Comments on: Do you view learning as a period of life or a way of life? http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/ A bilingual blog and conversational Spanish podcast. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:02:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Eugene http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1966 Eugene Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:42:07 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1966 Eleena, Thank you for the comment! "Flying solo" - that sounds cool! (I am not a native English speaker :-) ). To play further with the metaphor: when I am flying over "Spanish", I recognize some of the "views" of the terrain, as they are similar to "English", "French" etc (which I have been flying over before). I am trying to grasp now what is really very different in Spanish as compared to other languages I am familiar with. It seems, for example, that while verb conjugation is as convoluted as in French :-) , it is actually used a lot in conversations, unlike French. I am trying to define other singularities ... it IS fun. I was able to find "House, MD" with Spanish subs: sometimes I watch the episode in English first, then switch off the sound and follow with the subs only. In truth, the next step should be a good, long novel in Spanish ... may be a thriller. Not "Don Quixote" though. Eleena,

Thank you for the comment! “Flying solo” – that sounds cool! (I am not a native English speaker :-) ). To play further with the metaphor: when I am flying over “Spanish”, I recognize some of the “views” of the terrain, as they are similar to “English”, “French” etc (which I have been flying over before). I am trying to grasp now what is really very different in Spanish as compared to other languages I am familiar with. It seems, for example, that while verb conjugation is as convoluted as in French :-) , it is actually used a lot in conversations, unlike French. I am trying to define other singularities … it IS fun.
I was able to find “House, MD” with Spanish subs: sometimes I watch the episode in English first, then switch off the sound and follow with the subs only. In truth, the next step should be a good, long novel in Spanish … may be a thriller. Not “Don Quixote” though.

]]> By: eleena http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1965 eleena Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:55:28 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1965 Eugene, Hitting a plateau, or what feels like a plateau, will happen frequently, especially if you're flying solo (i.e. studying Spanish on your own). I think the key is to be patient with yourself and to look for new ways to stretch your abilities in the language, which it sounds like you're doing. In fact, it sounds like you've made rapid progress in a very short time since you're already watching Ross and Rachel bickering in Spanish! :) Thanks for commenting! Eugene,
Hitting a plateau, or what feels like a plateau, will happen frequently, especially if you’re flying solo (i.e. studying Spanish on your own). I think the key is to be patient with yourself and to look for new ways to stretch your abilities in the language, which it sounds like you’re doing. In fact, it sounds like you’ve made rapid progress in a very short time since you’re already watching Ross and Rachel bickering in Spanish! :)

Thanks for commenting!

]]> By: Eugene http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1964 Eugene Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:21:03 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1964 That was a very interesting post, Eleena! It certainly gives me some food for thought ... I started learning Spanish about a month ago, from a "zero level" and no external pressure - "for fun". I was pushing ahead very hard, but now reached a plateau - as expected . I know about 1000 or more words and can read the newspapers and simple texts without dictionary. My grammar is still rather weak and I feel that writing would be great for me at this stage. I use quite a few of the strategies you mentioned - hand-written flashcards, notes and lessons on my Palm, occasional TV fragments, intermediate level podcasts every day, some poetry and pop music,. What works nicely for me is listening/watching familiar TV shows in Spanish, following with an English transcripts (I am into FRIENDS right now). BTW, I like this blog! :-) That was a very interesting post, Eleena!

It certainly gives me some food for thought … I started learning Spanish about a month ago, from a “zero level” and no external pressure – “for fun”. I was pushing ahead very hard, but now reached a plateau – as expected . I know about 1000 or more words and can read the newspapers and simple texts without dictionary. My grammar is still rather weak and I feel that writing would be great for me at this stage. I use quite a few of the strategies you mentioned – hand-written flashcards, notes and lessons on my Palm, occasional TV fragments, intermediate level podcasts every day, some poetry and pop music,. What works nicely for me is listening/watching familiar TV shows in Spanish, following with an English transcripts (I am into FRIENDS right now). BTW, I like this blog! :-)

]]> By: Michael http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1934 Michael Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:44:55 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1934 As Ramses does, I talk to myself in Spanish haha and yes I've been caught before looking crazy but I truly think it helps. But I wanted to say great article! I love all the tips and I plan to employ a lot of them (the radio thing I really want to do, I'm weird, I like stuff like that anyway). I'm still deep in the learning stages, always I am building my vocabulary. I do this by reading magazines daily in Spanish and what I do is read until I have circled 10 words I don't know or am unsure about and look them up. The plan is:10 words a day, 70 words a week, 280 words a month, 3360 words a year! Of course I have to review, reread, put forth effort to use them, etc. etc. We both know you can't look them up a be done with it :) But yeah great blog always! As Ramses does, I talk to myself in Spanish haha and yes I’ve been caught before looking crazy but I truly think it helps. But I wanted to say great article! I love all the tips and I plan to employ a lot of them (the radio thing I really want to do, I’m weird, I like stuff like that anyway). I’m still deep in the learning stages, always I am building my vocabulary. I do this by reading magazines daily in Spanish and what I do is read until I have circled 10 words I don’t know or am unsure about and look them up. The plan is:10 words a day, 70 words a week, 280 words a month, 3360 words a year! Of course I have to review, reread, put forth effort to use them, etc. etc. We both know you can’t look them up a be done with it :) But yeah great blog always!

]]> By: eleena http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1890 eleena Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:29:00 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1890 Thanks for the positivity, guys! @Ramses...Welcome back! Those 2 weeks flew by, didn't they? @Dave...Happy 2009 to you too! Good to see you here. Glad to hear that the Spanish conversation group is still going strong. @Kyler, yes, that's how I initially came up with that tip...from falling asleep while either the radio or the TV was on. There's a radio show in Madrid that I used to like to listen to but I couldn't stay awake for the entire program because it started at 1:30 a.m. weekdays. @Ryan: Espero que logres tus metas. Yo también quiero viajar a América Latina este año, a lo mejor este verano. Thanks for the positivity, guys!

@Ramses…Welcome back! Those 2 weeks flew by, didn’t they?

@Dave…Happy 2009 to you too! Good to see you here. Glad to hear that the Spanish conversation group is still going strong.

@Kyler, yes, that’s how I initially came up with that tip…from falling asleep while either the radio or the TV was on. There’s a radio show in Madrid that I used to like to listen to but I couldn’t stay awake for the entire program because it started at 1:30 a.m. weekdays.

@Ryan: Espero que logres tus metas. Yo también quiero viajar a América Latina este año, a lo mejor este verano.

]]> By: Ryan http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1888 Ryan Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:43:16 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1888 Yo también quisiera felicitarte por otro artículo bien escrito. Una de las cosas que voy a hacer este año es buscar más oportunidades en mi comunidad de asociarme con latinos. Además, voy a leer más artículos de periódicos hispanos. Lo que sí me gustaría hacer es volver a América Latina pero ahí veremos lo que pasa. Yo también quisiera felicitarte por otro artículo bien escrito. Una de las cosas que voy a hacer este año es buscar más oportunidades en mi comunidad de asociarme con latinos. Además, voy a leer más artículos de periódicos hispanos. Lo que sí me gustaría hacer es volver a América Latina pero ahí veremos lo que pasa.

]]> By: Kyler http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1887 Kyler Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:52:17 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1887 I've tried the sleep with the radio thing. Well it was more of a I accidently slept with the television on Univision. But either way it helps a lot!! I’ve tried the sleep with the radio thing. Well it was more of a I accidently slept with the television on Univision. But either way it helps a lot!!

]]> By: Dave http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1885 Dave Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:20:58 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1885 Great post Eleena! I would just add two additional ways people can practice... 1) During boring meetings at work, I try to translate whatever it is that people are blabbering about. It's hard to do and I'm not good at it, but it's a great way to learn something instead of wasting time! 2) People who are looking for conversation practice, can check out our Online Spanish Conversation Club at http://spanishconversation.wikispaces.com/ Happy New Year! Keep up the great work! Great post Eleena!

I would just add two additional ways people can practice…
1) During boring meetings at work, I try to translate whatever it is that people are blabbering about. It’s hard to do and I’m not good at it, but it’s a great way to learn something instead of wasting time!

2) People who are looking for conversation practice, can check out our Online Spanish Conversation Club at
http://spanishconversation.wikispaces.com/

Happy New Year! Keep up the great work!

]]> By: Ramses http://spanish-podcast.com/2009/01/04/do-you-view-learning-as-a-period-of-life-or-a-way-of-life/#comment-1884 Ramses Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:13:09 +0000 http://spanish-podcast.com/?p=875#comment-1884 Great list Eleena! A nice thing to do is just talking to yourself in Spanish. I'm used to talk to myself (how weird this may be) to make things clear for myself. In the past I did it in Dutch and English, now I just do it in Spanish :-). About to volunteer in a Spanish-speaking country: great! I just decided to do exactly that instead of working in Benidorm for the summer. I mean, Benidorm in the summer will leave me with some nice cash (that I'll probably spend right away going out with my Spanish friends, hehe) but it's filled with guiris. Instead, I'm going to Albacete now :-). Great list Eleena! A nice thing to do is just talking to yourself in Spanish. I’m used to talk to myself (how weird this may be) to make things clear for myself. In the past I did it in Dutch and English, now I just do it in Spanish :-) .

About to volunteer in a Spanish-speaking country: great! I just decided to do exactly that instead of working in Benidorm for the summer. I mean, Benidorm in the summer will leave me with some nice cash (that I’ll probably spend right away going out with my Spanish friends, hehe) but it’s filled with guiris. Instead, I’m going to Albacete now :-) .

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