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Spanish Log (TAC 2014 Team Lobo) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5252 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 193 of 271 09 May 2013 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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When you begin any new activity, there's a "learning curve" involved. For instance, we all know the benefits of exercise. If you start running after being sedentary, for a while your muscles will ache every time you move. It isn't fun. Eventually, if you stick with it, after a few weeks the pain goes away and it becomes fun.
Same thing with engaging in native material. It's exercise. It's going to hurt at first and not be very enjoyable, but you have to keep at it. Eventually it will become easier and the aches will start to ebb. Where most people fail is in not being persistent. It takes a lot of dedication, effort and work to learn a language, no way around it. Working with native materials and native speakers is not easy but it is the best way to move your Spanish to the next level. The best way, for me, to read in a language is to use my kindle with the integrated dictionary. Saves stopping and starting. Alternatively, read 10 pages and write down each unknown word and each doubtful word with what you think it means, then look up those words in the dictionary and write down their definitions. You may be surprised at how good your guesses are. Then, re-read those 10 pages and it should be a better experience. I remember watching "La Reina del Sur" on Telemundo a few years ago. There were both Spanish and English subtitles available when it aired. You might try looking for the subtitles, if they exist. Telemundo is funny in that when they air their series they have subtitles but when they go to dvd they somehow get lost. Also try looking for the chapter reviews to have a better idea of what is going on and what to look for in the episode: Capítulos La Reina del Sur y Resumen de todos los episódios de La Reina del Sur. Hope this helps. PS: I liked the book better than the telenovela. Edited by iguanamon on 10 May 2013 at 3:57pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5365 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 194 of 271 12 May 2013 at 1:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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I whizzed through the English translation of the book before watching the Telenovela. It was a good read and really helped me follow the telenovela.
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| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5012 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 195 of 271 17 May 2013 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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@iguanamon Thanks for the advice and links! I think that "La Reina del Sur" has really set the bar for me. There are just so many words that I have never encountered before (like "bellota" <acorn> for example) that working through the book is a quite a slow process. The frustrating thing is that A LOT of native materials (such as newspaper articles, wikipedia entries etc.) have become very transparent to me, so I was hoping to be able to work through the book for pure fun.
I have 2 bookmarks on the go. One for extensive reading, and another where I am working slowly through the book looking up every unknown word and adding them to a list I have. So far I am up to page 274. I also ordered "piense y hagase rico" by Napolean Hill (think and grow rich) and have read over 150 pages in a day and a half. This book is very easy and I can read it surprisingly close to my reading speed for English. I would say I have a 98%+ comprehension rate of the material, so it fulfills Prof. Arguelles criteria for extensive reading material, meaning that the words I don't understand are very easy to guess through context. In a search for some easier Spanish fiction I have ordered El Príncipe De La Niebla , the first book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Apparently the author is quite popular at the moment, and the book is aimed at young adults, so I hope it will be fun. If I like it I will try some of his other books. Iguanamon, I have two questions. First, do you have any recommendations for good Spanish speaking authors, outside of the obvious? (By that, I mean that every time someone asks this question, someone always answers with Authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende or Pablo Neruda. Now,I can't wait to get to those authors, but I'm more interested in discovering a Spanish Stephen King or John Grisham etc.) Second, any idea which are the best big paper dictionaries for Spanish? I want to buy both Monolingual and Bilingual versions. Edited by dbag on 17 May 2013 at 11:25pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5252 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 196 of 271 18 May 2013 at 12:52am | IP Logged | ||
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You're welcome, dbag, no hay de qué. Congratulations on your progress! Reading is slow at first but it gets better the more you do.
There's a sci-fi/fantasy writer I quite like- Daína Chaviano. She's a Cuban-American author who emigrated from the island a few years ago and writes in Spanish. I loved her book La isla de los amores infinitos. Also I would recommend the Argentine author Julio Cortázar. He writes about many subjects and writes well. His novels and short stories are a joy to read. Since you like La reina del sur, I suggest you go through the Capitán Alatriste series of Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Sticking with Spain, my favorite present day Spanish author is Paloma Bravo. Her writing is clear, crisp and very contemporary. She calls a spade a spade. I loved her book La novia de papá and I just ordered her new book La piel de Mica. She has her finger on the pulse of contemporary Spain. The closest I can come to Stephen King would be 97 segundos by David Zurdo y Ángel Gutiérrez Another contemporary Spanish author I quite like is Emilio Calderón. I thoroughly enjoyed El judío de Shanghái He writes a great historical novel with a contemporary feel. I loved El país bajo mi piel by Nicaraguan author Gioconda Belli. The book is her autobiography which includes her role in the Nicaraguan revolution. It's a riveting read. I couldn't put it down. Antonio Skármeta is a fantastic Chilean author. My favorite book of his is El cartero de Neruda. This is the book upon which the Italian film Il postino was based. There's a free, legal, audiobook available on Ivoox.com. You have to register for the site. I can't recommend any paper dictionaries, unfortunately. I read on a kindle and use the monolingual Larousse dictionary. It's very thorough and I am well satisfied with it. I rarely use a bilingual dictionary. ¡Eso es otro cantar! Buena suerte, y si puedo ayudarte más, mándame un mensaje privado. Edited by iguanamon on 18 May 2013 at 4:32am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5365 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 197 of 271 18 May 2013 at 1:37am | IP Logged | ||
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There are a few Spanish audio books of Piense y Hagase Rico out there. Do you have one? I love that book.
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| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5012 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 198 of 271 18 May 2013 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the help Iguanamon! There's enough there to keep me going for some time! I have been really looking forward to approaching reading in Spanish. I was an avid reader before starting to study Spanish, but I have sacrificed reading time in exchange for study time.
I might struggle to pick up the pace for a while though.. tomorrow I work a 13 hour shift (yes, on a Sunday!)followed by a 67 hour work week. I am in the fortunate position of possibly being able to work 24/7, and I am intent on making some of these trips happen, especially the 6 months plus in South America! So for the next little while I will be pushing myself quite hard, which will leave less time for Spanish than I would like, which is why I have been / will be concentrating on the passive skills. Actually I vividly remember learning to read. At the age of 8 or 9 I was at the bottom of my class and couldn't even remember the alphabet, but I happened to live in a house literally full of books. One night I woke up early, picked up an Enid Blyton book and somehow read it cover to cover. After that point I was hooked, and read several books in the next few weeks, which put me way ahead of others in my class. My parents say that the teachers where bambozzled and couldn't understand how I had leaped ahead so quickly. I am hoping something similar happens with Spanish. James29, yep, I have listened to the audiobook, or at least parts of it a few times. I love that book too, but this is the first time I've read through it properly, and its great to be doing it in a foreign language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5012 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 199 of 271 07 June 2013 at 1:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Just a short update, as I am very tired. I have been working my backside off trying to get some travel money together. 13 hour shifts, sometimes 15 hours, supporting adults with learning disabilities and sometimes challenging behavior.I really don't have anytime for much else than walking the dog, eating and sleeping between that. Although I have watched 22 episodes of El Capo and love it. A fair sight easier than La Reina del Sur.
It seems that I can understand nearly everything that I come across on Radio Nacional de Espana, as well as podcasts, documentaries etc. I do wonder if this means that my listening skills could be classified as B2 now rather than B1? Been a while since my active skills had a workout, can't wait to free up some time to get back on it properly. Still obsessed with this thing. Will post some nice links once I have recovered. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5855 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 200 of 271 08 June 2013 at 5:23am | IP Logged | ||
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Another book i'd really recommend reading is Platero y yo, by Juan Ramón Jiménez. It's about a donkey and the author's friendship with and incredible love for him. The writing is beautiful and it's pretty short.
Another author who sometimes reminds me of Joseph Heller is Eduardo Mendoza. You can check out "Una comedia ligera" or the series that starts with "El misterio de la cripta embrujada". I also really liked the Magic Laberinth (El laberinto mágico) series by Max Aub, at least the first few books as i haven't finished reading all of them (they're long). It's based around the Spanish Civil War and takes a peak at the lives, ideas, and thoughts of people of many different people. It's really incredbile. I've also enjoyed a lot of Ramón J. Sender's work, for example Viaje a la aldea del crímen and Réquiem por un campesino español. A slightly more light-hearted book is "La tesis de Nancy", about a girl who goes to Spain to study Spanish and work on her thesis. It's pretty funny, you might be able to relate with some of the mistakes she makes :P Also, some of the lines from one of the characters, Curro, are (in my opinion) really clever and funny. "¿Vale el vale?" "Sí, per no vino el vino." And i know you mentioned wanting to find out about other authors, but Isabel Allende's "Eva Luna" is great. I don't much care for some of her other stuff, but this book was fantastic. Two books by Miguel Delibes that i enjoyed were "Los santos inocentes" and (especially) "El príncipe destronado". El príncipe destronado is about a little 3-year-old boy who is jealous of his new baby brother and all the mischief he gets up to. There's also "Misericordia" by Pérez Galdós (and a good number of his other works). I've also read a few things by Jesús Fernández Santos, though i think his short stories are generally much better. Check out "Cabeza Rapada" or "Paraíso encerrado". I know there's a lot i'm forgetting, but that's all that comes to mind for the moment. If it's any help, here's the list of books on my to-read list:
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