Doing both levels in 2 days

Spanish
#1

Hello! Or… ¡Hola!

I don’t think I’ve ever posted on this side of the forum, so I’ll introduce myself…

My name is Milla, I’m 16, live in Finland and have been learning Welsh for almost a year. I did an intense weekend of Welsh learning a while ago where I went through 35 SSiW lessons - 18 on the first day and 17 on the second.

Since I’m from Italy and speak Italian, I’ve always been able to understand a bit of Spanish and can, most of the time, get the gist of a conversation without too much effort. Despite this I’ve never actually tried to learn Spanish, and I thought that maybe I should. Why not - SSiSpanish exists, after all. It’ll be easy :wink:

Well, I’ve sort of also been itching to do another 2-day-intensive thing. I’ve also been wanting to see how much of a new language I could learn through it. When I did the intensive weekend with Welsh I could already speak somewhat, so I’m pretty sure the differences felt much smaller than they actually were.

The plan:

So, as the title suggests, I’m going to be doing both level 1 and level 2 in two days. I’ve sped them up a bit - the first 5 to 150%, some difficult ones (1.12, 1.13, 1.24, 1.25, 2.24, 2.25) to 120% and the rest to 130%. The whole thing should take me something around 21 hours, so 10.5 hours per day. I’m not going to be using the pause button unless I absolutely have to, but I’m expecting it to somehow take a lot longer than it theoretically should :smiley: I’ll also be keeping the normal-speed lessons nearby so if the sped up ones get too difficult I’ll still be able to continue :blush:

At the moment I’m thinking I’ll be doing this on Monday and Tuesday.

Anyway, this time I’m going to pay more attention to staying hydrated. I think I drank very little last time - probably less than half a litre during the entire day. I’ll prepare food for both days on Sunday so I don’t have to spend time cooking and I’ll go outside for a walk on both days. My biggest problem last time was my throat getting pretty sore at the end of the first day, which made the second day much more painful. Drinking enough water should fix this partly, but does anyone have any other suggestions on how to prevent sore throats? :sweat_smile: I’ll try googling later on…

Hmm… what else…

I’ll be listening to the listening exercises during food breaks and in the evenings after I’ve finished every challenge for the day.

I’m also planning on talking to someone on Skype at the end of the second day or the day after :smiley: (@aran - how do I find someone?) Mom messaged a friend from Spain, told him I’ve been learning Spanish “for some time” and asked him whether he would be free to talk to me someday next week. We settled on Sunday, I’m looking forward to that :smiley: I’d like to try talking right after finishing all the challenges too, though. The day after at the latest, but the end of the second day would be perfect!

Aanyway, I’m posting this because I thought people might be interested :blush: I’ll probably write a quick update on Sunday to confirm the date, something quick again after the first and second day (if I’m still alive) and then the full “report” the day after (if I’m still alive or have woken up from the dead)

Also, @aran, sorry, one more question :smiley: Do you want me to keep track of the percentage of correct/almost correct answers? And do you want me to do anything else? Like write down when I get a headache or start to feel tired? :sweat_smile:

Thanks for reading, sorry for the super long post!

Does anyone have any advice for me? :stuck_out_tongue:

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#2

Hi
Haven’t got any advice for you but think it’s Estupendo gwich and brilliant and very exciting. Maybe just try and enjoy it . Will be thinking of you whilst you do it.

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#3

If your throat starts to get sore, stop speaking out loud - sub-vocalising will give you a very high percentage of the value, and let your throat have a bit of a break… :slight_smile:

So this would be Tuesday evening? The ideal would be @gabycortinas if he’s available - or @Deborah-SSi possibly? Or I could do it - but I think having a first language speaker would be best… and ideally recording it, of course!

With the percentage - I think it would be quite a bore for you to do that the whole way through - but it would certainly be very interesting to see for certain key lessons, say 1, 10, 20, 25…?

And for everyone reading this - Milla likes pushing herself - this isn’t a model that you’re meant to follow! This level of intensity leaves even me amazed (and a little uncertain) - it’s going to be hugely interesting to hear how it all works out… :slight_smile: :star: :star2:

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#4

I’ve no advice for you, just keep on doing amazing things!

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#5

Impressive. I finished last night and it took me almost two months. I could probably have managed it in half the time if I’d had the time to put in, but don’t think I could have managed increased speed! You’re definitely at an advantage being an Italian speaker there, though.

For your throat, I’d suggest warm water instead of cold, or alternating between sipping cold and warm water (teacher trick). I also agree with @aran on the matter of subvocalising, but I would like to add the suggestion that you start doing that on the phrases you are more confident about early on in the process before you get a sore throat, so that you can say the more difficult phrases out loud without damaging your health and still getting the full benefit of the feedback loop.

Good luck and have fun :slight_smile:

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#6

Thanks everyone! :heart:

Diolch yn fawr! I’ll try these :smile:

Yeah, and I’m willing to record it :slight_smile: (I’d prefer to talk to you since I know you the best and so will be less shy, but I’m happy to talk to anyone and I agree with you about the first langauge speaker thing)

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#7

You could talk to Gaby, in Welsh, which you both know, before you do the Spanish. Then you wouldn’t be talking to a stranger afterwards.

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#8

I’ve emailed Gaby - he’s lovely, you’d be fine with him - but if he can’t make it, I’ll be happy too (oh, great, now I feel as though I need to practise my Spanish…:wink: ).

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#9

Diolch :heart: Yeah, I’ll be fine, I’d love to talk to Gaby anyway. Plus I might get the same kind of confidence boost I have in Welsh from having learned the language through SSi :blush:

@margaretnock - Diolch! I’ll consider it, but I suspect it might be easier to jump straight into Spanish. Changing language with people has always been pretty difficult for me :stuck_out_tongue:

Also, I think I’m getting sick! I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but I might have to move the whole thing by one or two days :sweat_smile:

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#10

With how far you’re pushing the limits with this, I’d suggest if there’s ANY doubt about your health/energy levels, you should move it by a week or two - no point trying to make it happen if you’re not at your best.

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#11

A week or two? :anguished:

I’m not sure if I’m getting sick, I think I might just be scared I will :smile: I’ve been outside a lot today (went to meet a Finnish Welsh speaker in the morning!!) so I have a reason to be tired - usually I’m at home all day :blush:

It’s probably not normal if I’m still this tired tomorrow, though, so in that case I’ll move it :blush:

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#12

Hmmm… I’m not sure…

I feel better today, but I’ll move it just in case and spend a few days resting. Maybe I’ll see how I feel on Wednesday and if I’m fine I’ll start on Thursday? :confused:

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#13

I also have no advice, but good luck! I understand that the more languages one learns, the easier each new one gets. Great challenge you’ve set yourself. Keep us informed!

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#14

Depending on when it is, if Gaby isn’t available, I might be able to do it. I’ve been brushing up my Spanish a bit lately, and if I know I’ll be talking to Milla in the evening then I’ll give myself an immersion session during the day to click back into Spanish.

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#15

Gaby was okay for Tuesday - I’ll let him know that you’ve not been feeling great - let me know when you feel sure about which days you’ll be doing… :slight_smile:

[I think it’s mostly going to be easier for Gaby to do week-days rather than at the weekend…]

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#16

Diolch @Deborah-SSi! :heart:

I feel even better today, so starting on Thursday will be fine. Soo, Skype on Friday? :slight_smile:

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#17

I have a visitor coming on Friday so it’s not really the best day for me. Is Gaby not available on Friday?
For me Sunday night would be OK, or Weds night.

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#18

I’d love to talk on Sunday as well if you’d be fine with that :slight_smile:

#19

I’ll ask Gaby - failing that, I’ll be able to do it, although (depending on time) possibly with Angharad and Beuno sticking their noses in and demanding to know what’s going on…:wink:

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#20

Ooh!

Diolch yn fawr for asking, sorry this got so complicated :blush:

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