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A French and Spanish Enthusiast | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Aguacero Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4205 days ago 10 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 1 of 13 01 June 2013 at 6:34am | IP Logged | ||
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I have two long-term language goals:
To speak Spanish at a C2 level To speak French at a B2 level I'm not sure how to categorize my current Spanish ability. I can understand >90% of what I hear on Spanish television and Youtube. Often I can understand 100% of what I hear for 10 minute stretches or more. But there are also times when I hear something and do not catch the meaning the first time. My active Spanish is respectable, and I feel like I can say anything I want but the eloquence and precision that I would like are not there yet. Sometimes I can speak very fast and other times I have to slow down and think more, but this is similar to how I speak in my native tongue as well. My abilities in French are much easier to define. I'm a beginner < A1. I've set some very specific study plans for both languages for the remainder of 2013 and I'm very interested in seeing them through and assessing the results. For now I’ll simply record my progress since March 21. Spanish. 65 hours of listening. 279 pages of Reading French. Started Assimil today. I will take it slow and plan on finishing it in just under a year from now. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Vestis2 Newbie United States Joined 4809 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 13 03 June 2013 at 5:39am | IP Logged | ||
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Hey Aguacero!
I'm not an expert by any means but it sounds like your Spanish might be at or near advanced fluency by the definition of this webpage. I have no idea how close that is to C2 though. I'll be following you also on your french studies as that might be the language I jump into after I've completed Spanish with Ease and I'm very interested in how it works out for you. Good Luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| casamata Senior Member Joined 4264 days ago 237 posts - 377 votes  Studies: Portuguese | Message 3 of 13 03 June 2013 at 8:03am | IP Logged | ||
I find tv shows and tv to be kind of inefficient so I've been listening to Spanish radio a lot. Have you heard of RTVE? You can download the podcasts and listen to them on your MP3 player when you have free time. It is informal enough to learn more high-yield vocab and they use "big" words sometimes also to enrich one's vocabulary. Do you find videos easier to understand than the radio? There is a noticeable decrease in my comprehension when talking on the phone in Spanish because I have to "imagine" that the other person is there and because of a poor connection, obviously. http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/no-es-un-dia-cualquiera/ Another link is eluniversal in case you prefer Mexican Spanish. I would listen to it also, but I haven't found any downloadable radio podcasts. http://multimedia.eluniversal.com.mx/n_audio.html Good luck...reaching C2 in Spanish for an English native is definitely very accessible, especially if you move abroad for a few years. Add a related language like French and it is definitely very feasible. It's not like you are going for a language that is way different from English/Romance languages and has few speakers and learning resources. Without looking at the exact CEFR descriptions, I think a layman's version of it would be: B2: you don't have to think about conjugating verbs and make mistakes like 1% of the time. You can always get your point across even though you may have to "describe" the word instead of knowing the exact word. C1: almost complete mastery of the subjunctive, especially the adverbial clauses, (aunque, mientras, cuando, etc), word choice is very good, understands the connotations of words. Doesn't mix formal and informal language. When a native is speaking to you, you can finish their sentences mentally with the word that they will pick. Pretty much, you know how natives speak. C2: Pretty much a native exact for a slight accent or VERY rare grammatical error. Well-versed in the culture, slang, can multitask like surfing the net while speaking Spanish with friends on Skype. (I really wish I could do this; I surf the net while speaking English with my Latino friends on Skype) Can do a very good job of translating, interpreting, and even if the person doesn't know the exact terminology, can talk about the subject like a native. Another characteristic is probably that of having a very broad vocabulary. For example, most Americans aren't experts at plumbing, but we all know how to say "plumber." (Edit: meant to say "plunger." Plumber is a pretty basic word in Spanish) So a C2 person should know the basics for almost all subjects. Edited by casamata on 03 June 2013 at 5:04pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Aguacero Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4205 days ago 10 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 4 of 13 03 June 2013 at 8:21am | IP Logged | ||
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Vestis2,
Thank you for the support! I am no expert either but I do not consider my ability advanced fluency. I wish it were! If I absolutely had to guess, I would say I am at a B2 level in Spanish because I can not read a book of Spanish literature and randomly open up to any page and know all but only one or two words and/or idioms(Though I might do that on some pages). I also feel that even though my comprehension is approaching where I would like it to be, I do not have a C1 command of the language actively according to my understanding of the categorization. So you may be right about me being close to advanced fluency, I believe C1 may not be too far away but its at least a year of solid study away if I had to guess. If it takes longer, thats ok. I think its amazing to listen to the way the natives can use the language. I understand it, I can speak well, but I can not duplicate what they do. I'm happy with my current ability and I'm headed in the right direction with the rest of my Spanish abilities and thats all I can ask of myself. I'll keep you updated on both my Spanish and French. I'm going intentionally slow on the French and doing multiple Assimil lessons on the same material before moving on. I am not waiting 50 lessons to start the active wave. I want to be active from the beginning with writing, speaking, and translating in both directions. Though I will go back and "test out" of a lesson on a 5 day delay after finishing it but after that I will consider the material "completed". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Aguacero Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4205 days ago 10 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 13 03 June 2013 at 8:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Casamata,
Thank you for your comments they are very positive and encouraging. I will have to check those links out! They look like they could be very helpful. I feel like my listening comprehension over the phone is nearly as good as it is in person but this holds true to conversations in my native English as well. It definitely requires more attention in both languages for me at least. I do know that a poor connection makes it much harder to understand than it would in English. From your description, I am at a B2 level, but I have some of the C1 qualities such as understanding subjective tense very well and (Sometimes) being able to finish a native's sentence. I feel I have a way to go yet though before I reach C1. Thanks again and I'll be checking out those podcasts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Aguacero Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4205 days ago 10 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 6 of 13 08 June 2013 at 8:57am | IP Logged | ||
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Spanish Update
463 pages of reading 71 hours of listening My goals through the rest of 2013 are: 10000 pages of reading 200 hours of listening. French did 10 hours of french study this week. I'm on lesson 3 of Assimil. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5867 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 7 of 13 08 June 2013 at 2:46pm | IP Logged | ||
La verdad, creo que muchxs nativxs del castellano tampoco pueden hacerlo, ya que ¡el vocabulario español es riquísimo! Y por alguna razón me parece que a lxs autorxs españolxs les encanta la terminología religiosa, uyy ¡nunca sabía que un catedral podría tener tantas partes! Pero bueno creo que la mejor manera de llegar a ese punto en que entiendes todo o casi todo es sin duda ¡leer un montón! Ahora tienes una excusa para pasar todo el día leyendo ese sinfín de libros interesantes que hay en castellano, ¡no estás vagueando estás estudiando! :D Creo que tenemos más o menos los mismos deseos, yo también quiero poder hablar el castellano como unx nativx algún día, hay otros idiomas que quisiera estudiar también pero para mí el más importante sin lugar a dudas es el castellano :) ¡Éxito! De la versión "sans peine" de Assimil: "Essayez, je suis sûr que vous réussirez !" 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| casamata Senior Member Joined 4264 days ago 237 posts - 377 votes Studies: Portuguese | Message 8 of 13 08 June 2013 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Quote: La verdad, creo que muchxs nativxs del castellano tampoco pueden hacerlo, ya que ¡el vocabulario español es riquísimo! Y por alguna razón me parece que a lxs autorxs españolxs les encanta la terminología religiosa, uyy ¡nunca sabía que un catedral podría tener tantas partes! Pero bueno creo que la mejor manera de llegar a ese punto en que entiendes todo o casi todo es sin duda ¡leer un montón! Ahora tienes una excusa para pasar todo el día leyendo ese sinfín de libros interesantes que hay en castellano, ¡no estás vagueando estás estudiando! :D
Creo que tenemos más o menos los mismos deseos, yo también quiero poder hablar el castellano como unx nativx algún día, hay otros idiomas que quisiera estudiar también pero para mí el más importante sin lugar a dudas es el castellano :) ¡Éxito! Quote: De la versión "sans peine" de Assimil: "Essayez, je suis sûr que vous réussirez !" I love Spanish but most educated linguists say that English has a lot more words than most languages, including Spanish. Also, I’m curious why you put “x” instead of “o” and “a” in your words? Is this how people write when texting or something. You write very well! Just one thing—“cathedral” is feminine. It may have just been a typo. Edited by casamata on 08 June 2013 at 9:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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