Moving past a mid-intermediate level of Spanish

Hola a todos:

This week, we’re taking a look at moving past a mid-intermediate level of Spanish.

Advancing out of a mid-intermediate level of Spanish and into a high-intermediate level is a pretty big deal, as B3 is a pretty advanced level! Be aware that it is not easy to move up to B3. A lot of people stay in B2 for a long time, most, forever. The reason why is mainly one: you have to incorporate Spanish into your daily life to move past a mid intermediate level of Spanish. Otherwise it’s going to be very hard to reach B3. Your mentality needs to change from that of Spanish student, to Spanish speaker.

 

Now, if you know that you want to be one of those students that doesn’t get stuck in B2 forever, here are a few tips to make that happen:

1 – Focus on improving your grammar and all the verb tenses.

How do you achieve this?

  • Put yourself out there, and use more complex sentences. Just try, even if it’s wrong. Your teacher will help you. Don’t shy away from it.

  • Read all kinds of books and magazines in Spanish. Watch all kinds of TV shows and movies in Spanish, all the while, being aware (not analyzing everything, just paying attention) of the grammatical structure of the sentences, the choice of vocabulary, etc.

  • Don’t study the language, live in the language. Practice all the verb tenses by living in the language instead of studying them out of a book.

 

2 – Start speaking about more complex subjects, more often.

How do you achieve this?

  • When at PBO, pick subjects that are more complicated. Talk about current issues, politics, controversial topics, the news, etc. It’s great to talk about your day to day, but if you’re pretty comfortable talking about that stuff, it’s time to dedicate more time to complex subjects.

  • Read newspapers in Spanish and watch the news in Spanish. You can also watch documentaries and debates.

  • Be curious about the world around you. If you don’t like the news, you can read science related articles, for example.

 

3 – Talk, talk, talk, and talk some more.

How do you achieve this?

  • Talk to as many native speakers as you can. Try to have deeper and more meaningful conversations with them. It will not only help you with moving out of a mid-intermediate level of Spanish, but will also allow you connect with other human beings on a deeper level :)

  • Participate actively in class. That doesn’t just mean talking. Ask questions to other students too. Just think of it as a conversation with your friends, not like a class.

  • Meet Spanish speaking friends regularly, participate in PBO events. Don’t miss a chance to speak in Spanish.

 

In conclusion, you need to turn Spanish into a big part of your life, if moving out of a mid-intermediate level of Spanish is important to you. This is the point where you start to study less, and live in it more. Stop practicing with books all the time, and start using Spanish resources for learners. Start to use the media that native speakers would use.

Let us know what you think about this blog in the comment section of Facebook.

Have an amazing week!

Octavi

PS A note from Caro:

I feel that it’s important to say that for most language learners, moving past a mid-intermediate level is not necessary. Once you reach B2, you can pretty much talk to anyone, about anything. It may not be perfect, but you are able to communicate VERY well by level B2. So please remember that if level B2 suits your needs, you absolutely do not need to make advancing into a higher level a priority. Maintaining your Spanish might be just what you need!

La tarea opcional para el 8 al 14 de julio del 2019

La tarea opcional:

Hace unos meses les pedimos que se grabaran. Ha llegado el momento de hacerlo otra vez.

Grábense (2 o 3 minutos para A2-A3, 4 o 5 minutos para B1-B2, 6 o 7 minutos para B3, y 8 o 10 minutos para C1-C2) y comparen esta grabación con la que hicieron hace unos meses. 

Hablen del mismo tema que eligieron la última vez para poder ver su progreso de forma más fácil. Si es la primera grabación que hacen, elijan un tema del que puedan hablar varias veces (la familia, el trabajo, etc…) y no algo de lo que sólo puedan hablar una vez (una película que vieron, una cena de cumpleaños, etc…)

No les pediremos que compartan sus grabaciones con la clase, no se preocupen :). Las grabaciones son para Uds., para que puedan compararlas cada 6 meses.

 

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: empiecen el capítulo 11 “Gustar and similarly formed verbs” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean las páginas 93 y 94, y hagan los ejercicios 11.1 y 11.2.

La tarea opcional para el 24 al 30 de junio del 2019

La tarea opcional:

La tarea opcional de esta semana es preparar descripciones de 4 palabras. ¡Atención! Hay una regla: no pueden elegir sustantivos; sólo pueden elegir 2 adjetivos y 2 verbos.

Por ejemplo:

Es un adjetivo que describe el porte/tamaño de alguien. Por ejemplo, una persona que mide muchos pies es esto; como un jugador típico de baloncesto.

 

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: empiecen el capítulo 5 “The personal a” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean las páginas 43 y 44, y hagan los ejercicios 5.1 y 5.2.

How to advance to a mid intermediate level of Spanish

Hola, queridos alumnos:

This week we are looking at how to advance to a mid intermediate level of Spanish! Now, before we get into the details, you should be aware of something…

Once you reach an intermediate level, it will take you more time to move up through the levels. The reason for that is that you need to be able to use more complex grammar structures, and a wider vocabulary. Therefore, you might feel like you’re not improving, but as long as you keep practicing, you absolutely are (it just takes longer to advance when you reach intermediate levels)!

 

That being said, let’s find out what you need to work on to get to B2:

 

1 – Expand your grammar.

How do you achieve this?

  • You should be able to use all the tenses of the indicative mood fairly well (and even if you make mistakes, at least being aware of all the tenses, and making an attempt to use them) if you want to advance to a mid intermediate level of Spanish. That means: the present, the preterit, the imperfect, the present perfect, the past perfect, the future perfect, the conditional perfect, the future, and the conditional.

  • Start using the Imperative Mood.

  • Start using the Subjunctive Mood.

  • Our favorite workbooks: Complete Spanish Grammar

Spanish Verb Tenses

 

2 – Increase your fluidity/pace of speech.

How do you achieve this?

  • By B2 you should be able to speak with native speakers at a natural pace, so practice speaking out loud all the time, (to yourself, to others) and with native speakers, as much as you can.

  • Surround yourself with so much Spanish that you are not translating in your head, at least 50% of the time.

  • Sum up everything. For example, if you just watched a movie, sum it up in Spanish, out loud; if you just went to dinner with friends, sum it up out loud.

 

3 – Start to incorporate Spanish into your daily life.

How do you achieve this?

  • Work on your Spanish outside of class, preferably every day, even if only for 10-15 minutes.

  • Listen to Spanish daily. You can listen to podcasts, to the radio, watch tv, etc. Everything is ok as long as it is in Spanish.

  • To reach a mid intermediate level of Spanish, you need to read at least once or twice a week, even if only a page or two. It’s important at this stage to start expanding the topics you are able to speak about and understand. Reading will help you with that.

 

On the whole, I would say you have to start including Spanish into your daily life when you get to the intermediate levels. Especially if you want to be in B2.

 

As usual, let us know your opinion in the comment section of our Facebook page. You can share what helped you move up to B2 :)

 

Have a great week!

 

Octavi

La tarea opcional para el 17 al 23 de junio del 2019

La tarea opcional de esta semana es preparar descripciones de 5 palabras que la clase adivinará. Por ejemplo:

Es un sentimiento. Es positivo y bonito. Lo sientes con las personas de tu familia, con tu pareja o con tu mascota. Es típico sonreír cuando sientes esto. ¿Qué es?

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: terminen con el capítulo 18 “The past perfect tense” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean la página 190, y hagan los ejercicios 18.2 y 18.3.

La tarea opcional para el 10 al 16 de junio del 2019

La tarea opcional

 

La tarea opcional de esta semana es escribir 5 cosas que habían hecho antes de cumplir 20/30/40/50/60/70 años (Uds. deciden). Por ejemplo:

Antes de cumplir 30 años ya había viajado por toda Europa, había aprendido 6 idiomas y había dormido en una tienda de campaña.

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: empiecen con el capítulo 18 “The past perfect tense” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean las páginas 187 y 188, y hagan el ejercicio 18.1.

How to advance to an Intermediate level of Spanish

Hola amigos y amigas:

Today we will continue our journey through the PBO levels. This time, we’ll look at how to advance to an intermediate level of Spanish!

 

1 – Increase the complexity of your speech.

How do you achieve this?

  • Start telling stories to a friend, to yourself or in class. You need to talk less about short daily experiences, and tell more stories.
  • Read the news. It might be a bit challenging, but it’s an excellent way to broaden your vocabulary. The podcast News in slow Spanish is also amazing!
  • In addition, start talking about complex subjects. They can be about things you’re struggling with at the moment, controversial subjects, current events, etc.

 

2 – Diversify your knowledge of tenses.

How do you achieve this?

  • To advance to an intermediate level of Spanish, talk about the past more often (to use the preterit and the imperfect). Telling stories, which we advised before, is a perfect way to practice the past tenses, as you will have to use several of the past tenses in each story.
  • Dabble in the future tense. Get used to it, as native speakers use it a lot alongside the construction “ir + a + verb” (voy a beber or beberé).
  • Also, dabble in the conditional tense. It will allow you to put together more complex sentences, and to express things you “would” do.

 

3 – Increase you comprehension.

How do you achieve this?

  • Watch shows in Spanish. You will not understand everything, but you’ll get used to the speed of natives. (Tip: It’s best to start watching series/telenovelas, since the stories develop over time, unlike in a movie, where everything happens so quickly – there are TONS of Spanish language shows on Netflix).
  • Read more in Spanish. It is a great way to get acquainted with verb tenses, learn vocabulary and discover new expressions. Caro is a huge fan of audiobooks, which also allows you to learn to understand native speakers with more ease. She uses Audible, but you can also listen to books for free on some websites and on YouTube.
  • Another way to advance to an intermediate level of Spanish is to talk to Spanish speakers. Go beyond greetings. Try to have longer and more complex conversations. (You could ask them: Why did you move to San Diego? What do you like and dislike about San Diego? What do you miss about your country?)

 

We hope that our How to advance to an Intermediate level of Spanish blog was useful! Let us know what you think in the comment section on Facebook.

For everyone who is in B1: next week we’ll find out ways to move up to B2.

 

¡Les deseo una buena semana!

Octavi

La tarea opcional para el 3 al 9 de junio del 2019

Para las clases de lunes y sábado:

La tarea opcional de esta semana es escribir cosas que han hecho recientemente. Les recomendamos que también hablen de otras personas, para practicar las conjugaciones. Por ejemplo:

 

Recientemente he empezado a hablar con mi familia todos los días.

Recientemente mi amiga ha tenido una hija.

Etc.

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: continúen con el capítulo 17 “The present perfect tense” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean la páginas 182 y hagan los ejercicios 17.2 a 17.4

 

 

Para las clases de martes a viernes:

La tarea opcional de esta semana es ver una película en español, en Netflix (u otro lugar si quieren).

La semana que viene nos hablarán de la peli que vieron.

Para los que les interese hacer más tarea: empiecen con el capítulo 3 “Hay” en Spanish Verb Tenses de la serie Practice Makes Perfect de McGraw-Hill. Por favor, lean la página 31, y hagan los ejercicios 3.1 y 3.2.