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Sentence Mining Spanish TAC 2014

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
39 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5  Next >>
BaronBill
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4484 days ago

335 posts - 594 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, German
Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian

 
 Message 1 of 39
03 October 2013 at 5:37pm | IP Logged 
MY TAC 2014 LOG STARTS HERE on post 24, page 3.


Hello to anyone interested. I’m setting up this new Spanish log to try to keep myself motivated. After my failed Cantonese experience, I’m hoping to redeem myself by reaching my 3 month Spanish goal of being able to carry on a basic conversation in Spanish by 1/1/14. I will test the success (or lack thereof) by attending a Spanish meet-up group and seeing how I do in a real conversational Spanish setting.

Some background on my Spanish abilities to date:

I never took any formal Spanish classes in school. I have very little self-study background either. I did (several years ago) manage restaurants for a living. Here in Colorado, that means “Kitchen Spanish” as almost all of my back of the house employees were Hispanic. If you needed to say it in a restaurant, I learned how to say it. No grammar, some slang, and really only basic functional vocab. I have lost some of that at this point, although I could still probably give basic instructions on cooking or cleaning. I MIGHT slip in as a low A1.

My goals:
Basic FUNCTIONAL conversation ability.
1.      I would like to be able to talk about myself, my family, my work, and my hobbies as well as ask others about theirs.
2.      I would like to discuss specific topics that interest me (ie: languages, board games, sports, etc).
3.      I would like to be able to talk about my day in detail and understand the same from a Spanish speaker.
4.      I would like to be able to discuss common everyday chat about typical subjects (the weather, food, movies, books, etc)
5.      I would like to be able to speak with a reasonable accent at a consistent, fluid pace (even if that pace is substantially slower than native)
6.     I would like to be able to understand Spanish spoken at a reasonable pace using fairly basic/common vocabulary.

I do NOT need to:
1.     Be able to talk about politics or science.
2.     Be able to have in depth philosophical conversations or debates.
3.     Be able to speak at native level speeds.
4.     Be able to understand subtle nuances (ie: jokes, undertones, double meanings, etc)
5.     Be able to understand full speed native speech unless the vocabulary is fairly basic.

I am hoping my background in French (Creole French C1) will help with some of the grammar and maybe a little vocabulary. Given the fact that I am not starting from absolute scratch, I think that this is very achievable. If anyone reading this has any good advice, let me know, I’m always looking for tips.

I also intend to maintain my German (B2)!

My materials (currently):
1.     Pimsleur 1-4
2.     Michel Thomas – Foundation, Advanced, vocab builder
3.     Spanish in 100 days (book and CD’s)
4.     501 Spanish Verbs (Barron’s)
5.     Mastering Spanish Vocabulary (Barron’s)
6.     Berlitz Spanish Step-By-Step
7.     Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish
8.     About a dozen other books, cd’s, online resources, dictionaries, etc…

My plan is to use Pimsleur for sharpening my pronunciation, Michel Thomas for basic grammar, Anki for loading vocab, and supplementing with as much other material as possible.

I will try to post my progress daily.


Edited by BaronBill on 16 December 2013 at 3:36am

2 persons have voted this message useful



BaronBill
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4484 days ago

335 posts - 594 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, German
Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian

 
 Message 2 of 39
04 October 2013 at 1:30am | IP Logged 
Well, I may as well start this off with where I stand as of today:

1. I have listened to Pimsleur I up to lesson 11.

2. I have listened to 6 of 8 discs of Michel Thomas Foundation Spanish.

3. I am about half-way through Synergy Spanish. I am blazing through this course as I know almost all of it, but the exercises are good practice.

Tonight, I will dig into Madrigal's Magic Key I think.

I'll update tomorrow!


1 person has voted this message useful



Chav
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United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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43 posts - 45 votes
Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*
Studies: Dutch, Polish

 
 Message 3 of 39
04 October 2013 at 2:12am | IP Logged 
good luck!
1 person has voted this message useful



LeadZeppelin
Diglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4816 days ago

59 posts - 85 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 4 of 39
04 October 2013 at 2:34am | IP Logged 
Good luck! You and I are in a very similar position. We both speak French, both have a very basic Spanish
knowledge, and both have about a 3 month timeline (I have a short trip to Mexico planned in 3.5 months). Both
starting about the same time and both using a lot of the same learning materials. And to top it off, we both live in
Colorado (Boulder here)! Haha. :) I'll enjoy following your blog!
2 persons have voted this message useful



BaronBill
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4484 days ago

335 posts - 594 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, German
Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian

 
 Message 5 of 39
04 October 2013 at 4:56am | IP Logged 
LeadZeppelin wrote:
Good luck! You and I are in a very similar position. We both speak French, both have a very basic Spanish
knowledge, and both have about a 3 month timeline (I have a short trip to Mexico planned in 3.5 months). Both
starting about the same time and both using a lot of the same learning materials. And to top it off, we both live in
Colorado (Boulder here)! Haha. :) I'll enjoy following your blog!


Wow! We sure DO seem to have a lot in common. Are you going to start a log? You'll have a dedicated follower here if you do.

Thanks for reading.
1 person has voted this message useful



tastyonions
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4460 days ago

1044 posts - 1823 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: Italian

 
 Message 6 of 39
04 October 2013 at 5:07am | IP Logged 
I also speak French and just started learning Spanish, but unlike you guys, I have
neither a deadline nor a designated set of learning materials. Good luck to you both!
2 persons have voted this message useful



LeadZeppelin
Diglot
Groupie
United States
Joined 4816 days ago

59 posts - 85 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 7 of 39
04 October 2013 at 6:07am | IP Logged 
Ha. The three of us can be the trifecta.

My log is here. Let's do it!

Edited by LeadZeppelin on 04 October 2013 at 7:01pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tastyonions
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4460 days ago

1044 posts - 1823 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: Italian

 
 Message 8 of 39
04 October 2013 at 12:23pm | IP Logged 
My log is here. It's in French, but that obviously won't be a problem for you guys. Spanish stuff starts on the last page.


1 person has voted this message useful



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