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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| bryanpeabody Groupie United States Joined 4929 days ago 48 posts - 79 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 33 of 34 23 June 2015 at 12:38am | IP Logged | ||
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Yikes, almost two months since my last update. But, I do have some updates and good news for this
update: I spent the last 2 weeks on vacation with Clara (native Spanish speaker). Which means I had a mini- immersion environment. I noticed a few things: Speaking and reading Prior to these two weeks, my speaking was probably A2 and reading right at B2. I can mostly understand news articles online (while still coming across unknown words) but speaking felt like a chore. I generally didn't like speaking much more than a few sentences at a time. I've been reading short books in Spanish for months. Generally in the A2-B1 range. These are really simple and I only find an unknown word every so often. While Clara was here she had me reading these short stories out loud. If I mispronounced a word, she corrected me, then I repeated the sentence and carried on. After reading the short chapter I would summarize everything that happened, in my own words, in Spanish. At first this was a little painful and I didn't like it much. But after a couple of days something interesting happened. It wasn't nearly as difficult. I started speaking faster and more smoothly. I rarely had to think if I was conjugating the verb correctly or if I was pronouncing it correctly. I also lost a lot of my inhibitions around speaking. At one point, she looked at me and said....you realize you are speaking really fast now, right?? Then, something really interesting happened. We drove to Nashville, a 3 hour trip, and we started speaking in Spanish. Before I knew it, more than an hour had passed and it didn't feel like a chore or hard work. I was having a lengthy conversation, in Spanish, and enjoying it. Maybe this is what a breakthrough feels like. Edited by bryanpeabody on 23 June 2015 at 12:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5206 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 34 of 34 23 June 2015 at 3:53am | IP Logged | ||
Looks like you've decided to take "the red pill" and stay in the real world. Your experience with your "mini-immersion" was indeed a breakthrough. Actually using the language instead of "studying" it allows for that to happen. It is somewhat painful at first. As humans we are conditioned to avoid painful experiences. This is the kind of pain that isn't excruciating and leads to improvement, because you have a base. You know what to do. You're just not used to doing it.
The thing with using native materials is that there is no one there to hold your hand. So yeah, it is by definition, unstructured. You have to learn how to swim. It's about building "critical mass". Some people (not most and not all- some) who follow a course-heavy regime try native materials and find them too difficult because there is no net and no guide. They "take the blue pill" and retreat back to the warm, safe, cocoon of course-world. The more you do the more comfortable you become. The more you listen, the easier it gets. The more you read, the easier it gets. The more you speak, the easier it gets- but it doesn't happen quickly. That's what throws people off. Keep it up. It's working. The moment when listening becomes clear, when reading becomes effortless happens at different times for different people. I remember having that epiphany with listening to Portuguese because I had little difficulty with the news. Then I tried a telenovela- without subtitles available. At first I was wondering- "what have I got myself into?". After about 30 episodes (sometimes listening to the first ones three or four times), I had another epiphany. After 78 episodes, at the end, it was very clear indeed. Had I quit then- because it was uncomfortable, I wouldn't be where I am today in the language. That's how you tell, and it takes time (and effort). P.S. I remember recommending Veinte Mundos to you a while back. Give it a try. All the texts have audio and mouse over definitions of new vocabulary. They are free to download in pdf and mp3. The topics are varied and interesting. The audio is short, about 10 minutes long. They are from all over the Spanish-speaking world and should be right at or slightly above your level. Try them on the site and without the crutches of lingq, lwt and other text importers, just for this. Try to do two intermediate articles a week and don't worry so much about the vocabulary (I mean look it up but don't srs it). It may be hard at first, but the more you do, the more critical mass you build, the better you'll be. Edited by iguanamon on 27 June 2015 at 3:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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