3-4 hrs a day, I´m not really willing to spend that much time on it. I am doing some listening here and there though. It´s a vacation, not some test I have to score as high as I can on.
You said “thinking about putting a lot of effort into it”.
Maybe you should have said “with minimum effort” instead ;->
It says you are from Canada, so is your first language not English? “Thinking about” does not mean “have decided to”.
OK. Next time when you ask for help don’t get upset if you don’t get the exact answer you wanted.
He didn’t get upset at not getting the answer he wanted. His reply was directed to your smartass retort of:
<<Maybe you should have said “with minimum effort” instead>>
OK it’s me that’s a smartass? OK
Stepping off now.
"He didn’t get upset at not getting the answer he wanted. His reply was directed to your smartass retort of:
<<Maybe you should have said “with minimum effort” instead>> "
That´s exactly it. When someone gives a smartass comment, they should be ready to get one back.
There was nothing wrong with his advice, not that anyone would need to get upset even if they think the advice is bad. I think what he suggested would be an effective way to learn, I just don´t think I´ll have the time/energy for it. I clearly stated that it´s a “possible” experiment and that I´m “thinking about it”, not that I´d set the goal and was sticking to it.
You should carry around a notebook and jot down important words; later if you have decided to learn Spanish seriously; you can review them in Anki. Some of the important words in Spanish may not be listed in Mini stories and other lessons. You only get to see them when you visit or walk by a Pharmacy; Shopping store, Coffee shop, Optician shop, Book shop, however, they are common words and are used in day-to-day life.
Nevertheless, share your holiday experiences and how much you are successful with your current Spanish level.
Now, when I´m almost at the point of leaving this is the status. I´m quite a bit burned out and find it hard to concentrate a lot of the time. I´m about to get to the 22,700 “known words” you need to complete Advanced 1, but that mostly just says where my reading comprehension is. My listening is far behind that and my ability to form sentences is almost zero. We´ll just see how it goes. If I´d been travelling to a French, Dutch or Norwegian speaking country, languages I´d had more time practicing on LingQ then I´m sure I would have been going to speak a bunch. I think it all depends on a bunch of things, my energy level, my mood, what we´ll be doing there, the reactions I get, the opportunities and so on.
You’ve already read quite a lot, great effort!
Since you’re learning it for fun, it’s ok if you leave it instead of burning out. But if you decide to take it up again in the future, you’ll probably find it easier.
Didn’t you find many cognates with French and English ? I think with those two languages already under your belt you must have found many similarities
I hope you have a nice trip to the Canary Islands.
“Didn’t you find many cognates with French and English?” - Yes, especially French, but lots of words you find in English too. I had a fairly good understanding of simple stuff like the mini-stories from the very start for example, especially when I was reading.
I´m watching the Spanish LingQ podcast right now and I actually understand a lot and enjoy it somewhat. I´m more burned out from reading than listening. I´ll still try to finish Advanced 1 before I go, cause I like to finish certain goals like that, but I´ll be focusing more on listening.
This is what I´m listening to right now. I´m sure they speak very slowly and clearly compared to natives having normal conversations, but it´s a start to be able to understand a lot of it: Learn Spanish: Teaching Spanish in Germany with @alemania_desconocida - YouTube
Yes, they are speaking somewhat slower and clearer than natives usually do, but it’s basically normal speach. It’s also very close to how journalists speak on the radio in terms of speed and clarity.
I’ve never been to Grand Canaria, but I find most Spanish cities have “intercambio” events, where random people meet up over a drink to practice whatever language(s) they want to practice. English and Spanish tend to dominate, as you may expect.
I posted the result of the “experiment” here: https://www.lingq.com/en/community/forum/open-forum/result-of-spoiler-mostly-faile