Weekly Tip 9/28: Are you working towards your language goal?

 

Let me ask you a question:

If you wanted to have “ripped” arms, do you think that you could achieve that goal by lifting 3 lb. weights?  No, you say?  

Ok, what about if you lifted 5 lb. weights?  Still don’t think so?

Well what if you lifted the 5 lb. weights for like 2 years?  Still no?  

 

Ok, so let me ask you a few questions about studying a language:

Do you think that doing DuoLingo at a high intermediate level will get you to an Advanced level?

Do you think that reading children’s books will help you reach fluency?

Do you think that spending 30 minutes a day on verb drills will help you improve your speaking skills?

 

It’s time to think about how you’re spending your time working on your Spanish and if it is actually helping you reach your goal.

 

First let me say that practically anything you do will get you to a low-mid intermediate level if you work at it long enough.  Getting to B1-B2 takes time, but what you’re doing to work on your Spanish is not nearly as important as it is when you reach B2 and want to get beyond that.

 

So if your goal is to get beyond B2 you may need to change those 5 lb. weights in for some 10 lb. weights.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to “work-out” any longer than you do now, but it may mean that you need to “work-out” harder or smarter.

This is the time when you need to start making the transition from things aimed at Spanish learners to things aimed at Spanish speakers.  This is the only thing that will help you get past B3 and for some, into B3.

 

This theory also works with any level.  If your goal is to improve your comprehension, you need to listen more than you speak.  If your goal is to speak better, you need to participate.  If your goal is to improve your grammar, you need to stop and repeat when you’ve been corrected.

 

What are your goals and what are you doing to work towards them?

 

Besos,

Caro

La tarea opcional de esta semana es hacer una lista de 3 adjetivos que describan a 3 personas que conoces.  Por ejemplo: Mi hijo es travieso, guapo y juguetón; mi abuelo es desconfiado, amable y tímido; mi profe de español es estupendo, talentoso y apasionado, etc.

(La tarea extra de la semana * para los que quieran más tarea * es seguir con el capítulo 18, Adjectives, en la tercera edición de “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 231 a 234  y hacer los ejercicios 18.13 al 18.16)

Congratulations to the following students for making it more than half way through the 90 Day Spanish Bootcamp!

A1: Jean E, Rechelle M

B1.5: Melanie T

B2: Carol S, Roxie H; Stephanie C

B2.5: Eva M

C1: Stephany F

Private Classes: Joy B, Lisa O

 

We asked them this week what their favorite part of their new Spanish routine is and here is what they told us:

Estoy disfrutando la conversación del día en FB. Antes de empezar bootcamp estaba asustada de responder a la pregunta del día. Ahora cada día estoy emocionada de leer y contribuir a la conversación del grupo.

I love that I don’t have to use my dictionary as often as before.

Mi parta favorita es oyendo a Radio Latina y mirando Destinos. Cada día entiendo más. Lo es excitante. También leo más fácil.

Answering the FB conversation and reading the other responses.

Me gusta la conversación del día porque es muy diferente cada día y yo he aprendido muchas nuevas palabras. También me gusta leer las otras respuestas de otros estudiantes.

Answering the FB conversation and reading the other responses.

Me gusta que estoy mejorando en mi capacidad que usar diferentes tiempos.

Me gusta encontrar nuevos recursos para ver/escuchar a español. No he sabido que hay muchos!

I enjoy watching a Spanish movie or series each day

Me gusta responder a las conversaciones del día en facebook. Siempre hay algo diferente y me hace pensar en español. También cuando tengo tiempo me encanta leer las otras respuestas. Finalmente las correcciones me ayudan mucho en mejorar mi escritura.

Mi parte favorita de mi nueva rutina diaria es la conversación del día en FB. Estoy aprendiendo muchas palabras nuevas de todas las respuestas y aprecio todas las correcciones y los consejos. Sin embargo, creo que lo que más me está ayudando es el tiempo que paso sólo escuchando. En realidad creo que mi comprensión está mejorando. :-)

Me gusta leer la conversacion del dia en Facebook todos los dia. Disfruto las respuestas de otros. Recuerdo que otros tambien aprenden espanol.

¡Felicidades chicas!  Muy bien hecho :)

Hola chicos,

Today I want to talk about the importance of the country of origin of your Spanish teacher.

The easiest way to explain this is by comparing English.

If you learned to speak English in England, you can still communicate with all English speakers in the US, Scotland, Ireland, etc.

If you learned to speak English in California, you can still communicate with anyone in Alabama, Missouri, Texas, etc.

That being said, every country, and every region has some differences in vocabulary and different accents.  I’m sure that you have all had the experience of speaking to someone from a different country in your native language and not understanding a word here and there.  That being said, as we are exposed to film and shows from other countries, we can’t help but pick up vocabulary.  I’m sure that all of our English speakers from the United States know that in England they use the word lift rather than elevator, for example.

So to sum this all up, the country of origin of your Spanish teacher is not very important. Apart from a few minor differences, Spanish is Spanish and English is English. 

If however, your reason for learning the language is to travel to a specific country, it’s never a bad idea to take classes with a teacher from that region.  If your overall goal is just to learn to speak Spanish, you can do that with a teacher from any country.

What has been your experience with this topic?

Besos