How do I break out of stale study habits?
Hola a todo! Feliz Viernes!
I have been studying Spanish on my own for a couple years now and am coming out of a bit of a lull. I took Spanish in high school but most my development has happened on my own over the last couple of years. I really enjoy learning Spanish and even learning about my own language along the way, however, 3 or 4 months ago I became really burned out and discouraged at my progress.
Up to this date, I have been through the Michele Thomas beginning and advanced program, Pimslear I II & III, as well as several great textbooks. I have a pretty decent size vocabulary, regularly going over flashcards and other memorization tools. The problem is that since this is all on my own, my retention level has been fairly low. I've had trouble staying consistently involved in the language since my access to native speakers is extremely limited.
It's been a few months since I put Spanish down and am feeling rejuvinated to pick it up again. I feel that right now I should be somewhat conversational and have all of it in me, it's just not piecing itself together fast enough to come up. I'm making it a goal to find a native speaker that I can begin practicing with but I'm looking for recommendations on other study tools. I'm feeling really reluctant to start diving back into flashcards, it seems all very dull now. I am trying to write regularly but still not gaining much traction there.
Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. Just looking for something to break out of the old study habbits.
11 Answers
Hey, Joshua.
I know exactly how you feel! I study intensively for months at a time and then, B A M, nada...not one speck of interest in studying. Oh, I say that I will study,--I even want to study...I just don't.
What I do during these slumps is:
Make 5 flashcards of words that I should know because they are part of my life (3x5 index cards)
Read the flashcards (English side first) when I wake up and again when I go to bed
Download podcasts (like News in Slow Spanish) to my iPod
Listen on the way to work or wherever and let the rhythm of the language and vocabulary soak in
Rent movies that have the soundtrack in español and watch them on your laptop with the earphones plugged in. This makes it easier to hear and saves you from family complaints
Write down the interesting and new vocabulary in the movie (pause it and have a notepad nearby)
PM me about getting a Skype tutor.
I have only one thing to say:
Go there! To whatever Spanish speaking country you can afford, go , practice, talk to people! It will make it all come alive.
Véte a un país hispanohablante lo más pronto posible.
One thing that has not really been listed is to read in Spanish. Get a book you are interested in, that excites you, and just start reading.
Many people I know think it is too intimidating to take a 500 page book and start reading, but I find that is a great way to both build vocabulary and to consolidate what you know by seeing everything in context.
Some suggestions: any of the Dan Brown books in Spanish, the Harry Potter series, or the Twilight series. Just pick out something that you won't be bored with.
Another thing - which Michel Thomas states and I believe - try not to use dictionaries unless it is absolutely necessary. Try to understand words from context. Also, don't translate. Just read the Spanish and pick up the meaning.
Here's two things that I do: Go to the library and pick up the local Spanish newspaper/newsletter. Here in Green Bay there's actually a weekly Spanish paper which has stories off of the news wires of Spain and Latin America. This way I not only practice my translating but also learn the points of views of people in other countries.
The other thing is to "friend" Spanish speaking people on Facebook. They usually post in Spanish to their friends and I translate what they are talking about and sometimes comment in Spanish. Just today I was told by a friend from Colombia that my Spanish was improving daily.
Doing these two things allows me to use Spanish in a practical way instead of merely "studying Spanish" like it's a chore.
I have been thinking about my Spanish frustrations and successes recently, and trying to draw conclusions about what has worked.
I lived in Spain for almost one year and took Spanish classes daily. I did not understand a lot of what they were trying to teach me as the classes were all taught in Spanish. I was going through some personal challenges and my entire Spanish experience was a difficult time for me. Fortunately, trauma can teach you new things. SpanishDict.com was a life raft when I needed it.
If the lesson in class was "preterito perfecto," and I didn't know what heck they were talking about (and I'm a grammar geek in English) I could come here and get a lesson on Spanish in English on "present perfect." Thank you Peralee.
So classes will motivate you out of your comfort zone and this website can support you. You will need grammar and vocabulary, both which you can get here. However, you also need to use Spanish in context, and for that you will need to speak to native Spanish speaking people in their community.
Here is an example. I was in a grocery store in Madrid and I asked in Spanish if they had organic produce. The produce manager made a disapproving and dismissive face and said, "No existe." Obviously, I immediately understood that he had said, "It doesn't exist."
I left with this phrase and it's usage burned in my psyche. First of all, I was disappointed that I didn't get what I wanted. Second, he had made a disapproving face and had not been friendly or helpful. Lastly, what he had said was not factually accurate. I thought, "In English, we would never say that. We would say, 'We don't have any.'" In fact, organic produce does exist in the world. It's just that that produce manager didn't have any. I thought, "This response fits the context." In Madrid, where they have a somewhat egocentric view of the world, if you don't have it, you say, "It does not exist," -- because to you, it doesn't.
So, in a short conversation with a grocery store employee I learned a Spanish phrase in context and a lot about the Spanish attitude and culture.
Okay, so you need to have lots and lots of experiences like this. Then you will stop translating and you will learn the appropriate Spanish way of saying something in the right context.
You can travel to a foreign country to get these experiences, but if you want to save money, just volunteer once a week with an organization that serves Spanish-speaking people in your town.
I would just like to say that there are plenty of egocentric phrases and expressions in English, too. When you start to learn another culture, you learn a lot about your own culture as well and that people in other parts of the world really do think differently about things, and that's okay.
Try setting your home page to one of the Spanish language news services, like this one. You'll not only get a broader sense of current events around the world, but also you'll get less bias!
Katy has a great point:
also 'say' what you are learning out loud several times.
This will make you feel comfortable speaking and help your pronunciation.
P.s. If you wonder about how to pronounce a word, look it up on SD and hit the "play" symbol.
I stay motivated just because I have to learn it to live and get around. Stay out of the tourist spots if your purpose is to learn Spanish, since they try to hire staff that are multilingual for tourists.
Being surrounded by English is not motivating to learn another language (unless you don't speak English... ;o). There are large pockets of Spanish speakers in the USA. When I was in the US I tried to find places that I could go to find pockets of Spanish speakers. I went to a Catholic church (I'm not Catholic) and festivites on days like Cinco de Mayo.
Make sure that while you are practicing in your mind through reading or doing flashcards, etc. also 'say' what you are learning out loud several times.
I also try everyday to do "Word of the Day", "Palabra del día", 'Recuperación de palabras', and "Drop one, take one". I read other people's corrected entries out loud to practice new words, new adverbs and adjectives, and sentence usage.
It seems like all your study has been on your own, which is, in my opinion, incredibly difficult. You deserve a medal for what you have done.
Have you thought about doing Skype classes with one of the firms in Guatemala or Ecuador, they are not too expensive and then you will really get to use your spanish by having a real conversation with someone.
I could not possibly do what you have done, but I manage to take my spanish class each day over Skype.
Try the World Word Exchange it is a very different approach to language learning. It has a timeline that shows you what you studied and how you did. A virtual teacher tracks and pop quizzes you on the word memory game. Language learning is about remembering words. Try the World Word Exchange free sign up and get 2 free trial lessons. Very inexpensive to join. Let me know what you think thanks
My suggestions: (1) Rent a Spanish-language movie and switch on the subtitles. Take note of the words you're not familiar with and watch it again after sometime without the subtitles. (2) Try looking for a language partner that you can talk to. I have a couple of language partners on Livemocha/Busuu or some other language site, so when I'm not on Spanishdict, I usually chat with them. (3) Listen to Spanish music and translate the lyrics to English.
