(This blog entry is written in Spanish. There will be an English translation available tomorrow morning / Esta entrada está escrita en español. Habrá una traducción de inglés disponible mañana por la mañana.) Hoy es mi cumpleaños. No digo eso porque quiero felicidades o nada, pero esta semana ha estado ocupada para mí. Mis amigos … Continue reading Cuándo la Vida Está en el Camino
Something that gets talked about a lot, in both language learning circles and wider academia, is intensive reading vs. extensive reading. Intensive reading is the careful, focused reading of text with the specific intention of learning something, usually with directed questions about the text afterwards, vocabulary word lists from the text, that sort of thing, … Continue reading Intensive vs. Extensive Reading
At the start of the year, I wrote a blog establishing my “Yearly Themes” for 2019, the overarching ideas I’ve been keeping in mind for making decisions in my life. I’d originally planned to touch base on those themes at the beginning of July, as a mid-year point of reflection, and as you can see, … Continue reading Reflections on Yearly Themes
So at the start of the month, I decided to experiment with my studying methods. Months before, I had switched up my focus to almost exclusively reading, because after the first month I had very noticeable results on not only my ability to follow books, but also my listening comprehension. However, after three additional months … Continue reading Watching/Listening Experiment Post-Mortem
(This blog is the English translation of this week’s primary blog, which was originally written in Spanish.) Normally I write blogs in Spanish for the week of the middle of the month, and this blog is a week late. Last week I was in Chicago visiting my family, and I didn’t have much free time. … Continue reading The Long Path of Learning
(This blog entry is written in Spanish. There will be an English translation available tomorrow morning / Esta entrada está escrito en español. Habrá una traducción de inglés disponible mañana por la mañana.) Normalmente escribo los blogs en español para la semana del medio del mes, y este blog es una semana tarde. La semana … Continue reading El Camino Largo de Aprendizaje
Despite lifestyle changes, organization methods, personal goals, or study methods, sometimes life gets in the way of language learning. As I’m writing this blog, I am in Chicago visiting family. This is a trip I make semi-regularly, especially this time of year, and it being what it is, I haven’t had much free time for … Continue reading Studying While on Vacation
This is the second part following up on last week’s blog about the American school system failing to teach foreign languages in a way that results in fluent students. I ended the introduction with the statement that it isn’t the fault of the students, but rather with the method in which they’re taught, so first … Continue reading Why Foreign Language Classes Fail: Teaching Methods
While I don’t normally preface these blogs with the disclaimer I gave in the very first one, this blog feels like it’s especially important for me to open with the statement that I am not an expert on language learning. I am not a professional tutor, I have no formal education in teaching languages (or … Continue reading Why Foreign Language Classes Fail: Introduction
It’s been about two weeks now that I’ve spent a portion of each day using Spanish to answer questions about English on the Duolingo forums. English is a subject I know quite a bit about and have long held a fascination for, in all its weird, nonsensical guts and conventions, and explaining some of its … Continue reading Idiosyncrasies Between Languages
Fumbling Toward Fluent 