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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5224 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 273 of 319 29 April 2014 at 6:32am | IP Logged | |||||
Now don't get me wrong, I'm an avid reader, I have even read some historical novels (a genre I find unattractive in principle) I liked, I simply regard(ed) Literature class book choices as the best possible way to drive kids away from reading. Maybe it's different in your country. This is what I *had to* read at high school, so you don't think I want to avoid the question: -'Cuentos' by Ignacio Aldecoa. All it left in me was a firm determination not to read it again (something I used to do with pretty much every book I read at the time). I only remember the general setting of maybe two of the tales, and how hellishly boring all of them were. In a private discussion with my Spanish teacher he drew my attention to 'the right stuff' I was supposed to find in the book (so he sorta agreeded that it was BO-RING), but I don't feel inclined to check if I'd like it better now. -'Los Cachorros' by Mario Vargas Llosa. I didn't find it very memorable either, or I would remember something more about it. It was readable, though. -'El Misterio de la Cripta Embrujada' by Eduardo Mendoza. Unlike the other two, I don't think this guy is a big name in Literature, but at least I liked one book that year. A mystery novel and lots of laughs, much more than I expected (or would expect today) from a Literature class for a change. -'El Señor de Bembibre', the "most relevant Spanish historical novel" according to some philologist nuts. It simply looked so unpromising I didn't even try to read it, and I think I got points knocked off my scores for that. I may give it a go when I grow up, it's still on my shelf. -'La Dama Boba' (a play), by Lope de Vega. Absolutely hucking filarious, like most of his stuff. A shame they didn't give Nobel prizes in the Spanish Golden Age (XVI-XVII century), although this guy would have probably pissed the committee so much as not to be awarded :) Looking back I would say I read most of what I have read (a whole lot) in the translation, and that it doesn't really matter. Read a lot and, unless you feed yourself REALLY atrociously written/translated stuff, a few mistakes here and there will be promptly counterweighted by tons of proper language use. And the key to reading a lot is reading stuff you're interested in. Or an unbelievable degree of self-control ;) To name Spanish-speaking authors I would recommend... Juan Eslava Galán is good (History, and historical novels as well, he he) and Arturo Pérez-Reverte is so famous I won't say more. I did like Vargas Llosa's speech when he got the Nobel Prize. Also pretty much anything that has survived from the Spanish Golden Age, really. Those interested will see how surprisingly little the language has changed, but it would probably be a bit more challenging anyway. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Komma Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4057 days ago 107 posts - 134 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish | Message 274 of 319 29 April 2014 at 10:42am | IP Logged | |||||
So far, I'm using a German coursebook from the pons Verlag called "Anfängerkurs Spanisch" (Beginner course Spanish), but I really don't like that one very much. I also started to try FSI beginner Spanish.. However, I just haven't got enough motivation so far to do such courses and so on.. I'm more searching the forum on how to best start instead of just start.. I think that's my biggest problem. I think the super challenge will encourage me to do something, because reading and watching is more fun, than to do a course.. Next week I want to lend Assimil from the library.. It's currently not available. So I want to try that too. What I am doing in a more frequent way than the courses is Destinos. It's fun to watch. I also had one year of Spanish at University already, but I didn't like it and actually don't feel like I learned anything, that's why I wanted to start again. Not from zero, but concerning the grammar part I really have no idea to form good sentences.. I also started with a podcast from Notes in Spanish. That was fun too. So, if you have suggestions on what I should get, please do so :) However, the problem with all this stuff is, that I'm just doing one day a podcast, the other day Destinos, sometimes a bit anki, but I don't feel like improving. I think I need just a kick in the a** to just start and SC will be great for that I think. Competing with others etc.
Hey, thanks for the links :) I already searched for some graded readers, but most sites were a bit unorganized.. I really like the langenscheidt site.. The books look great, and there's an audio CD. Thank you very much. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5863 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 275 of 319 30 April 2014 at 1:53am | IP Logged | |||||
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I actually enjoyed Los cachorros, but then i didn't have to read it for my literature class.
Some authors i've enjoyed are: Eduardo Mendoza - they have a lot of more comical novels, if you want something a bit more light-hearted you might consider checking them out. Gabriel García Márquez - some of it was hit or miss for me, but i really loved Cien años de soledad and enjoyed other novels like El general no tiene quien le escriba, El otoño del patriarca, and Relato de un náufrago Jesús Fernández Santos - i especially enjoyed their short stories (in particular Cabeza rapada), but enjoyed some of their novels too, like Los Bravos and Extramuros. Miguel Delibes - the two books that stick out the most for me are Los santos inocentes and El príncipe destronado, but i'm sure there's a treasure trove of stuff within Delibes' works. Isabel Allende - i really can't recommend Eva Luna enough, i thought it was great. They also have books written for "adolescents" which might be worth looking into, too. Max Aub - their series "El laberinto mágico" was really interesting, a series of six (large) novels following the Spanish Civil War from all sorts of angles and viewpoints. Ramón J. Sender - i think a lot of you would enjoy reading "La tesis de Nancy". It's a pretty funny story about a grad student who goes to Spain to write their thesis. It's pretty funny and i really enjoyed the characters, especially the gypsy Curro. Réquiem por un campesino español was also interesting, but its contents are a bit heavier than La tesis de Nancy. Benito Pérez Galdós - i found some of the novels a bit dry, but Misericordia was really moving to the point of at times seeming exasperatingly heartless. I've read some theatrical works, but can't remember the names of any of them now. Most of the other books i've enjoyed reading were more historical non-fiction books about the Civil War and the Maquis, if anyone's actually interested in that i can share some of the titles. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| BAnna Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4620 days ago 409 posts - 616 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Turkish | Message 276 of 319 30 April 2014 at 3:08am | IP Logged | |||||
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Crush, thanks for these. May I have your permission to add these to the Spanish SC Recommendations Learn any Language Wikia page? If not, that's ok, too... :)
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| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5863 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 277 of 319 30 April 2014 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Of course, i don't hold the copyrights to any of those books and if i post something here, the idea is to (hopefully) help someone out, so share away! ;)
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| BAnna Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4620 days ago 409 posts - 616 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Turkish | Message 278 of 319 01 May 2014 at 2:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have added your recommendations. Anyone else, please feel free to add interesting stuff you watch or read as you work on your Super Challenge (or just stumble across interesting stuff in your own adventures in Spanish).
Here's the link: SC Recommendations Spanish 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emily96 Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4426 days ago 270 posts - 342 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Finnish, Latin | Message 279 of 319 01 May 2014 at 5:45am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll have to go through them all when I have more time this weekend but it
looks great. Komma - I guess it depends what type of resource you're looking for and what level you're at. I personally love Duolingo, which is definitely not enough to be a stand alone course, but useful nonetheless. It's easy and fun (and quick, especially if you have the free app). It will help you learn sentence structure. But the grammar notes are sometimes lacking. I've used Notes in Spanish too and I recommend it for sure! I'm glad you've already found it. I've heard good things about the Coffee Break Spanish podcasts too, but never used them myself. Same thing with Spanish News in Slow. Veintemundos has a collection of articles with optional read-along on a variety of subjects for reading practice. Another thing i recommend for reading practice is finding Spanish blogs that interest you. I personally follow a lot of travel blogs. Those are all kind of side resources as opposed to an actual course, but I see you've already checked out FSI and assimil. Anyways, I encourage a multi-track approach with courses supplemented by other materials. I love when words i've just learned in class pop up in other places, and vice versa! I'm sure our team mates have things to add as well. Stelle, are you back from your trip?? We'd love to hear stories! Edited by Emily96 on 01 May 2014 at 5:46am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4142 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 280 of 319 01 May 2014 at 8:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hola lobos!
I'm awake at nearly 4AM with a headache and a sore throat (stupid cold…), so I thought I'd pop in and say hello. I just got back to Canada yesterday after six weeks in Spain. It was an amazing experience that I'll talk about in more detail in my log (and on my blog) shortly, but I just wanted to touch base and say hello. Not only was my Spanish more than sufficient to communicate with Spanish-speakers, I also found myself acting as a translator several times per day, which was very cool. Spaniards are extremely encouraging and take delight in people speaking their language, which made everything even more fun. I walked a little under 800 km, going through some absolutely beautiful country and meeting some wonderful people. My feet are tired, but my soul is refreshed. Now, my goal is to improve my Spanish, hopefully to a C1 level by the end of the Super Challenge, which is starting today. Are there any lobo challenges planned for May? (When I update my log or blog with stories about my trip, should I post a link here? Or would that be more annoying than useful? Let me know what you think, because the last thing I want to do is spam our TAC thread.) 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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