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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| nancydowns Senior Member United States Joined 3867 days ago 184 posts - 288 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 113 of 344 23 April 2014 at 6:58pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Bolio, I agree, you are doing very well! I love midterm goals, they help you push for something soon. It is wonderful that you are
going to get to go to Mexico! I know that it will bring a great increase in your level. I do love the scriptorium, too. It brings a real connection to the words. No, the massive input definitely won't hurt your learning! It can only help, and I am sure it will help a lot! I am also going to take that approach, because I think it will bring a big jump in improvement. I hope I didn't make it sound like I thought it was a bad idea! Not at all! My hesitation to join the SC right away is because I know myself and my tendency to get sidetracked! And I so desperately want to finish Assimil and FSI! I am going to use joining the SC as my goal to get me to push to get these programs finished. I will just be a few months behind all of you, and so I will have to push harder when I do join to catch up! I have some books on tape already in mind, and today, I ordered the books to go with them. So I have lots of incentives to push through these programs. I can't wait until we get over the hump into the intermediate level! It will be so exciting to be able to have an actual conversation with natives and not have to struggle so much! Keep up the good work! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4603 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 114 of 344 23 April 2014 at 9:39pm | IP Logged |
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Nancy, I did not take it in a negative way at all. I also want to finish Assimil and my Living Languages courses. As far as FSI, I think it could be the most valuable course I have access to. But it always gets pushed back for some reason. I guess it is because I do not feel in control and it makes me feel rushed. I always feel as if I am behind while doing the excercises. I am not explaining it well but there is something about that course that makes me procrastinate. I almost think I will have to give it my undivided attention and do nothing else. Right now if I were to do that, I would pick doing Scriptorium on everything I can find.
Iguanamon, I clicked the link and started with Invitación a la lectura. I was reading about Oprahs book club and how people are reacting to book clubs and how some are becoming addicted to reading(a very good thing). While I could follow along, there were words that were unknown me. (Común, negocio, través, respuestas, ambrumadores, morena, sosegada, potente, red, eficaz, insospechados) 11 words that I did not know in the first two pages of a nine page report. I was happy I could follow along but it was slower than I wanted because of the need to look up these unknown words. I then realize that it is the C1 course and I felt a lot better about what I was doing. Thanks for the link. Edited by BOLIO on 23 April 2014 at 9:40pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5207 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 115 of 344 23 April 2014 at 10:39pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I forgot to mention you have to scroll down to A1, A2 or B1. The reason I recommend these exercises is they can help to consolidate what you're learning from your course(s) and the Cervantes Aveteca's monolingual instruction helps to think in the language.
I've never used FSI. I used DLI for Portuguese and I loved the drills because they were so helpful in reinforcing points of grammar and usage for me. Were they thrilling and did I get that "Oh boy, I can't wait to do drills!" feeling? No, but they helped me to learn a language and that's what matters to me. I get my fun elsewhere in the language. Combine FSI with all the other resources you have at your disposal. Don't worry so much about progressing through the course like you would Assimil. Just focus on doing the drills until you get them right. If you feel so frustrated that you just can't do it, well... not every course/method is for everyone. Drop it like a wet fish and maybe come back to it later. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4603 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 116 of 344 24 April 2014 at 11:33pm | IP Logged |
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Iguanamon, I like the idea of FSI/DLI drills. And I do feel better when I have finished the few I have done. I need to spend an hour a day doing it. I have completed FSI Unit 5 but I think I am doing it wrong. I have gone thru the units one time but after reading more about it, I think maybe I should do these over and over until it is like I am shadowing it or echoing it or memorize the long dialogue? Do you master 100% of the information or do we do it once and move forward? How did you do the Portuguese DLI? Thanks.
Last night was good. I did 5 Assimil Scriptorium lessons. I like it. Today I have listened to the audio for those lessons. I still have a very hard time understanding what they are saying when I do not have the text in front of me. I don't know if it is the Spain accent or just my poor listening skills. It is very frustrating because I have done these lessons passively and the Scriptorium drill but I still miss so much when turning on the Audio. There is one actor specifically that is almost impossible for me to follow. It should not be that way. I am going to try and shadow them while reading the text to see if it helps my mouth and my ears. 76/374 Edited by BOLIO on 24 April 2014 at 11:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5207 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 117 of 344 25 April 2014 at 12:01am | IP Logged |
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An hour a day for drills, as a beginner is probably a bit much. The DLI Portuguese Basic Course is probably the most well rounded course I have used or come across, despite its age. Their Spanish course isn't quite the same design and I don't usually recommend it. Do the drills until you know the material and can revisit the drills without making too many mistakes. I like Pimsleur's 80% recommendation, though my personal standard was 90%. Don't drill til you drop!
I did between 20 minutes and a half an hour's worth of the drills a day. What I also did was listen to the news everyday with a transcript- even when I didn't understand very much at all. Democracy Now.org, NHK World Spanish have newscasts in Spanish with transcripts (open audio link in new tab). Also there's Amnistia Internacional Podcast from Spain and the televised euronews español which follows the transcript not exactly but closely. Why the news. I've explained it before, but here's the gist: It's short or can be as short as you want. It's daily. It's different (but often continuing stories) every day. It's native speech but more clearly pronounced (interviews with real people too), and for three of those resources you can check the English versions out as well (The Amnesty International one, no). Ten minutes a day isn't too much. Most people can find that time somewhere. Do that every day for a month reading along (or not) and your listening will improve. Make it a habit for more than a month and watch out! It will be hard- no getting around that. Your mind will drift if you're not focusing. Reading along helps. Also not worrying about understanding every single word helps. You will, you've just got to keep doing it. It will go from noise and jibberish to, hey, wait a minute- I understood that sentence! Then the whole story eventually. If you find this is just too painful for you, even for 5 or 10 minutes. By all means, quit! Just don't quit because you're uncomfortable. A little irritation makes an oyster grow a pearl. A lot of irritation kills it. For those short Assimil lessons. Try listening first without reading. Then read without listening. Then listening while reading. Then listening again- or some combination thereof. If you have time, try to listen ahead to the next lesson once after you finish the one you're on. Look at it as a movie trailer of a coming attraction. If you'll add in one of my native listening suggestions, you may even find that you'll start to become annoyed with the unnaturally slow Assimil speech before too long- maybe. Edit: The Spanish Accent: It takes some getting used to but it will be worth getting accustomed to it. Someday you may want to watch an Almodóvar film or maybe even visit Spain. You'll be glad you put in the effort. You're surrounded by Mexican/Tejano Spanish in Houston, plus your wife, so you won't have to worry about it damaging your own accent or understanding of what's around you. Edited by iguanamon on 25 April 2014 at 12:23am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4603 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 118 of 344 25 April 2014 at 12:20am | IP Logged |
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Thank you fine Sir! It is not too painful. I will commit to it and your native listening suggestions also. 20-30 minutes FSI and 10-15 minutes of the native listening with text is doable for sure. Thanks again.
EDIT: I listened to the Democracy now articles and they seem to be speaking somewhere between an F1 race car and the speed of light. :) thanks again and I will use it daily. Edited by BOLIO on 25 April 2014 at 12:40am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5207 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 119 of 344 25 April 2014 at 12:31am | IP Logged |
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Just don't worry too much and cut yourself some slack for not understanding everything and getting everything right. You are learning a foreign language after all.
Like I said, don't worry about having to look up every unknown word and trying to completely understand a news item. Just listen while reading. Maybe pick a story or two and listen in English first before the Spanish with a transcript. It's about building a critical mass, not being massively critical (of yourself). It will take time and isn't going to happen overnight. If you do listen for 10 minutes a day for a month, I think you will notice improvement. Most importantly, keep up with the courses and maintain a good balance. Keep the faith, be persistent and consistent. Edited by iguanamon on 25 April 2014 at 12:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nancydowns Senior Member United States Joined 3867 days ago 184 posts - 288 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 120 of 344 25 April 2014 at 12:57am | IP Logged |
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Hey Bolio, I was feeling guilty myself because I wasn't listening to the FSI over and over and over again like I have heard of some people doing, but I
am just making sure I understand the basics, especially the grammar points, and then moving on. I do go through all of the drills, but not necessarily all at once. I might do the dialog for learning, then come back and do the dialog for fluency and a few of the drills. Then I will split the second 30 minutes worth of drills up in a couple of segments sometimes. But sometimes, I do it all at once, if it is pretty easy. I have no intentions of memorizing any of the FSI, I just make sure I understand and can basically produce the main grammar points, like the verb tenses and the pronouns, etc. But that's why there are so many different types of learning products, people learn differently. If it is demotivating to use it, kick it to the curb! :-) I started out doing the FSI Arabic course, and it was such a drag for me, I hated doing it, so I quit. Language learning should be engaging and something you love to do, so do the parts you love, and don't worry about the rest. I am so glad that you love the Scriptorium, too! That's so cool that we both like it! Keep up the good work, you are doing great! The grammar will come for you with all of your native input, and you are doing that living language course, too. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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