So I have an irony to point out!
About a week after I got here my status on facebook read something like "they say that you should be more or less fluent in 2 months, by this reasoning I should be more or less fluent before my birthday." Well boys and girls I had my first spanish dream on november 19th... eg the day before my birthday... eg the last time I slept before my birthday... eg the last possible opportunity for that prediction to come true.
Even my subconscious procrastinates.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Matt Damon Should Never Ride A Scooter On Screen...
So I have discovered that watching movies in Spanish is by far one of my favorite pastimes. Watching movies that I have never seen before (like The Godfather, Death At A Funeral, etc.) it great like always, but there is also watching the great old favorites just to hear the same lines but in Spanish. My favorite so far is "No es volando. Es caer... con estilo!" (for those of you who are too lazy to translate, the quote is from Toy Story.) It also frees up some attention cells because I have seen it before so I notice odd things, like the fact that Matt Damon looks like a complete moron on a Mo-Ped.
Mondays suck. Tomorrow is one. Good Night.
Mondays suck. Tomorrow is one. Good Night.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Irony
I find it extremely humorous that my feelings about Spanish are in constant flux. (Of course feeling that is humorous fluctuates too.) One day I will be feeling like crap because I am feeling like my Spanish has not improved in weeks and I am just wasting time, and the next day I have a day when I have some great improvement. This happens fairly regularly, and it happened today.
The past few days I have been feeling kinda down on my Spanish skills because, like previously stated, I felt they were not really improving. My vocabulary was not grow (at least it felt like it), and I had to concentrate like all hell just to understand what is going on. Then today I was sitting in Psicología when I realized I was understanding the Jav (see previous posts if this confuses you). The fact that I was understanding was not in itself remarkable because I can usually kind of understand-more or less-what he is saying, but the fact that I was kind of-more or less- understanding WITHOUT CONCENTRATING struck me suddenly.
I was going to write way more than this but I am extremely tired so that is all.
buenas
The past few days I have been feeling kinda down on my Spanish skills because, like previously stated, I felt they were not really improving. My vocabulary was not grow (at least it felt like it), and I had to concentrate like all hell just to understand what is going on. Then today I was sitting in Psicología when I realized I was understanding the Jav (see previous posts if this confuses you). The fact that I was understanding was not in itself remarkable because I can usually kind of understand-more or less-what he is saying, but the fact that I was kind of-more or less- understanding WITHOUT CONCENTRATING struck me suddenly.
I was going to write way more than this but I am extremely tired so that is all.
buenas
Thursday, November 5, 2009
WARNING! DANGER! TAKE EVASIVE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!
My host mom has started to threaten birthday festivities...
And now on to a topic that has nothing to do with the title of this post. (the above line is, while true, really just an excuse to write "evasive action")
School is getting better. I had a philosophy exam yesterday, and today the philosophy teacher sought me out to tell me that I had done better than most of the class. I also do homework now because I can actually understand when the teachers tell us what we have to do, but I still usually have a reduced assignment. Not that I usually do it right, but I am getting there.
I am trying to cut back on English a little so that is all for today.
And now on to a topic that has nothing to do with the title of this post. (the above line is, while true, really just an excuse to write "evasive action")
School is getting better. I had a philosophy exam yesterday, and today the philosophy teacher sought me out to tell me that I had done better than most of the class. I also do homework now because I can actually understand when the teachers tell us what we have to do, but I still usually have a reduced assignment. Not that I usually do it right, but I am getting there.
I am trying to cut back on English a little so that is all for today.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.
Well everybody it's Wednesday (Hump Day), and that sucks. Luckily it's Wednesday night and almost Thursday, but unfortunately Thursday-for me-is the worst day of the week. Here's a glance at why:
Monday: School until 2:10, futbol americano 6:30-8:30
Tuesday: School until 2:10
Wednesday: School until 3, futbol americano 6:30-8:30
Thursday: School until 3
Friday: School until 1
So as you can see Thursday is a definite weak point in this schedule. It ties for "getting out of school latest" with Wednesday, but lacks the redeeming "futbol americano." In fact it has almost no redeeming qualities except that first hour is English. But even that isn't much because it just means that I'm expected to occasionally answer a question.
*RANDOM TOPIC SHIFT*
So I don't really think Spaniards understand how difficult it is to be a foreign exchange student to Spain if you are American, especially the ones who have gone/are in EEUU. For one most of them have studied English for something like seven years whereas I only had two (I technically have only been studying for two years even though I took Spanish 1-4). Also they have English injected into them daily through movies, TV, and music whereas Spanish is much harder to find in EEUU. So the people who have lived in the US for a year (they are surprisingly plentiful) think "Oh! I know what these exchange students to Spain are going trough because I went to America!" when in reality it's profoundly different.
*RANDOM TOPIC SHIFT #2*
Spaniards have discovered the secret to eternal youth/looking older when you are young. They literally do not age at all from the age of 15 to the age of 35. It's amazing. By the time they are 15 they look about like they are in their early-20's, when they are about 35 they look to be in their late-20's. For example: there is a girl in my class who looks for all the world like she should be in college... she's 16. I didn't believe her when she first told me that so she got other people to confirm it... I looked like a douche.
But that's all it from Spain for today. Sorry for the pointless ramblings but I am quite cansado. Buenas noches.
Monday: School until 2:10, futbol americano 6:30-8:30
Tuesday: School until 2:10
Wednesday: School until 3, futbol americano 6:30-8:30
Thursday: School until 3
Friday: School until 1
So as you can see Thursday is a definite weak point in this schedule. It ties for "getting out of school latest" with Wednesday, but lacks the redeeming "futbol americano." In fact it has almost no redeeming qualities except that first hour is English. But even that isn't much because it just means that I'm expected to occasionally answer a question.
*RANDOM TOPIC SHIFT*
So I don't really think Spaniards understand how difficult it is to be a foreign exchange student to Spain if you are American, especially the ones who have gone/are in EEUU. For one most of them have studied English for something like seven years whereas I only had two (I technically have only been studying for two years even though I took Spanish 1-4). Also they have English injected into them daily through movies, TV, and music whereas Spanish is much harder to find in EEUU. So the people who have lived in the US for a year (they are surprisingly plentiful) think "Oh! I know what these exchange students to Spain are going trough because I went to America!" when in reality it's profoundly different.
*RANDOM TOPIC SHIFT #2*
Spaniards have discovered the secret to eternal youth/looking older when you are young. They literally do not age at all from the age of 15 to the age of 35. It's amazing. By the time they are 15 they look about like they are in their early-20's, when they are about 35 they look to be in their late-20's. For example: there is a girl in my class who looks for all the world like she should be in college... she's 16. I didn't believe her when she first told me that so she got other people to confirm it... I looked like a douche.
But that's all it from Spain for today. Sorry for the pointless ramblings but I am quite cansado. Buenas noches.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Correction
I suppose I should clarify my last post a little. What I should have said is that I can almost always understand most Spaniards so long as it is conversational Spanish, lectures at the Institute are another story. For example, on Saturday Miguel and his friend Adrian were arguing about whether Madrid or Barcelona is better (which is an extremely heated topic here), and I was able to understand not only that they were arguing about which was better, but also the individual points that they were arguing. This is a fairly normal occurrence now.
However, there are still some things that elude me which mainly fall into three main categories which I have organized from least frustrating to most:
1) The Lola*
This category is all the people who have an accent (which is kind of ironic because I have a massive one). Lola is my professor de mates and has one of the most odd/annoying accent/lisps I've ever heard. It's even hard for the other students to understand her sometimes so I have companions in incomprehension, thus this category is the least frustrating.
2) The Javier*
This category is for all that vocabulary that I just don't have. What makes this so frustrating is that when I go home and look up what a word means, it's usually either so painfully obvious that I kick myself for not realizing it or it's impossible to remember. Anyway Javier is my psicologia professor and loves to whip out words that I don't understand, so for that I name this category for him.
3) The Pilar*
While I get better and listening everyday, there are still people who at times just talk too fast. The best example of this is Pilar, profesora de historia. She has a voice like a Sine wave. She'll start off talking in a normal tone (but really fast), progress to shouting (but enunciating her words very clearly), regress back to a normal (but fast) tone, continue to get quieter and quieter until she is almost whispering (but again enunciating very clearly), and finally return to her normal (but fast) tone to complete the cycle. She does this the whole period.
*The people for whom the categories are named are not the only ones I have trouble understanding, merely the best examples of their respective categories.
Anyway, all this comprehension has come as a result of a realization I had the other day about the Spanish language in general. This may sound a tad stupid, but it's the truth so live with it.
The Spanish language is not, in fact, a language but rather more like a mental state. You have to live the language, not just learn it. To be honest this kind of sucks because it means you have to make the decision to not only talk in only Spanish, but also THINK in only Spanish. And that isn't a decision that you can just make and that's that. You have to keep making it every single minute of every single day, constantly forcing yourself to use only Spanish. It's exhausting.
Luckily after a while thinking in only Spanish starts to get a little easier, but at the cost of your English skills. For example, today I was day-dreaming in economy class and tried to translate my thoughts from Spanish into English (which I like to do every once and a while just to make sure that what I am saying makes sense), and I just couldn't do it. It wasn't that I was thinking great abstract thoughts that have no literal translation in English (it was something about tires), I just couldn't make my mind think in English at that point in time. It was a very odd feeling.
Anywho, I should get going.
However, there are still some things that elude me which mainly fall into three main categories which I have organized from least frustrating to most:
1) The Lola*
This category is all the people who have an accent (which is kind of ironic because I have a massive one). Lola is my professor de mates and has one of the most odd/annoying accent/lisps I've ever heard. It's even hard for the other students to understand her sometimes so I have companions in incomprehension, thus this category is the least frustrating.
2) The Javier*
This category is for all that vocabulary that I just don't have. What makes this so frustrating is that when I go home and look up what a word means, it's usually either so painfully obvious that I kick myself for not realizing it or it's impossible to remember. Anyway Javier is my psicologia professor and loves to whip out words that I don't understand, so for that I name this category for him.
3) The Pilar*
While I get better and listening everyday, there are still people who at times just talk too fast. The best example of this is Pilar, profesora de historia. She has a voice like a Sine wave. She'll start off talking in a normal tone (but really fast), progress to shouting (but enunciating her words very clearly), regress back to a normal (but fast) tone, continue to get quieter and quieter until she is almost whispering (but again enunciating very clearly), and finally return to her normal (but fast) tone to complete the cycle. She does this the whole period.
*The people for whom the categories are named are not the only ones I have trouble understanding, merely the best examples of their respective categories.
Anyway, all this comprehension has come as a result of a realization I had the other day about the Spanish language in general. This may sound a tad stupid, but it's the truth so live with it.
The Spanish language is not, in fact, a language but rather more like a mental state. You have to live the language, not just learn it. To be honest this kind of sucks because it means you have to make the decision to not only talk in only Spanish, but also THINK in only Spanish. And that isn't a decision that you can just make and that's that. You have to keep making it every single minute of every single day, constantly forcing yourself to use only Spanish. It's exhausting.
Luckily after a while thinking in only Spanish starts to get a little easier, but at the cost of your English skills. For example, today I was day-dreaming in economy class and tried to translate my thoughts from Spanish into English (which I like to do every once and a while just to make sure that what I am saying makes sense), and I just couldn't do it. It wasn't that I was thinking great abstract thoughts that have no literal translation in English (it was something about tires), I just couldn't make my mind think in English at that point in time. It was a very odd feeling.
Anywho, I should get going.
Monday, October 19, 2009
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