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Finish one or switch between two

 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center Post Reply
Hungringo
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 3939 days ago

168 posts - 329 votes 
Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 1 of 6
05 March 2014 at 10:35pm | IP Logged 
I have given myself 1.5 year to improve my English and Spanish. Nevertheless, I am not sure what is the best strategy: "annihilate" one language first or after finishing a book/material pick a book/material in the other language. Of course there is no complete separation, since apart from monolingual materials I mostly study English in Spanish and vice versa, and even when concentrating on one I still passively (TV series, newspapers) practice the other. I want to go through the following materials:

English:

Assimil El Inglés
Assimil Inglés perfeccionamiento (70 lessons, new edition)
Assimil Angolul könnyűszerrel (sans peine)
Assimil Inglés perfeccionamiento (63 lessons, old edition)
Assimil Angol üzleti nyelv könnyűszerrel (L'anglais des affaires, old edition, 40 lessons)
Assimil El inglés americano
Cambridge English in use: full series from beginner to advanced. 18 books altogether
Steven Collins-Practical everyday English
Steven Collins-High-level everyday English
Steven Collins-Advanced everday English
Inglés sin barreras DVD series
Headway full collection
Effortless English full collection
Watch at least 1000 hours TV programmes

Spanish:

Assimil Spanish with ease
Assimil Using Spanish
Assimil Spanish (new edition, if comes out)
Assimil Spanish without toil
Hugo Spanish in 3 months
Hugo Spanish advanced
8 different Hungarian-based Spanish books (Business Spanish, Grammar, Translation skills etc.)
Paul Turk:Palabra por palabra
Colloquial Spanish 1
Colloquial Spanish 2
Colloquial Lat-Am 1
Colloquial Lat-Am 2
Living Language- Spanish beyond the basics
Ugarte-Espana y su civilización
Diaz-Plaja_La Espana que sobrevive
4000 Must Know Spanish words
Suena 1-4
Destinos DVD collection
Linguaphone Spanish (old edition)
Linguaphone All Talk Spanish
Platiquemos 1-8
Practice and improve your Spanish
Practice and improve your Spanish Plus
FSI Spanish
Michel Thomas and Paul Noble full programme (might skip beginners discs)
Watch at least 1000 hours TV programmes

Normally, I study at least 6 hours a day. I got off to a good start with English, but now I am facing burnout, my initial impetus died off, my thoughts wander away even if I keep my eyes on the pages or keep listening to the audio and often I cannot finish my daily stint. I wonder if wouldn't be better after finishing an English material to pick a Spanish one and then again an English book and then a Spanish and so forth.



1 person has voted this message useful



luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7156 days ago

3133 posts - 4351 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

 
 Message 2 of 6
05 March 2014 at 10:45pm | IP Logged 
I don't have an answer to your question, but based on your postings, I would think your English is way more
advanced than a lot of those courses could take you. Quite frankly, I haven't noticed any holes in your
English. What is it that you want to do but don't do as well as you would like?

The other thing is, based on your course list, I would think some would surely end up being too elementary.
For instance, having done most of Platiquemos/FSI Basic, I've never had the patience to stick with Spanish
with Ease - although I own it - because it's too easy.

Or do you just enjoy breezing through courses that are easy for your current level?

Edited by luke on 05 March 2014 at 10:51pm

5 persons have voted this message useful



Hungringo
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 3939 days ago

168 posts - 329 votes 
Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 3 of 6
05 March 2014 at 10:58pm | IP Logged 
Thanks, Luke. Even if my English is not bad (my Spanish is better than my English), by doing a systematic revision I want to fill in possible holes I might not even be aware of, furthermore would like to learn more idioms, phrasal verbs and improve my pronunciation.

Edited by Hungringo on 05 March 2014 at 11:03pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6548 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 4 of 6
06 March 2014 at 12:45am | IP Logged 
Yes, these resources are overkill, especially as you're in the UK and already speak good English. Bear in mind that the advanced grammar books usually cover the "foundation" well and make sure there are no gaps in your knowledge. If you discover any, only THEN use the beginner/intermediate materials to eliminate those gaps.

How much do you read in English? I'd say you just need to develop a more natural style, to incorporate the fancy vocabulary into your speech without sounding stilted. Modern literature is great for that, and so is HTLAL for example ;) In my opinion, this is much more important than weeding out the minor grammar errors. Your style is with you at all times and it should be your friend, not your enemy. If you really want to use coursebooks, you could get one that focuses on the written part of a language exam.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea to learn more phrasal verbs and idioms, though. In fact, having many of them at your disposal will let you choose more precisely. But sometimes making the right choice requires confidence and even courage. Learn to appreciate the eloquent simplicity of English. You can't show everything you know all the time - a carefully chosen glimpse can say a lot more about the extent of your knowledge.

As for the pronunciation, shadow native materials. And try to make friends with some language geeks who will find it fun to scrutinize your speech and suggest specific things to work on.

I also recommend joining the Advanced ESL Team for TAC 2014. No, it's not too late :P

At your level, 1-2 hours a day is the absolute maximum of the formal study you can (or should) do. For two languages, I would say it's three hours total, no matter how you divide them. The rest should be spent on native materials.

I don't think it really applies in your case, but here's a link to a wikia article I started, about learning languages simultaneously. But remember that you never actually finish a language - fortunately. :-)

Finally, I hope you haven't purchased all these resources yet. I recommend just going to a store or library and thumbing through books until you find something that "clicks". There are so many resources for English and Spanish that it's even unlikely that the most popular ones will be the best fit for you. Try not to purchase more than 1-2 books at a time (per language). The honeymoon effect mentioned in the article also applies to resources. They always seem so shiny in the beginning, but sooner or later the charm wears off. Don't blame yourself for it, but don't take the easy way of starting something different either.

Look at the various challenges too - you're not eligible for the 6 Week Challenge, but most other challenges or projects (like my consistency thread) will help you with the most awesome and most annoying part: not giving up. :-)

Good luck!
6 persons have voted this message useful



Hungringo
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 3939 days ago

168 posts - 329 votes 
Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish
Studies: French

 
 Message 5 of 6
06 March 2014 at 1:32am | IP Logged 
Thanks, Serpent, I will heed most of your advice.

Since I have already purchased all the above mentioned materials (with the single exception of the new Assimil Spanish) I am going to go through them anyway but at high speed. For instance, I intend to finish Hugo Spanish not in 3 months but in 3 days. For some odd reason I find satisfaction in moving a book from the "to do" shelf to the "done" shelf.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6548 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 6 of 6
06 March 2014 at 1:38am | IP Logged 
Hungringo wrote:
For some odd reason I find satisfaction in moving a book from the "to do" shelf to the "done" shelf.
We all do. Just try to do it with native materials instead.
And have a look at this thread.

I'd resell at least some of the materials while they are still new and shiny.


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