Hank's Adventure in Spanish (Now with 100% more Welsh!)

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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Thu Feb 23, 2017 4:20 am

I had a kind of cool thing happen in my language learning journey today. My wife and I went to the store to buy a new lamp for my desk. I checked the instructions to see what kind of bulbs the lamp takes. The first instructions I saw were in Spanish, so that's what I used. It never even occurred to me to check the English version. :D

I was hoping that when Despertar Contigo ended that it would be replaced with a new telenovela. It was replaced with a talent competition for kids called Pequeños Gigantes USA. I have watched a few episodes and I'm not a big fan. The telenovelas that are at 8 and 9 my time are a little too late for me, even though I watch them every now and then. I'm usually tired and doing other things at that time. I have started watching La Rosa De Guadalupe which comes on at 6. I'm not a big fan, but I want to keep up with my listening comprehension training.
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:46 am

¿Alguien ha leyendo el libro La viajera del tiempo por Lorena Franco? Casi he terminado el libro sobre El Chapo. Quiero leer otro libro que no es un traducción o ciencia ficción. Este libro parece un poco interesante.
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:13 am

Hoy mi esposa empiezó a estudiar el japonés. ¿Estoy una buena influencia? :lol: Dijo que pensaba en estudiar el español para que ella puede hablar conmigo, pero no le gusta el español. Tenía que estudiar el español en la escuela. Hablé con ella sobre este foro. Espero que ella une con nosotros.

Realmente necesito estudiar las conjugaciones. :oops:
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M23
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby M23 » Sun Mar 19, 2017 7:05 am

Hank wrote:Realmente necesito estudiar las conjugaciones. :oops:


Yo también porque no me acordé la conjugación para "reunir" en el subjuntivo...

Hank wrote:Espero que ella une con nosotros.


"Espero que" requiere el subjuntivo, como así:

"Espero que ella se reúna con nosotros."

De todos modos...

Qué bueno que tu esposa tenga ganas de aprender Japonés. :D Aunque ustedes no están aprendiendo el mismo idioma pueden apoyar el uno al otro.
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:12 pm

Gracias M23. También necesito estudiar el subjuntivo. No lo he estudiado mucho.
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Fri Apr 07, 2017 2:23 am

It has been a while, but I just want to let everyone know I'm still here. I check the forum every day and still appreciate all the posts and the knowledge that I receive here.

I had the flu for 3 weeks, so I didn't get quite as much study done as usual during that time period. I have never had the flu before. I wouldn't recommend it. :lol: The fire dept. offers free flu shots every year, but they make me feel bad for a week so I quit getting them a few years ago. Now, feeling a little rough for a week seems like a small price to pay if I can avoid the flu!

I'm currently reading a book about Che Guevara. Ignoring any political component, I have always thought he was an interesting character. The book is based on interviews, letters, and other books written about him. So far the author is going into great detail about Che's battles in Cuba. It isn't great, but it's enjoyable enough that I'll finish it. I bought La Reina del Sur for my next book.

I still watch La Rosa de Guadalupe most weekdays. It's not terribly interesting, but I want to keep improving my listening comprehension. I also usually watch Sábado Futbolero. I'm comprehending the announcers better. I wish they'd slow down a little, though. I still get a real thrill being able to understand spoken Spanish.

Speaking of comprehending spoken Spanish, my wife and I went to the local Mexican restaurant the other day. A gentleman walked in that was apparently a cousin to one of the employees. He and another gentleman sat at the next table, with a partition wall between us. I couldn't understand a great deal of what was said, but their conversation started out talking about cocaine and pills. That made me pretty uncomfortable. I had the Enchiladas Mazatlán. I don't know how authentically Mexican that dish is, but it was great.

My wife is still studying Japanese. I know how frustrating the first few months of language learning are, so I'm doing my best to encourage her. She seems to be picking it up pretty quickly.
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:48 pm

I finished Che Guevara. It took half the book for me to get used to the writing style but after that it went pretty smoothly. The author was a reporter that covered Che's death back in the sixties. I'm pretty sure he's Bolivian. He's obviously a big fan because the book wasn't very impartial. The thing I found most interesting was the interactions between the different socialist/communist factions. They didn't always work together well.

I started on La Reina del Sur. The writing seems unusual in some places. Google Translate doesn't have a number of the words that I have tried to look up. Plus, the author uses some figures of speech that don't make any sense to me. I haven't gotten lost in the story but I'm spending a lot of time trying to figure out words and phrases that I imagine aren't going to be very helpful in every day communication. (Not that I really communicate in Spanish anyway! :lol: ) So I think I'm going to read this one extensively. Then again, I know I have said that before and never followed through.

I have noticed improvement with my listening comprehension. There has always been a line between concentration and relaxation. If I concentrate too much, or if I relax too much, I tend to not comprehend well. I have noticed a shift towards relaxation. Even a few spots lately where "I almost forgot it was Spanish". My wife and I went to the local Latino market and I was able to eavesdrop on a phone conversation. I understood it very well, which was exciting. We bought Mexican cookies and soda pop.

Another story about Spanish in the supermarket, one of my little victories that probably sound silly but I get a great deal of satisfaction from. A couple of weeks ago we went to the store to get a few items, and since we had so few I went to the self checkout. Of course I was drawn to the "Español" button. Everything was going smoothly until I got to the Bell Pepper that I didn't know was in the cart. At this point I was feeling a little nervous because I had no clue how to ring up a piece of produce and I had to learn how to do it in Spanish. Of course my wife was supportive: "What are you going to do now dummy?" :lol: I figured out the buttons I needed to push, but I didn't see anything for a Bell Pepper. I hit the "Buscar" button. It prompted me to describe the item. Now I'm getting really nervous. How do I describe a Bell Pepper in Spanish? I can't fail in front of my wife! More "support" from the wife. Then it occurred to me that I had seen the Spanish word for Pepper. Come on brain! We can do this! Then it hit me. Pimiento! It worked! My wife was then treated to me saying: ¿Quién es el jefe? ¡Soy el jefe! ¡Soy el jefe de esta máquina! :lol:
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Hank
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby Hank » Sat May 06, 2017 12:13 am

Ahora Netflix tiene El hotel de los secretos. Ví un poco de esta programa en Univision hace un año o dos. Era muy difícil de entender los actores. Tuve que utilizar los subtitulos. Esta tarde ví el primero capítulo. Entendé los actores bastante bien. Es una buena programa. Entiendiendo los actores me pone felíz.
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DaveBee
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby DaveBee » Sat May 06, 2017 12:36 am

Hank wrote:The thing I found most interesting was the interactions between the different socialist/communist factions. They didn't always work together well.
I seem to remember George Orwell's book on his spanish civil war experiences mentioning infighting among the various communist/socialist/anarchist factions of the Red Team. But I might be mixing up the fictional plot of Mr Furst's Night Soldiers with Mr Orwell's Homage to Catalonia.
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Re: Hank's Adventure in Spanish

Postby indigo » Sat May 06, 2017 6:40 pm

Are you continuing to read La Reina del Sur? I'm trying to decide which Spanish-language book to read and that's one of the ones on my shelf. I'm not too enthused about the subject matter but it seems to be pretty popular. Do you find it interesting/enjoyable to read?
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