What have you done this week to improve your Spanish?

[Ally]

I thought I'd post this in order to get an idea of how people fit learning Spanish into their everday lives, especially if they don't live in Spain. Here's a list of what I've done in the last week:-

1. Bought an alphabetically tabbed notepad to put any new words or phrases into.
2. Bought blank flashcards and put words/phrases I struggle to remember on them (boyfriend testing me with them).
3. Bought tiny post-it-notes and plastered the household items with the Spanish names in order to learn new vocab.
4. Listened to Notes From Spain podcasts, which although they are way beyond me at the moment I pick up the gist.
5. Installed a dictionary so I can right-click on words for an instant translation.
6. Spent my lunchtimes reading About.com articles about Spanish.
7. Texting my Aunty in Spain in Spanish which helps both me and her.
8. Flicking through my verb book then crying ;)
9. Doing my homework the week before my lesson so I can do it properly, instead of an hour before he arrives at my house :o
And finally, just wittering to myself in Spanish and boring my boyfriend senseless by going "I know what that is in Spanish!".

Anyone think of anything else I can do!!

[GregC]

Read as much as you can. There are some suggestion on the forums for books (personally I'm a big García Márquez fan). Also, read some out loud. It's great if you can find an native speaker to listen and correct your pronunciation but even if you cannot I think it helps.

[Ally]

Thanks for that:) I did forget to put that I am trying to read/translate one of my favourite authors books with the english version to help.

Unfortunately I don't know any native Spaniards, I'm going to have to wait til my next trip to Spain at Christmas and use my Auntie's next door neighbour! Until then I have a 2 hour private lesson every fortnight which at least means I get to talk to someone albeit not a native :)

[neskadebilbao]

Everyday I try to read the mini newspaper put out by http://quediario.com/ . I listen to Spanish radio online and watch TVE's section shown on Scola tv when I can. I also watch my Spanish tv dvd series and obviously read the forums and listen to then podcasts.

[Edith]

8. Flicking through my verb book then crying ;)

;D

The more time you spend on learning Spanish, the more fun it will become. This is what I have been doing for the last two years.

Here are my two cents:

1. Watching TVE every day for at least half an hour
2. Buying El País Semanal on Monday to read on the bus
3. Listening to podcasts, BBC Mundo
4. Reading novels (not on a daily basis though)
5. Writing messages in Spanish on the forums (it took me a while to get out of the closet but once you overcome your fear it will be really rewarding)
6. Sending e-mails to friends in Spanish (about once a week)

[Brian]

;D

The more time you spend on learning Spanish, the more fun it will become. This is what I have been doing for the last two years.

Here are my two cents:

1. Watching TVE every day for at least half an hour
2. Buying El País Semanal on Monday to read on the bus
3. Listening to podcasts, BBC Mundo
4. Reading novels (not on a daily basis though)
5. Writing messages in Spanish on the forums (it took me a while to get out of the closet but once you overcome your fear it will be really rewarding)
6. Sending e-mails to friends in Spanish (about once a week)

All of the above, plus SPEAK it as much as possible. Our brains assimilate it so much better when we speak Spanish.

[viajero]

I had a Skype-based chat with Neskadebilbao today!

Every week I meet with a Spanish tutor in the language lab in the university where I work. I practice conversation with her. She is fantastic - a good teacher and very patient.

I of course listen to NIS podcasts ;D

I speak a little Spanish with co-workers every day (particularly if they speak the language too!) ;)

I changed my Mac OS to be in Spanish instead of English!

I use e-mail based in Spain.

I listen to Spanish-language radio in the car.

That's all I can think of at the moment....

[Edith]

All of the above, plus SPEAK it as much as possible. Our brains assimilate it so much better when we speak Spanish.

Remarkable, isn't it? They say that one month of total immersion in a Spanish-speaking environment is more rewarding than one year of 'hard labor' at home... maybe this also explains why some people still aren't able to speak a foreign language after six years in high school/secondary school.

Sometimes, I speak Spanish with a friend from Aruba, but I know I should go out more often and meet Spanish-speaking people in Utrecht and Amsterdam. ;) I took two courses at the Instituto Cervantes, where we spoke Spanish all the time, and my Spanish really improved just from speaking Spanish two hours a week.

[Rita Marley]

Thanks for that:) I did forget to put that I am trying to read/translate one of my favourite authors books with the english version to help.

Unfortunately I don't know any native Spaniards, I'm going to have to wait til my next trip to Spain at Christmas and use my Auntie's next door neighbour! Until then I have a 2 hour private lesson every fortnight which at least means I get to talk to someone albeit not a native :)

Ally, I will help you if you want...just email me. And I am native but I live in Florida.:cool:

Marie

[Ally]

Wow! Thanks, I knew it was a good idea to join this forum :)

I'll PM you when I have my next break :)

[Catica]

Anyone think of anything else I can do!!

Well done!

This week, ordered Assimil's Using Spanish. I think with this, I may have gone overboard as I'm not sure how I'll fit this in. On a near daily basis, I try to:

Watch LoMasTv.com (http://www.lomastv.com/) every morning while I eat a bowl of cereal.
On public transit listen along as I read an audio magazine (Puerta del Sol and Puntoycoma are two I recommend) or the Notes in Spanish podcasts.
Take too many breaks to read this forum!
Take a break to do a grammar exercise or two.I have a Spanish lesson once a week. I'm trying to re-write my travelogues from a trip to Spain into Spanish.

I have sporadic conversations with my Spanish-speaking boyfriend. If he actually responds to me in Spanish I take it to mean that I'm doing all right. Most of the time, he will only speak in English with me however, but he'll gladly correct me. I need to move this part to another thread. :) At least, when we meet Spanish speakers who are complimentary towards me, he doesn't take credit and he shouldn't. I've been doing this entirely on my own, no help from him!

I've been actively working on this for about two years, and if there's any trick or secret I learned, it's that the harder you try to learn vocabulary, the harder it is. That is, when you don't try, it's much easier. You have to find that happy medium and it usually happens when you're not paying attention. And while you think it's because you're not learning, it's more because your subconscious is constantly running. It's easy in the same way that you learned how to get around your town.

I realize that this might seem scary, because in a big way, you're leaving a lot of it up to chance. But this is how true immersion works. If you went to Spain, you wouldn't have enough time to create flashcards for all the words surrounding you. So just try to recreate that immersion the best you can with movies and podcasts and books (like you're doing) with as much variety as possible. It keeps your brain on its toes and you'll learn much faster that way. :)

[Edith]

That is, when you don't try, it's much easier. You have to find that happy medium and it usually happens when you're not paying attention. And while you think it's because you're not learning, it's more because your subconscious is constantly running.

True! I have been spending much time on learning Spanish for the last couple of years too, but without taking any exams (apart from getting two Instituto Cervantes certificates). The thing is, I love studying and taking part in courses, but I hate exams. Spending one or two hours every day on learning Spanish in an informal way may yield the same results in the end. At least, I hope so!

[richardksa]

Something has happened to me this week that gives me hope. Following Edith's suggestion I started to view the Destinos series of Videos. At first I thought I was taking nothing in and then suddenly realised, maybe a second or two later, that I had actually understood it in a sort of subconscious way. So I replayed some parts and found I understood the lot. Boy, I'm so proud. I just went from episode to episode and have done 12 in two days. (I really must get a life!) Now I can't wait till touch down in Madrid next week to listen in to real fast Spanish to see how much I "subconsciously" understand.

[Edith]

Something has happened to me this week that gives me hope. Following Edith's suggestion I started to view the Destinos series of Videos. At first I thought I was taking nothing in and then suddenly realised, maybe a second or two later, that I had actually understood it in a sort of subconscious way. So I replayed some parts and found I understood the lot. Boy, I'm so proud. I just went from episode to episode and have done 12 in two days. (I really must get a life!) Now I can't wait till touch down in Madrid next week to listen in to real fast Spanish to see how much I "subconsciously" understand.

The series is great, isn't it? I had to spend this week at home because of an injured kneecap but I have made the best of it, watching all the episodes in one go! I just finished the last one tonight. :) Watching the series has helped me to distinguish between different kinds of Spanish - each accent has got a beauty of its own. :)

BTW, this website has got many interesting English-language videos as well, e.g. about geography, psychology, history, etc. There is one video about Andalucía which I will watch tomorrow. I will let you guys know about it later.

¡Buen viaje a Madrid! And please keep us posted about how you are doing there.

[richardksa]

The series is great, isn't it? I had to spend this week at home because of an injured kneecap but I have made the best of it, watching all the episodes in one go! I just finished the last one tonight. :) Watching the series has helped me to distinguish between different kinds of Spanish - each accent has got a beauty of its own. :)

Sorry to hear of your kneecap problem. I hope it's on the mend. I'm impressed with you watching all the episodes in a week. My brain was getting a little fogged after watching 12. Still, I'm in Buenos Aires now and I really have noticed the difference in the accents.

The episodes filmed in Madrid were fascinating. Some scenes were shot in well known areas and it was interesting to see how they had changed over the fourteen years since the series was made. As was the use of normal, non-mobile phones!!

Anyway, it's back to Buenos Aires for another six episodes this afternoon.

[Andy E]

Yes, the most noticeable difference in the series is definitely the Argentinian accent. I can't say, for example, that I could identify a PR accent compared with a Mexican one.

The biggest disappointment for me was the main characters in the scenes in Seville who seemed to have been shipped down from Madrid for the shoot - with the exception, IIRC, of a taxi driver who is taking Raquel to try and find the address for Sra. Suárez.

If you want to hear a *real* Andalucian accent, have a listen to Carolina in the Free Demos section at http://lomastv.com/.

Andy.

[Edith]

Sorry to hear of your kneecap problem. I hope it's on the mend. I'm impressed with you watching all the episodes in a week. My brain was getting a little fogged after watching 12. Still, I'm in Buenos Aires now and I really have noticed the difference in the accents.

The episodes filmed in Madrid were fascinating. Some scenes were shot in well known areas and it was interesting to see how they had changed over the fourteen years since the series was made. As was the use of normal, non-mobile phones!!

Anyway, it's back to Buenos Aires for another six episodes this afternoon.

Yes, my knee is on the mend but after five days of house arrest I'm really longing to go outside, if only to sit on a café terrace for a while with a vino rosado. :)

It has taken me two weeks to watch the entire series. As I was able to understand all the dialogues, I could move quickly from one episode to the next. It's been a real joy soaking up the sounds of Spanish for hours on end! With nothing else to do anyway, I could think of worse ways to be on sick leave! :D

Argentinian Spanish sounds very mellifluous to me. Apart from that, I think Arturo has got a very pleasant voice. ;)

[Edith]

Yes, the most noticeable difference in the series is definitely the Argentinian accent. I can't say, for example, that I could identify a PR accent compared with a Mexican one.

The biggest disappointment for me was the main characters in the scenes in Seville who seemed to have been shipped down from Madrid for the shoot - with the exception, IIRC, of a taxi driver who is taking Raquel to try and find the address for Sra. Suárez.

If you want to hear a *real* Andalucian accent, have a listen to Carolina in the Free Demos section at http://lomastv.com/.

Andy.

RE Andalucian accent: The girl looks Asian but she must have grown up in Andalucía to have such an accent!

Someone who sounds archetypically Andalusian to my foreigner's ear is Carmen Sevilla, actress and flamenco singer. I couldn't find any audio recordings of her voice but this is her. She presents 'Cine de barrio' on TVE.



http://www.espacioblog.com/myfiles/vespadicto/carmen%20sevilla.jpg

To me, the Puerto Rican accent in the series sounded rather generic. For comparison, listen to this interview of Willie Colón (one of the 'founding fathers' of salsa) by the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_5025000/5025906.stm

[greytop]

Further to other posts.
I have started to watch the Destinos videos and agree they are excellent.
Like the podcasts it is great to be able to replay parts over and over again. Thanks whoever put that link on (Edith?)
Still reading Las Provincias newspaper every day but afraid the verb practice book sits in the cupboard, unloved and unused. Think I'll use Spanish for most words and Spanglish for the verbs!

What was the UK comedy sketch show where the "banana republic" TV show had the weather forecast with the map covered in suns and the weather was always "scorchio"?

[Ben]

What was the UK comedy sketch show where the "banana republic" TV show had the weather forecast with the map covered in suns and the weather was always "scorchio"?

The Fast Show (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/fastshow/characters/chanel9.shtml)

[Drew]

In order to improve my Spanish (and drive my wife crazy in the process), I do the following. I'm focusing mostly on improving my oral comprehension and, secondly, my speaking skills. My experience when I travel has been that understanding what other people say is always the biggest challenge.

1. I meet once a week with a Columbian refugee who recently arrived in Canada for about an hour of general conservation. I pay him of course.
2. Rent movies with a Spanish soundtrack and Spanish sub-titles. The only problem is that the subtitles are usually not the same as the language used in the soundtrack - same meaning but not exactly the same words. If anyone knows of a movie where the soundtrack and subtitles are exactly the same, I'd love to know.
3. Watch Spanish TV programs that provide closed-captionning.
4. Listen to podcasts from NIS as well as a community radio show called "Hola Bloomington." The latter provides a lot of insight into the lives of Latinos living in the U.S. and provides a wide variety of Mexican, Central American and South American accents and vocabulary.
5. Keep dictionaries handy in the car, at work and several at home so I can always look up a word when necessary.
6. Try to learn and understand the lyrics to Spanish music (especially Shakira and Rosana).
7. Read alound regularly and even talk to myself in Spanish when driving
the car!
Hope this helps.:)

[Ally]

Thanks Drew, and everyone else - I've got some great feedback and ideas now! Also thanks to this post I'm exchanging emails in purely Spanish with another NFS member which is great for me :)