### some background wanted to check in on how learning Spanish has been going. for more context on why I'm learning Spanish, check out [[🇲🇽 🇪🇸 0 hours - starting Spanish]]. it's been over a month since my previous check in. I'm still following https://refold.la language learning roadmap, for the most part, and I like the philosophy. I think it's balanced for my personality, interests, etc. the idea is that it focuses on comprehension and language acquisition (working with target language input) for a period of time before getting to output. I've been tracking my Spanish study hours using Polylogger. Check out my [profile](https://polylogger.com/user/ciphermuses). I don't want to get too in to metrics because it ruins the fun for me, but it's still nice to have some stats. ![[learning Spanish 2.png]] ### the high level plan...for now Currently, I'm working through Refold Stage 1 and have settled into my routine. The immediate goal is as follows: > The goal of Stage 1 is to prepare you to learn directly from your immersion. > Before moving on to Stage 2A, you should feel comfortable enough with your TL's writing system that you can do lookups when reading subtitles. > You should be engaging with your TL every day and feel comfortable watching media that you don't understand. > You should also be regularly studying vocabulary, though you don't need to finish learning all 1,500 words before moving on to Stage 2A. #### Current Focus - Complete Anki's ES1000 deck. - Complete La leyenda de Aang, dubbed in LatAm Spanish. Watching with no subtitles. - Dreaming Spanish Beginner videos - at least 30 min a day. #### Daily Routine **Always** - Anki vocab review. - 30 min of Dreaming Spanish Beginner videos. **Sometimes** - 1-2 episodes of La leyenda de Aang. - Listen to No Hay Tos podcast. #### Looking Ahead Realistically, I've achieved all of Refold Stage 1's guidelines and could probably move on to "Stage 2", but I'm enjoying where I'm at now and am waiting until I finish Refold's ES1000 words deck to do so. So my plan is: - Complete ES1000 deck. - Finish La leyenda de Aang. Then: - Figure out what to add to my routine as I go into stage 2. Want to do at least an hour a day, with 30 min active immersion (watching show with Spanish subtitles, looking up sentences as I go) and 30 min free flow immersion (watch show with or without Spanish subtitles, not doing lookups). I might stick to subbed content I've already seen in English (maybe Carmen Sandiego or Jane the Virgin or Arcane) for a bit after to increase comprehensibility, and for enjoyment, but I'd like to get into some of the original Spanish slice-of-life series that Refold recommends. ### the details Here's a breakdown of the different learning activities, from Refold: #### Active Immersion Shoot for 30 min a day. ##### Currently Watching - [Dreaming Spanish](https://www.dreamingspanish.com) - Currently working through all the beginner videos. Watching without subtitles. I would say this is the cornerstone of my immersion learning, because it's the most comprehensible input originally in Spanish (not dubbed) that I can find. At a bare minimum, I try to watch 30 min of these videos per day. - Typically I find that I understand >90% of the vidoes (as long as I'm paying full attention....😉) - [La leyenda de Aang](https://serieslan.com/avatar-la-leyenda-de-aang) - Avatar: The Last Airbender, dubbed in Mexican Spanish. No subtitles. - Comprehension is weird. Some days I find that I understand almost everything in an episode, other days I have no clue what Uncle Iroh just said. Also I guess I lean a lot on the fact that I already know the entire plot. Refold dissuades learners from using subbed content to gauge your level, as it's quite simplified. ##### Watched - [Extra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfb9-ZTCA-E) - corny but fun. Watched mostly with Spanish subtitles. ##### To Watch - Silvana Sin Lana - Madre sólo hay dos - 100 Días para enamorarnos - Carmen Sandiego, dubbed in Spanish. Have watched the entire series in English. - Jane the Virgin, dubbed in Spanish. Have watched most of the series in English. - Arcane, dubbed in Spanish. Have watched the entire series in English. - Mundo Zamba - Destinos - La Casa de las Flores - Have watched the entire series with English subtitles (totally for fun, before I started working toward learning Spanish). - Cable Girls - Money Heist - Club de Cuervos - Elite #### Passive Listening No time target or particular content goals, I just try to work into daily routine during mindless tasks, etc. I'm considering listening to LatAm Spanish audiobooks of Harry Potter, in an effort to make my passive listening content more comprehensible. ##### Currently Listening - [No Hay Tos](https://open.spotify.com/show/24Zc3LPwIH1nnqUbhWY2T0?si=bf2f8a585723486f) - Two Mexican guys talking about daily life and general interest topics and Mexican culture. I've been enjoying this a lot. It's fascinating how comprehensible (or incomprehensible) a podcast like No Hay Tos can be when I'm standing at my sink and listening to it vs. when the water is running while I'm doing dishes vs. in the shower. ##### To Listen - [Leyendas Legendarias](https://open.spotify.com/show/6wF969GfLUfypoKaicH5gr?si=c9edce94e15944fc) - [DianaUribe.fm](https://open.spotify.com/show/3xIalu2XhZ2EjSbOcTg0U8?si=87bdbc57ce65444e) - Harry Potter series audiobook in LatAm Spanish ##### Hiatus - [Caso 63 ](https://open.spotify.com/show/20ch3IIqtWSSM4nfy11ZzP?si=8e48e36617d14f0c) - this actually is quite entertaining, but it's a narrative podcast, a bit difficult for me to follow compared to No Hay Tos and I think I'd enjoy it more with improved comprehension. #### Vocabulary and Anki Practice Currently doing all daily reviews and adding 10 new words a day from Refold's ES1000 deck. I was previously adding 20 a day, which was fine on an average day for me, but could be unmanageable on my worse days. I bumped it down to 10. I'm in no rush to get to the next item on the Anki agenda--sentence mining. #### Phonetics I'm still ignoring this. Well, not ignoring it, but ignoring active study of it. Couple of reasons: - I'm not starting from zero. Studied Spanish for years in school. - Filipino (which I understand completely) has some strong phonetic similarities. - Refold says that the goal of studying phonetics at this stage is so that you're able to study vocabulary. I feel comfortable enough with phonetics to study vocabulary. #### Writing System Also ignoring active study of this. Spanish uses Latin characters and I am well-versed. ;) Well-versed enough to study vocabulary and grammar, which is the goal. #### Grammar I don't study as much grammar as I probably should be....in an effort to make this whole endeavor remain as fun as possible. When I'm confused about something use SpanishDict to understand grammatical concepts that hinder my comprehension of Spanish content I'm actively immersing in. Typically I am most confused about direct and indirect object pronouns, and reflexive verbs and pronouns. #### Daily Routine - Anki Review - 30+ min Active Immersion - Passive Listening throughout day Previously I was also going through the Busuu app and doing some Memrise -- way too much. --- Created: January 17, 2022 Last Modified: January 17, 2022