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Buhrahyun begins Spanish | ||
Tags: Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| buhrahyun Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 24 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 10 07 April 2010 at 8:39pm | IP Logged |
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Well, this will be a record of my journey to becoming a Spanish speaker. I have no timeframe, though sooner is better, and my goal is becoming fluent. This will be my second language. I can't include French because although I took it in high school, I never became conversant in it.
Priorities are listening/speaking followed by reading then writing. Currently, I've finished Pimsleur Spanish 2 and a single lesson of FSI basic Spanish course. I don't get much out of native radio or online news yet, but I try to use them anyway. My main resources for now will be Pimsleur Spanish 3 FSI basic Spanish AnkiDroid SRS flashcards on my mobile phone Flashcards at http://www.online-spanish-course.com/ La Kalle Chicago Radio XEU La U de Veracruz (News/Talk radio) Possibly loMasTV in the future. An internet radio station in Spanish with Spanish subtitles or lyrics would be a dream. I think I will also incorporate parallel bible reading with NASB and LBLA which are both word for word translations by the same foundation. My learning style could be described as "Free" in the financial sense of the word. Edited by buhrahyun on 07 April 2010 at 11:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| global_gizzy Senior Member United States maxcollege.blogspot. Joined 5706 days ago 275 posts - 310 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 10 08 April 2010 at 1:52am | IP Logged |
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Welcome aboard the Spanish-learning-train!
I also study Spanish and am taking classes in school and trying to get back into the habit of working on my own to further my Spanish (I don't really learn anything in school anyway, but SPN was the most convenient language to begin since French was full and Italians a night class.) I have my own personal reasons for wanting to speak Spanish but my goal is FLUENCY first, secondly I want to minor in the language at university (along with Arabic). I studied Spanish from 12-16 on my own using a free budget. (IE the libraries limited resources. Thank God they've improved their collection) I'll be happy to practice with you. I'm trying to work my way through Pimsleur (all 4 levels, currently on level 1) by doing one or two lessons a day. I also had to buy a textbook for my college classes, so, if you need anything grammar related, perhaps I can find it and we can figure it out together. Also, check out LiveMocha.com. I used it in 2008 to take a crack at French, its not all that bad (or it wasn't.) I'm going to go back and see how long it takes me to get through 101 and 102 in Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| buhrahyun Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 24 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 10 09 April 2010 at 7:53pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the pointer to livemocha.
I'm going to check out livemocha.com and lingus.tv this weekend. Also, the great thing about La Kalle radio station for someone learning Spanish, is that if you hear some songs you like, you are guaranteed to hear them again very soon. I'm focusing on Pimsleur and Vocab for now. I'm not really ready to have much conversation yet. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| global_gizzy Senior Member United States maxcollege.blogspot. Joined 5706 days ago 275 posts - 310 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 10 10 April 2010 at 12:09am | IP Logged |
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Don't fool yourself with the "not ready to have conversation" bit. Language was made for conversation! (Who said we had to talk in Spanish? What's wrong with our good friend Lady English?)
Besides, Pimsleur is BUILT around the concept of getting people to speak as quickly as possible. If you've already completed 2 levels (60 lessons) of Pimsleur, you oughta be able to say SOMETHING!! Learn to read Spanish, if you dont know how. It's a cinch once you've mastered a more difficult written-language like English! Learn to read and then get the book by William Tardy "Easy Spanish Reader: A 3-part text for Beginning Students" ASAP. I'm working my way through it and I enjoy it alot. For now just learn to read and read a page of whatever Spanish texts you have on hand or can get on the internet. Even if you dont understand everything. If you read something enough, look up any words you dont know and just keep working, your Pimsleur should kick in and help you figure it out! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| buhrahyun Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 24 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 10 12 April 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged |
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Coincidentally, I actually had "Easy Spanish Reader" laying around that someone had given me a while back and pulled it out yesterday. I'll be adding this to my list of primary resources.
I went through "Fotografia" by Juanes on lomastv.com this weekend since it is one of the free demo videos. I'm also going through lyrics from popular songs on La Kalle radio and learning words like "Sigilosa", which I'm pretty sure are not going to show up in my flashcards for a while. Lastly, the audio on my flashcards at http://www.online-spanish-course.com/ went out today. It turns out that the site is not free forever, and audio costs money after the trial period. This online autoplaying flashcard system may be one of the few things I'll pony up some dough for since it allows me to absorb vocab while multitasking. I think I need to find a grammar or locate the college Spanish textbook that someone gave me so I can understand these different tenses when I read them. Lastly, I've been putting off mastering the Spanish 'L' since I learned from FSI that it is much different than the English version. I'm still a bit unsure how to form it properly in my mouth even with the detailed explanation from the FSI text. I need to get it down and move on though. EDIT: I think I was just making the L sound more complicated than it is. If it's like the first L in 'little', clearly I know how to say it. Edited by buhrahyun on 13 April 2010 at 5:51am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Smart Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5342 days ago 352 posts - 398 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French Studies: German | Message 6 of 10 13 April 2010 at 8:47pm | IP Logged |
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Best of luck learning Spanish man!
If you want someone to practice with, I'm fluent :) PM me on here :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| buhrahyun Newbie United States Joined 5357 days ago 24 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 10 14 April 2010 at 7:01pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks Smart and Gizzy, I'll let you know. For now, I'm focusing on input, vocab, song lyrics and grammar so that I can start getting more out of native materials. FSI is on hold for a bit too.
I'm investigating whether TuneWiki can be an answer to getting live lyrics with my Spanish language music streaming. If I can find a good station with popular songs that have lyrics associated, it should work in theory, either on my android phone or with a windows media player plugin. I'm using studyspanish.com and lomastv.com to get some much needed grammar, after starting with only Pimsleur. Studyspanish.com has a nice logical outline of topics and subtopics. Lomastv.com has a lot of grammatical insights from their own experience translating their videos for bilingual subtitles. They often point out how native speakers take liberties with their lyrics for the sake of flow or rhyme or just because they don't care about speaking "properly". I've been feeling a bit tired lately in learning and having the attitude that this is an insurmountable goal and that it's going to take forever. After checking out the grammar though, I think I have a better picture of where I am and where I need to go, so I feel much better about it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| global_gizzy Senior Member United States maxcollege.blogspot. Joined 5706 days ago 275 posts - 310 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 10 14 April 2010 at 9:23pm | IP Logged |
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Dont feel overwhelmed! Its hardly an insurmountable goal. Trust me! I feel the same way, but I am a member of the International Student Organization at my school and when I see all the students from abroad who've come to the US and who speak very good English, it gives me confidence and hope that I can do it too.
I've been slacking off (unintentionally) on my Spanish lately and now I'm ready to get back in the game!! Cheers! Bueno suerte mi amigo! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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