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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 25 of 344 24 February 2014 at 2:53pm | IP Logged |
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Over the weekend I was able to spend a couple of hours with Iversen's method of learning vocabulary. I liked the process and I am able to recognize those words and their meanings when I look at the list or the words individually.
However, when I am not around the list (ie. driving into work this morning), I was having trouble going the other direction. Meaning, if I tried to think of a word in English and then try to produce the Spanish word or words...then I had some trouble. I guess this is a small example of being able to read and understand vs being able to produce and speak. However, I am focused on building up my vocabulary and reading comprehension in order to help my native materials recognition one day when my focus shifts to that direction. I will also continue to speak with my wife and friends and they are patiently helping me.A large group of us went out to a Mexican restaurant last night and I was able to order and interact with our waitress. These were very, very simple greetings and order requests. It was nothing difficult at all. I did not stretch myself with the conversations. I should have I guess but it was fun just the same. Edited by BOLIO on 24 February 2014 at 4:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 26 of 344 25 February 2014 at 3:22pm | IP Logged |
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I did a little experiment with a book that I had tried to read( L-R) only two months ago. The book is of a religious nature and the vocabulary was more than I could handle so I was frustrated and left it by my bedside and had not picked it up since my first attemp two months ago. Last night I picked it up and even though the tenses were sometimes confusing to me, I knew the majority of the words. It was actually fun.
It builds upon my currently unproven, to me, belief that the more vocabulary I know before diving into the native material, once started, the benefit of the native material will be maximized and my enjoyment will be greater as well.. I think by flooding my senses with vocabulary and then flooding my senses with reading and listening with massive amounts of information, I will be able to produce the words in conversation in time. I still do small talk and ask questions on daily basis with my wife (I think she grows tired of my questions and really thought this attempt at Spanish would be like the previous attempts. she is a good sport about it). I look forward to days that allow for more study and feel anxious about the days that don't. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ElComadreja Senior Member Philippines bibletranslatio Joined 7230 days ago 683 posts - 757 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Cebuano, French, Tagalog | Message 27 of 344 25 February 2014 at 6:01pm | IP Logged |
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Sounds like you are on the right track :) I got a huge boost to (reading) Comprehension
when I knew how the verbs endings changed, with the common irregularities. (knowing that doy is give is a big help even if you don't remember that it's *I* give.) In the end, you learn grammar by just reading and listening, although you may need the help of a grammar to decode it all at first. Sometimes it's unfair that the little kids get to ask endless questions but the adult's don't :p Edited by ElComadreja on 26 February 2014 at 3:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 28 of 344 26 February 2014 at 4:21pm | IP Logged |
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I have a couple of grammer books and may spend my lunch time working with them in the future. My language process is becoming more focused.
Learn vocabulary (Iversen's method and ANKI) -Verbs and their conjugations for the present and past tenses - nouns and descriptive words Listen during drive times to work and when I can at the office or home. - Assimil, MT,pimsleur Speak - WIfe, friends, employees at eating places or businesses. Once I am able to get my vocabulary to a greater level, I will leave the Assimil, MT, etc materials for listening and move to native materials while gradually increasing their difficulty. In addition I will give L-R due attention. Today I am laying the foundation for my journey to Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ElComadreja Senior Member Philippines bibletranslatio Joined 7230 days ago 683 posts - 757 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Cebuano, French, Tagalog | Message 29 of 344 26 February 2014 at 4:41pm | IP Logged |
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wow, keep going! Make sure to choose a pace that you can keep up :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 344 28 February 2014 at 3:22pm | IP Logged |
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I am sticking to my plan and I like the whole process. I hope to see in the oncoming weeks improvement or I will make a slight adjustment. I do feel like I am moving in the right direction.
I know from where I am getting my new vocabulary words. I mentioned a few post before about a book of a religious nature that was above me but I am understanding more very quickly. I have decided to read the book and mark every word that I do not know. Once I have gotten to 25-30 words that I do not understand or I thought I understood but do not understand the context of how it is being used, I then put them thru Iversen's word list process. My goal is by the end of the book, to understand every word (the book is 325 pages or so). I also have the audio of the book read by a native speaker. I will then be able to use the same material to help me with my listening and speaking. It is the plan anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 31 of 344 03 March 2014 at 2:54pm | IP Logged |
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Just a quick update from the weekend. I worked all the steps;Vocabulary, reading, listening and speaking. Had several meetings with native Spanish speakers and the conversations were fast and furious between them but I did get a lot of exposure. They would slow it down for me when they were speaking to me and it helped.
The more I learn the higher my awareness of how far I have to travel. At this point I can only dream of being able to carry on in Spanish at a level that would enable me to conduct business. That is the level of proficiency that I desire. Others have done it...so can I. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 32 of 344 05 March 2014 at 12:30am | IP Logged |
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Fillers...of time.
I am finding new ways to buy out more time in my busy schedule. 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there. I started using an App called Duolingo or something like that. It works on all four phases, reading, writing, speaking, listening. It is fun and easy but not without value. I feel like I am cheating the clock when I grab these extra moments. I did an extensive for me listening session last night. I listened to a book in Spanish that I have been getting my vocab words from. Instead of just reading and underlining the unknown words, I listened as the native speaker read them to me. I would still underline the unknown words and then added them to my Iversen word list. It was really interesting for the words that were not readily understandable to me from the audio alone. I wasted zero time daydreaming about "Missed" words because I could read the unknown words in front of me. I guessed correctly on several of the word meanings by the context of the sentence just as if I were to do a read only exercise. However, Listening vs listening with the text became visibly different for me. By being able to see the unknown words, I was able to stay focused and not wander mentally. I leave for Mexico in a few days. I will talk as much as possible to the locals and try to enjoy every minute of it. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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