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Bolio’s Spanish Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 313 of 344 19 April 2015 at 2:07pm | IP Logged |
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The Language Transfer courses are definitely cool. I love the way they came about and hope the project really succeeds. I periodically check the website to see if they have done a French course as that might be the motivation I need to actually start French.
I don't often correct people (mostly because my Spanish has never been too advanced) but when I do it really seems to help me improve my Spanish. Helping others gives the helper another perspective on the issues. Your description of the person who corrects you on every single mistake is a great thing to have. I've never been able to find someone like that. Most people simply let a lot of things pass by. Being corrected in the moment is really helpful because it breaks that natural instinct to make the mistake. It is awkward for the corrector. Keep up the studies. The "epiphany" moments are cool. Don't be discouraged, however, if you all of a sudden experience the opposite thing... that happens to me a lot... I feel like everything is great and my Spanish has hit a new height and then I'll talk to a new person or listen to a radio interview and get totally lost. The cool thing is that as you continue to study and work at it the "epiphany" feeling is more and more common. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4136 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 314 of 344 20 April 2015 at 3:57am | IP Logged |
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I wish that Language Transfer had been available when I started in Spanish! I listened in while my mom did a few
lessons, and they're really fabulous. It almost makes me want to learn Greek! ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5857 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 315 of 344 20 April 2015 at 4:25am | IP Logged |
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I'd wait for the full version to get released, otherwise you'll be left in the same situation that the rest of us who've done the course are in, namely con ganas de más!
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| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 316 of 344 22 April 2015 at 5:16pm | IP Logged |
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WoooHoooo!!!
I am leaving today for Mexico. I cannot wait to see how much of the language I can use this time versus last time. I may have a chance to update while down there. If not I will update when I return. Nos Vemos! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3514 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 317 of 344 22 April 2015 at 5:20pm | IP Logged |
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Have a great time, Bolio! I look forward to your update!
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| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4650 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 318 of 344 01 May 2015 at 6:47pm | IP Logged |
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Well, I am back to the land of concrete and traffic...I mean the USA. The trip was great and we were able to meet many new people this year and rekindle relationships with the people we met last year.
We did more tourist stuff this time. We did the Canon del Sumidero tour one day. We also went to see the Cascada El Chiflon (a really beautiful waterfall) and also Lagos de Montebello which are a series of beautiful lakes at the Chiapas and Guatemala border. They were fun and interesting trips that allowed me to interact with the local people. As far as Spanish goes, it was a mixed bag. The first night, I was trying to speak with a cab driver and I had to have my wife translate as I could not understand anything the guy was saying. It was very depressing and my wife was asking me what was wrong with me. Later that night we met several locals there and my ears were behaving better and I was able to follow a large part of the groups' conversations and was able to interact. During our trip, I met this American who had been there a few months and seemed very confident in her speaking with locals. She made many, many mistakes but she made them at full speed and with confidence. My wife said I needed to be a bit more like this other person. She said I always want to say it perfectly and this is getting in my way. She said to stop thinking and let it go. This was a couple days into the trip and I thought about it and decided to give it a try. I was still not as "sure" of myself as the other American I mentioned but I did start to let it fly out of my mouth. Something interesting happened. The people I knew well would correct my words or word endings and others that I did not know well understood what I was trying to say and we had conversations. By the time we started home, I was speaking more freely and I was happy while using the language...which is why I started this in the first place. Again my wife pointed out to me this very important point. "You are not inconveniencing the native speaker! 99% are just happy and surprised you are taking the time to learn their language. Just talk. They will help you." It is true. SO this is leading to a little bit of a shift in my studies. I have read about the "Island" idea of building monologues about a dozen or so different topics and really knowing them. I do think this will be beneficial for the native speaker even though it may be "canned" it will feel more natural to the native speaker. Also as part of my "islands", I will try to create many "what if Islands" that might be common questions from native speakers. Think of what Moses McCormick does by his FLR method. I am trying to have more confidence and less stress about "What am I going to say. Will I say it correctly? How was my pronunciation? What if they ask me something I don't know?" It sounds really stupid to me as I write it but that goes on in my head ALL THE TIME. If I have the monologues checked by a native speaker and KNOW it forwards and backwards then much of my stress should be done away. I should be able to focus on listening and hopefully I can calm the loud voice inside my head. On my trip, I got a little taste of what it could be like having my Spanish as strong in conversation as it is in reading. I love reading in Spanish and it has grown so much in the last five months that it is hard to measure. I love reading because I can do it anywhere and I can feel myself progressing and it feels very good. We were sitting in a cafe for breakfast one morning and I am reading a book in Spanish on my phone. My wife looks at me and says she is very proud of me and my study habits, but it appeared to her that I was using reading to avoid the thing that I needed to work on the most...conversation. After 20 years, she can put things in a very pointed but loving way. It is true. The PDFs and books don't talk back. And if I don't know a word then I look it up or just highlight it and look it up later. I love reading and it is a HUGE reason I wanted to learns Spanish in the first place but I want to feel that way when talking with people in Spanish too. I have never met a stranger in English and want to feel that way in Spanish as well. And in my part of the world, I have plenty of people to talk to day to day. So it will be business as usual(reading, listening,FSI) with the exception of building these Islands about me, my family, my work, language learning, hobbies, etc. Also I will create these "what if" questions that native speakers may ask and build little mini island responses to see if it helps my comfort level. We will se how it goes. I hope everyone is well and I hope your studies are moving forward. As always, thanks to those who continue to help me and the board as a whole. All the Best, BOLIO 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5228 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 319 of 344 01 May 2015 at 7:58pm | IP Logged |
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Hey BOLIO, glad you had a nice trip. I always enjoy reading your log. You seem to experience the same amount of self-doubt and angst as me when speaking with natives. I wouldn't worry to much about the cab driver. Some people are just hard to understand. Even in English I've met people who are difficult for me to understand. Hell, I once had to have a Scot write down on a piece of paper what he was saying and we are both supposed to be native English speakers.
I've also wondered a lot about Moses McCormick and his true levels of language. His islands are amazing, and I've only seen him slip-up a couple of times when people get him off his island, and he can't manage to steer them back to another island. I've tried a couple of times to generate some islands for small talk. But I can say that anyway, so ... I've never managed to find a good island. Maybe you need to increase your output by phoning your friends south of the border? Or skype each day? 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 320 of 344 01 May 2015 at 10:39pm | IP Logged |
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Having a few stock phrases you can whip off come in really handy. I remember when I would have a hard time understanding someone I'd say something like "Hey, I just want you to know that I can speak Spanish much better than I can understand it so if you could slow down a bit that would be great." That always seemed to set the right tone.
Regarding reading, I've been doing a lot of reading over the past year and it DEFINITELY will help your speaking VERY MUCH. It really makes a difference. You get a good rhythm of the language in your head and the faster and faster you can read the faster you can process the language. It has helped me a ton in being able to process spoken Spanish faster. Also, it is super for learning vocabulary and that is often a stumbling block in speaking Spanish at more advanced levels... if there is one key word in a sentence and you don't understand it you will be out of luck... reading really helps fill in those gaps by helping you see the words in a lot of different contexts, etc. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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