I just wanted to introduce myself and say hi to all. I started learning Spanish about a year ago. At the the end of the this week I am of to Spain for 2 weeks. At the beginning of this week, after a year learning and with the holiday looming I realised I could not speak Spanish. Why? Because i spent to much time flipping from one course to another. I did a bit of this and a bit of that, but not much of anything. I did consistently stick with Duolingo which is good for vocab, and Memrise, again good for vocab. Ok not to beat myself up to much, I do listen to a lot, which although I probably get 15 to 20% of it, it no longer sounds like a machine gun of words. 3 or 4 days ago I stumbled across SSi, I read it, thought about it, cant do any harm, I will give it ago. Wo!! This is good, how did i not see this before!!. I know its been said before but it is… well…riveting! I’ve realised that I’ve been passively learning, not engaging. And its not that i have not been putting the time in. I’ve been spending a couple of hours a day on Spanish.
Anyway so this doesn’t turn in to therapy for me I’ve decided to cram as much in as possible. Luckily for me the rest of my family are in London until tomorrow evening. So I’m about to start challenge 9, having done 2 this morning. I’m going to push for challenge 15 today. Then I will push to complete level one buy 10 pm tomorrow This sounds wrong to do but when I’m doing the challenges its feels in way a bit like when I used to play games on the Xbox. you’ve just got to get to the nest level!. Of to do challenge 9
Robert
¡Bienvenido al foro, Rob!
It sounds like you are doing fantastically well. I have just finished Level 1 and begun Level 2, but I had cero español when I began about 2 months ago, so you have a massive head start. I am using Memrise to broaden my vocab, having tried and dismissed Duolingo and Babbel. I am going to try Yabla, but not got around to it yet. Anyway, Buena suerte and keep us all abreast of you progress, successes and your Spanish trip via the forum!
Hasta luego,
Stu
Oh I’m so jealous lol. I just got back from 2 weeks in Andalucia and used my Spanish quite a bit. Obviously it depends where you’re going but if you get the chance I would definitely recommend a trip to somewhere a little off the tourist route one day. I was lucky as there were lots of small villages in the area and I had the chance to practice with people who actually didn’t speak any English, I found this really useful as I had no choice but to persevere. I made a few errors and there were lots of umms and aahhs and hesitations, but over all I think I did pretty good and I felt the people I was speaking too appreciated the effort and didn’t care if I mixed my tenses 
It sounds like you’re doing great so keep it up and keep us posted. Good luck 
Hi. I will defiantly be going of the beaten track on holiday. I,m going to Alcuda. Ok so Saturday i pushed for challenge 15 and got there. There was a lot of errr! on the way. Especially 13/14. Felt like the sentences were getting longer. Must admit I was tired at the end. So this morning I was a bit reluctant to get going, brain a bit foggy. Cup of coffee and I was off. Not to bad to begin with, surprised to be able to recall as much as i did. Up to 21 now. Have stopped now to to do the listening practices. A lot of new words and structures for me from 15 to 20 so slowing down a bit, may squeeze another couple in before midday then walk away. Still not bad, stange what your head goes through though. First couple of challenges today I think my brain was on a low then it kicked in. Im probably hitting about 50% of each challenge fro 15 onward, not to bothered about that. Read Aran’s book, seem par for the course. On wards and Upwards.
Robert
Amazing progress Rob! Looking forward to hearing about your adventures in España…
Stu
Thanks essenbee, will do. Quick question as your on level 2. Does it cover whats learnt in level 1 and add more?
regards Robert
challenge 22 done. Tools down. Suns out. Going to practice on my grandson. 18 months old, he wont mind.
Regards Robert
Last challenge to go, Excited. I ment to say essenbee that I to dismissed Babel. Found it so long winded. I tried Yabla for a couple of months and dismissed that also. No structure to it. Great for watching videos though. Best thing I’ve enjoyed is channel 4 extr@ espanol. Cheesy but funny.
Regards Robert
¡Hola Rob!
Level 2 builds on Level 1 without being a direct or seamless continuation, in that it starts a new series of topics. The first few lessons cover talking about your and other people’s kids for example. I think you will enjoy it!
Hasta pronto,
Stu
Superb work here, Rob - and a warm welcome to the forum!
One of the things we know (more from our Welsh stuff than Spanish, but it’s the same principle) is that people who already have a lot of passive language (the sort of stuff you’ll have gained from Duolingo and Memrise and so on) can see quite startling jumps after they start to use SSi - so I think there’s a very, very good chance that you’re going to do brilliantly.
One very strong suggestion - try to arrange for yourself to have a full hour’s conversation with someone on the day you get there - I’ve just done exactly that on the Isle of Man (er, with Manx rather than Spanish!) and it makes a transformational difference to how much you’ll be able to use, and how easily you’ll be able to use it, on the following days…
¡Hola Rob!,
Did you get started on Level 2 at all? I would love to compare experiences!
Hasta luego,
Stu
Hola essenbee,
I’ve done challenge 1 of level 2 and hopping to squeeze in another to before jetting of on Saturday. I’m going to take all of level 2 with me and in theory complete it on Holiday. I think this will be a kind of interesting thing to do. For one thing it will be nice to learn some Spanish away from Work and everyday life distractions. The other is if I learn a challenge then go straight to the nearest willing Spaniard I can get some immediate practice. Realistically though, my biggest hurdle (and it is a hurdle) will be to start talking. I was a bit washed out from level 1 at the weekend, so I have not rushed into level 2 as yet. I am concentrating more on the listening practices and listening in general. Can not wait though, just to see what its like to be surrounded by Spanish!
Robert
Yes, I am truly envious 
Stu