A little over 5 weeks ago we started our annual 90-Day Spanish Bootcamp with 22 students.  5 weeks later these 12 students still remain:

A1: Jean E, Rechelle M

A2: Lizzie S

B1.5: Melanie T; Stephanie C

B2: Carol S, Roxie H

B2.5: Eva M

B3: Carolina F

C1: Stephany F

Private Classes: Joy B, Lisa O

Congratulations to you all!

 

When we asked the students what they were doing for their 20 minutes of speaking and/or listening each day, this is what they told us:

I have been watching the Destinos program everyday and answering the questions on the activity page.

Yo hago varios cosas. Me gusta ver la programa El Barco, escuchar a News in Slow Spanish, escuchar al radio en español, y ver programas de naturaleza y animales en español en YouTube. También yo hablo con mis compañeros de trabajo en español y a veces practico hablando con yo misma.

Cada día escucho a un podcast (Radio Ambulante, Nómadas, Futuro Abierto, El Explicador, o Buenos Dias America) por lo menos un hora. Además hablo con un hispanohablante al menos tres veces por semana por un hora.

Yo miro El Reyna del Sur en Netflix y escucho al 91.7 en el radio

Usualmente, veo veinte minutos de Celia, una telenovela que cuenta la historia de Celia Cruz. También trato de asisitir a eventos donde puedo hablar en español con otras personas afuera de clase y, si no tengo tiempo, hablo con mi misma.

Oigo a Radio Latina y “News in Slow Spanish”. Leo voz alto y hablo en español con personas bilingüe en las tiendas.

Listened to spanish language radio news and music, as well as a podcast. Also spoke with friends in person and on the phone.

Celia netflix show or coffee break spanish is great!

I watch a portion of a spanish language movie on hbo, listen to the radio or go to a Spanish language meetup

Para mis 20 minutos de hablar o escuchar hablo con amigos por teléfono, hablo con mi mismo, escucho la radio o un podcast y asisto a la clase de grupo o privada. Normalmente trato de hacer más de 20 minutos, pero la semana pasada estaba muy ocupado y sólo podía hacer 20 minutos cada día – sin embargo todavía ¡lo hice!

He escuchado a podcasts algunos días o he visto YouTube videos (a veces con subtítulos en español o inglés) otros días. Encontré por la primera vez un nuevo amigo de España y practicamos español(y para el, inglés). Lo difícil es practicando hablar. He empezado contestar a las preguntas de FB, primero hablar y luego escribir–porque estoy escuchando más de hablando.

Duolingo – lyricstraining

escucho a 102.9 en las mananas. También hago un idioma intercambio por dos días que dura un hora

I have a friend at work that talks to me in Spanish a few minutes a few days a week. I listen to music in the car and watch TV shows in Spanish.

¡Bien hecho chicos!

Hola chicos,

¿Qué onda con Uds.?  Espero que todos estén bien.

 

Students often ask what they need to improve to move into the next level.

Here is a list of the things your teachers take into consideration:

• Comprehension: When asked a question, do you answer that question or a different one?
• Vocabulary: Do you have the vocabulary that is common for that level?
• Grammar: Do you use the tenses necessary to move into the next level, etc.?  
• Overall accuracy: Gender, conjugations, correct vocabulary, etc.
• Fluidity: How well are you able to get your point across.
• Speed: How quickly are you able to get the words out.
• Conversations skills: How well you are able to work around vocabulary that you are not familiar with.
• English: How much English you are mixing in with your Spanish.
• Confidence: Are you the type of student that is afraid to say something for fear of making a mistake?
• Participation: Are you actively participating in class or does the teacher need to ask all the questions to get you speaking?  Are you doing the optional homework?  Are you engaging with other students?

 

So these are all the points that we consider before moving a student into the next level.  If you fit the bill for 8 of the 10 points, you are ready for the next level in most cases.  

 

If you ever want to know where you are at, PBO does offer detailed evaluations ($30) and mini-evaluations ($20).  You can also just ask your teacher what you need to work on, at any time.

 

Do you know what your biggest strengths and weaknesses are in Spanish?

 

Besitos,
Caro

La tarea opcional de esta semana es escribir un párrafo acerca de alguna experiencia que hayas tenido  durante un verano en el pasado.  El párrafo no debe tener menos de 5 oraciones y no más de 10.  Para los atrevidos, en vez de escribirlo, les recomendamos grabarlo.  La próxima semana pueden compartir sus experiencias escritas o grabadas con el grupo.

(La tarea extra de la semana * para los que quieran más tarea * es seguir con el capítulo 17, Nouns & Articles, en “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 217 y 218  y hacer los ejercicios 17.21 a 17.23)

How many hours does it take to become an expert in Spanish or otherwise?

 

I recently read the book The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  If you’re interested in cultural anthropology, you may find this book as fascinating as I did.

 

According to the author it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything.  He backs up his theory with numerous stories, but the one about the Beatles I found most interesting.  Here is an excerpt from his book:

 

The Beatles ended up travelling to Hamburg five times between 1960 and the end of 1962. On the first trip, they played 106 nights, of five or more hours a night. Their second trip they played 92 times. Their third trip they played 48 times, for a total of 172 hours on stage. The last two Hamburg stints, in November and December 1962, involved another 90 hours of performing. All told, they performed for 270 nights in just over a year and a half. By the time they had their first burst of success in 1964, they had performed live an estimated 1,200 times, which is extraordinary. Most bands today don’t perform 1,200 times in their entire careers. The Hamburg crucible is what set the Beatles apart.

 

As he states in his book, the Beatles had their success after Hamburg, after completing their 10,000 hours.

 

So how does this relate to you?

Well, here you are, learning a language.  So many language learners say things like “I’ve been studying for 2 years, I should be fluent by now.”  This is absolutely not the case.  Yes, some people have a natural ability for languages and advance faster than others, but the majority of students who move up quickly are the ones that put in the time.  

One of our students, just moved up a level for the 2nd time in less than a year.  This is not common.  But I was looking at his profile and he has been to class 119 times in 10 months (he has the unlimited package).  Most students average about 30-35 classes in 10 months.  He has put in the time, therefore is reaping the rewards faster than most.  

 

So what does this mean for you?  I would say one of two things:

1 – If learning Spanish is your goal, be patient…as you put in more hours, you will continue to improve.  Enjoy the process and know that every time you practice, even for 5 minutes, you are adding to your 10,000 hours.  You WILL get there; it’s just a matter of time!

2 – If learning Spanish quickly is your goal, putting in more time will help you achieve that.  The more you practice your Spanish, the faster you will advance.  It’s quite simple really.

 

Do you feel like you’re moving at the right pace in comparison to the number of hours you dedicate to learning Spanish?

 

Besos,

Caro

Weekly Tip: Learn from your mistakes!

As you all know by now, making mistakes is part of the process of learning a language. As a matter of fact, we encourage you to put it all out there and make as many as needed. However, we assume that you want to improve your Spanish, which means learning from them.

Here are a few tips on how to do that:
– When someone corrects you, before continuing with what you were saying, stop and repeat what you said, but this time correctly. If you just nod and keep going, you will not learn from it.
– Write corrections down. You can write it incorrectly and then correctly, but all you really need is the correction.
– Review your corrections after class and if you can, write out a few sentences using said correction.

One thing to note is that it takes between 12 – 20 times (on average 16-17) to learn something new. So if you’re corrected 5x for the same mistake, don’t think that you’re not learning. As a matter of fact, if you realize that you’ve been corrected before on the same thing, you are making progress.

So put it all out there, do not be afraid to make mistakes, but make sure that you’re taking the opportunity to learn from them!

Besos,
Caro