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TAC ’15 French Spanish Celtic Adv Study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 49 of 336 13 August 2012 at 6:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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So I decided to try the online Spanish placement test at my local university again now
that I've finished another course. This time I didn't have to rely so much on guessing though there were some vocabulary-based questions I didn't know the answer to (which word wouldn't you associate with a bed, a tree, etc). Many of the other questions centered on the use and the conjugation of the subjunctive which thanks to recently working through it in Madrigal I believe I nailed them. The result: I scored 493 which put me into 4th semester and beyond, the highest you can test into (the minimum score being 440). That would put me into Intermediate II and the writing classes. The class isn't offered so I checked out Intermediate I and the book they use, which happens to have a sample chapter online. From what I saw I think I could follow the course but to excel and to get my other skills up to par I would need to work k quite a bit, especially in learning vocab. But knowing what I do about the people in language classes I wouldn't be the weakest in the class. So there you have it - studying Spanish since about March, not nearly as intensively as I could have, taking a lot of breaks here and there, haven't even made it to Assimil active wave and I managed to skip 3+ semesters of college Spanish. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5393 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 50 of 336 13 August 2012 at 7:18pm | IP Logged | ||
That is so awesome! Congratulations. :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 51 of 336 13 August 2012 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks! Checked out your Super Challenge list - should give me some good ideas for
Spanish media (and others)! Edited by sctroyenne on 14 August 2012 at 1:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Swift Senior Member Ireland Joined 4606 days ago 137 posts - 191 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Russian | Message 52 of 336 13 August 2012 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Wow well done! Not to take anything away from you, I think that shows the advantages of
self-study and some of the failings of a language class. Your knowledge of French probably made it a bit easier too. Again though, not to take anything away from you. Well done! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 53 of 336 13 August 2012 at 10:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Oh no, I'm not going to say I put in a superhuman effort or have a super brain. It just
shows how classes are centered around the "topics" of the language and not necessarily proficiency in using it. So since I know subjunctive, which is considered "advanced" I automatically shoot up to the highest level. All the "topics" of the language are relatively easy to learn and so it's easy to do it on your own. A writing class where I have to mix it all together or some other more advanced class where a teacher is there to smooth out mistakes is better use of time/money. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 54 of 336 17 August 2012 at 12:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I created my own verb sheets to keep track of everything I've learned about Spanish
verbs and wrote out all the "grammar glue" I've learned out of my grammar book so far. I also dug out my copy of Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish and went through the "faux amis" chapter. I looked through my Spanish Reader again and I'm noticing a lot more things. I like learning all the other "glue" type phrases though I know I eventually need to work on some basic vocabulary. I started Memrise to see if I like it and if it helps. I've been watching more Spanish television. I think I'm getting better at picking things out and I notice verbs more now (before they kind of dissppeared). I'm getting pretty good with commercials, with programming it depends. Just saw some kind of dating contest show setting up dates for quinceañeras and I was able to understand quite a bit. Far from 100% but a decent amount. I think I need to listen to more audio that would be more comprehensible for me but I think exposing myself early to the real stuff will make leveling up my comprehension much easier and will make it much less intimidating as I'll be used to the speed. I'm also slowly starting to form phrases to activate my speaking. I'd like to find some writing prompts to get ideas of what to write about so I can start that as well (one thing that would have helped Madrigal's Magical Key). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 55 of 336 18 August 2012 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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So I've been disappointed in my lack of structure since coming back. While I haven't
completely neglected languages I do want to make more solid progress and have a set schedule so that I don't waste time and so that I can better manage juggling languages. I'm going to work on organizing my time and setting things up so that it's easy to slip into language study mode. First step is identifying my goals so that I have an idea of what I need to do. In French my ultimate goal is to get as close to bilingual/native-like as possible (if my accent can't get that good then I'll settle for flawless with a slight accent). I want to be C2+. But for my immediate life goals I need a C1 (no extra benefit for being C2) and being that Paris left me pretty broke I don't have the luxury of taking a C2 test for fun and pride when C1 is what I need and what I'm pretty confident that I can do. So I need to look into test schedules and work through my test prep materials and my goal will be to 1) pass the test and 2) see how high I can score giving me an idea of how I'd do on a C2 exam should I want to try it down the line. I'm unsure of how Spanish will fit into my future so I'm unsure of what my ultimate goal will be. I know that I want to take advantage of my time here when I have easy access to resources, Spanish language TV, reading material, speakers, etc. I can probably get to a good level quickly if I do so, so that's my main motivation. It would be great to be able to follow news (both audio and written) as that gives me access to news and points of view from a large number of countries. Getting to B1-B2 would probably satisfy me for now as I also want to start Portuguese once my Spanish is at a stable place. But we'll see where Spanish takes me once I get to that level - a few years ago French wasn't a major part of my life and just look at where I am now. I still want to work on Irish but my main problems are time and working on two new languages simultaneously. I find that while learning that "basics" in Spanish is pretty easy for me, the basics in Irish are pretty hard. I'd say that Irish has a pretty big learning curve (though from what I hear it gets pretty regular after the initial difficulty). I don't think that I can commit to it everyday (though once I get better at knowing how words are pronounced I can browse my little picture dictionary that I bought, or maybe Memrise has a good collection) but I think getting through Buntús Cainte at the rate of 1-3 lessons per week is doable. Just build my foundation in the language that can put me in a place to work on it more intensively later. I see some mini-challenges in my future to give myself little boosts. I found some books I had ordered from amazon.fr a while back but didn't have much time to read. One is La Grande Désillusion (Glabalization and its Discontents) by Joesph Stiglitz. Let me say a word about why nonfiction is better than fiction. The vocabulary is a lot more relevant and useful. The subjects are the types that you'll encounter on the language exams, they concern topics that you may discuss with native speakers when you get the chance, most commercial books are written for lay people (in the case of this book, educated lay people) so the writing tends to be really straightforward and not too far off from how someone would be speaking in a lecture and you become more informed about the world and various topics which is always good. I regret that I didn't have more money and luggage space to bring home a lot more nonfiction books with me - I browsed a bookstore a few days before I left and it was quite tempting. I read the opening outloud and wow, I need to do this more often because I need a lot of work. Reading outloud isn't the same as speaking but I think that smoothing out my reading will help make my conversation more fluid. I wrote down words that I found tripped me up or where I was particulary horrified by my accent. A lot were -ment and - ion words (which the text was full of), nasals, a's (not satisfied with my a's), and combinations of vowels and r's with vowels (à un rôle, par où, à orienter). I have wanted to work on my accent but wasn't sure if all the work would be worth it so I'll focus for now on fluidity and working on real trouble spots and see if I get better. I got Harry Potter in Spanish and I tried listen-reading. I found it frustrating. I may not have given myself enough time to get into the flow but even slowing down the audio a notch didn't allow me the chance to really absorb what I was reading/hearing, check new vocab with the English, etc. Is this normal? I'm thinking of maybe reading it slowly at first like my bilingual reader so that I can take notice of the vocab (noting the more useful words) and the sentence structure and then going through after with the audio. Or maybe I just need to adjust or maybe the text is too hard. I'm kind of excited about getting my reading level up because I still have a backlog of nonfiction in English that I really want to read (I had a major book buying addiction) but would cut into my language time. If I can find copies in Spanish, which ought to be easy and relatively cheap here, then I can use them to get some Spanish work in as well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pbromide Bilingual Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4545 days ago 76 posts - 98 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Swedish | Message 56 of 336 18 August 2012 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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First of all, I am very impressed with the progress you've made in French. I remember
when I understood my first French pun; I was happy for days! I see you here now explaining all these French puns and I'm feeling rather humbled. As someone who got the same score on AP French (unlike you, more likely on the listening section as my listening comprehension, no matter what the language, has an unfortunate tendency to lean towards incomprehension. In my native languages I've much improved to the point that I'd say I no longer have any issues, but when it comes to foreign languages... eh, that's another thing entirely), it's great to know you that starting from the same position you are in I can get to a C1 and maybe a C2 in French if I try hard enough - and perhaps this could apply to my preferred other language, Russian! Secondly, should you ever need any help with Spanish expressions, I'll do my best to help. As a Cuban, it's very likely that our idioms have little or nothing to do with European Spanish idioms, but at the end of the day it's the same language. Thirdly, whoa, Irish! I've been thinking about what language to study after Swedish and Irish has been floating around my head. I wish you the best of luck with it - not that you'll need it, seeing you have a great track record with languages and dedication. The dedication you've put into learning all your languages is admirable. Truth be told, I'm now inspired to be as active in my languages as you were in French. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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