Well, I have completed Level 1! A lovely stroll around the nature reserve this afternoon saw me repeat Challenge 24 - needlessly as it turned out, as I remembered all of the structures introduced in that lesson without a problem, contrary to how I felt about it yesterday - and then polish off the final Challenge with relish, as I breezed through 99% of it without any problem. I think 1 or 2 sentences caught me out a tiny bit, but I reckon my responses were good mistakes that would have been understood and earned me valuable corrections from a native speaker, so I’m not worrying about them at all. Going to try and fix a leaking bath now, but inside I’ll be celebrating victory over Level 1
I am going to have a day off tomorrow I think, and then push into Level 2 Challenge 1.
Muchas gracias Amanda. I am really on a high at the moment because Challenge 25 went so well. Looking forward to Level 2, but indications are its going to be a step up from the first course! I hope that your studies are going well (if I recall correctly, you have completed all the material currently published?) My next step is going to be finding a conversation partner…
If you are trying to say “Whilst I was waiting to go shopping at Solihull”, then the Spanish equivalent is “Mientras esperaba/estaba esperando para ir de compras a Solihull”
Yes, it’s conversation partner time for you - that’s going to be the most important thing from here on in, although Level 2 will of course give you extra stuff to play around with. But regular conversations will make the world of difference to putting it all together…
Further to my experimentation with various apps that purport to help you learn a language, I have signed up for a month trial with Yabla Spanish, so that I can evaluate its worth as an adjunct to SSiS. I am keeping on with Memrise, which I really like. I will report back on how I find the yabla approach as I work through some of their videos.
I’m so glad that you’re doing so well and excited about your progress! How are you doing with ‘ya’ (already)? I still find myself at the end of a sentence, then have to run back to the beginning to put it in.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Level 2. If I remember correctly, the second half of it seemed to get easier with the introduction of ‘tu’ because it seemed like less new vocab, more just modifying the verbs we already knew. Or maybe it was because I started using the pause button…
My studies are going alright; gracias. I currently feel like there is SO much left to learn. I’m going through all the lessons again for practice and I got a kids Spanish book out of the library which has proven to be very helpful as it’s quite simple.
A conversation partner would probably be a good idea. I keep thinking that I just need to learn a little bit more… but if you and @nikkifoster would like to Skype sometime, I might be up to it, though I’m scared I’ll go blank and all I’ll be able to say is “sí”.
That is the first thing that happens - but then, by not switching back into English, by giving yourself time and space to think, you’ll discover that there are other things you can say - and that process is the magic sauce. The more you do it, the more you’ll speak, the more confident you’ll become.
You are absolutely ready to start the next, and most enjoyable, part of the journey…
I risked a walk down the bike path under lowering skies to tackle Challenge 1 of Level 2. Needless to say I got rained on, but the precipitation did not dampen my enthusiasm as I tore through the challenge. Spanish’s “feature” of appending -s everywhere in sight when talking in plurals is an easy concept to grasp but I found it a bit harder to actually use in practice, for some reason - a muy traviesos in fact. I was back to stumbling over these pluralised words, quite inexplicably really, since they are not hard in themselves. The good thing is that there is plenty of repetition in the lesson, for which I was very grateful Aran, and by the end, the phrases were beginning to flow. A bit of practice outside the challenge will help I’m certain. The material covered was all grist to the mill (although my kids are a lot older than 10 and 5) and I am looking forward to going through Challenge 2 in drier conditions.
I have not tried Yabla yet, but on a rainy day, that will probably feature on today’s agenda somewhere!
Well, I did not get my wish - despite starting out on my walk in overcast but dry conditions, towards the end of Challenge 2 the heavens opened and I rather lost my concentration on the material! Everything was fine up until then, with lots of wonderful new stuff covered in the lesson. I will need to run through the end of Challenge 2 again (quisiéramos, etc.) before tackling 3, I am afraid. así son los hijos refused to come out of my mouth easily, so more work on the tongue-twisters that have characterised the beginning of Level 2 (at least they twist my tongue!).
It is my daughter’s graduation tomorrow, and she and my granddaughter return home from their break away sometime today, so I am unsure how much Spanish will get done now before el fin de semana.
Challenge 3 was completed in the sweltering heat of the car. It was a lot of fun, but for some reason, I am finding these Level 2 lessons hard - not that I cannot do them or get a high percentage of the sentences right, but it definitely feels like the new material is not sticking as well as Level 1 did. This may of course be my imagination! It is good to be getting to grips with “we” and “they” forms though.
Challenge 4 today on a day that is set to be even hotter then yesterday…
Unbearably hot where I am. Challenge 4 completed satisfactorily, but isn’t recuerdo hard to remember how to say?! I don’t know how many variants I produced until it finally sank in. I’m glad we are looking at jobs and work in this Challenge, as that’s a good staple of conversation the world over. I am assuming that como - “as” and cómo - “how” are different words? - those accents make a real difference as I just found out on another thread with estudio and estudió thanks to a question by @douggerman !
More Spanish adventures tomorrow if I can drag myself away from Pokémon Go … I really hope its a bit cooler though.
Beautiful weather and a lovely walk in the outdoors saw Challenge 5 bite the dust. A really fun lesson with a lot of really useful phrases and expressions. A question regarding “school”: the Challenge gives me el colegio, but I have also come across la escuela (the word even featured on Brian Cox’s Forces of Nature, when the locals were talking about the great Amazonian tidal bore known as La Pororoca). Is there a particular reason why el colegio is given?
El ayuntamiento is a bit of a mouthful, but I could swear that Gaby and Rosa say la ayuntamiento - am I hearing things or it is just the way native speakers are blending the sounds that make it sound like that to unaccustomed ears?
Overall, I am very happy with the lesson, but I got caught out by some of the revision items taken from Level 1, which was a disappointment. Time to do a refresher of Level 1 Challenge 25 I think…
Bueno, thank heavens I found Challenge 6 to be an easy one! After 1 to 5, I was beginning to think that I was not making much progress, but lesson 6 was a real joy to finish, and I had no problems at all, even with trabajando, asegurarse and que terminemos, so I was very pleased. I cound even remember ayuntamiento straight off without stumbling, which was a nice bonus. Finally I am feeling happier with my progress through Level 2. Maybe the cooler weather is helping?
… I really hope its a bit cooler though.