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Spanish Log (TAC 2014 Team Lobo) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 113 of 271 14 April 2012 at 4:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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As it turned out, prices where only that expensive in Valencia because there was a
festival on. The festival is called Las Fallas, and it just so happened to be taking place during the exact dates I was planning to be Valencia. I thought long and hard about whether or not to spend the extra money required to visit the festival. It was going to cost me just under €200 for about 5 days accommodation in a 4 bed dorm, which is a lot. In the end I decided to go for it, and wow, I'm so glad I did. This festival must be one of the best kept secrets in Spain, if not Europe. I will definitely be going back there at one point. I'll put some links and info up about it in a future post. At the minute I'm writing this using a tablet, and I haven't worked out how to copy and paste yet. I would say in terms of speaking Spanish, my first week, in Barcelona and Valencia, was the most successful and by far the most fun. At the airport I spent a while ear wigging in on a conversation some young Spaniards where having, and was pleased to find that I could follow most of it. I had a good time in the taxi from the airport to the hostel, firing questions at the driver. I was able to find out more about Las Fallas, and which train station I would need to go to to get a train to Valencia. I checked in without using English, and decided to ask a few random questions just to get some practice in. Later on I was able to get some help as my key wouldn't work properly, again using only Spanish. It was quite late when I got there, so I decided to prop myself up in the nearest bar and have a few beers. I managed to speak to the barman a little, but he didn't seem to keen on speaking. When I got back I managed to find a TV station showing an American film with Spanish subtitles which I watched for a while, which seems like a really good way of picking things up. I fell asleep feeling pretty pleased with the way that things where going. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 114 of 271 15 April 2012 at 10:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Things went pretty well the next day as well. Getting directions to the station, buying
my ticket, understanding the various options available etc. Was a breeze. I managed to strike up a conversation with a guy on the train as well. He gave my more info on Las Fallas etc. This was probably an example of a situation I could have taken more advantage of, by trying to speak all the way there (3 hrs). Don't get me wrong, I did speak, but I felt quite tired so was content to just sit and watch the scenery, which was quite attractive as the train follows the coast nearly all the way to Valencia. When I arrived at the station I could hardly move for all the people that where there. There was a real carnival atmosphere, and I had to take a taxi to the hostel as I couldn't push through the crowds with my backpack on. This was my first time staying in dorm rooms on my own (I have done it with friends, but that's different ) and I must say that I was a little skeptical at first. Seriously though, if you do a little research beforehand then it really can be a Fantastic way to travel. After dropping my stuff off and getting settled in to my room, I went out to explore the city. As nice as the city was, I actually got a little bored after a couple of hours and even began to question my decision to go to Spain. I felt like walking around cities on my own would soon become a very lonely endeavor. Luckily, things shaped up pretty quickly once I got back to the hostel. I met an Aussie guy who was staying in my room, who was going to be in Valencia for a long time as he was buying a flat there with the intention of renting it out. He suggested we go to the shared kitchen to share a few beers. Once in the kitchen, he started chatting to some guy he knew, who I heard mention something about Intercambios. It turned out that he was going to a language exchange night in a bar somewhere in the city, that is held twice a week. Of course I explained that I was in town looking for the same thing. " well, you can come along if you like". Brilliant, when is it? "I'm leaving in 20 minutes". The Aussie said he would tag along too, just for the hell of it, and so it was that I found myself of on some adventure with a couple of strangers, on the first proper day of my holiday. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| camdo2 Newbie United States Joined 4673 days ago 26 posts - 32 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 115 of 271 16 April 2012 at 1:22am | IP Logged | ||
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Wow, sounds like an awesome trip. How is hostelling around Spain? Is it good or is it odd?
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| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 116 of 271 16 April 2012 at 3:22am | IP Logged | ||
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This is so motivating to read your posts. Recently I have been skyping with someone from Valencia and I have been hearing about Las Fallas... I am jealous that you got to experience the real thing. It is also encouraging to see how well you managed with your Spanish.
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| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 117 of 271 16 April 2012 at 10:58am | IP Logged | ||
Hostelling around Spain is fine. In fact its a brilliant way to meet people. I think the best policy is to read the reviews on hostelworld. I generally don't stay anywhere with less than a 80% rating, and I always read the worst reviews first. Having said that, some people on there are ridiculously petty, and seem to expect 4 star comfort. So you need to take some of the ratings with a pinch of salt. Everywhere I stayed was very clean, comfortable and safe, with the exception of a hostel in Madrid which was a little grotty, although full of interesting people to meet. One thing, I would never stay somewhere where I couldn't lock up my stuff, although I doubt there's many places like that around nowadays. If you were to go, you would find plenty of fellow Americans there, I guess they are one of the most common nationalities to be encountered in Spain hostels. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 118 of 271 17 April 2012 at 12:22am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks James. I've been keeping up with your log to. Looks like it's true about things getting a lot harder when you reach unit 47! Looks like that unit is quickly gaining notoriety. Edited by dbag on 17 April 2012 at 12:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 119 of 271 18 April 2012 at 11:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I've just booked a flight to Prague for next Tuesday, and will be in Eastern Europe for
a week or two from then on, so before continuing to relate my Spanish trip, I thought I'd just log what I've been doing since I've got back. I have read quite a few articles in El Pais. Still not the easiest thing in the world, by I am trying to spend at least a little time each day with native materials, and it is helping, all be it gradually. I have also read nearly all of the intermediate readings from the cvc lectures Paso a Paso Page. These are getting easier, and are improving my reading speed. I read a 50 Page children's book cover to cover and understood the main themes (it does have pictures though!) I have been making sure I am comfortable with the Level 5 material. I don't want to start on unit 36 which is the start of the subjunctive lessons, until I am reasonably comfortable that I won't need too much review with the preceding material. I have done some of the conversation stimulus sections, imperfectly, a few times. Half way through unit 5, they get REALLY hard! I am considering cutting them out until I do a review of the course. That way I can, at least to an extent, internalize all of the main structures of the language in as efficient as way as possible. I seriously need to get some conversation exchange going, but have had a few problems doing so. For example, I found out that skype is not available for the BlackBerry Playbook, which is the tablet I have bought. Great. At least you can talk through the tokbox function on lenguajero, although I have had a few microphone set up issues. I have also had people contact me, and then flake out, which is frustrating. I can't wait till I've got these issues sorted, because my Spanish isn't really going to progress properly until I have. Edited by dbag on 18 April 2012 at 11:20pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 120 of 271 19 April 2012 at 3:16am | IP Logged | ||
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sharedtalk is an option for conversation exchange. it is kind of hit or miss sometimes (some people are there more to socialize than learn a language), but whenever I log into the text chat room someone almost always immediately requests to chat with me. There are simply always a lot of people logged on and looking to do a language exchange.
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