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James29’s Spanish Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5263 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 481 of 668 28 July 2014 at 5:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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You just need more practice and more listening- especially to non-translated material. Your VOA news habit will help a lot, but it takes time. Listening to something like "La Tremenda Corte" is difficult, for one reason because there are no visual clues. Other reasons are because of the Cuban slang, the slurred and deliberately mangled speech and word play of Tres Patines. Also the audio on most of the episodes isn't the best quality.
That being said, the only way to get to where it is understandable, in my experience, is to listen regularly, until it becomes clearer. Doing that means being extremely frustrated at not understanding everything and maybe having to listen a few times and check the transcripts of the few episodes that have them for a while. Although, that type of tolerance for frustration isn't for everyone. I do find that forcing myself beyond what I think I can do helps to make my language skills stronger. Gradually,it gets better. I think it's analogous to physical training against resistance. Running on level ground is easier than running uphill. Running at sea level is easier than running at altitude. If one gets used to running uphill and at altitude- everything else is easier. That's why Kenyans and Ethiopians tend to dominate marathons. Just a thought. We're all different in how we learn. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5376 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 482 of 668 29 July 2014 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, you are right. I always try to do things that are easy enough so they are not frustrating, but hard enough that I keep myself challenged... that's necessary to progress.
For about seven months now (all of 2014) I have been just reading books, listening to native audio and watching TV. I call it my "massive passive" year because I have not been doing grammar or "courses" at all. I notice MAJOR improvement in my listening skills and my vocabulary. It even helps the fluidity of my speaking. It is actually quite incredible that just doing an overwhelming amount of passive activities really works so well. It really just happens... things become clearer and clearer until it sounds "almost" like English. It is a strange sensation to explain. I certainly miss things in the VOA broadcast, but it feels more or less like I am listening to the news in English. I don't have to concentrate or "think." With La Tremenda Corte I definitely understand the gist of what is happening and I can understand the Spanish quite well (even Tres Patines), but the problem is putting it all together. I just cannot follow it all in one continuous sequence. I often need to think to myself "what did he say?" or "what does that mean?" I get lost and then I space out and don't concentrate. I am going to do the "massive passive" stuff for a few more books and then I will likely start up with some grammar again for a bit. I started El Intermediario by Grisham this morning (The Broker) because I have it in parallel text. I am glad I have the English version to consult. There are some tricky words and at least a word on every page I don't understand (but usually a word that does not impact key points). Last night I had about an hour of time I needed to kill before a meeting so I went to the Mexican restaurant. I was exhausted after the day I had and my Spanish was terrible. It just was not working well. I was not in the mood. Rest and motivation definitely make a big difference. Edited by James29 on 29 July 2014 at 5:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5376 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 483 of 668 03 August 2014 at 2:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I feel like Stelle commented in her log recently... I am not really "studying" and feel funny reporting on all the fun native material I have been using. I am going to keep posting weekly because it keeps me on track.
I have been reading Grisham's El Intermediario. I like it so far. The reviews on Amazon were not too kind, but it is quite interesting so far. I'm about 100 pages into it... about a 1/3 of the way through. I am using a parallel text which is helpful. Now I am reading a full page, sometimes two without needing to check the translation. I'm also listening to Desde Washington, the newscast from VOA, every weekday morning on the way to work. This week I watched a few episodes of Caso Cerrado. In case there is any doubt... this show is fake. I cannot believe I ever wondered if it was real. This is the type of stuff I need to listen to a lot in order to improve my listening skills. I much prefer watching the show on youtube as compared to the Telemundo website. There are fewer commercials and it is much more usable on youtube. Only downside of youtube is the closed captioning from the Telemundo site does not work. I don't need it so that is fine with me. I wish I could watch more of the public access TV show from the guy in Miami. It is just a bit too boring. No meetup this week. That's ok. I have had some good Skype chats. I have been doing text chats which I am not sure are too helpful. I'd much prefer to do audio, but, unfortunately, my schedule is kind of a pain. I am definitely going to focus pretty hard on Spanish and try to boost my level up a notch over the next year or so. This reading and listening to native material is really making a huge difference. When I finish my goals for the year I am going to re-consider what to do next. I'll probably do some intensive grammar for a few months. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| HermonMunster Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4634 days ago 119 posts - 211 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 484 of 668 05 August 2014 at 4:51am | IP Logged | ||
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Hey James,
Massive passive is an awesome name. I think it's cool how you're switching up your studies. I know we all want to improve as quickly and effortlessly as possible, but sometimes I think it helps to remember the ultimate goal... to never stop learning. Today I followed in your footsteps and watched my first Simpson's episode in Spanish. I was surprised at how much Marge and the kids the voices were the same and how different Homer, Flanders and Barney sound. I could understand about 70% of the conversations but they talk soooo fast. Keep up the good work. Your blog gives me hope and makes me work harder. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5376 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 485 of 668 05 August 2014 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey Hermon... I don't mind progressing slowly as long as I am progressing. As long as I keep my good habit of doing something every day I figure it will eventually come. Most of all, it is actually fun. When I started French I felt like I was complaining to myself every day when I turned on the French in the car instead of the Spanish and it really made me realize how much I LIKE doing things in Spanish.
I never really watched the Simpsons in English... maybe a couple episodes over the years... so I cannot really relate to the characters in English. It is tough to understand, but the storyline usually seems so obvious that it is enjoyable even if you cannot understand everything. I have taken a pretty long break from the Simpsons and maybe will return to watching them sometime soon. We'll see. Hearing you talk about what you do in work definitely keeps me interested... that's one of my ultimate goals... to feel like I can really do my job in Spanish and have that be a meaningful part of my business. Good luck with the Spanish and keep up the good work. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4145 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 486 of 668 06 August 2014 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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I tried watching Caso Cerrado after reading about it on your log. It was crazy! And the way that the camera pans up
and down people's bodies...I couldn't stop laughing. But I think that the multitude of different accents is a definite plus. I listen to too much Spanish from Spain. I need to listen to more Latin American Spanish, since that's what I'm most likely to run into as a North America. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5376 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 487 of 668 06 August 2014 at 1:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Stelle, just yesterday I was talking about Caso Cerrado's "body scanning" with a friend who is also studying Spanish. It seems like something that would be so inappropriate on English speaking US TV shows. Maybe not. Show is definiltey nuts... and interesting. Anyway, it is kind of a guilty pleasure for me... I could never even imagine myself watching such a TV show in English... but somehow in Spanish I can justify it and I even dare say I like it. I mean, after all, as you point out, it is great for hearing all types of accents, etc. There seems to be something satisfying about watching such a train wreck happen with people weaving such insane webs of facts... yelling and screaming... and, of course, the gotcha video... and I can totally understand everything. Oh well.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4145 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 488 of 668 06 August 2014 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||
It's like watching Jerry Springer, except you can call it language study. Ah, the joys of being at an upper intermediate level in Spanish. I still can't believe that I do nothing but watch TV and read books, and get to classify it as "learning time". And I think I'll give Caso Cerrado another try today. Why not? After all, it's important to study every day. Ha! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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