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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes  Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 1 of 13 06 August 2013 at 10:41pm | IP Logged |
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Now that my Korean has gotten the more advanced level I wanted it at, I feel like I'm
ready to move on to something new! I decided on Spanish because of it's functionality. Where I live, there is a tremendous amount of Spanish speakers, and I'd like to be able to communicate with them. I plan to visit multiple Latin American countries once or twice a year while I'm in college. I should be going to Mexico for a week in the spring and Ecuador for two weeks in the summer. During this time I plan to use whatever I learn as much as possible. I haven't really started studying all that much yet, but I'm realizing how different learning Spanish will be. I already now how to read and pronounce everything. You don't grow up in California without picking up a thing or two. The verb conjugation looks bizarre. That'll probably be the hardest thing about learning Spanish. I'm really struck by the differences between Spanish and Korean. I mean, obviously they come from two complete different sides of the world, but I feel like I need to approach them entirely differently. With Korean, I loved learning the grammar in a very deliberate way. But with Spanish, I'd much rather try learning grammar through a less scientific way. I've read tons about trying to notice grammar rules by just exposing yourself to the language lots, so I'm going to try that. It's so weird starting another language from scratch. It's been so long since I've even tried anything else. I don't even know where to start yet. So, I'm basically going to wing it for the next month and see where it takes me. I don't really want advanced fluency. I just want to be able to have a conversation and travel using Spanish comfortably. My tentative plan for now is to study Spanish until January just to see where that takes me. So far I've been doing lessons on Lingq.com and I've learned a few things. So I'll try to keep track of my progress here. Once I figure out a study plan, I'll post it here. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5377 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 2 of 13 07 August 2013 at 3:24am | IP Logged |
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Good luck. I think you will find Spanish easy after learning Korean. Michel Thomas may be a good place to start... he does an awesome job going through the grammar and conjugations. Do you know where you will be going in Ecuador? I loved it there... great place. I really loved Cuenca and Salinas.
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| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 3 of 13 07 August 2013 at 7:31pm | IP Logged |
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I'll have to check Michel Thomas out. I've heard a lot of good things about it. I'm
suppose to go to Ecuador next August. I heard it's really lovely there. I can't wait to visit. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 4 of 13 13 August 2013 at 7:22pm | IP Logged |
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I really wanted to learn about some of the cultures associate with the Spanish language.
I didn't know where to start since the Spanish speaking world is so large. I decided to learn a bit about Ecuador first, since I'm suppose to visit there next year. The country has what seems to be a very rich culture and history. I can't wait to learn more about it. Looking at pictures of the country has made me even more excited to visit. I've been reading articles on Ecuador in Spanish. I need a dictionary for every other word, but I've learned quite a bit of passive vocabulary. It's really strange how I can guess at most anything. Spanish is so similar to English. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 5 of 13 18 August 2013 at 6:06am | IP Logged |
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I recently found Mi Vida Loca on BBC. I really wanted to avoid European Spanish, but
the course is actually too much fun to pass up on. I keep pronouncing "c/z" as "th"...I suppose it'll just be a habit I'll have to break later. In listening to different accents, it seems to me like Spaniard Spanish is spoken clearer than Mexican Spanish. I've been going through beginner's courses on lingq.com. Strangely enough, I've been going through them lightening quick and picking up on words and phrases really easily. I haven't really studied for all that long, but I already struck up conversations with native speakers. I sort of run out of things to say pretty early on. I really need to find out how to say something like "I've always wanted to visit X country." It's so strange because I've always hated using Korean with native speakers because I'm so paranoid about making mistakes, but with Spanish, I completely don't care. I think it's because I didn't use Korean with actual human beings for so long. So I let myself build up a mental wall. I let myself develop deep insecurities about my ability to speak Korean, so I have such a difficult time trying to use it. But with Spanish, I can barely utter a few sentences, so I have to standards. I just go for it, fully expecting to do terribly. It's incredibly refreshing not to have that anxiety about speaking. It's definitely the thing I need to work on in my Korean. I've found some Latin American shows, and I plan to start on them soon. My goal is at least one hour of Spanish t.v a day. Other than that, I still don't really have a plan. I haven't come up with a plan as too how many lingq lessons I want to do a day. So far I think my average has been somewhere between 6 and 9. But the lessons aren't that long, so it's not all that difficult~ I'm still waiting to take that first stab at grammar. I waiting to go a specific library because I know they have a lot of books on Spanish grammar, so I want to start with those. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 6 of 13 01 September 2013 at 8:03pm | IP Logged |
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I just started my new semester and work has been crazy, so I haven't been able to study
very much. I have ton of vocabulary and lessons to review. I thought that I would have forgotten much of what I had learned a few weeks ago, but I realized that I remember the great majority of everything very well. My manager at work is a native Spanish speaker, so I look forward to being able to practice with her once I get to the point where I can say more than a few sentences. Hopefully I'll be able to study a bit more regularly this week. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4146 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 7 of 13 01 September 2013 at 10:13pm | IP Logged |
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I didn't make it through all of Mi Vida Loca. While I found it fun at first, and it's definitely well-made in terms of
production, I found that it moved really slowly and there was just so much English. I recommend Destinos instead (free telenovela-style Spanish course from the early 90s). The story is silly and inane, but it's a great way to learn Spanish! I wrote a pretty long review of it here: Destinos Review There are also some great free podcasts for learning Spanish - although the two that I'm using do use the Spanish accent. Coffee Break Spanish is great for absolute beginners and Notes in Spanish has 3 levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). I started using Notes in Spanish as an intermediate learner, so I can't speak to their beginner podcasts. My listening comprehension skills have improved enormously since I started listening to Notes in Spanish. Another great site for learning Spanish is veintemundos.com - it has articles from all around the Spanish- speaking world. Each article includes an audio recording by a native speaker, and links to related videos on youtube. A new article comes out every two weeks. Have fun learning Spanish! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| JiEunNinja Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4206 days ago 64 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 8 of 13 02 September 2013 at 7:49pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks! I'm also not thrilled about how much English there is in Mi Vida Loca. I wish the
dialogs were longer too. I'll have a lot of fun checking out your recommendations~ I did listen to a couple episodes of Coffee Break Spanish. Maybe I'll give it another shot. Oh my God. Destinos looks like it's going to be amazing. Thanks for the recommendation!! If only I had this when I took Spanish in high school. Maybe I would have stuck with it longer^^ Edited by JiEunNinja on 02 September 2013 at 7:53pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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