I explored SpanishL2 this afternoon. My main goal for my learning Spanish experience I expect to be focusing on grammar. In general, my comprehension of Spanish is low intermediate and I am not afraid to speak, but I never learned Spanish grammar formerly so I have no ability to monitor what I say. And after my daughters informed me recently that although I act like I know what I am saying, I am not really speaking Spanish. I guess it is time to figure out what I am saying.
Figured out I could start at Level 3 and that level would be OK. It has less translation and that was better for me. I found the English distracting in Level 1. In exploring, Spanish L2 is set up in a series of powerpoints and you listen to a presentation of the grammar point. In this case "ser" Everything said is also in text.I listened and read through the powerpoint slides quickly the first time. Then, went back and listened to the slides more slowly, pausing once in a while to write down some new vocabulary in an on-line language journal I am keeping in Word. Did not know some of the words, so signed onto Babylon which is an on-line dictionary to help me put down the definition. I used Spanish - English. Might try Spanish- Spanish, just as we ask students to use English-English dictionaries see how that goes.
I usually tell my students to hide text while listening because they are reading not really listening, but since my goal was grammar the text items always on the screen was ok, although the opening dialog, it would have been nice to be able to turn of the text. After going through the slides there are homework exercises with fill-in and multiple choice. In the completing the practice I realized, I really didn't know how to say the time or date properly, which I did not recognize till after unsuccessfully completing the sentences. Also the use of "ser" in the preterite was totally new for me as formal grammar. I use it in my speech, but probably not too well. I am starting to understand why my daughters said what they said, oh!!
Next time, I'll continue with lesson 2. Think I will try to repeat the sentences and say my own sentences a little more, see how that goes. Maybe do more listening without looking. Continue with journal. See if there are some other parts to Spanish L2 I haven't discovered.
2 comments:
Howard,
I'm interested in how you might find a Spanish-Spanish dictionary. I've never been particularly strict about requiring an English-English dictionary .... Part of that might be my own preference since I'm such a linguaphile and want to make sure myself to capture the exact essence of a word. What do the rest of your feel about only English-English dictionaries for students? Also, Howard, how helpful was it to review the previous lesson when getting back to the computer? Was it super helpful for you?
Hi Elissa,
You can use Babylon for a Spanish-Spanish Dictionary. I will look into some others.
Yesterday, when I went back to the program, I reviewed my notes and went onto the next lesson. It amazes me how hard it is to remember the items I learned a few days before.
Howard
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