Tag Archives: spanish

Learning Spanish: Telenovelas

Who knew watching telenovelas could be so much fun!

I’ve started watching a telenovela. It’s called Pasión de Gavilanes (translated The Elizondo Sisters Go on the Defence) and it is available to watch on Netflix. I’ve only watched 2 episodes and there has already been a lot of drama; from dramatic fights to shocking revelations. It has been so much fun!

I never thought I would be watching a soap opera again.

When I was a teenager, I had so much time on my hands that I delved into so many forms of entertainment. I watched all the US sitcoms you could muster, from Friends to Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Two and a Half Men to Everybody Hates Chris. I watched a lot of sports, particularly football. I even watched cooking shows such as Hell’s Kitchen USA and singing competitions like The X-Factor. It was a fun period. But what took up most of my time was probably watching a soap opera called Eastenders. I’m from the UK and this was the most popular series at the time. It is our version of a telenovela…and it was addictive.

But as I got older, my interests changed and I stopped watching the soap opera. I realised it took a lot of my time and I wanted to do other things…such as learning a new language.

Fast forward to the year 2020 aka The Year of the Pandemic. The world was at a standstill when the virus broke out. Everybody was told to stay indoors. It was during this time that I decided to start learning Spanish. (You can find out more about my decision to learn the language and my method by clicking here). So, I searched online for videos of people who had learned Spanish. I stumbled across a video about how polyglots learn languages. A polyglot can be defined as someone who speaks several languages. One of the things the speaker mentioned, was watching a series as part of her learning experience. That got me excited.

The idea of delving into another world whilst exposing myself to the Spanish language was very appealing indeed. It was key for me to choose a series that is easy to follow and understand. Language learning is not just about the words. Body language and gestures also play a part. Instead of playing and pausing every few seconds, I wanted a smooth experience. So, a telenovela was a good choice for this. It’s also a good choice because the story is not very hard to follow. There is a lot of drama which is great for entertainment and it is also great for understanding through context. I heard someone say that it can be “addictive”, and as someone who doesn’t easily get addicted to watching series (it’s very difficult for me to binge-watch anything), I have to say that I’m enjoying the experience. It’s certainly helping me with my Spanish learning. I’m being exposed to the language regularly which helps me with my listening skills.

Above: A Talk about how polyglots learn languages

At the moment, I’m watching the series with English subtitles. This helps to follow along with the story but it is also helping me learn new vocabulary. If a word or phrase catches my eye, I may rewind to listen to it again, and may even briefly change the subtitles to Spanish to see the spelling. I’ve learned phrases such as “Estoy loco por ti” (I’m crazy for you) and “¿Qué pasó?” (What happened?). Another great thing is repetition. Certain phrases are repeated and so you become familiar with them over time.

I really enjoy learning Spanish. It’s a beautiful language. The more time I spend with Spanish, the more I’m falling in love with it. If Spanish is Juliet, then I’m Romeo. “Spanish, oh Spanish…Estoy loco por ti”.

Learning Languages: How I Motivate Myself

There comes a point in your language learning journey where you hit rock bottom. You hit a brick wall. The enthusiasm you had for the language at the beginning has fizzled out. In fact, this can happen many times along the way. It has for me. Sometimes I don’t feel like learning. Sometimes I lack motivation. There are many reasons for this. I may feel burned out, feel like I’m not making any progress, feel discouraged after a conversation with a native speaker, feel bad for not spending much time with the language or even experience a break up with a loved one who speaks the target language. Okay, the last one hasn’t happened to me but the point is there are times when I find myself struggling to go on. So the question is, how do you retrieve that motivation? How do you reignite the spark? Well my friend, here are some things I like to do.

Spanish

For Spanish, I like to listen to Spanish or Latin instrumental music. I found a few instrumental tracks on YouTube and it’s a great way to keep me motivated. Sometimes it can be difficult to transition from one unrelated task to another. For example, let’s say I just finished reading a book on Ancient Rome and I had planned to spend time with Spanish right after, however I no longer feel like it. Listening to instrumental music helps me transition and prepare my mind for Spanish. I’m immersed into the world of Spanish and all of a sudden I’m excited to learn it.

This might sound odd but I enjoy listening to celebrities speaking Spanish. Particularly those that aren’t native Spanish speakers. I remember doing a search for public figures who speak Spanish. I wanted to get my ears used to listening to natural Spanish. Through this search I not only came across native speakers but also non native speakers. I watched several videos and it was motivating. It was really entertaining too! It was great to see that I wasn’t the only language learner struggling to speak another language. Just the fact that many were not afraid to make mistakes, were happy to practice, interested in a different culture and were able to understand and be understood really motivated me. So I like watching these kinds of videos from time to time.

Will Smith Practicing his Spanish

French

Similar to Spanish, I enjoy listening to French instrumental music. It’s delightful. I feel like I’m in Paris sipping some coffee whilst enjoying the beautiful view of the city. This really increases my desire to spend time with the language.

Films. I really enjoy watching French films. It’s amazing how much motivation you can get by watching a movie. I recently watched a French film that I’ve seen before. I remember the first time I watched it, I didn’t understand a thing! However, now I’m able to understand a good amount. It was so much more enjoyable!

Travel. I really enjoy watching travel videos. It takes me back to my experiences in France and creates wanderlust.

Ratatouille. Love the film. Love the soundtrack

Portuguese

I like to listen to music. But unlike Spanish and French I listen to songs. It’s more motivating than soundtracks. It’s not just any old songs. To be honest, I only listen to three. Yes, just 3 songs. Mas que Nada, Samba do Brasil and Brazil Brazil by Thiago Thomé. Those songs really get me going. It feels like I’m in Brazil when I listen to those songs.

I like watching football related videos. I live in the UK and football is a very popular sport here. It’s also very popular in Brazil. I grew up admiring Brazil. The 2002 world cup was the first world cup I remember watching and Brazil were superb. They ended up winning the competition. Players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos being my favourites. Although football was created by the English, it’s the Brazilians who mastered it. That’s the way we see it over here. We see Brazilians as very skillful players. They always seem to have a smile on their faces and always seem to dance with the ball. It’s a beautiful thing. Watching highlights of players like Ronaldinho and Kaka bring back great memories for me. It makes me smile. It makes me want to learn Portuguese.

Brazil is a beautiful country with rich history and beautiful landscapes. Have I been to Brazil? No. Then how do I know this? By watching travel videos. We live in a time where we can travel around the world without leaving the comfort of our own homes. We can do this through travel videos. I love watching travel videos. I’ve watched many including the expedia and wolters world channels. I recently found a new channel created by Brazilian travellers. It’s good fun.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Several ways I keep myself motivated. I have other general ways I keep myself motivated. Perhaps I’ll create a post about that some other time. Watch this space. Ciao for now!

Learning Languages: How I’m Learning 3 Languages at the Same Time

You’re probably wondering how on earth do I combine three languages? How do I have the time to learn all 3 languages? How is it possible? Well my friends, I’m about to tell you all about it.

After some trial and error I finally discovered a way to learn multiple languages at the same time. Just to be clear, I’m not learning each language from scratch. I started learning each language individually and later decided to combine the languages. The main reason I’m learning three languages is because I found it hard to drop a language completely for an extended period of time. For example, I could be learning French for a couple of days and all of a sudden be tempted to learn Spanish. If I was spending time with Portuguese for a few days and then French the following week, when I went back to Portuguese I felt like I forgot a lot of the things I had previously learned. This was a little frustrating. I also got a little bored focusing on one language. So I decided to spend time with the three languages daily.

One of the things I enjoy about learning more than one language daily is that the chances of boredom are slim. I love the variety that it offers. As mentioned in previous posts, I learn through different means. As for my daily schedule, I focus on one or two resources for each language. This creates habit and consistency. And because it’s something I enjoy, I’m more likely to stick with it.

I tend to spend time with one language in the morning, one language in the afternoon and one in the evening. The order tends to change. For example, let’s say I studied French on Monday morning, Spanish in the afternoon and Portuguese in the evening. On Tuesday morning, I would focus on Portuguese. French in the afternoon and Spanish in the evening. The pattern would repeat. It’s like a conveyor belt. The language I end the day with, is the language I start the following day with. I think it’s a good way to make things stick.

Daily Schedule
Monthly stats

Above you can see photos I took of my daily schedule.

So there you have it, a post about my learning experience with three languages. A bientôt. Até logo. Hasta pronto.

Language Learning Goals 2021

Wow! It’s been a while since my last post on languages. I wrote about the resources I use for Spanish, which was preceded by my learning resources for Portuguese and French.

This will be my first post this year so it makes sense to create one about my goals for the year. So let’s do this!

Since last March, I decided to learn 3 languages at the same time. The languages are French, Portuguese and Spanish. French was my first love, Portuguese followed suit and then Spanish joined during the lockdown of March 2020. Since then, I’ve made it a habit of spending time with the languages on a daily basis. I did miss a few days but all in all it’s been very consistent. After some trial and error, I managed to find a formula that works for me. I will write about this in a future post.

So for the year 2021, I will continue to learn these three languages. I plan to add another language halfway through the year. But the main focus at the moment is to continue learning these three languages and see how it goes. In March of this year, it will be one year since I started this journey. At that point I will make a decision whether or not to leave things as they are or to make some changes.

So there you have it. My first post of the year 2021. I will create more language related posts in the near future. It feels good to be back. Ciao for now!

Learning Spanish: My Method

Today’s post is about the Spanish language. I’ll be talking about the methods I use to learn the language. So let’s get started.

Spanish is a language I’ve flirted with for a while but I never got round to actually learning it. But on March of this year, I decided that it was time to learn. I think every language has it’s beauty and uniqueness but Spanish has to be right up there for me. It’s absolutely beautiful.

Spanish is the new kid on the block. I’m also learning French and Portuguese. I have two main resources for learning Spanish: An online Spanish course and a language learning app.

The Spanish course (pictured above) is designed to get you speaking right away. It’s incrementally designed in a series of 3 minute videos. You listen and complete the exercises. That’s all. It’s designed for the complete beginner. I really like it because it maintains my enthusiasm for the language and builds consistency. Kieran, the creator, guides you gently and puts your mind at ease with a brilliant encouraging introduction. That sets the tone for the rest of the course. I’ve only done a few lessons but I’m really enjoying it so far. I love the fact that I can do other tasks, such as washing the dishes, and the course at the same time. It’s great!

My Spanish Exercises

The language learning app I’m using is called Memrise. Memrise is a British language learning platform. I really like it. It’s easy to use and I love the content. It has you learning through several ways such as listening, speed reviews, videos and more.

I love the videos! The “Learn with Locals” option has videos of native speakers saying phrases. It’s as authentic as it comes.

 

So there you have it. My main resources for learning Spanish. Like the other languages, I also use other resources and I’ll talk about it in a later post. See you next Sunday. ¡Hasta luego!

Returning to the World of Languages

The coronavirus is a serious and dangerous virus. It has managed to affect the globe. I live in the UK and we were asked to remain indoors in late March. A lockdown commenced. It has only recently begun to ease.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say it has been a blessing in disguise but it has given me time to think, be more productive and…resume learning languages!

Previously I was learning French and Portuguese. However I’ve decided to add two more languages and they are: Spanish and Japanese. I know. It sounds like a lot haha. But I have a different level in each language and I’m using different methods for the languages.

I love each language for different reasons. French for it’s precision. I love the way it sounds. So elegant and beautiful. If there was a language that brought music to my ears then it has to be Portuguese. For example, each time I hear someone from Brazil speaking it sounds like a song haha. Spanish is a language that has always brought a smile to my face. I used to watch WWE as a kid and in my teenage years. One of my favourite wrestlers was a Mexican named Eddie Guerrero. Each time he spoke Spanish I loved it, and later, whenever I heard Spanish in movies or TV shows it drew me closer to the language. It’s only this year I decided to finally start learning it. It wasn’t anime that drew me close to Japanese but real people haha. I used to work at a tourist attraction and we received a lot of Japanese people. Whenever I heard them speak Japanese, for lack of a better word, I thought it was epic!

So with that said, I will be going through the methods I use to learn each language in the next few posts. Watch this space. Ciao for now!