La tarea opcional para la semana del 30 de abril al 6 de mayo del 2018

La tarea opcional para la semana del 30 de abril al 6 de mayo del 2018

La tarea opcional de esta semana es ver una película o un episodio de un programa en español.  La semana que viene nos van a contar lo que vieron. Si ponen subtítulos recuerden ponerlos en español, no en inglés. El punto de la tarea es practicar el español, no necesariamente entender todo-todito-todo.

Para los que les interesa hacer más tarea, pueden terminar el capítulo 24 “Indefinite & negative words and expressions” en  “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 315 a 317 y hacer los ejercicios 24.7 a 24.10.

Sick of always being a beginner in Spanish?

Sick of always being a beginner in Spanish?

 

Will I ever move past being a beginner in Spanish?

I would guess that I talk to 3 to 5 people every week that have been studying Spanish on and off for 10-20 years, who have never gotten past the beginner stage. If this is you, read on.

Learning a language takes time. There is no way around that unless you move to a foreign country for a year, where you actually live your entire life in that language. Since most of us don’t have that luxury, we need to fit language learning into our daily lives.

This is where it gets tricky. The majority of students usually start out strong, and then after a few months they take a break. Then a few months later, they come back to it, and then they take another break. This totally works, if you take breaks in the right places.

For example:
When you start to learn Spanish, you should not take a break until you are conversational at least on a basic level. You should be able to talk for 2-3 minutes, (even if you sound like a 3 year old) about basic every day things in your life, such as your family, your job, your hobbies, what you did last weekend , etc. If you’re taking classes with us, we recommend not taking a break until you have been in an A1 class for at least 3-6 months.

The next break should not come until you have reached an intermediate level. If you are taking classes with us, that would be when you have been in a B1 class for at least 3-6 months.

These are the only breaks I would recommend, if your goal is to get out of being a beginner. And even when you take breaks, Spanish should continue to be a part of your life in one way or another (maybe listening to podcasts, audiobooks, chatting with friends, journaling, whatever you want), and the breaks should not last more than 3 months.

I always say that learning a language is like working out. It should always be a part of your life, not a stop and start over again kind of thing, because just like with working out, when you take a long break, you can really feel how much muscle (Spanish) you have lost!

So if you are feeling frustrated that you’ve been a beginner for what feels like 100 years, stick with it until you are solid in a low intermediate level, and then you can consider taking a short break, but not before!

Besos,
Caro

La tarea opcional para la semana del 23 al 29 de abril del 2018

Esta semana, queremos que escriban 5 frases usando fracciones.  Por ejemplo: “Me comí dos tercios de la bolsa de papitas” o “Me queda menos de un cuarto de bencina (gasolina) en el auto”.

Para los que les interesa hacer más tarea, pueden empezar el capítulo 24 “Indefinite & negative words and expressions” en  “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 310 a 314 y hacer los ejercicios 24.1 a 24.6.

How to set the right size goal with native Spanish speakers

How to set the right size goal with native Spanish speakers

 

Every week I speak with students who have a Spanish-speaking significant other/coworker/friend, and yet they do not practice their Spanish with them.  There are a myriad of reasons for this, but I feel that the most common mistake is setting too big a goal.

 

Many students will say that every night at dinner they will speak Spanish the entire time, or for an hour after dinner, or all of Sunday for example. The reality is that most of us want to connect with our partners, friends, and coworkers. If we are learning a language we are not able to communicate as well as we would in our native language, which makes us not want to practice, but rather speak in a language that is easy, familiar, and that allows us to connect on deeper level with our loved ones.

 

So what am I suggesting? If you have a Spanish speaker in your life, I suggest that you set a very small goal. Here are a few examples:

  • Speak Spanish together on a daily basis, but only for five minutes at a time
  • Speak about three specific things that happened that day
  • Repeat something that you just spoke about in English, but this time in Spanish

The goal is to take advantage of the fact that you have a Spanish speaker in your life, but to keep the conversations short and consistent.

 

Do you know someone that you could practice with for five minutes a day?

 

Besos,
Caro

La tarea opcional para el 16 al 21 de abril del 2018

La tarea opcional para el 16 al 21 de abril del 2018

Esta semana, queremos que escriban acerca de una conversación profunda o delicada que hayan tenido con alguien últimamente o que quieran tener con alguien pronto.  Por ejemplo, podría ser una conversación con tu hijo a quién le está yendo muy mal en la escuela, o con un cliente que está abusando de los empleados, o con tu pareja acerca de un mal hábito que te está volviendo loco.  El punto es escribir acerca de una conversación fuera de lo normal, un poco delicada o profunda. La semana que viene queremos que nos lean lo que escribieron.

Para los que les interesa hacer más tarea, pueden terminar el capítulo 13 “The Subjunctive Mood: the present & the present perfect subjunctive tenses in noun clauses” en  “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 152 a 154 y hacer los ejercicios 13.19 a 13.22.

No time to practice your Spanish?

No time to practice your Spanish?

Are you one of the many students that feels they do not have time to work on their Spanish outside of class, but want to practice? If that is you, here are 5 ways to practice your Spanish in five minutes or less per day:

1 – Listen to a podcast or an audiobook while you are getting ready, cleaning the house, driving, etc.
Time required = 0 minutes/day

2 – Answer Pura Buena Onda’s “Conversación del día“ on Facebook every day: https://www.facebook.com/spanishclassessandiego/
Time required = 5 minutes/day

3 – Write out your to do list or grocery lists in Spanish.
Time required = approximately one minute every time you add an item

4 – Keep an audio journal. Talk about your day every day.
Time required = 5 minutes/day

5 – Learn a song. Sing it once a day, with the lyrics in front of you, every day until you can sing it without looking. Then spend five minutes a day translating it until you understand the whole thing. Then pick a new song.
Time required = 4-5 minutes/day

So next time you say that you do not have time to practice your Spanish, remember that you are full of caca.

Besos,
Caro

La tarea opcional para el 9 al 14 de abril del 2018

Esta semana, les pedimos que contesten la pregunta del día en la página de FaceBook de Pura Buena Onda, cada día.  La semana que viene, les vamos a pedir que compartan sus respuestas a una de las preguntas.

https://www.facebook.com/spanishclassessandiego/

Para los que les interesa hacer más tarea, pueden seguir con el capítulo 13 “The Subjunctive Mood: the present & the present perfect subjunctive tenses in noun clauses” en  “Complete Spanish Grammar” de McGraw Hill, de la serie Practice Makes Perfect.  Les recomendamos leer las páginas 149 a 151 y hacer los ejercicios 13.16 a 13.18.

Do it in Spanish!

Do it in Spanish!

Practically every language learner knows that the way to consistently improve their language skills is by incorporating their target language into their daily life.  However, what often occurs, is that we don’t take the time to figure out how to make this happen.

The easiest way to incorporate Spanish into your life is by doing some things in Spanish instead of (or in addition to) in your native language.

For example:

– Listen to music in Spanish
– Read or listen to the news in Spanish
– Watch a television show in Spanish
– Greet Spanish speakers in Spanish. You never know where the conversation could lead!
– Listen to podcasts in Spanish
– Journal in Spanish
– Read a book / magazine in Spanish

 

These are just a few recommendations, and they may seem obvious.  The important part of this post is not the examples, it’s the act of actually taking the time to figure out what will work for you.

The easiest way to figure out how YOU can work Spanish into YOUR daily life is by making a list of things that you do every single day, and then figuring out which ones you could do in Spanish instead of in English.

What does your list look like?

Besos,
Caro