Help! Get me out of my Spanish learning plateau!!!

Hola chicos,

We have been talking a lot over the last few weeks about how to get unstuck in language learning.  There are many Spanish learning plateaus along the way, and some are more challenging to get through than others.

If you are feeling stuck, I would recommend taking our 90 Day Challenge!

Here is the info:

 

PARTICIPATE IN OUR 90-DAY SPANISH BOOTCAMP!

 

We know that the language learning process can feel painfully slow sometimes, which is why we created our annual 90-day Spanish Bootcamp! Sometimes you just need to ramp it up for a while so that you can feel the progress.  It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in 3 – 6 months when you make Spanish a part of your daily routine.  If you want to make a significant dent in your Spanish, participate in our challenge!   

What it involves:

1 – Coming to class every week.  You must make class a priority during these 90 days by working everything else into your schedule around your Spanish classes.  In case it is absolutely necessary to miss a class, it must be made up the week before or the week after you miss it.  No exceptions.

2 – Participating in la conversación del día on Facebook – OR –  Journaling about a random topic every day.  This must be done every, single day for 90 days (with the exception of the day that you come to class).

3 – Doing the “optional” homework every week.  If you take the challenge, the homework is no longer optional.  This includes the “extra optional homework” in the Complete Spanish Grammar workbook.

4 – Reading the weekly tip in the blog every week and commenting on it on Facebook (if you do not have Facebook, let me know).

5 – Attending 2 of the 3 social club events in July, August, September and/or October.

6 – Speaking and/or listening to Spanish for 20 minutes every day.  You can watch a telenovela, a movie, listen to a podcast, talk to a friend or classmate, talk to people in restaurants or at work who speak Spanish, talk to yourself, whatever…but you must practice speaking and/or listening for 20 minutes every day.  We recommend that you work on your weakness rather than your strength.

The challenge starts on Monday 7/24/17 and ends on Saturday 10/21/17.

That’s it chicos.  If you want to sign up, this is all you need to do:

1 – Register here: https://goo.gl/forms/wkMhGrPewkauuRCw2

2 – Pay for your classes through 10/21/17 (there is no additional charge for the Bootcamp).

3 – I will send you a welcome email with all the details.

And “what’s the prize?” someone always asks…completing it!  What else?  It’s like running a Spanish marathon!  The satisfaction, the progress, that’s your prize :)  Are YOU up for the challenge?

 

PS If you are a private lesson student and would like to sign up, please email Caro @ [email protected] for details.

Besitos,
Caro

Hola chicos,

“Say this, not that” is back again!

 

Here are a few:

 

Don’t say: Está acerca de aquí.

Say: Está cerca de aquí.

Acerca = about & cerca = close

 

Don’t say: Me aparezco a mi papá  for “I look like my Dad.”

Say: Me parezco a mi papá.

Aparecer = to appear/materialize/show up (come from nothing) & parecer = to look like; to be like

 

Don’t say: Mi amiga’s casa

Say: La casa de mi amiga

In Spanish it is always “the house of my friend” or “the brother of my dad” or “the dog of my boyfriend.”

 

Don’t say: Voy a tener una fiesta en mi casa.

Say: Voy a hacer una fiesta en mi casa.

When referring to parties, in Spanish we use hacer when we are having the party and tener when we have a party to go to.  You can say “tengo una fiesta el viernes,” meaning that you have a party to go to.  If it’s your party you would say “voy a hacer una fiesta.”

 

Don’t say: Comí desayuno.

Say: Desayuné (or tomé desayuno)

In Spanish we don’t “eat” meals because there is a verb for all meals (desayunar/almorzar/cenar).  You can say “comí” (I ate) or use one of the verbs to be specific about the meal you ate.

 

Don’t say: El carácter que más me gustó fue…

Say: El personaje que más me gustó fue…

Carácter = character (a person’s moral makeup) & personaje = character (in a play, a movie, etc.)

 

Don’t say: Es mucho caro/divertido/viejo…

Say: Es muy caro/divertido/viejo…

Mucho = a lot & muy = very.  Mucho cannot be used before an adjective.

 

Don’t say: El auto y el camión nuevo

Say: El auto y el camión nuevos

When one adjective describes 2 nouns, the adjective is plural.

 

Do you make any of these common mistakes?  Which ones were new to you?

 

Besos,

Caro

 

6/16/17

Hola chicos y feliz viernes :)

This week I spoke with 2 students about their frustration of being stuck  in a mid intermediate level and not seeming to be able to get into a high intermediate level.  This is incredibly common, so I would like to give you insight into this phenomenon.

From the time that you start to learn a language as a beginner, to the time you get into a mid intermediate level, you are pretty much a student of the language.  When you’re looking to move into a high intermediate or advanced level, although you remain a student by definition, your focus needs to be more on learning on a deeper level.  Many students get stuck in their routine and don’t venture out of their cave.  For example, if you’re doing DuoLingo at a B2-B2.5 level, it is not going to help you get into B3.  It will help you improve your grammar & vocabulary a bit, as well as to help you maintain what you have learned, but it will not catapult you into the next level.  To advance into a B3 or C1 level Spanish class, you will need to dig deeper.

Here are a 3 things that you can do:

1 – Journal.  As often as you can, sit down and write about your day.  Don’t write about basic things that happened, write about things that impacted you.  Part of being ready for a high intermediate level Spanish class is being able to communicate your feelings, something that is a challenge in a foreign language.  This would be the time to start practicing.  It is especially helpful when your have a strong feeling such as anger, confusion, surprise, concern, happiness, joy, excitement, sadness, anxiety, courage, empathy, passion, etc.  Mad at your boss?  Write about it!  Falling in love?  Write about it!  Pissed off at #45?  Write about it!

2 – Listen to native speakers on the radio, television, through podcasts, whatever you prefer, but absolutely make sure that you are taking time to listen to native speakers talking at a “normal” pace.  It may feel uncomfortable at first, and you may not understand every word, but this is the only way to improve this skill.

3 – Listen to or read the news in Spanish.  If you find it too depressing, read articles in the Lifestyle or Fashion sections.  The news will help you expand your vocabulary tremendously and this is the level in which to do it.  Up to a B2 level a lot of what you should be able to do well is chit chat.  Now to get into a B3 level, you should be able to talk about other things going on in the world.

So which one will you be adding to your routine?

Besos,

Caro

La tarea opcional de esta semana es averiguar si unos 2 o 3 dichos (o jerga) que usas en inglés se usan también en español (o si existe algo parecido). Pueden “googlearlo” a ver que aparece :) Nos cuentan en clase la semana que viene…

(La tarea extra de la semana * para los que quieran más tarea * es empezar el capítulo 10, Compound Tenses: the present perfect and the past perfect, en “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect. Les recomendamos leer las páginas 107 a 109 y hacer los ejercicios 10.1 a 10.3)

Que tengan un buen finde :)

La tarea opcional de esta semana es grabarse hablando español.  Hace unos meses les pedimos que escogieran un tema y que hablaran acerca de ello mientras se grababan por unos 3 a 10 minutos.  Si no estaban aquí, lo van a hacer por primera vez.  Si ya lo hicieron hace unos meses, tendrán algo con que comparar la segunda grabación.

Entonces, escojan un tema y luego hablen por 3 a 10 minutos acerca del tema (les recomendamos unos 3 a 5 minutos en los niveles A1-A2, 5 a 7 minutos en los niveles B1-B2 y unos 7 a 10 minutos en los niveles B3-C1-C2) .  Traten de no usar nada de inglés y no usen un diccionario.  Si no saben cómo decir algo, descríbanlo.   

No van a compartir estas grabaciones, es para que tengan algo con que compararse en unos meses, pero sí les vamos a pedir que nos cuenten qué tema escogieron y cómo les fue.

(La tarea extra de la semana * para los que quieran más tarea * es terminar el capítulo 9, The Progressive Tenses, en “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 105 y 106  y hacer los ejercicios 9.10 y 9.11.)