The Unconfident Spanish Learner's Blog

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Level 2, Challenges 1, 2 and 3

I’m back after being really ill last month.

I have finished Level 1 but I don’t know…it felt like it went past without much fanfare or sense of accomplishment. I’m not sure why.

I’m seriously lacking in motivation right now. All the people I know who speak Spanish either went to Spanish-language school or got to study it from a young age, culminating in a degree. Or they live with Spanish speakers. Feels pretty impossible for someone like me to achieve what they’ve achieved. I’d love to be on a course but they were fully booked in my city and new term doesn’t start till September (some are fully booked already for September).

The first three lessons of Level 2 were OK, although I am forgetting to use a all the time. I’m unsure of the grammar behind it, but it seems to crop up everywhere.

Anyway, feeling pretty rubbish about it all right now and wondering if maybe learning a language isn’t for me- why do I want to do this anyway? I ‘wanted’ [felt I ought to] learn Welsh because I thought it would help me fit in in a new country, and I suppose I thought Spanish would be fun and open up a lot of opportunities. I can’t seem to get very interested in things though.

Anyway, that is my update after what feels like a long time!

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Sorry to hear you’ve been unwell. Welcome back, and I hope you are feeling lots better and stay well from now!

I can relate; my health hasn’t been great lately and I’ve not done much active learning as in lessons, just watching television and looking up the odd word in a dictionary. Motivation has not been high.

Still, every tiny bit of improvement helps. A new word here, a sentence understood without subtitles there. You don’t need to be a “master linguist” or have any qualifications at all, unless you really, really want them, and what other people have achieved doesn’t matter.

There are Spanish shows online, a whole thread on this forum for Spanish music videos, etcetera. Just because you aren’t in Spain doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to engage with the culture. There’s probably something you’d like if you went looking. Pick something, give it a go, be proud of yourself if you catch words you understand (and do not get down on yourself if you don’t catch as much as you think you “should”) and just… let yourself move at your own pace.

Maybe do sign up to one of those September classes before all the spaces go, if you feel class learning will suit you.

If you stop right here “only” able to understand more Spanish than most of us who don’t speak it, that’s cool too. Having a clue how to pronounce things on the menu at your local tapas place, or greeting the staff in basic Spanish, is still valuable. Language ability doesn’t only “count” if you’ve achieved such fluency that you can defend your dissertation in it.

And by the way, noticing that you keep missing a, and getting frustrated by that… is very likely a sign that you’ve almost got it. :grinning_face: If you haven’t read/listened to any of Aran’s musings on the process of learning, and the power of mistakes, you probably should!

Very likely someone here can explain the grammar for you if you ask, which may help you to make it stick.

Tl;dr: You know the drill. Take the pressure off yourself. Do what works for you and don’t compare yourself to others. Celebrate every achievement, however “small”. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Level 2, Challenges 4-8

I feel like I’ve done a lot this week! I actually found all of these challenges a really manageable level of difficulty- it didn’t feel like there were any huge jumps in difficulty.

I bought a grammar book. All the tenses are intimidating- there are just so many with only tiny differences in usage and people online are saying ‘yes, you need to learn and use every one’. I’m sure sometimes that some people who’ve learnt a language to fluency get a kick out of telling beginners how complex and difficult it is. :roll_eyes:

I have signed up for a class in September. It’s a long way away but I’ve realised that class learning is the only way I learn. A friend who started with Spanish the same time as me on Duolingo and YouTube videos has just been accepted straight onto an ‘Advanced Beginners’ course as he’s able to talk about himself, ask questions and describe his holiday… Meanwhile I’m here mumbling “My son works for the council”.

I just don’t feel like I could have an actual conversation yet with anyone. I’m trying to study all the verb endings but I just feel like I’m floundering around not making efficient use of time or resources.

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Fantastic, a class has many assets. Im an annoying glass half full kind of guy lol. If its far away in distance its a great chance to listen to challenges, music, podcasts whilst driving there and back. Thats what i do whilst walking to gym. But a class will introduce you to others. Possibly same level. Although classes are a mixed bag of beginners, returning beginners, intermediates who haven’t moved on etc. But you’ll have someone to ask questions in English and Spanish. The teacher and those annoying non moving intermediates lol. In the scale of things attending a class is high on list of things to do. You’ll Possibly get hand outs, work in pairs, get emails of homework and places to learn online. Maybe even someone from near you is travelling too. You could share the journey or meet up between classes. A good idea ASAP is to form a WhatsApp etc group. Where yous can write, speak in recordings and read Spanish. Tons of advantages if you dig in.

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Level 2, Challenges 9-15

Only a short update as I’m busy at the moment but still working through the challenges.

Found 10 and 11 so hard but the rest very manageable.

Struggling with determining when it’s de and when it’s sobre.

Also all the siento vs. pareció vs. pienso stuff is so confusing. (yes I know those are all different tenses and different people)

I think I definitely need a class environment. I just can’t think how I’d have an actual conversation with anyone about anything yet. I’m expanding my vocabulary using another app at the moment. And trying my best to fit those 40-minute-long (!) tourist course lessons in too.

That is it for now anyway.

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