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Nancy’s Language Learning
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nancydowns
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3920 days ago
184 posts - 288 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)

Message 185 of 196

25 June 2015 at 6:09am | IP Logged

This is a post for me.... and for anyone out there who doesn't want to read the whole log up until now. I just read my whole log, and I gleaned
some nuggets! I knew there were some good things that I didn't want to forget. This is kind of long, sorry.
So here they are my log gems up til now...

PointsDotsLines wrote:

You can try some reading materials on Cervantes’ website
>>URL=http://cvc.cervantes.es/aula/lecturas]Lecturas paso a paso[/URL]. They are for Spanish language learners and are organized in three levels –
inicial, intermedio, avanzado.

Stelle wrote:

Destinos and the podcast Notes in Spanish are more useful than Coffeebreak Spanish. CBS just moves along too slowly.

PaintsDotsLines wrote:

you can use language exchange websites like italki and Lang-8 to practice your writing skills in your target languages.
Italki offers a platform for online teachers/tutors. So some corrections and explanations are from these teachers. Also they are potential places
for seeking language practice/exchange partners

Crush wrote:

have you ever read "La tesis de Nancy"? It talks about a US student (Nancy) who goes to Sevilla for her (doctorate?) thesis. It's
pretty funny and talks about a lot of the silly mistakes and misunderstandings she has there.

Crush wrote:

he estudiado algo de griego con el curso de Language Transfer. También esta lengua me encanta, el sonido me hace recordar el
castellano y tiene una gramática muy interesante. Si algún día decides estudiarlo, recomiendo encarecidamente el curso de Language Transfer.

Several people recommended Language Transfer for several languages.

Bakunin wrote:

The cool thing about a proper Wimmelbuch is that it contains the same characters over and over again in different environments. It
suits itself to story-telling and cross-referencing. I see that amazon.com for instance offers the excellent German-produced but free of words
“Ein Jahr in Wimmelhausen” (a year in Wimmel-land) for only a few bucks here.

Crush wrote:

"Pienso que" and "creo que" are pretty similar in meaning and for all practical purposes i'd say they can be used interchangeably. In
most situations where in English we say "I think that" you'll tend to hear "creo que" in Spanish. "Me parece" can be used in pretty much the same
way, just like English's "it seems to me (that)".

Iguanamon wrote:

When you're at the beginning of a task (writing 100 posts on lang8) it's hard to see the end game. The thing is, it takes time.
The more you do something, the better you'll be at doing it. Right now it's difficult. Just try to keep at it and it will get easier. The end game
is being able to express yourself easily, as you wish, and as correctly as possible.

Igunamon wrote:

Be careful, you might get so good at teaching yourself that you may not even finish your courses :)! That's not a bad thing
either. At some point, as you continue to venture outside of "course-world" (while simultaneously continuing with your courses), the courses may
even begin to annoy you as vehicles to "teach". At that point the courses morph into reinforcement and become more of a guide and explanation of
what you are already reading, listening to and speaking about in the real world. It's my view that that's when a course or courses become even
more useful because they become a guide instead of an instructor, alongside your real-world Spanish exposure.

Iguanamon wrote:

If you do use Wayne Drop, here's
a little tip. Try looking up unknown words using google images before checking the English text or a dictionary.

James29 wrote:

One other suggestion is Spanishpodcast.org I really wish I tried it earlier. It is a great resource and it is designed for learners
- but it seems more like listening to native material than any "course" material. The topics are interesting and the vocabulary varies quite a
bit. The speaker has a great voice... but she has a heavy Barcelona accent (I love it). Getting used to listening to accents from Spain is a good
idea.

Also, BOLIO'S log is packed full of good advice.

Iguanamon wrote:

Democracy Now! is probably the fastest Spanish you'll ever hear. The pieces turn into
phrases. The phrases turn into sentences. The sentences turn into paragraphs. The gibberish turns into communication- the more you listen, and
read. Then, one day, you don't need to read anymore. Democracy Now! and Wayne Drop are just examples of creating your own learning program, which
you can do with comprehensible native material. It can be hard though, to find your own comprehensible material, especially as a beginner.

Crush wrote:

Ah, and if you want to hear some really fast spoken Spanish, you should check out some rap groups, for example around 3:10 in the
song El rap es guerra by Los Aldeanos ;)

Iguanamon wrote:

I have recommended UT Austin's Spanish Listening Exercises before. Try
this guy's video interview. They are native speakers and come with a transcript in
both English and Spanish. Click the link marked "Beginning" (upper left hand corner under the Texas icon) to get started. The videos are short and
I think could be quite useful for you as a beginner and for repeated listening. 10 minutes a day, most days would be enough.

James29 wrote:

The Caso Cerrado episodes on the Telemundo website have accurate ver batim captions. That's a cool show because you get all types
of Latin accents and people definitely speak like they speak normally... that being said, after several episodes you start to get the feel for
what they are talking about. But, watch out, some of the episodes are a bit zany and crazy.

And for Arabic...

Napoleon wrote:

I think I'll do the Madinah Conversation Course (3 DVDs) after I'm done with the 3 Madinah books.

Luso wrote:

if you need some help with Arabic, feel free to ask. Although I'm just a few steps ahead on that endless ladder.

I asked a question which led to some awesome advice!

Luso wrote:

I started replying here, but it was getting a bit long. To cut a long story short, I ended up posting it
in my log.

Thank you a million times to everyone who gave me advice in the past. It has helped me so much!

Here's a linkto a post written by smallwhite in a thread
about Flashcards. I absolutely love her Excel idea, so I started using it myself. So far, I haven't done it seriously because I
have limited time, and I have other goals right now, but when I decide to really up my vocabulary, that's the method I will use! Thank you
Smallwhite for writing up your method and for putting your ideas out there, even when maybe others have other ideas! ;)

Edited by nancydowns on 25 June 2015 at 6:42am
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 186 of 196

25 June 2015 at 4:45pm | IP Logged

nancydowns wrote:

One problem that I have noticed is that adding in the subjunctive has messed up my present indicative. I was used to either the a or e sound
being prevalent for a certain word, so now that I am adding in the other sound, sometimes I put the subjunctive ending in for the indicative.
Hopefully more practice will help me remember.

I'm also really happy to see you back! I just wanted to comment that i'd noticed this too in a few of your posts at lang-8, but i thought you were confusing when to use the subjunctive.

Si decides que quieres escribir tus posts en castellano creo que no hace falta abrir otro hilo. Si quieres hablar de los dos idiomas en castellano está bien, o podrías hacer una parte en castellano y otra en inglés (o más tarde en árabe ;) ).
2 persons have voted this message useful

nancydowns
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3920 days ago
184 posts - 288 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)

Message 187 of 196

27 June 2015 at 2:11pm | IP Logged

¡Hola Crush! Unfortunately, my mistakes are mostly because I am not taking the time to be careful. Mihalis is always telling his Spanish student to take the time
to think through her answers instead of just guessing. Recently on Lang-8, I have been trying to write off the top of my head, but it's not so good because then I
don't take the time to think through what I should be using. Also, the present subjunctive endings creeping into my present indicative is because I have not taken
the time to do serious drilling to just get the sounds cemented into my brain. When I think about it, I know that "habla" is the present indicative ending for he,
she, it, you formal, and "hable" is the present subjunctive for I, she, he, it, you formal. And that "come" is the present indicative ending for he, she, it, you
formal and "coma" is the present subjunctive ending for I, he, she, it, you formal... but when I don't take the time to think about it, the subjunctive is my most
recent studying, so those endings are creeping into the indicative. So I think it is a matter of practice... I hope! I think this will sort itself out if I just
practice my verbs more and just get the right sounds associated with the right mood.

However some of my mistakes are simply because I don't know the material. That is mainly the case for the prepositions!!! I need to get to work on the
prepositions and get those down. I know that is a hard part of language because I see people who do very well in English on Lang-8 messing up prepositions all of
the time. That is one reason I have started back listening to FSI, maybe some of this will eventually get drilled into my thick head! :) It is so funny because I
corrected someone's English and told them that they were mixing the past and present together. Then that same person corrected my post and said I was mixing the
past and present together!!! HaHaHa! So I just need to take more time and think when I am writing.

Okay, so I will just keep this one journal, and soon, I will start writing up some Spanish book reports. :) I will post them on Lang-8 before I post them here.

1 person has 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 188 of 196

03 July 2015 at 11:13am | IP Logged

Prepositions in English are really confusing, i confuse them too. I don't think it's so bad in Spanish though. I still make some mistakes, but (i like to think) that's mostly because i haven't really actively used Spanish in several years :P
2 persons have voted this message useful

nancydowns
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3920 days ago
184 posts - 288 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)

Message 189 of 196

06 July 2015 at 7:31pm | IP Logged

Thanks, Crush. I am glad to know that. So maybe with some dedicated work, I can actually get them down. The areas I need the most work on in Spanish
right now is drilling some verbs, prepositions, and vocabulary.

I am putting Spanish on hold this month, not completely, just kind of on the back burner. I am going to try to take a flying leap in Arabic in four
weeks.... ha! Not much of a leap, of course, because a leap in Arabic is like a tiny shuffle in Spanish. But if I can get some things solidified in
Arabic, then I think I can move forward with both languages without feeling like Arabic is floundering. But I am going to try to still post some
writings to Lang-8, and that does help because I try to look up things I don't know, and I also note down the corrections, so I can still learn a little
that way. I may also try to still read a little in Spanish every day, so I will get a bit of vocabulary that way. And I know that sheer exposure to
the language is going to help to make constructions stick more.

I have realized something about myself. I have to have multiple things to work on. If I try to work on one thing to completion, it takes so long that
I get really antsy, and need to take a break from it. So for instance, I do like grammar, so when I first started Spanish, I went gung-ho with FSI, and
was within arms length of finishing when I got so burnt out that I just quit. That was also a time of high stress in my life, and Spanish wasn't fun
anymore. Then because I felt like I should be working on FSI, it was awhile that I did absolutely nothing. So now I am giving myself a break... a long
break! From dedicated work on FSI. I am using it as a podcast at the moment, just listening, and I went way back to some much earlier lessons. I
decided that no foreign language is a necessity for me, it is a pastime, in all honesty, so I don't want it to add to my stress but to be a diversion
from stress. So I am mainly writing on Lang-8 and reading, but I feel like I am still moving forward with those two things, but I won't break out of
the beginner level until I do some more dedicated grammar and vocab work. I hope to do that in the next few months.
1 person has voted this message useful

nancydowns
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3920 days ago
184 posts - 288 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)

Message 190 of 196

07 July 2015 at 10:34pm | IP Logged

I went to the mall today, and there was a booth set up with lots of OLD books! It was so fun to browse through, and there was a section of foreign
language books. I did pick up a Spanish book. Cuentos y Leyendas. It was published in 1922. The foreword says that it is a collection of tales and
legends for beginners. So there are a few notes in the text about usage and vocabulary, as well as exercises and vocabulary at the end of the book. I
am such a sucker for old books!

I wish I were studying Russian, Cech, Italian, or Greek because there were plenty of interesting items for those, including a Russian idiom book.
However, those languages (aside from Greek) aren't on my list as of yet. :) The Greek book was from the 1890s, if you can believe that. I really
should have gotten it, but I am in no position to be a book collector because I live on the road. So I already have enough language books! I can't
remember the full title, but something about a simple modern Greek grammar. I wasn't sure if the 1890s counted as modern! :)

Speaking of interesting language books. A friend of mine was in Ann Arbor and saw a friends of the library book sale, and she found a dual language
book of Shel Silverstein poems, and she thought it was Arabic. I was so excited when I first saw it, but then I realized there were letters I didn't
know. As far as I can tell, I think it is Urdu! I wish it had been Farsi because that might be a potential for me, but hadn't ever thought of Urdu.
Wish I knew someone to give it to...
1 person has voted this message useful

nancydowns
Senior Member
United States
Joined 3920 days ago
184 posts - 288 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written)

Message 191 of 196

14 July 2015 at 2:40am | IP Logged

I decided to do an intense month on Arabic because August and September are going to be so crazy!!! I am going to still study, but I won't have the time to
devote to it that I have now. So I am trying to jumpstart my Arabic a bit.

So I am doing some vocab work. Vocab is my weak point in language learning right now. For some reason, I find it demotivating. In Spanish, I have been
able to absorb vocab without memorizing anything... although, I am at a point that I am going to start needing to do a bit to up my comprehension. But for
Arabic, the words look and sound so different than anything I have ever seen, and so words simply aren't sticking. Some have, but not very many. So I am
working right now on memorizing the vocab from my grammar book "Mastering Arabic." I am using actual cards... : ) I'm not against Anki, but it feels like
Anki sucks out little bits of my soul every time I use it. So I got some flashcards in a box from Bar Charts. They are a business card size, and 1000 of
them came in a box. I like the size, and I like the box because I basically live out of a car, so I can keep my flashcards organized and safe from smushing
in a bag, and they are easy to find.

So I have been doing 20 cards per day 5 days a week. Here's my routine.

1. Weekly Vocab list.
     I have been writing my 100 words for the week on a sheet of paper because I can easily carry a sheet of paper in my purse or pocket or backpack,
whatever I have that day. I take it out every chance I get and look at my 20 words for the day from my list.
2. Flashcards
     Sometime (Saturday, Sunday, or Monday morning) I write my 100 flashcards.
3. Reviews
     I use the Leitner System for flashcard reviews. A brief overview of the system is that you have
5 envelopes (or boxes, or however you want to do it) marked "Day 1" through "Day 5." Take the 20 cards out of day 1 and see how many I know. If I know a
card, I move it to "Day 2" and so on until that card reaches "Day 5." If I know it on the fifth day, that card goes out of circulation. If I ever miss a
card, it goes back either all the way to "Day 1" or back a single day. Both options are part of the Leitner system, and I actually use both options. If I
definitely don't know the answer, it goes all the way back to "Day 1." If I am several days in with a card and just get a part of it wrong, I just move it
back one day. I alternate which side is the question side each day. So day one Arabic-English, Day 2 English-Arabic, and so on. I am not making sure I
know the spelling exactly, just the pronunciation and the meaning.
4. Long-term notebook
     When a card makes it past Day 5, I will put it aside. At the end of the month, I will go through all 400 cards (I will start this the last week)
writing the ones I remember into a long-term vocab notebook. If I don't remember it, I think I will try to do some kind of special work with it (we'll see
when the time comes), maybe writing sentences or just going over it more.

I am not sure what to do about the plurals. I am tempted to memorize them at the same time as the singular noun, but not sure if that will be too much info
on one card, so I have just done singulars so far. I may have to go back and add in the plurals later.

I am also doing grammar work, specifically verbs. I am reading up about the verbs and trying to get a little handle on such a big subject. I got "501
Arabic Verbs" from the library to see what it was like. I am recognizing some of the verb forms, yay! I am trying to get the prefixes and suffixes to
stick in my mind. I should come up with some kind of a song to go over and over and over.

I started looking around online for resources and have found some things, maybe too many for right now because I don't want to get distracted. So for the
present moment, my resources are "Mastering Arabic," "501 Arabic Verbs," and a website for Spanish Speakers.
It is so cool to be able to study Arabic through Spanish! Yay! That makes me happy. I also like that site because "Mastering Arabic" doesn't teach
every-day conversation, so I am getting that from the Spanish website.

I will eventually post a review of my materials and some additional internet resources.
There is a thread here that has some very useful links and
suggestions for native material. I am not ready for some of it yet, but am anxious for the day I can read native kids books! : )

So hopefully by the end of this month, I will have 400 words committed to memory and a better understanding of Arabic verbs.

Edited by nancydowns on 14 July 2015 at 2:47am
2 persons have voted this message useful

Zireael
Triglot
Senior Member
Poland
Joined 4649 days ago
518 posts - 636 votes

Speaks: Polish*, English^B2, Spanish
Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English

Message 192 of 196

31 July 2015 at 12:45pm | IP Logged

Quote:

I am not sure what to do about the plurals. I am tempted to memorize them at the same time as the singular noun, but not sure if that will be too much info
on one card, so I have just done singulars so far. I may have to go back and add in the plurals later.

I stuck to the singulars, adding plurals when I encountered them and they turned out to be irregular (not -in or -t or -ayat/awat). For instance, talib-tullab.

2 persons have voted this message useful

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