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James29’s Spanish Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3514 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 641 of 668 31 May 2015 at 6:37am | IP Logged |
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James29, I think McGraw-Hill is now publishing your grammar book in the U.S. (Or maybe this is where you got it in the first place?)
Spanish Grammar Book 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 642 of 668 31 May 2015 at 11:37am | IP Logged |
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Wow. That looks like the same thing.... same authors and the description is the same. It does not have a pre-view, but I assume it is the same thing. I'm surprised to see it published by McGraw-Hill. It looks a lot cheaper too! Good find, Clarity.
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 643 of 668 31 May 2015 at 2:03pm | IP Logged |
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OK, time to update my log for the week. I'm in a "taking it easy" phase right now. I had a big push to finish the grammar book, the Connelly book and the French Assimil book. Now I'm focusing on some personal things I've been wanting to get done for a long time and it is going to take a lot more time than I thought.
So, for Spanish, I'm still doing some Spanish every day. I'm reading the fourth Alex Rider book. Wonderful series. It is a series about a 14 year old who gets recruited to be a British spy. The first three books were good and this one seems just as good. I'm whizzing through it. I'm already close to half way through it now and I'm only reading 20-30 minutes a day. If anyone is looking for a non-wizardy/magic book series for young teens this (along with Theodore Boone by John Grisham) is a great series. I actually find the Theodore Boone series easier and better, but that may be because I have read so many Grisham books for adults and like them. I'm still listening to the VOA news every morning in the car on the way to work. It's just become a habit I don't think I'll be able to break. I doubt I am really "learning" much but it gets me used to listening to native latino speakers at full speed. I also like how in sound bites they play the English audio for a good four or five seconds and then start the Spanish translation. Every day I say to myself "oh, that's a cool way to translate that English phrase... or, I wonder how they are going to translate that idiom." I still do the meetup. There have been a decent number of native speakers lately which is great for my Spanish. Other than the meetup once a week I really don't speak Spanish too much. I did have a call this week from a Spanish speaking customer. It felt great because he was simple to understand. This was by far the best work related Spanish encounter I have had. I don't think it was necessarily my Spanish, but, rather, his Spanish was educated, slow and clearly spoken. That made me feel great. I usually have a good "beach book" that I work through in the summer... something easy and fun to read. It is usually something tha I can just stick in my pocket and read for five minutes here and there. I've got to get thinking about that. For the rest of the summer I think my Spanish is going to be pretty much at the maintenance level. I'll just try to do 20-ish minutes a day. All I want to do is just do a little bit every day. Then, after labor day, I should get back on track with some more heavy duty progress. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3514 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 644 of 668 31 May 2015 at 7:05pm | IP Logged |
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James29, just a quick question since it sounds like you listen to Spanish in your car too. And it also sounds like you have a very demanding job. How do you handle "space outs" when you're driving? That is, when you catch yourself not paying attention to the Spanish?
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 645 of 668 01 June 2015 at 2:43pm | IP Logged |
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I just let it happen. I space out quite a bit when I drive... in fact, I don't even bother listening to Spanish on the way home because I just "need" to space out for a little while. I listen to the news because with 20-30 second stories it is easy to space out and then get right back into it. I think I'd have a hard time listening to an audio book in the morning for this very reason...
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| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 646 of 668 02 June 2015 at 4:32pm | IP Logged |
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James,
Thanks for the idea concerning the Alex Rider series. I ordered the first one. It is a little more advanced than my duel text and easy readers but I hope it won't be too far ahead of me. I think the story line will be my cup of tea so to speak. Thanks again, BOLIO 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 647 of 668 02 June 2015 at 7:01pm | IP Logged |
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i really like the Alex Rider series. I'm more than half way through the fourth book now. I liked the first one. the second one felt a tad bit cheesy, but still good. the third one was great (it took place in Cuba). I am liking the fourth one so far, but it is starting to get a bit cheesy with so much video game stuff. Last I checked they only translated the first five into Spanish.
honestly, i'm finding that reading adult books on my kindle is somewhat easier than reading kids books on paper. the pop up dictionary is so helpful and does not slow me down. i don't think the Spanish Alex Rider books are on kindle. The Theodore Boone books are. Boone is easier to read too so the combination of easier to read AND on kindle might make that a good option for you. Edited by James29 on 02 June 2015 at 7:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 648 of 668 07 June 2015 at 12:19pm | IP Logged |
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Well, this has been another "slow but steady" week. I feel like I have to "rest" after completing big projects like the grammar book. I use a lot of mental energy and motivation to push myself through a project and then after I tell myself I can take it a bit easier for a while before embarking on another major project.
I've been slowly working my way through the fourth Alex Rider book this week. I'm on page 245 out of 317 so I'll finish it soon. I am only doing one chapter a day... sometimes two. I enjoy the series. It definitely keeps my interest and it is very straightforward and easy to read. I am reading it in the paper form. I bought it before I got my kindle, but I don't think the Spanish is available on kindle. I notice that there are still a decent amount of words I don't know. It makes me see the difference the kindle makes. It wouldn't help with my understanding of the story at all, but I'd be easily able to look up the few unknown words per chapter. They are mostly adjectives and adverbs that I don't know so they really don't interfere too much with what is going on and I just skip them. I still listen to Spanish every day on the way to work. I usually listen to the news on voanoticias.com, but this week I listened to a few of the advanced podcasts on Spanishobsessed.com . I also listened to a number of those podcasts during a long drive. There is something about the news that makes it more comfortable and habit forming. I've always listened to the news on the way to work so listening to it in Spanish is just natural now. the only thing I don't really like about it is that I listen to day old news because they have not posted the new podcast yet when I am driving to work. I've learned that I am addicted to learning Spanish. It makes me uncomfortable to miss a day. There was one day where I did not get Spanish in in the morning and I had an awkward feeling all day like I was betraying a secret lover or something. I ended up finding some time that afternoon to do some Spanish. It is particular to Spanish also... when I think about putting some time into French I find myself feeling uncomfortable thinking about taking time away from Spanish. My plans for French are once again on the back burner. Things at work are more time consuming than ever before and will get busier during the summer. This is a good thing as it is good for the business... it will be bad, however, for my Spanish. I've always looked at Spanish as a supplement to my work to some degree so this does not bother me at all. I'm also spending a lot of time on a personal project that is going to take much more time than anticipated. I'm using about half of my morning Spanish time for that project. There is an end in sight, but it might not be until the end of the year. I was reading in EMK's log some people writing about this level they get to where they basically get stuck. I'm close to that level. I took EMK's self test and objectively self-passed almost all of the B2 questions, but failed just about all of the C1 questions. I think that is about right for me. I am at this level where I feel I could put in a gigantic effort and push myself to C1 or I could just cruise along where I am and maintain my level. Then, eventually, I will have the opportunity to get immersed or really use my Spanish a lot at work... that should bump me up to that C1 level pretty quickly. It is somewhat of a dilemma. One problem for me is that there are certain things I "should" do to advance my Spanish, but I just don't like doing them. It is hard for me to find a good TV series to watch, for example. I just don't like to sit down and watch a screen for 45 minutes a day. I'd much rather read outside or do a language exchange. I also don't like working on my writing. I just don't like it. So, what would happen if I just did three basic things in Spanisih: 1) listen to the news every weekday morning, 2) read a chapter from a novel every day and 3) go to a weekly meetup for an hour or two? My gut tells me that would maintain my Spanish roughly where it is and I'd simply feel more confident with vocabulary and understanding. It would not push me along grammar-wise or really get me to a more advanced level. It would be easy and fun. Then, another part of me wants to really push to another level. I could get the C1/C2 grammar book and work my way though it like I did with the B1/B2 book. I could also try to find an enjoyable telenovela or series to work through. I could also try to read more challenging books than translated popular mystery novels. I'd need to really direct my attention to specifics. Anyway, I'm babbling now. I'll probably have another "slow and steady" week this week. These are good to maintain the habit and ponder what is in store for the future. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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