Just for clarity - I’m not trying to change your approach - you’re hugely experienced with this kind of material, and it’s always hugely valuable for people to take control of their own learning…
I’m just expressing the kinds of limits/guidelines that I recommend in general for learners - and one of the common hiccups is over-repeating - which you don’t suffer from, but which in general can be cured very effectively by running through 10 or more sessions without any repetition, before revisiting to see how much has been learnt…
Aran’s recommendations are golden Do not copy my approach! Over-repetition is not useful with this method. I think you need to make the Challenges less fun though Aran!
Thanks for sharing your journey, I find it hugely helpful, particularly as I haven’t repeated any challenges (short pause while I polish my halo lol) so I’ve forgotten some of the issues I tripped up over at the time and it’s interesting to see they were almost identical to the ones you’ve mentioned.
I’ll keep reading your updates but I feel you will overtake me soon, have been putting off challenge 16 for days now - will definitely do it tomorrow, probably… Maybe.
Make that definitely Nikki! I know how real life gets in the way sometimes! If I do begin to catch up with you, maybe we could exchange Skype details and try a couple of Spanish chats in the evenings? The subject matter would be quite limited, but I am sure it would be very helpful to us both!
I went though Challenge 8 walking down the bike path, rain threatening and a cold wind blowing. What a difference in the weather! Luckily, I’m absorbed in the audio. It’s a really interesting lesson with so much useful content. I am bit worried I’m not going to retain all the new structures though, and boy quiere was a real struggle to pronounce and remember how to say once the main repetition had finished and the lesson returned to the word later on. I had similar issues with queria, and I can now see lots of potential for confusing the two!
The listening practice is going well too. The babble is starting to resolve itself, although there are still a few phrases later on in the piece that I cannot get yet. The next listening practice (at double speed ) is looming, and I am rather dreading it, to be honest. It is a powerful learning tool, I know, but I remember the first one in Welsh, and it was just a blur. I have to remember how effective it was in seeming to “slow down” normal speed speech once I had gotten used to it. Still feeling some trepidation though…
I’m sure from your post and your previous experience with Welsh listening exercises you know this already but - stick with it and don’t be daunted. I was approaching this with some trepidation after reading posts about how fast it is and, although yes, it is extremely fast, it wasn’t as bad as I feared. First time I heard it I could only make out odd phrases but after just a few days I could understand most of it. I could now actually translate it if I could only speak as fast in English
I decided to follow your lead and instead of sitting on sofa trying to get motivated I got out the earphones and the dog and decided to walk round the local nature reserve as I tackled challenge 16.
I was a little thrown by how simple it seemed and although I’m aware the challenges use repetition I found it so repetitive that it was ridiculously easy. Couldn’t understand why Aran was introducing words that were already familiar and just decided there must be a weird method in the madness. 10 minutes in I was frustrated at not hearing ANYTHING new at all. Checked my iphone and realised that without my specs on I’d selected lesson 6 instead of lesson 16. Oooops.
On a bright note lesson 6 is a piece of cake looking back lol - so challenge 16 on the next dog walk later this afternoon
Secretly, Ian, I quite enjoy the quizzical looks as I stroll past saying random things in Welsh or Spanish! However, if I am on the train, then I reckon people think they’re sitting next to another “nutter on the bus”
Spanish lessons have been interrupted by the totally fabulous weather over the past few days , however, back to work today and on to Challenge 9. This was a really solid consolidation for me, in which the new introductions were all fairly straightforward, with the exception of ayudarle, which I am finding very forgettable at the moment, not sure why that would be. conmigo insists on coming out as conamigo on occasion too, but that will sort itself out soon enough. I also need a lot more practice on when to inset an a after certain verbs as opposed to de.
Same with para. Are de and para interchangeable at all when used like this: Tengo una oportunidad para practicar vs. Tengo una oportunidad de practicar? I seem to want to say the latter, but in Challenge 8, the former is used.
You certainly put to me to think on this one… After carefull analysis I don’t think I can give you a straight answer when to use PARA or DE
In this case, I would use DE more often than PARA, for ex. “tengo la oportunidad DE estudiar lo que me gusta”, but I would also say “tengo que aprovechar la oportunidad PARA estudiar mientras pueda hacerlo”. So yes, they are pretty much interchangable and you will certainly be understood either way you go.
Challenge 10 done and dusted and thoroughly enjoyed. It covers some really useful stuff - not sure I’ll remember all the nationalities though. I was amazed that ayundar and ayundarle stuck from last time, I did not expect that. This lesson we get preguntar and preguntarle and they seem hard now… Its great to get to ask “Where do you come from?” at last. No real problems with this lesson, so on to the second of the listening exercises this evening, the first sped up one. Gulp!
Challenge 11 done and it was hard! The new structures were easy to understand but a real problem for me to actually say. Far too many vowels in a row. For example, él va a aprender… - so many “a” sounds in a row, its just plain hard to say at the moment. Same with a él le gustaria…; they just don’t flow in the context of the lesson, let alone if I try to make up my own sentences. There are others like that too. I think the difficulty has ramped up, and I have heard rumours that Challenges 13 and 14 are… well challenging (not to the extent of the old Welsh lessons 6, I hope). With these difficulties, its a bit of a Doubt Day™ today to be frank. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Actually, Spanish really likes to stick “a” into sentences a lot I notice …
By contrast, the Listening Exercise 2 seems straightforward, to my surprise. Sure, a lot of it whizzes by me, but words and phrases are jumping out at me, without me having to concentrate or actually try to understand, which is gratifying. Lots more work to do of course, but a hopeful beginning.
) is looming, and I am rather dreading it, to be honest. It is a powerful learning tool, I know, but I remember the first one in Welsh, and it was just a blur. I have to remember how effective it was in seeming to “slow down” normal speed speech once I had gotten used to it. Still feeling some trepidation though…
Funniest thing have heard in a while! I think your dog wants another walk 
… right now!
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