talkl Diglot Groupie Israel Joined 5229 days ago 51 posts - 61 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English Studies: Spanish
| Message 161 of 271 28 September 2012 at 12:52pm | IP Logged |
dbag wrote:
Hey guys! Thanks for all the interest! Just a quick update to let you all
know im
alive! :)
Well, I,m still in Santiago, and I'm flying to Cordoba in Argentina tomorrow. If I like
it there I might stay a couple of weeks, and really begin to work on Spanish.
I must say I've probably had a couple of the best weeks of my life here! Although the
shame is that Ive got a little too caught up in partying, and not seen anywhere near as
much as I would of liked.
This might sound strange from someone who hangs out on a language site, but I am
beginning to really tire of constant discussions on the differences between British and
American English. Although here are two things that it blew my mind were particular to
British English: Bits and Bobs = things and use of the word dear to mean expensive.
I really dont want to discuss these things at the next hostel!
So I have partied a lot, but with chilians a lot as well as just travellers.
I wont write much now because Ive been suffering with a cold for more than a week, and
for the last few days I've had a very negative outlook on things (only because of the
cold!) I seem to pick up some bug or other every time I go away !
So Ill post a good update once Im feeling better. |
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hope you recover quickly
please oh please read about Colombia, you don't want to miss it
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dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5015 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 162 of 271 07 October 2012 at 7:52pm | IP Logged |
Need to be brief as Im writing on this damn tablet and running out of battery.
@talkl I think columbia needs to wait for another day! One of my best friends lived
there for about 7 months, and yes, it sounds fantastic.
So im still in Cordoba. After perhaps the best fortnight of my life, I came down with a
bug and spent quite a long time with in quite a negative frame of mind, feeling unable
to socialise.
I did some lessons which where great. My teacher has lent me a book with lots of
readings about controversial topics such as religion etc. So I read a selection each
day, write about it, and then discuss it in the next lesson. Its awesome, so im going
to stay here another week and do two hours of lessons a day.
Unfortunately I really dont think im going to take things to the next level in the 3
weeks or so I have left. The frustrating thing is that sometimes I feel I can speak
very fluently but a lot of the time I really struggle, which really drives home how
important regular speaking practice is.
Last night was kind of a breakthrough in that I went for dinner with 2 very nice girls
from Argentina that I had met the night before. However from a speaking Spanish point
of view it didnt go quite so well as i had hoped. One of them kept using English, and
for me its very hard to speak in Spanish if I have to keep switching between Languages.
I think I would of fared much better if we had stayed in Spanish, has it was hard for
me to warm up.
Really need to find some time for a proper update- I have a ton of observations with a
lot of relevance to the forum.
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Liam965 Newbie United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4448 days ago 2 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 163 of 271 07 October 2012 at 10:16pm | IP Logged |
Hey dbag,
This is my first time posting on HTLAL after reading around the site for a few weeks. I just wanted to say I have
read your
entire language log and have thoroughly enjoyed it! I am 17 years old and am learning Spanish like yourself. I have
been learning for 5 weeks. Reading what you have done and what you are doing now has inspired me to study
much more.
As for your troubles here is a quote from Einstein “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems
longer.” I hope that you can stay with your problems longer and become better in Spanish because of it. I look
forward to your next update.
Liam.
Edited by Liam965 on 08 October 2012 at 12:46am
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Zarmutek Newbie United States twitter.com/manueljoRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4718 days ago 28 posts - 74 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 164 of 271 30 October 2012 at 5:24am | IP Logged |
Hey man,
Amazing log. I'm currently somewere firmly planted between L1 and L2 Spanish, and I'll be continuing my
Spanish study with Assimil's Spanish With Ease in about a week (when it arrives in the mail). I'm really
excited about using this course, and your log has me really anticipating my journey with it. I'll definitely
be starting a log of my own as well.
Keep up the good work!
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dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5015 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 165 of 271 02 November 2012 at 6:03pm | IP Logged |
Liam965 sorry about my very late reply. Thanks so much for reading and enjoying my log.
I actually became quite emotional when I saw you had sent me that Einstein quote as it
had appeared several times in my life in the preceding few days, and I had been
pondering on it that very morning! So I decided it was a synchonistic message from the
Universe pointing me in the right direction, and resolved to do just that.... Stick
with my problems for longer.
I had a week of avoiding English conversations entirely, during which my Spanish
improved considerably. I even went out on a couple of dates with a girl from Cordoba
who spoke no English whatsoever, and was introduced to her sister and friends who also
spoke no English. This was the first time being in a situation with multiple native
speakers having multiple conversations, and I think I handled it quite well! So I guess
we could call that a milestone!
I,m back in England now, and planning the next step. I think my next post will be a
long summary of the whole trips. (if I didnt have to write on this damn tablet, I would
have definitely wrote more, my apologies).
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dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5015 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 166 of 271 04 November 2012 at 11:52am | IP Logged |
Zarmutek- Thanks for reading my log and commenting! I'm glad some people find my stream
of consciousness ramblings useful/interesting!
In fact I would highly recommend keeping some kind of log- its a great way to keep
motivated and fun to look back on. Honestly, I'm not sure I would of stuck with it so
long had it not been for the log.
Best of luck with your Spanish endeavours!
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5368 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 167 of 271 06 November 2012 at 2:14am | IP Logged |
you are right, a log is a great way to keep consistent and keep you "honest" with tracking work. I would not have stuck with it as long without a log.
That must be cool/interesting to date in Spanish... that adds a whole new motivation to the study of the language.
I cannot wait to read more about your trip.
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sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4758 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish
| Message 168 of 271 06 November 2012 at 5:20am | IP Logged |
James29, it just occurred to me that both of the other languages I learned were at least partly powered by desire for the lovely women of the countries where the languages are spoken...to put it baldly.
I've been married 22 years to a lovely Tagalog speaker, so I guess my language learning there paid off :)
I can't wait to here about your adventures also, James29 and dbag. I'm going to be doing well to get to Mexico before next Spring...
steve
Edited by sfuqua on 06 November 2012 at 5:28am
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