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James29’s Spanish Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4625 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 201 of 668 05 January 2013 at 5:03pm | IP Logged |
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Wow James,
I just read the last few pages of your log. Seems like you had an amazing time in South America. Congrats on finishing Atlas Shrugged in Spanish. I felt like I accomplished something when I finished the audio book in English lol. Good job arguing in Spanish with the cab driver. Before I started trying to learn Spanish I had a run in with a cabby that was trying to take advantage of the situation. I seriously thought about just pushing him down and running into the airport scream "Help!" He charged me about double what it should have been. Ohh yea, congrats on the 3years of studying. I'm happy to hear that you are pretty much "good" with the language. Do you think you'll move onto another language in the future? Thanks for posting about the simple things. I'm trying to focus on learning the right way. It's a pain but I try to put in all the accent marks when I'm typing. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 202 of 668 08 January 2013 at 2:04am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the comments. Ecuador was amazing. The only problem is that I am going crazy now thinking about when I will take my next trip.
I would really like to speak/understand French for numerous reasons, but unfortunately I really don't see myself ever finding the time to learn how to do it. The only think I could see myself doing now is go through the Spanish based French Assimil course. I hope your studies are still going well and I am looking forward to hearing more about your trips in your log. 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 203 of 668 13 January 2013 at 9:40pm | IP Logged |
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OK. Things have been going fine. I have only been able to spend about 30 minutes each morning with Using Spanish. That is enough for most lessons. Unfortunately, I really like to review when I do the review lessons so I had to spend three days on lesson seven. I like Using Spanish. I don't care what other people think about the translations, it is a very good program (so far). I am learning some new vocabulary, getting better at listening and also learning a lot about Spain. The best parts are the idioms and colloquial usages.
I am using Without Toil when I exercise three times a week and just finished lesson 20. It is very easy, but I want something easy because I don't want to think too much when I exercise. I had a nice meetup. I also went to a local community organizational meeting of latinos. I was somewhat nervous, but I did fine. We basically talked about planning for two hours. I could understand basically everything. I had a great telephone conversation with a business consultant/salesman. We talked about donig more business with latinos and I told him I was studying Spanish and he launched into Spanish to "test" out my abilities. I was very surprised and also very nervous. I did great! I have been watching some La Reina del Sur. I think I finished episode 42 today. I am starting to like it more and more. I have been doing skype talks and more and more Spanish writing via email and skype. 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 204 of 668 21 January 2013 at 2:58am | IP Logged |
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I had a major accomplishment at work in Spanish. I completed a whole project for a Spanish speaking customer. This was a 1+ year endeavor and she could not speak a word of English. I really did not have any problems at all with the language issue and I feel like I could start to do more work with Spanish speakers now that I know I can really do it. I note that, by far, my weakest point was/is writing letters. I just did not feel confident doing it and I don't always know when/where to use accent marks. Also, it is difficult sometimes for me to switch to usted... which I should use with my customers.
I am really starting to like La Reina del Sur. It is great. I watched a couple more episodes since my last post. The undercover female cop... what should I say... makes the show even more pleasurable to watch. I really like Pote. I have a feeling I am going to start watching more and more until I am done with it. I am very pleased with the improvement in my comprehension. I don't have much of a problem understanding the show now. There are definitely words and phrases, and sometimes short scenes, where I miss the point, but eventually the context eventually makes it clear to me what is going on. I am still doing Assimil's Using Spanish and I really like it. A couple of the lessons have been quite challenging with all the idioms. A couple of the lessons have been pretty easy. The notes are really helpful. I am not doing the exercises this run through. I spent two days on the last review lesson. So far I have not had any problems with the translations... many of the complaints on this forum about Using Spanish are simply silly. When I finish the course I may do a review of the course if it continues to be so good the whole way through. I am also still reading Spanish Without Toil when I exercise... I exercise three days a week and usually read two full lessons each workout. It is really too easy, but I want something easy because I don't want to have to think too hard while I workout. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4757 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish | Message 205 of 668 21 January 2013 at 7:52am | IP Logged |
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Yes, there are many nice things about La Reina del Sur, and Lupe/Veronica is one of them. I don't remember who said it, but someone said that one of the things that makes learning Spanish difficult is that the Telenovela actors are so attractive that it is hard to pay attention to what they are saying. I think it makes me pay more attention to what they are saying :)
steve 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 206 of 668 27 January 2013 at 12:36am | IP Logged |
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I must agree... it definitely makes it easier to learn. The more fun and interest I have the better I learn.
I am chugging through Using Spanish. I did miss two days this week. One for family reasons and another because I set up a long skype talk. The family issue caused me to miss Spanish entirely for a whole day. I cannot even remember when the last time I did no Spanish was... perhaps a full year! I am very pleased with Using Spanish. I did lesson 21 today. The lessons are a bit easier now. It teaches some very useful words and phrases. It also seems like real every day Spanish. I am only spending 20-30 minutes per lesson, but I need 60+ minutes for the review lessons. My routine for a regular lesson is more or less as follows. Listen to the lesson without book once or twice. Listen and follow along with the Spanish. Read through the lesson and carefully check any words or phrases I don't know and read the notes. Listen to the lesson following along with the Spanish. Shadow the lesson twice while reading the text. Listen to the audio without the book. I am still chugging slowly through La Reina del Sur. It is getting better and better. I think I am now on episode 47. There is something about the Lupe and Patty situation that really makes the show pleasurable to watch. I also think Pote is a great character. He is one tough and loyal dude. I am finally feeling like I am understanding much much better. My skype talks have been pretty good. I have a couple good reliable partners that are very fun to talk to. I missed the meetup this week. Oh well. Edited by James29 on 27 January 2013 at 12:38am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5014 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 207 of 668 27 January 2013 at 11:15pm | IP Logged |
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I am glad you are enjoying Using Spanish, and you are right, many of the comments about it are simply silly. Sure there are a few problems but they are so easily recognizable that it doesn't really affect things. I would love to see a positive thread about the course.
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5367 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 208 of 668 03 February 2013 at 11:37pm | IP Logged |
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Yup, Using Spanish is great. I am still moving through it at a nice pace. I think I did lesson 26 today. I am learning a lot in the lessons, but they are not too hard. I can usually do them fairly well in less than 30 minutes.
I have also been slowly moving along with La Reina del Sur. I went to a good meetup. Our meetups are good because we speak entirely Spanish. There is one guy who is much better speaker than me so that is good. There are rarely native speakers there anymore. We are going to start doing salsa lessons and hopefully that gets more participation. I am still working through Spanish Without Toil when I exercise. I am doing something like 3-5 lessons per week and I think I am somewhere around lesson 25. I did a good long skype talk one morning instead of Using Spanish. I like that. I had another good experience using Spanish at work this past week. I had to speak to a potential customer who was Colombian. I could speak Spanish much better than she could speak English so we simply spoke in Spanish the whole time and I did not have any problems. It was amazing. I mean it was like I was speaking and understanding totally perfectly. I really feel like I could do my job in Spanish now. I find I am liking Spanish more and more the better I get. I am having less desire to learn French. I really feel like perfecting my Spanish. I am going to work on active skills for a while longer and then I will just really focus on listening/understanding for a long time. I'd like to boost up my speaking ability a bit more and then simply focus on understanding like a native. Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel like I could develop my listening/understanding further on my own than speaking. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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