Trying to read more....
I recently read a post that another member posted where the individual said that he or she was starting to try to read more in spanish. This person also said that it was pretty difficult to read simply because of the lack of knowledge of vocabulary. So this got me thinking that I need to start reading more in spanish as well. So, I have been trying to read things such as newspapers and other things like ESPN Deports. But, after reading some in spanish I'm finding that I have a difficult time as well.
Now I am in the last spanish that my high school offers and I feel like I have a really solid foundation as far as grammar goes. And I FELT like I knew a fair number of words up until this little endeavor ... but i guess not lol. Anyways, im thinking of becoming a spanish major when i go off to college.. And I know that if I become one I will be required to read novels and those sort of things. So what I'm wandering is....is there a time in the begining of the college career that you learn a lot of vocabulary? Is there a more vocabulary tests that are given every week?
I'm just concerned because I know that I know a lot more vocabulary than almost anyone in my school( not trying to be cocky but spanish is something I try really hard at). And I know that there are a heck of a lot of spanish majors out there that started out knowing less than me.... So what I'm wandering is what do they do in college to get you ready to start reading stuff in lituratere and novels? Or.....is it just that you just have to learn it on your own and be prepared for college? or is it just that you have to spend three hours reading a one page paper due to having to look up all kinds of words!!??
Just concerned. Anything to allay my fears would be helpful.Thanks
6 Answers
As a Spanish major getting ready to graduate this semester I have seen just about every type of student imaginable. From non-native speakers who do little if no work to very competent native speakers who work really hard. Personally, getting a degree was never what motivated me, becoming extremely proficient in the language did. There are tons of people with degrees who can barely respond to ¿Cómo estás?.
In my opinion, you have to be extremely dedicated and self motivated. Nobody is going to get you ready but yourself. To me my classes are just secondary, I work way harder on things outside of the classroom. I wouldn't worry so much about the quantity of material that you read as much as the amount of understanding and retention that you have. Sometimes it takes me a week to really understand an article, a few pages of a book, etc. I would recommend analyzing everything you don't understand, taking lots of notes in Spanish using only native definitions. Also, you really need to focus on your listening and speaking skills. There are an endless amount of videos, movies, etc. in Spanish on youtube. In short, try to do everything you can in Spanish and dedicate several hours a day to it - computer settings, reading news articles, listening to music, books, etc.
Reading is very important for learning any language. So do read as much as you can.
Quantity does matter, the more lines you read, the more you will absorb the language through osmosis. So, find books, magazines, articles that are interesting to you, so you just don't want to stop reading.
To build vocabulary without rote memorization**, pick a series you like**, and read books from the series. Within the same series, the author usually uses the same set of vocabulary, so by the end of the series, you see those "new" words again and again in context, you remember them automatically, without flashcard, anki, etc.
If you have a Kindle or any e-book reader, use that and install a few Spanish dictionaries. Most of them are free or very inexpensive. Looking up a word on Kindle only takes a finger tap.
Do not read books that's too hard for you, if on average you encounter more than 5 new words per page (2% new word rate), find a book with less new words. When you constantly having to stop and think or looking up words, you cannot absorb the language, let alone enjoy the content. Also, do not over analyse every detail, just keep reading.
All things equal, pick the book written by a native Spanish author. I always learn more Spanish from a book written in Spanish than a translated one.
I have accumulated a passive vocabulary of about 10K Spanish words by reading 20+ books, 7 of which were from the Chronicle of Narnia series, and the rest were regular (i.e non-kids) novels and business books.
Also reading fluency helps listening comprehension a lot. I have only been studying Spanish for 15 months at my leisure, I'm pretty fluent in reading and listening now, so I know reading works and it doesn't require much effort.
There comes a time in the life of most language students when you feel like you have a reasonable handle on the grammar, but the amount of vocabulary still to be learned seems overwhelming! Mastery can come, word by hard-studied word, but it does take time and effort. Eventually, you start recognizing roots and prefixes, and the process accelerates.
I think pescador1´s answer has very good advice. Try using your Spanish any time and any way you can. Long years ago, I relied on hand-written flashcards - I must have made hundreds of them. Making yourself sets of flashcards on this website may be much easier and more fun, but the handmade ones could be stuck in a pocket and consulted at any free moment.
For reading, I recommend a Kindle, because you can set a Spanish dictionary as your default, so that you can look up words very quickly and easily. Just don´t forget to write down what you learned! It´s also the case that many older works of Spanish literature are available at little or no cost on Kindle. You might enjoy, for example, Horacio Quiroga´s Cuentos de la Selva, which is comparable to Kipling´s Just So Stories. Short and relatively easy to understand.
Dude, chill. 
I'm a Spanish minor at University of Idaho. I've been taking 300-level classes and most of the students (myself included) probably know less vocabulary than your average Mexican kindergartner. Of course, it's wonderful to try as hard as you can to learn as much as you can. The actual coursework will depend on your college and your professor, but in my experience, they don't expect you to come in knowing a lot.
For my composition class right now, we've been reading news articles from Spain. In class, we underlined words we didn't know and looked them up, then tried to summarize in Spanish what the story was about. The Spanish phrases us students seem to use the most in class is ¿qué significa? and ¿como se dice?
Just keep working. It sounds like you have a good work ethic, which is pretty much all you need to succeed in college.
I'm in a 300 level university class, but still struggle with literature. I suspect that if I take a literature class, then it would focus a lot on learning a ton of vocab, but otherwise the only way to do it is to do as you are doing, and keep reading.
As I think the previous person was suggesting "do not worry, you will be fine" and I agree. It sounds like you are well prepared for college Spanish. I am a (very, very) adult who has been studying Spanish at the local university for over a year. I had hardly any formal backgrounf in Spanish and I have made all A's and B's so far. Of course, taking only Spanish, I have far more time to put into it than the other students.
I will not try to advise you on a major or career path other than to say if you decide on a major other than Spanish, a minor in Spanish would be a very good thing to do. We are living in a world where a second language could open a lot of doors.
