Estoy muy frustrado. Necesito hablar con alguien. Estoy aprendiendo español, pero gran parte del lenguaje está en mi cabeza. Tuve un tutor en el año pasado y hablamos dos veces por semana. Sin embargo, no más. No es suficiente para hablar con el aire. Tal vez voy a encontrar un tutor de nuevo.
Excuse my Spanish.
I had to get that out. Spanish is swimming around in every direction in my brain. Input, input and more input. However, I am not doing enough in terms of output. I found that the online classes were great at first, however, there is too much sitting around and waiting to be chosen. I have quickly lost the urge to attend an hour session and get a chance to say something 3 to 5 times during that time.
In the meet ups that I attend (two different groups), the first 40 minutes is spent by the leaders trying to decide what to do. As a college professor, I have to resist the urge to take charge and get things started. I resist because I am a novice at Spanish and because I don't have the dedication they have to maintaining and running a group.
The last tutor I tried to get missed three appointments in a row and I just continued to study on my own after that. I should have looked for someone else, immediately, but I didn't.
Yeah, I am going to find another tutor.
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Gracias, por leer!
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Bakari Akil is a Professor of Communication, blogs for Psychology Today and has authored many books on Communication and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is his experience learning Spanish.
Showing posts with label Tutor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tutor. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Verbling! First Spanish Class online - and I took no prisoners!!!
Okay, it has been two months since I have posted to this blog. In that time I have done so much with my Spanish training that I am getting tired just thinking about it. Yet, that will have to wait for future posts and I will just start with my present adventures.
Yesterday, I had my first online Spanish lesson. After months of looking at the Verbling website, which offers language classes and tutors 24-7, I finally decided to try it out. They have two major plans. You can choose 10 classes a month for $19 monthly or you can pick the unlimited plan for $49 a month. I chose the $19 plan. As I have to carefully carve out time for something like this due to work, a wife and a two year old, 10 classes a month is more than enough for me.
I signed up for a class at 7AM and the theme would be Jeopardy. In Verbling you can have up to 9 students in a class and they use Google hangout to run them. In the classes that I watched on Youtube before signing up there were usually four or five people in each class and mine ended up being no different. There were four of us that showed up at the beginning and another guy popped in 20 minutes later.
The instructor seemed easy going and had an air of experience about him. Since it was a beginner class, he used both English and Spanish. After the intros he explained the rules of the game and the categories. Some of the categories were - tener - saber vs. conocer - ir...
To be brief, I ended up winning the game. Now, I didn't go in with the intention of winning, but when it became apparent that I could win I did everything in my power to do so. I also learned a few things such as I need to brush up on saber and conocer. Overall, it was a good experience. I was able to speak a little Spanish, hear it spoken live and interact with a native speaker. Even though in the past two months I have had quite a few conversations in Spanish (I will tell you how I managed that in future posts.), each time it feels as if I am new to the battlefield. I have to remember to relax more when first engaging with native speakers.
Verbling seems like a great tool and they offer many classes throughout the day so I will be able to use it to my advantage. I was wary of doing the Google Hangout thing, but it felt natural and I was comfortable. I already have my next class picked out so I am looking forward to it.
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Ha sido un tiempo, pero todo es bueno. No noticias es bueno noticias!
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Bakari Akil is a Professor of Communication, blogs for Psychology Today and has authored many books on Communication and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is his experience learning Spanish.
Yesterday, I had my first online Spanish lesson. After months of looking at the Verbling website, which offers language classes and tutors 24-7, I finally decided to try it out. They have two major plans. You can choose 10 classes a month for $19 monthly or you can pick the unlimited plan for $49 a month. I chose the $19 plan. As I have to carefully carve out time for something like this due to work, a wife and a two year old, 10 classes a month is more than enough for me.
I signed up for a class at 7AM and the theme would be Jeopardy. In Verbling you can have up to 9 students in a class and they use Google hangout to run them. In the classes that I watched on Youtube before signing up there were usually four or five people in each class and mine ended up being no different. There were four of us that showed up at the beginning and another guy popped in 20 minutes later.
The instructor seemed easy going and had an air of experience about him. Since it was a beginner class, he used both English and Spanish. After the intros he explained the rules of the game and the categories. Some of the categories were - tener - saber vs. conocer - ir...
To be brief, I ended up winning the game. Now, I didn't go in with the intention of winning, but when it became apparent that I could win I did everything in my power to do so. I also learned a few things such as I need to brush up on saber and conocer. Overall, it was a good experience. I was able to speak a little Spanish, hear it spoken live and interact with a native speaker. Even though in the past two months I have had quite a few conversations in Spanish (I will tell you how I managed that in future posts.), each time it feels as if I am new to the battlefield. I have to remember to relax more when first engaging with native speakers.
Verbling seems like a great tool and they offer many classes throughout the day so I will be able to use it to my advantage. I was wary of doing the Google Hangout thing, but it felt natural and I was comfortable. I already have my next class picked out so I am looking forward to it.
--------------------------
Ha sido un tiempo, pero todo es bueno. No noticias es bueno noticias!
---------------------------
Bakari Akil is a Professor of Communication, blogs for Psychology Today and has authored many books on Communication and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is his experience learning Spanish.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Spanish Workshop! - "You've Gotten Much Better!"
Okay, I attended my third Spanish workshop this weekend. It is the third one in two months. Nothing says dedication like attending a workshop. Two hours of working on a foreign language is hardcore!
The regulars were in attendance (15 in total) and they seem to be a serious group of characters all motivated to learn, maintain or share their knowledge. People seem to come from all backgrounds and I have seen people from 10 to 70 years old.
We started off by introducing ourselves and sharing why we were learning Spanish (en espanol). Then we had readings followed by questions (all in Spanish). Following that, we all had to answer a question about how we celebrated holidays and what countries we have traveled to.
Highlights: I engaged the instructor in a conversation and didn't bail when I felt a little nervous. I asked him about his job and he asked me about mine. He was drawn away, first, by someone who came up to him.
That's what I'm talking about!
When I read out loud, today, it was was much smoother than last time. (I have a new issue though. I have to reconstruct my voice to sound natural. Since I mimic the instructors on audio, my voice sounds like a radio announcer when I read.)
Also, a guy who I saw a month ago told me three times how much I had improved.
Three times!
I shared with him that I had been reading children's books and studying an audio course since I last saw him. I didn't share that I had probably completed two semesters of college level work in the past 30 days. It is a wonderful thing to be able to study as much as I have and have the passion to continue (even when frustrated).
Low points: When we introduced ourselves and on one of the questions, instead of just talking and using the language as I know how, I focused too much on not making any mistakes. I felt like a newbie both times.
Overall, it was a very solid day.
---
Hoy, fue un dia de buen desarollo. Estoy agradecido!
----
Bakari Akil is a Professor of Communication, blogs for Psychology Today and has authored many books on Communication and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is his experience learning Spanish.
The regulars were in attendance (15 in total) and they seem to be a serious group of characters all motivated to learn, maintain or share their knowledge. People seem to come from all backgrounds and I have seen people from 10 to 70 years old.
We started off by introducing ourselves and sharing why we were learning Spanish (en espanol). Then we had readings followed by questions (all in Spanish). Following that, we all had to answer a question about how we celebrated holidays and what countries we have traveled to.
Highlights: I engaged the instructor in a conversation and didn't bail when I felt a little nervous. I asked him about his job and he asked me about mine. He was drawn away, first, by someone who came up to him.
That's what I'm talking about!
When I read out loud, today, it was was much smoother than last time. (I have a new issue though. I have to reconstruct my voice to sound natural. Since I mimic the instructors on audio, my voice sounds like a radio announcer when I read.)
Also, a guy who I saw a month ago told me three times how much I had improved.
Three times!
I shared with him that I had been reading children's books and studying an audio course since I last saw him. I didn't share that I had probably completed two semesters of college level work in the past 30 days. It is a wonderful thing to be able to study as much as I have and have the passion to continue (even when frustrated).
Low points: When we introduced ourselves and on one of the questions, instead of just talking and using the language as I know how, I focused too much on not making any mistakes. I felt like a newbie both times.
Overall, it was a very solid day.
---
Hoy, fue un dia de buen desarollo. Estoy agradecido!
----
Bakari Akil is a Professor of Communication, blogs for Psychology Today and has authored many books on Communication and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This is his experience learning Spanish.
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