Lesson 2.8 - Hard as it seems the first time you watch??

Question

Just watched Lesson 2.8 - Kind of Irregular Preterit.

It seemed rather difficult, and tried to fit a lot into 15 minutes.

I was wondering if it generally becomes easier over time?

Is this a major lesson, or one I can just brush over?

I am intending to watch the video a few more times over, though!!

Answer 1

Depending on your natural ability to pick up Spanish, you may well have to listen\read\write things over and over before they really start to stick.

Unfortuanately I don't tend to pick up things too quickly, but over time things have started to sink in. Keep at it!

Buena suerte!

Answer 2

I felt the same way, initially.

There's no short-cut. Dive in and get familiar. Repetion to these forms is essential. This is a topic you cannot simply "learn" and then put aside after the exam. You will need it forever after. The more you repeat, the more you will retain, and can use naturally wherever it's needed later on.

I would suggest that you can proceed to the lessons beyond 2.8, since not everything builds on the preterite tense. But do come back and repeat this lesson regularly, and any related information you have from books and websites. Until the preterite feels natural to you when you use it, you haven't really learned it.

Answer 3

This lesson is one of the most annoying lessons l had to learn!

But with time it will be much easier you just have to watch it a few times

Look at this link, it's very helpful, l learnt the verbs from here.

However, don't stress yourself too much about it, you'll learn this by time and practice!

Answer 4

I struggled a great deal with direct and indirect object pronouns even as an intermediate level Spanish speaker until one day I decided to re-visit Paralee;s teaching video and it began to make much more sense. I had tried to avoid using sentences with them at times but that is rather like triyng to wash without using water; you need to use these pronouns! Some intermediate level students try to avoid the subjunctive in similar ways.

Yes, most people will find as they practise certain aspects of Spanish grammar or other areas of learning with which they struggle, that these prickly subjects will become easier. It's all part of learning to master a language facing those tricky apects of a language instead of choosing to avoid them.

Don't worry about those tricky areas just persevere, ask questions here especially from natives like Lazarus, and Heidi, and also other students like Izanoni and Samdie who are particularly good at explaining difficult grammar points, and above all practise , practise, practise!

I hope this helps

Answer 5

It is by far the most difficult lesson so far, by coincidence I have just finished it. I have really struggled with it and the recall section was really hard.

I will go back to it and try to improve, not just to get a higher score but because that higher score means I am remembering it better.

For now it is a relief to have finished it, although I am not sure I will enjoy the imperfect tense any more than this one.

Answer 6

Paralee is an excellent instructor and her lessons are magnificent. But of all the ones I've seen, this one is the least effective. Generally it is good to learn a grammatical rule so that it can be applied again and again in different situations that call for its use. But in my opinion there are far too many groups and rules in this lesson for an approach like that to be effective. I say dispense with this rule/group approach and learn the individual (in this case preterite) conjugations of the word when you encounter it or need to use it. In viewing the lesson, it didn't seem all that hard to me because I was already familiar with all the conjugations from other sources or because I've used them enough already. But if I were a beginner or intermediate, I could see where this lesson would be pretty daunting.

Answer 7

Thank you, good to know I'm not the only one who found it difficult.

And thank you for the advice!