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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4603 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 241 of 344 26 August 2014 at 8:44pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I am certain that I-Mon has posted this at some point but I found this and it is interesting to me.
http://www.studyspanish.com/comps/ It has several short articles with both Spanish and English text and most of the stories have the audio with it. I have added it to my lunch breaks with Democracy Now. I do like that the text on this site are side by side. Es muy conveniente. I have also finished Charlie y la Fabrica de Chocolate. I will read it several more times and I do think it was and is beneficial. I think the way it is most helpful is with words and tenses I "kind of know". I get to see it several times and it cements these words to my memory. I think I am getting to the point where reading is more beneficial. However, I will continue to read things on this level. I have no need for Cien Años de Soledad just yet. :) Even though I do not know 100 % of the words, I am well above 85%. I will keep at it because it is enjoyable and it is NOT stressful at all. After my second go through in the next couple of days, I will then take the unknown words and put them in ANKI or Iversen's wordlist. I will continue to read it until I get very, very close to 100% understanding. I am enjoying FSI more and more. I especially like the variation drills and the 3 or 4 dialogues at the end of the units. I would be very happy if I could complete 2 Units per week while reading, listening and speaking as much as possible. As far as writing, I am considering going through Assimil active wave again but not any time soon. As I-mon knows, a few days ago I flirted with starting German along side Spanish. After a day and one half of just thinking about it, I was able to be honest with myself. I am no where near strong enough in my Spanish learning to jump into German. While it is exciting to think about it, all I would be doing is taking away from learning Spanish. I know others have the ability and time to juggle languages and are very good at it. I am going to say that would not be the case with me. Let me preface this next comment. It is religious in nature but not meant to start a debate or an attempt to convert... I attend my religious services in English. However, we also have a Spanish congregation that meets twice a week. I have decided to start going to the Spanish congregation once per week. The level of Spanish is very much on a professional or business type level but the interaction with the congregation members before and after the service will also help me on a more conversational level. Again, I don't think I have crossed any lines concerning forum rules and do not want to discuss any specifics or ideologies but I think it will have a huge relevance on my exposure to Spanish and my learning program. All the best, BOLIO Edited by BOLIO on 26 August 2014 at 9:24pm 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 242 of 344 29 August 2014 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Help from the board please.
Does anyone know of a place online to watch (and listen) to futbol in Spanish? I really enjoyed the world cup. Even though I have very little experience with soccer I would like to adopt a Spanish speaking team. I know there are many different leagues and cannot tell you what they are so which league matters not. Thanks in advance. I am only on FSI 17(should finish today) but I am currently on a FSI high right now. It can be up and down but overall I know it helps me. I know if I completed two a week, EVERY week, it would speed up my learning. I purchased a new IPAD mini two weeks ago and carry it with me wherever I go. I have four different ANKI decks I have been working with the last couple of weeks. Two are easy and one is challenging and one is hard. I view it as good filler time. I had this image of using ANKI/WordList to blast through 5000 words in Spanish and I would be able to go into Native materials/ FSI and just roll through it. I looked back at my log and realize that it would have been beneficial but I could not keep myself going with ANKI/ Word List. People like Iversen have my respect with their process and discipline. I laugh at myself and can only imagine what it is like to read this messed up log. I float back and forth from one thing to another. I jumped in and out of Assimil so many times before I finished it that I should have gotten motion sickness. :) I tell myself to just do something every day and it will work out. Edited by BOLIO on 29 August 2014 at 7:47pm 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 243 of 344 29 August 2014 at 11:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Bolio, I've never used Anki in any of my language learning. I get a lot of my vocabulary review and extensive reading in 140 characters on Twitter for my languages. You don't have to tweet to follow. Whatever your interests are, there's someone tweeting about it. I have twitter on my phone. During down time if I'm out and about, I can review it easily. In just a few minutes, I can stay informed and, even at this stage, learn new words. If I have more time, I can follow links. Here's some examples of tweets I got just now:
Here's an interesting example of a word I learned just now "jabitas". In a subsequent tweet, she posted a photo of the woman withan armful of "jabitas" for sale 
They're shopping bags, in this case- re-useable ones made of nylom. It's a low frequency word. Maybe even unique to Cuba and the Caribbean, but it could be useful to know. Hard to believe someone can earn enough money selling re-useable shopping bags to survive- until you read this:
From the low to the extreme in this next tweet. Just over a hundred miles away and what a contrast:
Do these images from Google image search give you an idea about what the verb "estafar" means? I especially like the one of the arm reaching through the computer screen. Google images doesn't always work for verbs, though sometimes it does quite well. I first came upon the word years ago while listening to the old Cuban Radio show "La Tremenda Corte". Twitter can take as much, or as little, time as you want. It can be a great way to "study" and learn without actually "studying". You don't have to spend hours on it. I often just have a look for five or ten minutes throughout the day. Sometimes, there are pictures which can provide context. The links (often provided with a tweet) give random extensive reading. Vocabulary gets repeated. I find it more fun and effective, at least for me, than SRS. If it's "study", it sure doesn't feel like it to me, and that's the point! Why not have fun while you learn? This is how I learn vocabulary without Anki, this and speaking and searching for a word and having it provided by a native, watching television, reading books. My point in this is to show that there is an alternative and you don't have to use Anki/SRS to learn a language. As to fútbol games in Spanish, if you have cable in the US, it's on ESPN Deportes, Univisión and Telemundo. Serpent loves fútbol and watches a lot of it online. If she doesn't respond, send her a PM. Edited by iguanamon on 30 August 2014 at 4:01pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5320 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 244 of 344 30 August 2014 at 12:36am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The only channel in Spanish I get on my cable is Fox Deportes. They have soccer on there. There was also a thread on this website about where to watch world cup games in various foreign languages.
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| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4603 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 245 of 344 30 August 2014 at 4:29am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I-mon, as always your resources know no boundaries. That is very interesting how you use twitter and
Google image. I think i am the only person under 50 without twitter. Heck, I don't even have Facebook. So I sign up for twitter and then search out Spanish speakers to follow? I will look into it and it DOES sound more fun than SRS. As far as ANKI, I don't even like it very much to tell you the truth but I have been using it recently to fill dead time. Your way sounds more fun. As to soccer, I will reach out to Serpent. Thx again for how you have helped me. Hey James, thx for the info concerning soccer. Before leaving work today I was going thru your log. It is very impressive how you pounded out that work over those years. When I want motivation, I go thru yours, dbag, Luke , crush , Herman's and others logs. It really helps me see people that did it. Thx for the effort. 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 246 of 344 30 August 2014 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Twitter works by getting the app for your phone and creating an account first. That way, you can have something interesting that is language-related to do in your down time when you are away from your computer. Then follow people who tweet about what may interest you. For example, I follow a lot of journalists, newspapers, news sites, authors and singers I like. The RAE (Real Academia Española) is a good account to follow. They tweet a lot about the Spanish language itself. You can also click the profiles of the people you are following to see who they are following. Also, the twitter algorithm makes recommendations on who to follow. For news, I follow BBC Mundo, El Nuevo Herald, El País and several Spanish journalists.
You probably have different interests than I do. Serpent follows a lot of fútbol related accounts, for example. You can search your interest using the search feature on twitter or by using google and adding the word "twitter" to what you're searching. It goes without saying you have to do this in Spanish. One way to find it is to start by searching wikipedia for what you may be interested in, in English, then click the "Español" link to the left. That will give you the terminology you'll need to do a twitter search. Like anything, you start off small and work your way up. One link leads to another, and before you know it you may be following a hundred accounts or more. As long as you don't allow yourself to get sucked in to spending too much time on it, it's a great way to interact with Spanish, or any other language. I don't have facebook either, :) Edited by iguanamon on 30 August 2014 at 2:40pm 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 247 of 344 04 September 2014 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I have played around with twitter and I think I am going to have some fun with it.
I have not missed any ANKI days in a week and feel like I am learning with it. FSI is really good and helpful. Two units per week is doable without killing myself or making me want to scream. I spend a lot of time reading simple stuff. Charlie and the chocolate factory is with me everywhere I go. I am highlighting the text and converting a couple of chapters at a time of the unknown words over to an Iversen's wordlist. I also have a book of bible stories that is designed for teenagers and younger. It is not terribly difficult. I have the PDF to Las Memorias del Águila y el Jaguar. I have read the first page or so of the trilogy (LA CIUDAD DE LAS BESTIAS) and it seems that it would be more intensive than extensive reading for me at this time. Here is the list of words I am not 100% sure after only a page and one half... sobresaltado, destrozados, garras, buitre, desbordándose, atacado mapaches, rociaron, tiritando, alcanzaba and escupirlos. That is too many to do extensive reading but not too miserable to highlight and work through. I understand the direction of the story but some of the details escape me. I am of the belief that intensive reading is not a bad deal as long as it is not too difficult. I am being entertained while learning new vocabulary and it does offer me a context associated with the words when they are introduced to me. I do not think trying this with Don Quixote would be enjoyable. I will spend some time with it because I really enjoy reading and I can measure my improvement as my ease of reading increases. EDIT: I remembered that I bought "Short Stories in Spanish" by Penguin on James29's recommendation. They are parallel text. I think I will give those stories a go over the weekend. As far as speaking, I am speaking more to my wife and friends. Too often conversations turn back to English mostly due to my limited abilities. I have several places I go to lunch or run errands that have staff who help me. I usually find someone to speak with daily if only to order food or say hello and ask them about their day or family. I am inching forward daily. All the best, BOLIO Edited by BOLIO on 10 September 2014 at 12:11am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5810 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 248 of 344 10 September 2014 at 10:20am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Sometimes it can help just recognizing what something might be, for example:
-Sobresaltado and destrozado are clearly -ado forms of the -ar verbs sobresaltar (to startle) and destrozar (to destroy). -Garras (claws, or if a bird, talons) depending on the context could be a feminine plural noun or adjective, though i think you could figure out from context that it is a noun. Perhaps if there was mention of a bird beforehand you could even figure out what it might be referring to, for example if it was with the next word in your list, buitre (vulture). -Next, desbordándose is clearly the reflexive form of the verb desbordar (borde = edge, des-bordar-se = to go beyond the edge, to overflow). -I think you probably know what atacado is, it's from the verb "atacar" (to attack), the past participle (attacked). -Mapache just feels like an indigenous word, so it's likely an animal indigenous to the Americas. In this case it stems from Nahuatl and refers to a raccoon. -The last four words are all verbs, rociar is perhaps not as common as the other three, but i think they're all words you'll find rather frequently when reading. rociar = to sprinkle/spray something, tiritar = to shake (as you do when you're cold), alcanzar = to reach/achieve (alcanzar la meta = to reach your goal) -- it's also used to mean "to be enough", as in no me alcanza ni para el autobús (I don't even have enough money for the bus) -- and escupir just means to spit. When i finished FSI i spent a lot of time trying to increase my vocabulary, mostly reading and making Iversen's wordlists. It maybe wasn't the most interesting way to go about it, but it worked (more or less) :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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