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James29’s Spanish Log | ||
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| mike245 Triglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6964 days ago 303 posts - 408 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Cantonese Studies: French, German, Mandarin, Khmer | Message 281 of 668 03 September 2013 at 6:09am | IP Logged |
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What a coincidence...I also started watching Caso Cerrado a few weeks ago when I was in
the US, and find it great for maintaining my Spanish. In terms of books, I used to love reading translations of Agatha Christy novels back when I first started reading novels in Spanish for fun. I don't know if they come with audio versions, but I found the books interesting and challenging enough to build up my vocabulary slowly but without overwhelming me. Good luck with your Spanish studying and congrats on your progress to date! Edited by mike245 on 03 September 2013 at 6:10am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4820 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 282 of 668 03 September 2013 at 10:56am | IP Logged |
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James,
I know what you mean about children's books (although I did bite the bullet with Harry Potter and found it more enjoyable than I might have guessed). Have you thought about The Lord of the Rings? It's so well known that there is bound to be a translation, and hopefully an audiobook, and it's meaty enough to keep you going for a good long while. So long as you can suspend disbelief and forget you (probably) know how it ends, it's also a bit of a "page-turner". :) I'm with you on L2/L2 reading-listening. Absolutely my favourite language activity (at least in German where I can cope...more difficult for me in other languages). Hasta luego Edited by montmorency on 03 September 2013 at 10:57am 3 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 283 of 668 04 September 2013 at 4:09am | IP Logged |
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Wow, some great comments. Thanks.
Yes, Randomreview, I have thought of getting the new Assimil Spanish audio. I was actually thinking of listening to it in my car on my 20 minute commute. That commute time is pretty much wasted and I'd love to do something easy during that time. As for when I am ready for a new book when I exercise, I am going to probably again read through the Cassell's book you recommended. I love it. I'll either do that or read Breaking out of Beginner's Spanish again. Something about judge shows that is addicting. I like them. Quite a while back I saw one called Veredicto Final, but I cannot find it anywhere now. The Univision site won't let me play the videos. Mike, I have indeed checked out Agatha Christy novels and, yes, there are audio books I can get my hands on. I did not seriously consider them because I figured that reading a mystery in a foreign language might not be a good idea... maybe I will re-consider that. Montmorency, believe it or not, I don't know the storyline of Lord of the Rings. I do believe it is available in audio book. I think that is part of the Hobbit series and the Hobbit is available. In fact, I listened to part of the Hobbit just to see how hard it was and I did not have much difficulty understanding it even without the book. I think I may add it to my list. I also bought the second Harry Potter book a while back. I think I may just do a bunch of different "easy" books before I tackle some of the tougher stuff. Now for the "bad" news for my Spanish. Things at work are looking like they are going to get exponentially more demanding in terms of time, stress and effort. This is actually an extremely good thing for me personally and my work situation. I will likely be able to move in a direction of using my Spanish more for work, but, unfortunately, I see no way I will be able to maintain the amount of time I spend with Spanish. When the dust settles at work I will figure out how this major change is really going to impact things. Edited by James29 on 04 September 2013 at 4:12am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5254 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 284 of 668 04 September 2013 at 12:57pm | IP Logged |
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James, are you considering any books not translated from English? Now that you know Spanish fairly well and are watching novelas and Caso Cerrado, you should get to know Spanish literature more.
Ivoox AudioKiosko is a fantastic resource for Spanish audio. They have free and legal audio for El cartero de Neruda by Antonio Skármeta of Chile. This is the book upon which the Italian movie Il postino was based. They also have the complete audio for Capitán Alatriste by Aturo Pérez Reverte author of La reina del sur. It's a good swashbuckling adventure. While there's nothing wrong with reading translations, I think the way that English-speaking authors write comes over in Spanish translation as, well, not quite Spanish, no matter how good the translation may be. I can always tell that I'm reading a translation from English by the rhythms and constructions. If you enjoy reading translations from English in Spanish, then great, to each his own. I can see the appeal because I've done that myself, but if you're doing it because it's easier, because you already know what you like in English, then you might be playing it too safe. One of the attractions of learning a second language for me is opening myself up to new experiences and new ways of thinking. I didn't know I liked the authors I enjoy in English until I read them and gave them a chance. Apply that philosophy to Spanish and a whole new world will open up. Ivoox AudioKiosko is an excellent source of all kinds of downloadable Spanish audio about every topic under the sun. They also have an app for iPhone and Android. You have to sign up for an account of course, but it's free. There's bound to be something of interest there for you to fill your commute time, besides Assimil, to not only keep your Spanish alive but growing. You might find this half an hour audio interesting Aprender idiomas, ¿Nos cuesta aprender idiomas? ¿Qué métodos utilizamos?. There's also over 100 podcasts about economics Economia directa. That's just to get you started. ¡Buena suerte con tu trabajo! Edited by iguanamon on 04 September 2013 at 1:39pm 3 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 285 of 668 05 September 2013 at 3:18am | IP Logged |
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Thanks, Iguanaman for the suggestions. I recently did find ivoox. It is absolutely AWESOME. There are tons of great audio books there. I only discovered it a couple weeks ago so I have not really checked it out. I will look at the links you posted. I appreciate it.
I read translations of English books for a few reasons. I am not a fiction reader. I simply don't usually like to read fiction. I am therefore very cautious about reading something I will like. I know what I like in English and would prefer to read content that I know I will find interesting. I like most Grisham novels (at least the early ones... I have not read one for a very long time) and some other popular authors so I will stick to that for now. I can totally understand your point on reading translations... I read Perez-Reverte's La Reina del Sur in English and I did not like the way it was translated. It seemed very unnatural. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4820 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 286 of 668 06 September 2013 at 11:21pm | IP Logged |
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Hi James,
Well, it sounds like it's basically good news on the work front, even if it means making a bit of a sacrifice for now on the Spanish front, but I'm sure it will work out fine. Well (of course) there is a Spanish translation of LOTR: LOTR Spanish Don't know at the moment about the audiobook, but it I come across it, I'll get back to you. (For when you have time, later, of course). :) Oh, whadya know: Just did a google search on the Spanish title and audiobook, and got what looks like a hit for it on the aforementioned ivoox. I'll leave that there dangling for you... :-) Edited by montmorency on 06 September 2013 at 11:25pm 3 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 287 of 668 08 September 2013 at 12:23am | IP Logged |
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So the dust has settled on the work front. I am now the owner of the small business I have been working at for the past seven years.
I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but I did not know when or how. Things are a real mess and I am going to have to fix them. The previous owner worked about half time and I will have to do my regular job and also the owner's "job" for at least a year or so. It was a very tough transition and it was not a pleasant process, but, all things considered, this will eventually be a good thing for me. I have decided that I will maintain my Spanish studies. Probably not as much, but I will still do some every day. The past few years were difficult for me professionally. I must have a challenge and I simply was not challenged at work. Spanish has served as my "getaway" and challenge for the past few years. It has kept me sane in a difficult situation. Now, my challenge will be my business. This is a major transition point. My Spanish is going to become a thing of pleasure and also a tool that may eventually help my business. When I started Spanish I knew in the back of my mind that it could eventually help the business. That is how I justified it to myself. I had to do something "productive" that would be different from my work and a major intellectual challenge. It worked. Now I will be able to grow the business to incorporate marketing to Spanish speakers. That will be something a few years in the future, but it will happen. In a strange way, taking over ownership of the business feels like the biggest accomplishment I have had with Spanish. In terms of Spanish this week, I finished FSI lesson 34 today. I often fail to mention that updating this log every week really keeps me "honest" and keeps me chugging along. I know that if I skip a day or if I slack off I will have to write that in the log. Doing FSI today (Saturday) was a pain, but I knew I needed to do it because next week will be tough. I am thinking that I will probably finish FSI before the end of the year. That would be great. The fourth quarter is actually the slowest time at work so I should be able to maintain FSI at a pace of four days a week. I also watched an episode or two of El Capo. I am on episode 45 now. It is a good show. I have one more lesson in Assimil Spanish Without Toil. This book has so much more content than the With Ease version. I still think I prefer With Ease, however. I read a bit more of the Cassell's appendix also. I did a nice meetup. There were a bunch of visiting Latinos. That was great! I had a nice skype talk in Spanish. Need to find a new reliable partner. I just got an email that the Grisham book is ready for pickup at the library. I'll give it a try and see how it goes. I have never read it in English so this will be a brand new experience... reading an "adult" book in Spanish from scratch. Edited by James29 on 08 September 2013 at 12:26am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5254 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 288 of 668 08 September 2013 at 1:16am | IP Logged |
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¡Felicidades, James! Soy un cuentapropista, dueño de mi proprio negocio, también. Sé que vas a estar muy ocupado en el próximo año, pero, claro, vale la pena. Pues, es una oportunidad para poner en práctica tu conocimiento económico de la escuela austriaca en un nivel micro, ;). No te preocupes, estoy seguro que puedes mantener tu español. Nuevamente, ¡enhorabuena!
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