Einar
11th September 2006, 02:51 PM
Ben & Marina,
It is overdue to introduce myself. I would like to start by telling you how much I appreciate all the efforts you have put into creating this great site, and for producing all the excellent podcasts about daily life in Spain, and elsewhere! Although we have never met, I almost feel like being part of your family by now, after having been a regular podcast listener for almost a year.
I got through the first few chapters of a Spanish Linguaphone course while studying computer science at the university more than 25 years ago, but never got further than acquiring a rudimentary travel vocabulary at that time. About two years ago I decided to make a conscious effort to become fluent in Spanish at some point. I started out by purchasing an updated Linguaphone course (Spanish allTalk) and a subscription to Puerta del Sol (www.puerta-del-sol.com (http://www.puerta-del-sol.com)). The latter was totally unintelligible to me in the beginning, but after listening to the CDs repeadly in the car while commuting to work, I gradually started picking up on the contents.
I also "forced myself" to read some Spanish books, the first being 2001 Una Odisea Espacial, which I had had on my shelves since the university days. I bought the English original to read along-side, rather than having to look up words in the dictionary. This worked very well, as it turned out the Spanish edition was a literal sentence-by-sentence translation.
I am currently working my way through La Fiesta del Chivo, and a number of Spanish DVDs. Though I am still lacking a lot of the vocabulary, my reading and listening skills is approaching a comfortable level. Your podcasts and the recent transcripts have certainly been very helful in getting this far.
My main goals for next year is to find ways of practising and improving my still very rudimentary speaking and writing skills. I have found that I need many more repetitions now than in the past for memorizing vocabulary, so becoming fluent in conversations will not happen overnight...
I have recently purchased some audio flash card CDs from Puerta del Sol. With no immediate Intercambio opportunities, these type of exercises have proven useful to me for acquiring a better spoken vocabulary. Each CD consists of 100 Spanish words & phrases along with their English translations, with time to pronounce the phrases in-between, and repeated with the English phrases first the second time around. Maybe you could consider producing some audio flash card podcasts along these lines, to complement your otherwise excellent Notes in Spanish podcasts?
On Friday I am going on my fifth trip to Spain this year, this time with my wife on a short weekend vacation in Madrid. Earlier this year I have been on two business trips to Tres Cantos, where I understand Marina is working. On my last visit there in July, I stayed on an extra day in Madrid, visiting some places you have been recommending, including eating out at Taverna Miranda and Er 77 in Calle Argumosa.
Now I am looking forward to listening to the new podcasts I just downloaded.
Thanks,
Einar
It is overdue to introduce myself. I would like to start by telling you how much I appreciate all the efforts you have put into creating this great site, and for producing all the excellent podcasts about daily life in Spain, and elsewhere! Although we have never met, I almost feel like being part of your family by now, after having been a regular podcast listener for almost a year.
I got through the first few chapters of a Spanish Linguaphone course while studying computer science at the university more than 25 years ago, but never got further than acquiring a rudimentary travel vocabulary at that time. About two years ago I decided to make a conscious effort to become fluent in Spanish at some point. I started out by purchasing an updated Linguaphone course (Spanish allTalk) and a subscription to Puerta del Sol (www.puerta-del-sol.com (http://www.puerta-del-sol.com)). The latter was totally unintelligible to me in the beginning, but after listening to the CDs repeadly in the car while commuting to work, I gradually started picking up on the contents.
I also "forced myself" to read some Spanish books, the first being 2001 Una Odisea Espacial, which I had had on my shelves since the university days. I bought the English original to read along-side, rather than having to look up words in the dictionary. This worked very well, as it turned out the Spanish edition was a literal sentence-by-sentence translation.
I am currently working my way through La Fiesta del Chivo, and a number of Spanish DVDs. Though I am still lacking a lot of the vocabulary, my reading and listening skills is approaching a comfortable level. Your podcasts and the recent transcripts have certainly been very helful in getting this far.
My main goals for next year is to find ways of practising and improving my still very rudimentary speaking and writing skills. I have found that I need many more repetitions now than in the past for memorizing vocabulary, so becoming fluent in conversations will not happen overnight...
I have recently purchased some audio flash card CDs from Puerta del Sol. With no immediate Intercambio opportunities, these type of exercises have proven useful to me for acquiring a better spoken vocabulary. Each CD consists of 100 Spanish words & phrases along with their English translations, with time to pronounce the phrases in-between, and repeated with the English phrases first the second time around. Maybe you could consider producing some audio flash card podcasts along these lines, to complement your otherwise excellent Notes in Spanish podcasts?
On Friday I am going on my fifth trip to Spain this year, this time with my wife on a short weekend vacation in Madrid. Earlier this year I have been on two business trips to Tres Cantos, where I understand Marina is working. On my last visit there in July, I stayed on an extra day in Madrid, visiting some places you have been recommending, including eating out at Taverna Miranda and Er 77 in Calle Argumosa.
Now I am looking forward to listening to the new podcasts I just downloaded.
Thanks,
Einar