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Stelle Speaks Spanish and Tagalog | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3937 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes  Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 345 of 384 07 September 2014 at 4:08pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the discussion, and for the well wishes for my dog!
Percy Jackson *definitely* became a chore for me. I never got really hooked on the series, although I did enjoy the first book quite a lot. The truth is that I only finished the whole series because I spent money that I didn't really have on buying the books. I did feel a sense of accomplishment finishing the series, but it was tinged with a strong sense of relief. Had I had access to the books from the library (rather than buying them myself), I probably would have stopped after book 3. When I get addicted to a really good TV show (or a really good series of books), finishing it is a bit bittersweet: bitter because I want more, sweet because I'm a bit maladaptive with addictive media and I'll *finally* have time to do other things. Ha! In the beginning, Spanish was addictive in and of itself. Now, I'm at the stage where I can get addicted to the media, and the fact that it's in Spanish is kind of peripheral. It's a gratifying feeling! I've gotten seriously addicted to a few DramaFever shows, and am now semi-addicted (as in - I really enjoy it, but I don't usually want to sit and watch episode after episode) to Aqui No Hay Quien Viva. Hunger Games is definitely addictive, although I won't be buying the other two books in the series for a good while. @Lorren, I've signed up for the Egyptology course in Spanish. But I've also signed up for a French course on African cities at the same time. I'll probably have to pick one or the other. I love coursera! It's not the same as physically going to school, because the face-to-face interaction with other students is a bit part of the magic of higher education, but it's nice to do something that feels academic again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3937 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 346 of 384 14 September 2014 at 5:06pm | IP Logged |
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I finished The Hunger Games. It was quite addictive - definitely a better book for me than the Percy Jackson
books were! From now on, I will read books that are easy AND interesting. Two questions to ask myself: a) Is it boring because it's hard? Put it away for now. b) Is it boring because it's boring? Put it away forever. (for more ramblings on my Captain Obvious revelations on reading, see here) I had a good conversation with my italki tutor today. It will be my last for the next few weeks, since my mom is coming for a visit. I'm looking forward to having her here! She's been working on Spanish over the past few months, mainly using Duolingo. She's not interested in "serious study", but she's visiting friends in Mexico next year and would like to be able to speak a bit of Spanish. I've been keeping up with watching at least two TV shows per week. I've been alternating between Aquí No Hay Quien Viva (on YouTube) and El Tiempo Entre Costuras (on Drama Fever). I'm really loving both shows! I've also been listening to podcasts or audio lectures every day, although I'm not walking anywhere near as much as I was when the dog was well. (He's still unwell, by the way. We got a brace for him, so he looks like a bionic dog, and it helps, but he's still in a lot of pain. His kidney problems make surgery and post-surgery care very difficult. Poor guy.) Aside from Buenos Días América, here are a few things that I've listened to this week: Camino de Occitania (on Nómadas) I particularly liked this one because the songs and interviews (at least the bits before the Spanish voiceover) were all in French. And they talked about the Camino de Santiago. Well, le chemin de St-Jacques, since it's the part in France rather than in Spain. Un Mundo Ideal (on Radio Ambulante) The story of a man deported to Mexico, and fighting to regain custody of his three American-born sons. It's a heartbreaking story, no matter what angle you look from. Very interesting. Inovación educativa con recursos abiertos This coursera course is ok. I've been listening to all of the lectures as audio. I haven't been doing any of the exercises or assignments. While I like the *idea* of coursera courses, I have yet to be truly sucked in to any of them. I find that I get more out of the high-quality weekly podcasts on RTVE. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5168 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 347 of 384 14 September 2014 at 8:15pm | IP Logged |
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A young adult series that fits your "easy and interesting" test for me is John Grisham's Theodore Boone series. I found it noticeably easier and more interesting than any of the other young adult books I read. You might want to give it a try. If you like Grisham-type books (suspense/thriller) you will like it. It is basically a Grisham series where the "lawyer" is a thirteen year old boy who has two lawyer-parents. The themes are "adult" and interesting, but simply written for a young adult audience. There are four books in the series and all of them have been translated into Spanish (I've only read the first two so far). I think I will read the third one soon... after I try out Hunger Games.
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| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6390 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 348 of 384 14 September 2014 at 8:44pm | IP Logged |
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Awww great captain obvious post!
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| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3937 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 349 of 384 21 September 2014 at 2:42pm | IP Logged |
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It's been a difficult week. My dog has been shaking lately. We assumed it was due to the leg pain, but the shaking
became extreme and he stopped eating on Friday, so we brought him in to the vet (for the fourth time in two weeks). After hours of x-rays and ultrasound, we were shocked to learn that he has a football-sized tumour hanging off one of his kidneys. We almost lost him that night, and were ready to say good-bye the next day at the vet's. But in the morning, he started eating and interacting with us again, so we're not really sure where we stand right now. He's tired, but he isn't shaking and he doesn't seem to be in pain. All that to say that I haven't really focused much on language learning this week. Still, I have listened to a few podcasts, mostly Radio Ambulante, Futuro Abierto and Nómadas. While I still like Buenos Días América, I was finding it a bit repetitive, so I took a break. I'll probably pick it up again soon, since it's the only news that I'm getting these days. How will I know what's going on with ebola, illegal immigration and ISIS if I don't listen to BDA? ;) I've also been reading. I finished The Hunger Games (my reading goal for the month of September), and immediately started on En Llamas (the second book in the trilogy - thanks Kerrie!!!). I'm not very far into the second book - maybe about 60 pages - but I'm definitely hooked. This series was *exactly* what I needed to read in Spanish. I'm going to finish all three books, and then I'm going to read Como Agua Para Chocolate. (Yes, I know, I've been claiming that as my "next book" for a very long time. This time I mean it! Maybe.) My Mom is 5 days into an 11 day visit, so all Skype tutoring is on hold for now. She's also learning Spanish, which is neat! She isn't interested in diving in the way that a lot of HTLAL-ers do, but she's spending about 20-30 minutes working on it every single day. She has an anki deck that she runs through daily, and she also does a few lessons on Duolingo. Her goal is to have some very basic communication skills in Spanish when she visits some friends in Mexico next February. I don't see her ever doing something like a Skype language exchange, but I'm encouraging her to speak Spanish with me when she feels a bit more confident. She's also agreed to try out Language Transfer while she's here, at the pace of one lesson per day (and then continue it at home if she likes it). I was very intrigued by the course, but it came out much too late for me, so I like doing it vicariously through her. She's only done up to track 3, but we're both very impressed with the course so far! Language Transfer Complete Spanish I listened to all of the video lectures for the first two weeks of my coursera course, but then realized that the RTVE podcasts were both more interesting and more challenging. At first, I planned on continuing with coursera, since it was my goal for the month of September. But in the end, I decided that I'd grow more by listening to something more engaging. This is the second coursera course that I've started and abandoned, although I did make it halfway through this one. I'll probably try one more before deciding that they simply aren't for me. No TV shows at all this week! I watched five episodes early in the month (three episodes of Aqui No Hay Quien Viva and two episodes of El Tiempo Entre Costuras). Since my September goal was at least 8 TV shows, I still have plenty of time. edited to add accents Edited by Stelle on 21 September 2014 at 2:47pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6390 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 350 of 384 21 September 2014 at 3:05pm | IP Logged |
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Oh, sorry to hear about your dog!
As for online learning, try MiriadaX, maybe? Most of their content is in Spanish (and some in Portuguese), so you'll have much more options. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5168 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 351 of 384 21 September 2014 at 4:47pm | IP Logged |
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My thoughts are with you about your dog. That's a tough thing to go through.
You might like some of the other 30 minute VOA news podcasts. I originally listened to "Desde Washington" but found I preferred "Buenos Dias America" as it was more USA based news and I simply liked the hosts better. There are a couple other 30 minute daily news podcasts too. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5168 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 352 of 384 21 September 2014 at 5:03pm | IP Logged |
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I have a dumb question. I just checked out that link that Serpent posted. I have also checked out the coursera site. How do these "courses" work? I mean... what do you do? Do you just listen to a lecture once a week? Is there interaction with other students and the teacher? Is there "homework"? I cannot find actual descriptions of what someone actually does for these courses.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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