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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4633 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 113 of 154 25 March 2014 at 6:32pm | IP Logged |
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Apto.
That was the one word I was looking for in my Dele exam results. Yesterday I was pretty nervous when logging in to check whether I had passed the B1 exam. I was pretty sure that I did, but what if I didn’t? Hopefully the company wouldn’t be like, “Welp Herm, we paid $700 for a passing score. Give us our money back.” All of my worry was much ado about nothing. At the bottom of the page I saw apto and had a big sigh of relief and felt a rush of pride come over me. I told my wife and my folks and immediately starting composing an email to all of my Mexican co-workers who have been helping me along for the last 2 years. I was surprised to see that the list included 20 names. I told them thanks, I owe them a beer, and there not done yet as I’m taking the B2 exam in the fall. All the responses where pretty much the same, “my pleasure, anytime…” The administrative assistant offered to exchange emails with me on a regular basis. I’m definitely going to take her up on that for 2 reasons. #1 it’ll be great practice/vocabulary builder ( I plan on writing about current events and giving my opinion and asking hers). #2 admins know everything about everyone in the office. Getting to know her well could be invaluable. My studies have slowed a bit in the last few months. I’m extremely busy with my computer repair business. I tried to branch out into selling refurbished computers and that’s not going so well. It’s taking more effort to find buyers than I imagined. Next week at Spanish meet up, I’m thinking about bringing 3 laptops with me and running a clear out sale. I think it will be fun to try to negotiate in Spanish. I need to learn some more technical words before then. Hard work pays off. 2 weeks ago I had a discussion with a manager and he invited me to join his team. I accepted (I’m still awaiting an official offer) and had a choice of two locations, one in the Midwest and the other in Arizona. Of course I picked Arizona. I’ve never lived in that part of the country so it should be awesome to experience that, and over half of the people in the office are native Spanish speakers. Total immersion… here I come! There’s a huge logistical problem with my wife being in New York at the moment but we have a plan to work things out and she has some family where I/we will be moving. Right now I’m looking for a room in a house to rent and there’s one house that really piqued my interest. It’s a beautiful home at the edge of town, with cheap rent, and I’ll have a native speaker roommate. I’m already thinking about playing “let’s make a deal” and offering to trade household chores for Spanish lessons/conversation. Life can be short. I don’t know how many people heard about the building that blew up in New York, but my wife lives a block away. Thankfully she was ok, but it really made me think, “I could be a widower right now.” It’s really important to seize the day in every way. Each moment really and be our last. The last time I went to New York we ate a small breakfast diner with Puerto Rican cooks. I spoke to the ladies in Spanish and they lit up and started asking me a bunch of questions and joking with me. Before speaking in Spanish to them, I was listening to their conversation. They were saying that a woman could still be hot/sexy after 50. I was giving my wife the play-by-play on their conversation and we were giggling. I learned how to say thigh. One of the cooks asked me what part of the chicken I wanted. I said leg, as in pierna. They cracked up and then told me the right word. The English teacher in Mexico who gave me a private lesson last year is having trouble finding a job. She surprised me when she said that people don’t want to hire her because of her age. She’s only 32! She’s also having trouble because she didn’t finish high school in Mexico. She moved to the States and got her diploma but some companies aren’t accepting it. One of my buddies in Mexico is at a turning point in her English studies. She’s now good enough to not make any sense at all. I was out of the office for vacation and when I returned I had a lot of emails from the customer engineers where they forwarded her email and said, “What!! Translate this.” I’m going to make it a point to try to talk to her and another guy on the weekends. They will be stuck in the same position forever if they don’t improve. Salsa is at a standstill. I just don’t have the time to practice like I want. Ohh yea, I need to be out of the house for a week due to some renovations and I’m going to be staying with a buddy who teaches Spanish. He’s already agreed to an “only Spanish in the house” rule. Should be a good crash course. I’m having a lot of fun with the language and I’m very happy I started down this path. Edited by HermonMunster on 25 March 2014 at 6:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5375 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 114 of 154 25 March 2014 at 8:22pm | IP Logged |
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Congratulations on the B1 exam. Great!
And, yes, I read about the explosions in New York... scary. I am happy to hear you wife made it out safey. You certainly seem like you are having a lot of fun with Spanish... keep it up. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4658 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 115 of 154 25 March 2014 at 8:40pm | IP Logged |
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What a log. Congrats on the success! I look forward to hearing more about your adventures.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4633 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 116 of 154 04 April 2014 at 1:26am | IP Logged |
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Hey James, I am having a blast learning, just trying to be like you. Thanks for the congrats. I think I’ll take the B2 in November.
Bolio, glad you like my log. I wrote the plant manager’s assistant and made a deal to be e-penpals. I will write her everyone Monday and talk about current events. This time I wrote about Crimea and Russia, Pope Francis, March Madness, the missing Malaysian flight, told her about me and asked about her. She wrote me back on Tuesday with corrections on all my grammatical problems, missing accent marks and such. I actually did pretty well. The best part was that she said that she understood everything I said. She wrote about of page worth answering my questions and asking some. This is great experience because I get to see the sentence structure of a native speaker. Some of my phrasing is very English based. She is studying German at the moment so she can really empathize with my struggles and I think to a certain extent feels like she should pass on the good will that she’s receiving from the German guys that are writing her and correcting her grammatical errors. Tuesday night I had another meeting up and it was super fun. It’s cool how much diversity there is in the group. It’s like a joke, “So, there was Spaniard, a black dude, a guy from Peru, a Mexican, a white dude, a guy from India sitting at the table…..” It was awesome to have 3 different dialects of native speakers at the table. The Spaniard came to the states to improve his English. He’s doing a year of teaching social studies in middle school. His problem is that he’s teaching in Spanish, so he doesn’t have much opportunity to talk to Americans. He’s having a tough time understanding people with Southern accents. We had fun explaining to him how Americans say words differently depending on where they’re from. Like the work oil. In the north it pronounced more like “oyel,”in the South it’s more of “oal” He got a kick out of that. I told him that we can be language buddies and talk outside of the meetup. It’ll be very good for me because I’ve only spoken to one Spaniard before. Most of all my exposure is with my Mexican buddies. The older Indian gentleman in the group just became a citizen a few months back. When we started talking I joked with him, “have you shot a gun yet? You’re not a real American until you do.” He told me that he hadn’t yet but he wanted to go, just to see if he has good aim. Then he told me an interesting story. When I was a boy back in India I made my own bow and arrow. I couldn’t hit anything with it no matter how hard I practiced. One day I was walking with my friend and he said, “Do you want a mango?” I said sure and he asked which one? I pointed to one about 40 feet in the air and he picked up a stone, threw it, and knocked the mango down. I couldn’t believe it! I had this bow and arrow that you can aim and couldn’t hit a thing with it and he just grabs a random rock and gets my mango in one toss. I just want to prove that I can aim. I think one day before I move I’ll invite him out shooting Jokes and holidays don’t easily translate. The other day was April fools. I made up a nice joke and my Mexican friends were like, “Why did Herm lie to us?!?” lol I tried to explain but they got more confused. The history behind April fools day is a little complicated. Ohh yea, at the meetup my language was really flowing. I was proud because I haven’t spoken Spanish in a while. My writing is also getting really good. I’d say that I’m 85% of the real me when I’m writing; quick wit and everything. I’m still adding words to my study list although at a much slower rate. I have about 3600 in my phone app but I’m sure I know tons more. My computer business is going well but things are slow now. I was able to pass out some cards at the meetup and I got some good leads. My plan right now is to use all profits to buy equipment so I’m ready to start right back up when I get to Arizona. Many of my clients are senior citizens and they really are an underserved market. I’m thinking about hosting seminars to teach the basics. Last weekend I had a lady ask how to add an attachment to an email. Basic skills like that can really improve their lives, especially online banking. Much easier to just log in to check on your account than to get dressed, call a cab, waiting in line at the bank, and then take a cab back. I have noticed that many senior citizens are lonely. They want me to stay forever and just talk to them. My wife is getting serious about studying Spanish. She’s in Spanish Harlem and almost everyone knows it. Plus she’s getting clients who need her writing skills for their resumes. Even if you never have to read, write, or talk on the job, you have to have a resume in English to get a shot at most places. I was in Louisville, Ky last week on a business trip I was very surprised to see that the signs outside of the airport and all throughout were in English and Spanish. Also all announcements were spoken in English and Spanish. I know many Americans who get all bent out of shape because, “If you’re in America you should learn English!!!” To a certain extent, I agree, but I’ll never get upset because a business wants to serve its customers better. I also feel that the writing on the wall is clear, America is changing and the “battle of the wombs” is being won by people who speak other languages than English (and not only Spanish). I would rather profit and prosper from change than complain. Cya 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4633 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 117 of 154 27 April 2014 at 5:45pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Everybody,
It's been a few weeks so I felt like it was time for an update. I got my offer to move out to Arizona. I'm going to be a manager for the first time in my career. I'm super excited about it and ready to learn a new side of the business. I plan to really blow their minds when I get there. On the language front I had an awesome meetup. There was a new lady in the group and we came into the restaurant at the same time. We started chatting and had a good 10min conversation while we all were waiting to be seated. It was very cool. The only time I really got hung up was when I was trying to use idioms. We were both cracking up because I did direct translations, normally a big no-no but they ended up being pretty funny. A few Mexican guys were sitting close to our table and they couldn’t help but to come to our table and ask us about the meetup. They were really happy to see so many people excited about learning Spanish. The administrative assistant in Mexico has stopped writing me back. lol She's super busy and can't correct my emails. I'm going to keep writing her every Monday and maybe I'll guilt her into writing me back. More and more people are writing to me only in Spanish. It's pretty awesome. Also there has been a lot of turnover at the plant and I initiate all communication in Spanish. I'm very fortunate to have so much time to devote to improving. A lot of guys in the plant have plateaued in their English skills. They are good enough to communicate but still make simple mistakes. However, maybe it's just not worth their while to get that little bit later. My buddy who moved up from Mexico to the states is trying to find an American girlfriend. It's funny to get his questions about how to talk to American women and how to say words like, " I was checking her out," instead of " I was staring at her." lol I've been learning more slang even though I try hard not to. I don't want to have Senoran words at the top of my mind and I'm in Peru or Spain. Just found out that I'll be going to Mexico again in early June. While I'm excited for another opportunity to have a crash course in Spanish, this will be a bear of a trip. Probably 12hr days with nothing but meetings. Although it should be interesting. Since I will probably be the only person in the group who can speak Spanish, I’m going to have to be the dad of the people staying at the hotel. I’m sure there will be tons of requests for me to translate. I would like to go to the English class in the morning but that won’t be possible while the customer is there. Maybe on my last day I can stop in at the tail end of class and give them time to talk with an American. I hope the students aren’t super shy like last time. The trips are hard on your body. 3hr time change, different climate, long hours, and late meals. My wife used to think it was just one giant party like Cancun on spring break or something. When I took her down with me she saw the reality. “All you guys do is work forever, eat/drink, and go straight to bed.” I’m planning on doing my nightly walks through town and checking out the grocery stores. There’s always something new for me to try and it’s a great opportunity to talk with regular people. Also, those walks help me to still be able to fit my pants when I return. If my new position is officially announced by then I will introduce myself to my new team in Mexico. I’ll be sure to do operation Santa Claus with them as well. I know that news travels fast in the plant and I don’t want the new guys to be upset that I’m not doing the same things for them that I did for my old group. I’m still studying my vocab words every day and I’m reading the Spanish paper once a week. I may get into watching the Spanish channel, but I’m pretty busy with work and the computer business. Now that it’s consistently nice weather, I’ve been riding my bike a lot and listening to Spanish radio. I have a lot of fun discovering older songs that I really like. My co-workers are like, “ That’s sooo old!!” But it’s new to me. One of my favorite songs that’s on the radio now is relacion clandestina by Chuy Lizarraga. I had to look up a few words and was kind of shocked that the song is played on the air. I really like the music but the lyrics are pretty risqué. That’s about it. Take it easy 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5375 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 118 of 154 27 April 2014 at 6:56pm | IP Logged |
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Congratulations! That's great to get the promotion. Keep it up. Is your manager position going to allow you to use your Spanish? I find the most rewarding things for me in terms of Spanish are the professional accomplishments.
I can relate to your experience with old music. I thought I was cool when I knew many of the classic Nino Bravo songs... until some people from Spain told me that Nino Bravo is really too old fashioned to be "cool" and I sounded foolish for saying I liked Nino Bravo. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4633 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 119 of 154 28 April 2014 at 3:56am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the congrats James. My Spanish usage will definitely increase but not necessarily as a function of the position. I will still talk to the team in Mexico as much as I can in Spanish, but the real increase will come from being in an office with over 50% native speakers. I'm pretty much going to introduce myself and say I'm learning Spanish please help me by only speaking to me in Spanish. I'll probably bring donuts or fruit every Friday as a reward for the people that help me.
Also I plan on getting involved in the Hispanic community there. Seems like there are tons of cultural events that I could go to and at the very least learn something new and have a chance to interact with people. I will be out there for almost 6 months before my wife joins me. I'll spend alot of my free time with a few of the guys that have recently moved up to the states. it's all really exciting 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4633 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 120 of 154 27 May 2014 at 7:53pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Everybody,
It’s been a while. I’ve been super busy catching up with work and being nurse Hermon. My wife had to have a minor medical procedure so I went up to New York to help take care of her. I was blown away by how many patients in the hospital didn’t speak English. It had to be close to one third of the people. Learning Spanish is much more than a cool thing to do and a way to make more money. In the future it’s going to affect your quality of life. During my stay I was so glad that I started on my Spanish journey. I think the best way to share my conversations in Spanish is to list them. I introduced myself to an elderly woman who was my wife’s roommate. We made small talk then began to talk about how important it was to know 2 languages ( she only new Spanish). She said that it was like being two people. I joked that I hope they give me two salaries and she started laughing The same woman was watching tv and I needed to put my wife’s flowers in the window. I excused myself and did it. The hospital is a very humbling place. You end up having to do embarrassing things next to strangers. The old lady needed to give a urine sample, but she couldn’t get the lid off the container. She came out of the bathroom and asked me to open it for her. Her family came to visit every day and I was eavesdropping and could understand pretty much everything they were saying. I was surprised how many doctors, nurses, and other staff didn’t have basic skills in Spanish. To me it kind of sums up the whole experience in the hospital. Customer service, respect, and overall caring are severely lacking. Maybe I am gifted in language learning, but it can’t be that hard to learn. Pain, light, on/off, here, there, counting from 1-10, help, sleep, walk, quiet. I noticed a lot of Spanglish, it made me wonder if some of the people have a good grasp on either language. I felt so competent. It really makes you feel manly to be like, “I got this! Ohh you Speak Spanish, me too." On the same note, I’m a decent sized dude and I work out regularly for vanity and real life sake. (I kinda feel that your birthday suit should be among your best outfits). A lady, her teenage daughter, and tween son were trying to get a giant Apple TV into a conference room. They were really struggling and I was able to easily scoop it up and carry it a fairly long distance. I was cracking up when the small teenage girl asked me if I needed some help. Laughing to myself I thought, “ Uhh no. And I would be ashamed to ask you for help.” The plans for my move to Arizona are firming up. It’s looking like it will be mid to late August. I’m very excited but extremely busy. I’m starting to get copied on all emails and invited to meetings with my new customers. For the next 2.5 months I’ll essentially have 2 jobs so things will be very hectic. I’m looking forward to seeing all the new animals in Arizona. There are wild pigs, small deer, mountain lions, and scorpions, and snakes. ( I want to see the last 3 from a distance) I’m looking for places to stay and I would really like to get a Spanish speaking roommate until my wife arrives. I found one place that I thought I would like until a coworker told me it was in a bad part of town. I plan on starting a language exchange at lunch. There are a few Mexican guys who are in the office and they need help improving their skills. I think 20mins English 20mins Spanish and 20min eating will work out well. I’m working on a training plan for the guy that is replacing me and today we had an hour long conversation about the position. I asked if he knew Spanish and he said no. I told him that he should start learning and gave him a list of the resources that I can provide. Then I told him stories about the accident in Durango and the good relationship that I have with the team, not to mention that it’s common courtesy to at least try to learn something. Lastly, even though it’s not in the job description, some level of Spanish is necessary to do the job effectively. A few times a month I have to tell someone to explain in Spanish so that I can understand. Next week I will be in Mexico for 6 days. The customer is coming down for some meetings, I’m going to introduce my replacement to the team, and I will meet my new teams. I’m excited to see how much my Spanish has improved from the last visit. Sunday I’m trying to get my old team together to have a few brews and celebrate my promotion. It blew my mind how many people sent me emails and instant messages congratulating me on the new position. It really made me feel good to know that so many were genuinely happy for me. I have put a lot of time into developing relationships with my co-workers and having as much fun as is possible in engineering (I call myself Rey de los Alambres [King of the Wires] one lady wrote me saying, “ Now you are King of Quoting.”) I’m also trying to attend the English class again as the guest American. I will probably bring my replacement with me if his flight is on Sunday to really force the students to speak in English. When they are talking to me they switch back to Spanish often when they get stuck. Can’t do that with a guy who doesn’t know Spanish. Also, it’s a good opportunity for him to get noticed in the plant. People have always known who I am in the plant because I’m the only black guy, but some the managers know me because they heard that I went to the English class and none of the resident engineers had ever done that before. It’s a very easy way to raise your profile and it’s fun. We mostly ask each other questions and some of the answers are hilarious. One of my buddies is planning a karaoke night while we are down there. It should be a good time. Chicken wings, beer, and the sounds of geese being strangled. He’s also working on getting be another batch of Bacanora (Mexican moonshine). I also will have to go into the market to shop for presents. So far the list includes a purse, a wooden rosary, and a big jar of vanilla. I better not forget my swimming trunks. It’s going to be HOT! Beteween 108-111 every day. As for my studies, I’m still writing as many of my emails in Spanish as I can, reading the Spanish newspaper, listening to Spanish radio while at work and in the car, and trying to talk to people when I can. I have a Spanish meet up tonight which should be fun and good practice. I’m going to miss that group when I leave. I’ve made some good friends. Things with my business are going well. I had 3 clients last week and 2 scheduled for this week. Because of the move I’m not putting any effort into advertising. I know there is more business out there than I have time for, but I have to go out and rustle it up. In a few more months I’ll make my website for the business in Arizona. The good thing is that I have purchased about everything that I’ll need. So my only expenses will be phone, web hosting, business cards, and gas. My profits should be much higher. I’ll be in a good position when I get out there because my fraternity has a chapter in town and I will have an opportunity to meet all the brothers and hopefully do business with them as soon as I arrive. It seems like it’s the season for people to seize opportunities. I know a lot of people who are taking new positions or changing careers. Today I called my barber to make an appointment and he told me that he’s a truck driver now. I’m happy for him. See ya. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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