I'll keep thinking about this. I should also look into how difficult it is for a tech worker to get a work visa in the EU. If anyone has any info on this, I'd love to hear about it.

OK, that's it for today. Until next time...

[Sgt Schultz]

Another week has passed. How time flies!

Spanish and the super challenge:
I've been doing a lot of Spanish. I've been reading a book, listening to the audio of the same book, talking with Clara for hours at a time in Spanish and writing in Spanish via WhatsApp each day. The only ding that I'll put against myself is that I haven't been tracking my activities anywhere. I know, for shame. I will start doing that here with the next post.

I started watching La Casa de Papel again on Netflix and will probably mix in some other shows as well. It's a bit of a challenge to understand everything, which I don't. I try to get whatever I can get and not worry too much about it.

I also haven't done a thing with thinking about sitting an official Spanish exam. I plan to do another Cervantes online placement test soon since it's been a long time. I'm willing to bet that I'm over B2 now. I hope.

Other things:
I mentioned before that I was fighting the urge to do something in French or German. French beat me down and demanded that I do something with it So, I've been doing some Assimil French at night, no more than 15 minutes. I've done MT French at least twice, if not three times in the past. So far, Assimil has only been a review.

OK, that's it for today. Just a quick update and back to work.

[Sgt Schultz]

Ok, quick mid-week update. This hasn't been a good week so far so it will probably be short.

Spanish
Over the last week I've read 103 pages in my current book. Not bad I think. I still haven't officially logged the pages anywhere. I haven't watched any Spanish TV in the past several days.

Other language/personal stuff
Clara and I have been talking and due to the currently political climate in the US, we are seriously considering a move to Europe now. Given that I'm in IT and a programmer, I've been doing some investigating into possible locations. London would be the easiest option but given Brexit and the high cost of living in London, it isn't the most attractive.

Yesterday I had a chat with a guy from the US that has been living in Berlin for a number of years with his German wife. He is also a software engineer there. He gave me a lot of good information and based on that, we believe that Berlin is an excellent option.

So, I've been doing some German just in case. My goal is to get a solid base. Maybe A1-A2, just the basics to survive. There is also a German certification exam for the A-levels that I think would be useful should we actually move. They are given in Chicago in early December. So, that would give me 5-ish months to get ready.

I discovered a new German learning app from DW that I had not seen before. It's called DW Learn German. Each unit has videos that follow a Spanish man named Nico and his (mis) adventures in Germany. So far I really like the app and feel like I'm learning something. Most importantly, I'm actually enjoying the story and am interested to see what happens next to Nico. So far I can recommend the app. I'll keep posting updates as time passes on how the app is.

So far I've finished 4 Pimsuler lessons and the first two units in the DW Learn German app.

OK. That's it. Have a great week!

[Sgt Schultz]

I'm a little over a week since my last update. This has been another difficult week :/

I have managed to make progress with my German learning, a little at the expensive of my Spanish Reading.

What have I been doing in German
I'm still working through Pimsleur. This morning I did most of lesson 11 on the drive to work. It will be finished by end of today.

In the evenings I've been working through the DW Learn German app. I've really been enjoying following the (mis)adventures of Nico. I've completed 2 units and will start the 3rd tonight.

What have I been doing in Spanish?
Unfortunately, I've missed several days of reading but I'll get caught up this weekend. When I last read, I was 103 pages into the story.

I'm still speaking and writing on a regular basis. Although, the past few speaking sessions I've had with Clara weren't the best. I think a lot of that is my brain is a bit scattered right now from all that is going on in my life.

Smile, the weekend is almost here

[Sgt Schultz]

Spanish updates
Over the past 5 days I've gotten Spanish back on track. I've been reading, listening, writing and speaking regularly again. Yesterday I listened to RTVE radio (which I haven't done in a long time) while I worked and I've been trying out Kwiqiz Spanish. I like it. Most of it has been review but I did pick up a new grammar point or two. Last night I got a bit addicted and did around 30 tests. I'll probably continue until it gets boring or I get tired of it.

Old HTLAL forum
Yesterday I found myself looking for some info on the old forum. It hit me exactly how much good information, as well as history, is contained over there. I keep thinking that one day that website will be offline for good and a lot of good, searchable information will be lost. Which is a shame. It's too bad we can't get that data somewhere else.

[Sgt Schultz]

Another week passed which can only mean it's time for an update. How is tomorrow already August 1??

Spanish

Lots and lots of Kwiqiz tests. I believe my week free trial ends today, which is a shame. I've been enjoying it but not sure I want to fork out the price they ask for it as it's a bit high, in my opinion.

I've also been doing a lot of reading/listening using News in Slow Spanish.

Other languages

I completed the first 15 lessons of Pimsleur German. Started to encounter the 3 genders in the lessons and can't really remember which noun goes with which or how the gender causes other words to change.

For fun I tried to read some A1 french short stories. To my surprise I could read 90% of the text. The other 10% was mainly vocabulary that was lacking. I was a bit surprised I could read the texts at all.

I'm about to start watching a new show that I believe is from France called "A French Village" set around in WW2. Being a history nerd, it looks like hours of good entertainment. Plus I'm sure I'll hear lots of French and German.

OK, that's it for this update. Have a good rest of the week!

[Mohave]

I'm about to start watching a new show that I believe is from France called "A French Village" set around in WW2. Being a history nerd, it looks like hours of good entertainment. Plus I'm sure I'll hear lots of French and German.

Un Village is one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy it! I plan to watch the last two seasons this fall.