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Spanish -B1 by November 2014 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 33 of 58 05 June 2014 at 8:38pm | IP Logged |
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Hi. You can change the title by going back to the first post in the log and editing it there.
You are making good progress. The "distances" between levels get much longer at the higher levels. I have been stuck in the high B1/low B2 range for years (but improving all the time). It looks like you like reading the Bible. Are you aware of all the great resources out there? There are tons of great bilingual Bibles and also numerous audio Bibles in Spanish. It can be a great way to learn. FSI is great. Keep it up. Beware... lesson 47 is a bear!!! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| slikew Groupie United States Joined 4071 days ago 79 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 34 of 58 05 June 2014 at 11:17pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the tip James. Even at this point, I am far off of the mark on the B2. The B1
looks much easier to me now than it did 5 months ago, but I know it will be a challenge. I have the Reina Valera 1960 that I listen to in my car and I was recently introduced to the NTV, which I found to be very readable. I'm hoping that by Unit 45 and with the other inputs I'm getting, along with (hopefully) a month of preparation, I can be ready for the B1 exam. I notice that there isn't an awful lot of the subjunctive in the practice tests. Does anyone have experience with the B1 DELE who would be willing to identify the major points? Also, any tips on preparation for the exam as well as tips for the actual sitting of the exam would be greatly appreciated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 35 of 58 06 June 2014 at 2:10am | IP Logged |
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I like the dramatized audio books of the Bible. They are well done. You can find the Dios Habla Hoy (DHH) on youtube and a whole bunch on Faith Comes Through Hearing. My favorite Spanish version is the DHH. It is a very readable version.
You can search on Amazon for exam prep books. There are a lot. I have no interest in those because I will never take a test, but I think the Prisma publisher makes some. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| slikew Groupie United States Joined 4071 days ago 79 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 36 of 58 23 June 2014 at 7:52pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the resource suggestions James. I like the dramatized versions as well.
Today I finish Unit 27. This unit has taken me a while, because it is very long, and because I focused on the formal and then the informal commands. I'm getting 90% of the repetitions but I know I don't have the commands down perfectly. If only I could upload the language like the Matrix. Then I would beat Professor Arguelles by uploading about 400 languages. Back to command forms. I really want to get down the commands, because I have some Honduran friends at church as well as older Spanish speakers, and these all use the formal commands. Then, I have other friends I would use the "tu" commands with. All a bit much to remember. It seems that this is something that, though I "know" it, will only become perfected through practice. Sounds like most things in life. ¡Adios! Note: In my pronunciation, I'm noticing that I need to be clear with my "a" vs "e." 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| slikew Groupie United States Joined 4071 days ago 79 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 37 of 58 12 July 2014 at 8:49pm | IP Logged |
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Finished FSI 28 today. Things have been very busy, but glad to be moving along. On to
Unit 29. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| slikew Groupie United States Joined 4071 days ago 79 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 38 of 58 18 July 2014 at 11:34pm | IP Logged |
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I'm working through FSI Unit 29 and want to finish up lesson 30 and book 2. I had the
idea of ready and listening for about 3 months before continuing with FSI Unit 31-45 (Book 3). I can't find the audio on the FSI website for Units 46-55. Looking for input on my idea of getting a bit more reading and listening before continuing with FSI, for the sake of breadth of learning, vocabulary as well. Open to comments from those who have completed FSI Spanish or at least through Unit 45. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 39 of 58 19 July 2014 at 12:10am | IP Logged |
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I think doing some reading would be a good idea, but I'd definitely be sure to finishi FSI now or later. Don't use reading as an excuse to never come back to FSI. One good option would be to do FSI for either three or four days per week and read the other days. I did that for quite a while and liked it. In fact, I could never really do FSI every day. I found that four days a week was about the most I could handle and stay sane.
I am not sure what you mean about the unit 4 audio not being available. It is on the website right now... it is in a different form where there are several small chunks of it instead of long audio clips, but it is all there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5260 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 40 of 58 19 July 2014 at 12:27am | IP Logged |
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I never did FSI for Spanish. Learned it years ago. I always use a multi-track approach in my learning- course plus comprehensible native material. I find the combination works well to pick up vocabulary and see patterns introduced by the course and make my own connections.
For specific resources, along with maintaining FSI, I personally used the news, when I was studying Portuguese, with a transcript. Democracy Now has a daily weekday Spanish newscast with a transcript. The English transcript can be found here. Stories often run in a cycle giving a chance for repetition. Democracy Now is left of center politically and the announcer speaks quite fast with a Rioplatense accent, be warned, but the transcript and bilingual text make it very useful for learning. You might also try NHK World Spanish News which also has a transcript. With a little digging over at the English site, you can find the English versions of the stories. NHK audio is slower but still natural. Euronews Spanish also has a transcript that is followed fairly closely. English can be found by scrolling through the language bar at the top. Advantages of these news site, are comprehensibility (transcripts and English), varied vocabulary plus native-speakers and speed. Not quite knowing your level of Spanish, the Veinte Mundos site has downloadable audio and pdf's along with mouse over notes and definitions. The stories are short, 10-12 minutes, and there are almost a hundred of them in the archives. Topics are varied and a lot of vocabulary is introduced in a natural way. Working with material like this serves several functions- natural vocabulary acquisition, course synergy, pattern recognition (grammar) and listening practice. The key to getting any of these benefits is regular, daily (or most days) use. This helps to build momentum and something I call "critical mass". Eventually after several weeks regular listening/reading and listening and reading, I can see it coming together. If you can devote 15 minutes or so a day to it, regularly it can help. Also, don't forget production. Writing regular posts for correction on lang8 (and reciprocating well with English correction), free language exchanges or, a paid skype tutor, will do wonders for your Spanish. Something about activating all facets of language use helps each individual facet. Nothing wrong with taking a break from FSI but I agree with James29, it will be a big help to getting Spanish right in a complete multi-track approach. I agree with James29, you're coming along nicely! Edited by iguanamon on 19 July 2014 at 12:31am 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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