Jaleel's Spanish Log, 2018.

[Jaleel10]

Hi

First ever log.

Goal of this log:
* Holding myself accountable
* Tracking my progress
* Motivation

Why and when did I want to learn and why Spanish. And why a log ?

Long story short. Early last year I had a tough bout with mental health and in turn developed some bad habits. What better way to try and combat both ? Saw some people and did some research and seems that language learning is a good hobby to have and it has many benifits. I was pleasantly suprised to hear this. I've always wanted to learn, I just never knew how and what it took.

Why Spanish ?Looking back it was probably fickle lol. I am in love football but more specifically Spanish football. Seeing the love and passion the footballers, fans, communities, the countries have for the sport. If I could even have a piece of that from the comfort of my home - it would be fantastic. Over time I began to fall in love with the cultures, the difference in cultures, the uniqueness in cultures and the history.

Why a log ?
I have a pretty hard time holding myself accountable lol. Since I began studying in March 2017 till today I could probably count maybe three months of active study lol. I'd constantly change apps, books, courses. Couple that with my mental health and having a full-time job, it was also going to be a struggle lol. So in late November I made a choice. I would commit in 2018. I'd buy myself a decent course(s) and have a decent study schedule. And I am making this log to make sure I stick to said schedule.

Goals

* I have no immediate or near future desire to go to a Spanish speaking country. So even though I want good verbal skills but if I can do the occasional video or voice message/call to my spanish speaking friends I will be content at whatever level I feel I am comfortable at.
* To comprehend and understand most Spanish television and radio.
* To be able to read and write in Spanish.

Cringy message to myself:
You can do this right now.
No one is stopping you.
No one can do it for you.
And you cannot do it for someone else.


Edit: Just adding and updating my goals
Courses update:

Assimil 1st Wave: : 88 / 100/100 lessons
Assimil 2nd Wave: : 38 / 100/100 lessons
Paul Noble: : 14 / 14/13.5 hours
Michel Thomas: : 17 / 17/16.6 hours
Babbel - Beginners Course: : 112 / 112/112 lessons
Language Transfer Complete Spanish : 15 / 15/14.7 hours

Personal challenges

B1 and B2 Graded Readers: : 5 / 20/20 books
Active listening practice (using learner podcasts and graded readers): : 33 / 60/60 hours

Future goals:
Active listening practice (using tv shows)

[Jaleel10]

January Log:

24/01/2018

Journey thus far and general planning:
* Bought Assimil in December and have studied from it since 2 January. Really comfortable with it and really enjoying it.
* A bad habit crept up lol. I also bought Babbel. Again. But this time I'm actually enjoying it and managing my expectations well. Will be using it complimentary to Assimil.
* Joined a Whatsapp group mixed with natives and learners.
* Used Glossika for a fair bit but noticed it had quite a few errors and with the way I was using it I had to spend at least 90 minutes on it per day. So I dropped and will be pursuing alternatives.
* Looking to study actively from a bunch of audiobooks, ebooks, and tv series I've set aside. As well as articles from El País.
* Will try to listen to more radio and music, passively.

[Jaleel10]

January Log:

24/01/2018

Plans for February.
* Add Grammar book to current study plan.
* Relisten to Language Transfer, Complete Spanish. Follow it up with Learn Spanish with Paul Noble.
* Add tv shows to active study plan
* Begin writing in Spanish.

Available resources:
Audio/text:
* Assimil Spanish with Ease
* Babbel
Audio
* Language Transfer
* Paul Noble
* Michel Thomas
Grammar Books
* Spanish Demystified, 2nd Edition
* Complete Spanish, Step-by-Step
TV Shows
* Paquita Salas
* Gran Hotel
Cartoons
* Ricky and Morty
* Adventure Time
Books (+audiobooks)
* Harry Potter, y la piedra filosofal
* Una Operacion Arriesgada
* El misterio de la llave



Current Study Schedule:
Weekdays
* 07h00 - 07h30. Babbel (Max 2 lessons)
* 19h00 - 20h00. Read (and listen) from one of the books (max two paragraphs). Make flashcards of unknown phrases and words.
* 20h00 - 21h00. Assimil (Max 2 lessons)

Weekends
* 07h00 - 08h00. Babbel (Max 4 lessons)
* 11h00 - 12h00. Books (Max 2 paragraphs)
* 16h00 - 16h30. Books (Max 1 para.)
* 19h00 - 20h00. Assimil (Max 2 lessons)

[Jaleel10]

January Log:

25/01/2018

Really struggling with commiting to flashcards. It genuinely might not be for me. Looking into trying the Goldlist method as a supplementary method to my main routine instead.

[Jaleel10]

January Log

30/01/2018

Glossika roped me back in again . But I'm not gonna use it until I finish both the audio courses I am busy with.

Currently my study schedule looks like this.

Weekdays

06AM - Michel Thomas (20 minutes or 3 lessons)
07AM - Babbel (20 minutes)
01PM - Clozemaster (20 min.)
7.30PM - Grammar Book (20 min)
8.30PM - Assimil (30 Min)

Total of ~ 1.5 hours per day.

Michel Thomas course is about 16.5 hours. So if I do twenty minutes per day with a bit more on the weekend I will finish it in 7 weeks . That'll be in the week of my birthday too, coincidentally lol

Babbel and Clozemaster I'll use until I can sustain my learning through podcasts, tv, writing and books.

My grammar book has around 350 exercises. So that should take me about 4 months. After that I want to switch to an all Spanish Grammar Book

Assimil. I'm on track to finish around late May.

I will be looking to get a 'Skype' partner at the start of March.

Edit: Schedule

[Bex]

Welcome, I too am learning Spanish. I have used many of the usual resources Assimil, Michel Thomas, Glossika, iTalki, etc

I have a log (in fact I'm now on my second log) and I have found that it has helped me immensely. I log all my achievements and try hard to ignore all my misjudgements and procrastination along the way

As you probably know by now the other members here are extremely supportive and helpful (and much more knowledgeable than me) and there is a goldmine of information available in other logs, even if they are learning a different language.

So again welcome and I look forward to reading your log.

[Jaleel10]

Hi Bex. Thanks for the welcome and message. I will also be following your log. I'm just trying to stick to my schedule lol and not get swept up by all the of resources available. In January alone I used and dropped like 5 different resources lol. But now I'm comfortable with the one I have now.

I don't really have people to 'compete' with learning Spanish. I signed up for the 6WC but you are now officially my rival.

[Jaleel10]

February 2018

Screenshot_2018-02-01-11-21-16.png

Screenshot_2018-02-01-11-21-08.png

First month of studies and my first month with Assimil and Babbel.

Will be creating one for Clozemaster as well. I already did for my grammar book but that was recently.

Will be looking to improve my reading and listening but only at the start April. I just need to increase my vocabulary first. Clozemaster kinda does both but it's obviously not a replacements for books, tv, and people.

I will still be watching TV (active and passive). Active: Misterio del Tiempo and Ricky and Morty (also the nature docs on Netflix). I'm just gonna put on the spanish subtitles and 'enjoy'. Passive: Chicas del Cable. I'm watching it with Eng. subs but I love the show so much lol.

[Bex]

I don't really have people to 'compete' with learning Spanish. I signed up for the 6WC but you are now officially my rival.

Excellent...happy to be your rival

I have started to use Clozemaster (yesterday properly, I have dabbled previously) and I am using the "all sentences" tracks and not the "fluency fast track", currently working my way through 101-500 most common words. Which are you using?

[Jaleel10]

I have started to use Clozemaster (yesterday properly, I have dabbled previously) and I am using the "all sentences" tracks and not the "fluency fast track", currently working my way through 101-500 most common words. Which are you using?

Also just dabbled (immediately looks up what's dabble is in Spanish - incursionar. Suprisingly no word with a natural translation in my native Afrikaans. I digress). Today I started with Fluency Fast Track. I did 70 sentences today. But I'm assuming with the SRS reviews and such that total might be 30 - 40ish per day (more on weekends). If I did my calculations correctly that equals..... a lot.

I just want to build up a vocabulary. I read Harry Potter the other day and was looking up more than 20 words per page lol. I was exhausted. But I'm learning a lot through the stuff I'm using at the moment so I'm confident in a few months I can move onto books.