Spanish Videos!
Video #1 - 8/30/17
After a year of deliberation, I'm finally back to taking Spanish! I'm really excited to develop on everything I learned in ninth grade, because I remember most of the basic vocabulary. I mostly remember how to conjugate verbs, I remember many of the questions and answers that we went over, and I know a lot of basic words. What I find more difficult about learning Spanish is listening and comprehending. When hearing a Spanish speaker speak, I may catch the occasional recognizable word or sentence. I'll focus on that and miss whatever comes next. I can't know whether what I missed is basic or advanced, but I get the feeling that I'll be able to figure some of it out by the end of the semester. I have a running account on Duolingo that I plan on using every day to advance my vocabulary, as well as reading comprehension. Eventually I'll combine reading comprehension with listening comprehension. I'll see if my mom or dad is interested in helping me by having Spanish conversations with me.
Shout out to Lydia, my partner for this first video!
Shout out to Lydia, my partner for this first video!
Video #2 - 9/12/17
I think this video went a lot better than the last one. We got to everything we wanted to, and we only forgot about one word each. I think that a success rate like that is worth celebrating! I might have done better because practicing for this video felt a lot easier. We wrote a script with the things we wanted to talk about, and went over it a bunch of times. One other thing I did to prepare for class was have conversations with my mother in Spanish. She is not fluent, but she does know more Spanish than I do. I really have enjoyed having those conversations! I definitely plan to do more of that and less script writing. I'm really excited going into the next video, because I want to be able to form sentences without a constant translator. I feel like I'm on the way there, but I still have a long way to go.
My partner, Sammy, did a fantastic job for this video. She really was dedicated to getting our conversation ready. I don't know who I want my next partner to be, but nonetheless, I'm hoping that the next video goes as well as this one did!
My partner, Sammy, did a fantastic job for this video. She really was dedicated to getting our conversation ready. I don't know who I want my next partner to be, but nonetheless, I'm hoping that the next video goes as well as this one did!
Video #3 - 10/5/17
Luci and I made a conversation about travel. Overall, I didn’t think this partnership wasn’t as successful as it could have been. I don’t think that Luci pushed me to be better. I was trying to break away from the idea of fully memorizing a script, because I know that Spanish doesn’t work that way in real life. She insisted that she didn’t know enough Spanish to work off of. After a lot of disagreement, we agreed that I’d support her by learning her script. It didn’t feel good, memorizing the script. It didn’t feel like I was actually applying my Spanish knowledge. I don’t want to do that again. Not to mention that Luci and I didn’t work that much outside of school. She didn’t make much of an effort to talk with me, but I don’t hold that against her since I also didn’t make a huge effort. Incidentally, Luci was absent on the day of filming, so this video is with Lydia and Tait. Thank you to them for letting me be in their video at the last minute. I actually felt like I was applying my on the fly skills there! (To the right is a picture similar to the one that Luci and I used to base a conversation off of.)
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Video #4 - 11/2/17
Today, we did our midterm videos! We wouldn't have had that much time to prepare if the deadline hadn't been extended. I can't be sure it I would've been ready if we had filmed the video a week ago. But, given the extra time, I was able to do my midterm really well! I'm most proud of my ability to form a strong connection between English words and their Spanish counterparts. Having a solid script was best for this video, since we had to portray a character. Rather than being hindered, I was able to form a connection between the two languages. My partner, Lydia, encouraged us to use a script, so I have her to thank for that connection. She was also willing to practice the script as many times as we needed, so we ended up getting very comfortable with the pronunciation.
There were several parts of our script that I could easily use in every day language.
For this midterm I’d give myself and my partner an A grade. We know the Spanish well and have gotten a lot more comfortable with words and pronunciation in the process. Thanks again to Lydia for being my partner for this video!
There were several parts of our script that I could easily use in every day language.
- Desde Octubre de dos mil doce. - Since October 2012
- Being able to articulate a specific time in the past is always helpful.
- ¿Por qué empezaste? - Why did you start?
- Asking why is a great probing question for conversation.
- Bien. Háblame del tigre. - Fine. Tell me about the tiger.
- Another probing sentence great for conversation (Not the tiger part.)
- Era mi amigo. - He was my friend.
- "He was" is very helpful for articulating how things were.
- ¿Puedo obtener un reembolso? - Can I get a refund?
- A great question to know in general.
For this midterm I’d give myself and my partner an A grade. We know the Spanish well and have gotten a lot more comfortable with words and pronunciation in the process. Thanks again to Lydia for being my partner for this video!