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Spanish Log (TAC 2014 Team Lobo) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5260 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 249 of 271 14 March 2014 at 12:19pm | IP Logged |
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Wow, someone actually took one of my recommendations! I loved La isla de los amores infinitos. Daína is an excellent writer. I don't know if you have twitter, she tweets a lot during the day @DainaChaviano and often has interesting links to follow. Her website/blog has some interesting content as well: Daína Chaviano website/blog en español.
On her home page she has a link to America Reads Spanish a library project which has short descriptions of books in Spanish- in English, that may help beginners and intermediate learners to find native literature. Another good way to find literature is to read literary blogs and literature columns in newspapers like El País. I think it's a great idea to build some critical mass with reading. The more you do, the more you'll improve your vocabulary and internalize Spanish grammar constructs. I remember hitting a stride in reading Spanish after my fourth or fifth novel and that made a huge difference for me. Have a look at El país bajo mi piel by Gioconda Belli. She's a Nicaraguan author, now living in both Nicaragua and the US. The book is her memoir/autobiography and the story of her life, love and the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. It's a fascinating, well written, real-life story. I don't think it will be long before you'll be moving Spanish over to the "speaks" column, dbag. Of course, like me, you'll still be improving every day. I'm still not "finished" and never will be :) Edited by iguanamon on 14 March 2014 at 1:46pm 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 250 of 271 23 March 2014 at 11:56pm | IP Logged |
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I have taken (and massively benefited from) loads of your suggestions in the past iguanamon! And very thankful I am too.
I really enjoyed la isla de los Amores infinitos, although for various reasons I did have my head in the clouds a bit while reading it. I will definitely re-read it again in the future, and will be working through her back catalog too. I have also ordered "El Judio de Shangai" which you recommended to me a while back, and I will be buying " El Pais Bajo mi Piel some point soon too. Touch wood, I think I may have hit my stride. I am more than half way through "El Juego de Angel already, and am absolutely loving it. For the first time, I feel like I am 100 percent following the plot, and getting just as much enjoyment out of it as I would an English book. I could definitely finish the rest in one or two big sittings if I had the time to do so. The plan at the moment is to finish El juego del Angel as soon as possible, move on to el prisionero del cielo (which is the last book in the series so far) and then either start el judio de shangai or El asesino de la via lactea, both of which I have on order. In other news, my body-fat percentage is now down to 24%, and I am regularly doing both 5k and 10k runs. Sorry for the short post, but I've been pushing myself really hard lately and can hardly keep my eyes open. 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 251 of 271 31 March 2014 at 12:40am | IP Logged |
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I haven't had quite as much time for Spanish this week as I have had a very busy work week and at the same time have been trying to keep the fitness train going. The good news though is that I have finally been given a permanent contract at work. I'm excited about this as I am one of the lucky people who actually LOVES what they do, and I'm in the right spot to not only make a big difference in a lot of peoples lives, but also have a lot of fun doing it as well.
This does of course mean that there will be no more big trips for a little while, but I am genuinely okay with that. I really want to be a rough C1 when I make it to South America anyway. Actually, I'm beginning to change my perspective about how far this speaking Spanish thing could actually take me. If I can make this much progress in less than 3 years, surely its not outside the realms of possibility to be good enough to work in a solely Spanish speaking environment one day? That would open up millions of interesting opportunities in the Spanish speaking world. At present I have read over 400 pages of el juego de angel. It is fantastic and increasingly like reading English. My two books have arrived and I am pleased to note that, on opening random pages, I appear to be able to read them with the same ease as el juego del angel. I think I am going to order 97 segundos next, as it looks like a quick and easy read, and was another one of iguanamons suggestions. Edited by dbag on 31 March 2014 at 12:42am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5863 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 252 of 271 31 March 2014 at 6:07am | IP Logged |
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I'm sure you could get by just fine NOW in a Spanish speaking environment (including workplace). Once you start speaking it everything you've learned will quickly activate itself and maybe you won't speak perfect Spanish but i'm positive it will be more than sufficient to get by and function in the language professionally.
Keep up the good work! Edited by Crush on 31 March 2014 at 2:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 253 of 271 31 March 2014 at 12:30pm | IP Logged |
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I totally agree with Crush... you could work in a Spanish speaking country and easily support yourself. One of the standards I measure myself by is the work standard and if I could do certain types of jobs in Spanish. I have a crazy dream of retiring somewhere and working in a basic job in a Spanish speaking country (so I ponder this question all the time).
Your Spanish sounds better than mine so I am sure you could easily do many jobs. You are way past many of the easy type jobs in Spanish (that don't require a high level of Spanish). You could almost certainly do relatively Spanish heavy jobs too as long as they are not too technical. Even the technical/complex jobs are easily within reach with a month or two of focused study. Jobs where the "stakes" of your conversation are not too high would be simple (jobs where nothing too bad happens if you screw something up). Look at HermanMunster's log. He talks a lot about working as an engineer in Mexico and has been studying Spanish less time than you. I am constantly thinking about my job in Spanish. I am quite confident that I could do (and have actually already done) all aspects of dealing with my customers in Spanish. I have no problem at all working with folks who can only speak Spanish. In fact, it has been such a pleasurable experience for them it makes me want to do so much more of it. That being said, I don't think I'd currently be able to run my business if it were in Spain or Mexico and everything related to the business was done in Spanish (dealing with contracts, vendors, leases, problems with the building, website company, etc). You are so lucky to have the opportunity to do it... for so many people like me it is just a dream and will stay as a dream. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 254 of 271 24 April 2014 at 11:40pm | IP Logged |
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I can't believe its been nearly a month since I last posted. Ive had my head down, giving everything 110%, and just haven't got round to the log. I also just realised that this log is now over 3 years old, so that means I've been studying for over 3 and a half years now. Looking back, I just can't believe both how much progress I have made in such a short time, but also how much has happened in my life since I started this log. It really just boggles the mind.
I definitely feel like Spanish is a genuine part of me now. Spanish words are always popping into my head when I am thinking or talking in English. I am excited to see what progress another 3 and a half years brings. @james29 and crush. I think you a both potentially right- I can certainly exist in Spanish speaking countries pretty much indefinitely without ever using English (I have done it) but the trouble is that I go months at a time without speaking, and still have problems with the "r". I can quickly get up to speed though. I think the issue of whether or not you can speak well enough to do a job is a hard one though. The very same day that you guys posted, a Portuguese chap came to my workplace, and his language skills were definitely not up to the job (especially as we deal with people who have problems communicating/ understanding). I was looking at some past papers for the DELE B2 and C1 exams the other day. I have always thought that one day I would like to study for one of the exams as a way to stay motivated and take things to the next level, and one of my ultimate goals would be to get a C1 certificate. Initially, I had thought that I would perhaps put in for a B2 exam at the end of the year, but having looked at the papers and listened to the audio clips, I think that would be way too easy of a goal. Don't get me wrong, if I took the exam right now, I would fail, but only because I lack practice in speaking and writing, and wouldn't be used to the exam format. But with only a little focus, I genuinely think that I could pass the exam extremely comfortably. In fact I'm surprised that they ask for such a low standard at B2. I think the DALF exam that EMK took is probably way harder than this. Looking at the C1 materials, they are quite tough, but I think doable with a little effort. I understand all of the texts and audio, although they are long and include unknown vocabulary. They seem to be pitched at the level I am aspiring to, that's to say, it would be a real push, but I now think that achieving a C1 certificate is very much within reach. Perhaps I will take the exam before the end of the year, depending on my other commitments. I still have a few pages left till I finish El juego del angel but I have finished El assesino de la via lactea and am more than half way through El Judio de Shanghai. I would say I am now reading for pleasure, despite there still being a lot of unknown vocab, I am finding myself getting really sucked into these stories, enjoying them almost as much as if they where in English. I think this level is a good base for building what will ultimately become C1 level skills. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 255 of 271 30 April 2014 at 12:53pm | IP Logged |
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I forgot to mention in my last post that I am going to be spending 8 days in Seville towards the end of June. I don't have any major goals for this trip other than to speak lots of Spanish, get drunk and eat tapas. Sometimes you just need to blow off a little steam.
I am going to try and finish El Judio de Shanghai today, so that I can start the new Super Challenge tomorrow with Espia de Dios. It looks like the Super Challenge has changed somewhat and you only have to read 5000 pages this time around. I think that with my increased reading ability that will be very easy to achieve. In fact my prime motivation for joining the challenge is just to use the bot to track my progress, so that I can monitor how well I am balancing reading with listening. 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 256 of 271 08 May 2014 at 11:34pm | IP Logged |
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I finished El Judio de Shanghai. I don't want to spoil things, but the ending was horrible. All in all it was quite a good read, but it didn't particularly keep me turning the pages.
I have managed to get more than half way through Espia de Dios in a matter of only a few days. The authors style reminds me of a mix between Thomas Harris and Dan Brown. I'm planning on reading several cheap thrillers like this- I think they are just easy and addictive enough for me to build up a nice rhythm. I have already ordered a couple more books from the same author. I watched a great episode of filosofia aqui y ahora about Rodolfo Walsh, an Argentine thinker and writer who was murdered by the military dictatorship after reading his Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta. I will definitely be reading Walsh's works at some point in the future. I have also been watching youtube videos of Osvaldo Bayer, an Argentine Anarchist writer, journalist and historian. ( I am only aware of this guy thanks to crush's recommendation to read La Patagonia Rebelde. I find this guy fascinating. There is a good video here in which he recommends 10 books about Argentine history. In fact, that show, esta noche libros is an absolute goldmine for those wishing to find Spanish books. There are some great episodes such as Guia de Escrituras Argentinas and guia de libros sobre El Che etc. Just note that you will need a good understanding of spoken Argentine Spanish to make use of the site. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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