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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes  Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 41 of 94 26 July 2007 at 3:28pm | IP Logged |
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Unit 10's grammar was a relief from the previous units. Having so much practice already in direct object pronouns, I easily went through the section on that (although, I must confess that when I first started learning it I could never get my brain to think about the pronoun coming first, and then the verb, since it's just the opposite in english).
The replacement exercises were slightly difficult, or maybe it was because the ones in unit 9 were so easy; several of the drills in that unit were based on sentences that were 2-4 words long. Basically, my daily work on the computer for Spanish is as follows: -10 minutes of review of the previous unit (basically reworking a few drills in the grammar sections and the harder replacement/variation drills) -80-90 minutes of new material, which will cover a complete unit. I try to take two-minute breaks every so often, because doing too many drills at once (and at high speed) is brain-bursting. I still review bits of the programmatic course everyday, just to keep my knowledge of more complicated structures of the languages current. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 42 of 94 27 July 2007 at 3:02pm | IP Logged |
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I just finished unit 11, which was a light unit; the grammar was especially basic (why did they delay the position of "no" to such a late unit?).
I'm wondering why this basic sentence wasn't split into two parts in the dialogue for learning: (Hay que) barrer la casa y limpiar los muebles. Lavar la cocina y el baño. Y cambiar las sábanas y las fundas de almohada. It took forever to learn that one sentence, because everytime in the middle I would lose the thread of the utterance and that would ruin everything. And I guess I'll still be waiting for the Spanish course to be updated on the FSI language courses website.... Edited by 236factorial on 27 July 2007 at 3:03pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 43 of 94 29 July 2007 at 5:31pm | IP Logged |
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Unit 12 was really nice and relaxing (introducing subject pronouns?!), for the first half. The replacement drills were a killer. With 1 or 2 repetitions though, they became quite automatic, which is of course a good thing.
Now I have to move on to unit 13. I recall that 13 is an unlucky number. How will that reflect on the difficulties I will have? I'll see, very soon. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 44 of 94 31 July 2007 at 3:28pm | IP Logged |
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I remember saying that "13" was a bad omen for the unit to come, and that can't be any less true. After finishing unit 13, I was going to have brain cancer (note that this is an exaggeration).
The replacement drills were atrocious, and it took many many tries to perfect them. I also didn't like the possessive constructions with "de", especially when they were nominalized, as in "la hija de ella" -> "la de ella". The definite article part would often come out wrong, even if I'm thinking the right one. It is like my mouth and brain have absolutely no connection with each other! I've also started unit 14, which is slightly easier. Not as walk-in-the-park as I would like it to be, but definetly not as killing as unit 13. When I'm finished with that I'll go through my experiences in more detail. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 45 of 94 01 August 2007 at 1:41pm | IP Logged |
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Unit 14 was actually really nice, but of course, not nice enough. I always wonder when the units will finally be easy again. Maybe never? That seems so, since the units are supposed to get harder anyway, and they're already posing little problems.
Something that's really bothering me is that the speakers keep making their s's nearly inaudible, so in something like a replacement drill, I say something in the singular when it is actually in the plural, because I can't hear the s. example (from unit 14 replacement drill B) Sentence: Además, mañana llega mi familia. amigos (I hear /amigo/ so I say "además, mañana llega mi amigo") Answer: Además, mañana llegan mis amigos. It drives me nuts. Hopefully, the following time I can remember that the s is eaten up and can answer correctly, and luckily, this doesn't happen very often. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 46 of 94 02 August 2007 at 4:12pm | IP Logged |
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I finished unit 15, whose theme was definetly "indirect clitics". That wasn't much of a problem at first, until it was combined with the present perfect construction. Now I have three tasks when translating such sentences from English to Spanish:
1. Find the right indirect object pronoun 2. Determine the right form of haber (hardest step) 3. Fill in with the past participle form But I got it eventually, and I'll go over it tomorrow again. Meanwhile, the replacement drills were a treat after the arduous drills of the preceeding units. What used to be the bane of each unit turned out to be the cool-down. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 47 of 94 03 August 2007 at 5:38pm | IP Logged |
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Now all the Spanish that I learn from the course will be completely new material (note that some 5-6 months ago, I overviewed the first 15 units of the Spanish course, ie. Barron's Mastering Spanish, Level One).
Unit 16 presents me with a entirely new and fresh dialogue, which I found sort of discontinuous; the topic changes constantly. The grammar presented was overly little, and I knew something was up the sleeves of the authors of this course. And I guessed correctly! The replacement/variation drills hit a new high in difficulty. They often would proceed like so in a replacement drill: Estos son los sectores bonitos. parte Esta es la parte bonita. Every word changed in the last sentence from the first. This happened numerous times, creating major obstacles and problems as I proceeded. With practice it became a lot better, like usual. I have to go pick up tennis balls (be a ball-boy) tomorrow and Sunday for a professional tournament, probably for 10 hours daily (¡diez horas al día¡), so not much Spanish in the next two days. I also want to review what I learned in this course every so often, as I mentioned earlier. I think on Monday and Tuesday, I'll go over units 5-16 again. That's about 20 minutes per unit.... eek. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 236factorial Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6483 days ago 192 posts - 213 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 48 of 94 07 August 2007 at 2:47pm | IP Logged |
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I finished reviewing today, as said earlier. The units were still pretty fresh in my mind, which is a good thing. The drills were no problem.
I also began unit 17. With loquella, it is impossible to figure out who exactly is talking in the dialogue. But, the fsi-language-courses site happens to have the text for units 16-30. How lucky! And the grammar? Preterit of regular verbs. So cool. Programmatic Spanish tortured me with this for 40 units, and my mastery over it is greater than it is over the present, so this section should be really easy. I'll have to go being a ball-boy again tomorrow and on the weekends. It's actually really nice to serve pro tennis players, some who are ranked in the top 150 in the world. Anyway, you won't be hearing from me tomorrow. Hasta el jueves. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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