Hello, everyone!
So this is my first post and even though I was looking to just write in french since I started learning two days ago (as a resolution for 2021 hehe), I'm using french as a motivation to keep learning english as well.
As many of you: I watched Robin's video and decided to give this website a shot.
Regarding to my current level I'm quite good when it comes to listening, the problem is that I'm able to understand, for example, Youtubers from different countries and with different accents, but I'm not able to understand music nor films (at least not all the words and expressions, I need to rely on subtitles most of the time for films), and that's maybe the case because in films the language tends to be more refined and Youtubers tend to speak in a more basic way with a different set of words. Despite that, I'm quite confident when it comes to understand most of the things I hear, for instance, I'm able to learn in the language (by watching videos and reading) and that's fine to me. The problem is that I feel like I stumbled upon a plateau. For different reasons I don't enjoy that much english, or maybe I feel like it's like a job and for that reason it's quite difficult to me to fill the gaps I have regarding the language (I also have to add that I learnt it in a messy way so I lacked the basics (probably I still do until now)).
I think writing is a skill I've never put on practice so probably writing my thoughts and experiences in here might help a little bit.
In spite of what I just said in the end of that long paragraph from before, I decided to learn english in all the moments I feel tired of french. For now I'm reading two books which I'd probably talk about in other entries in the future.
Anyway, the thing is that I had the following question: What should I do to improve my vocabulary?
A couple of weeks ago I decided to speak in my native language and just start translating all those useful words and phrases I use the most, when I get to read a book, sometimes I feel like translating some words but in other times I just ignore them for the sake of avoid stopping every single minute to look up the given words.
About my speech skills I gotta say that I'm not quite confident about it, I don't have anyone to practice with (I'm kinda reluctant in practicing with someone I don't know Online since I don't know if they're gonna be commited to practice seriously), so I have to rely on myself.
The thing is that, adding everything I just said, I'm able to speak with myself for 1 to 2 hours about different topics, but, when it comes to talk with people I usually doubt about the words I should use, I simply don't know what word to use at all or I simply become numb and insecure (this is specially the case since one day somebody was mad at me, I tried to speak in english for the sake of privacy in front of my family and this person yelled to me: "Shut up, you don't know how to talk in english!", and despite this person was mad and I understand that, it kinda affected to me a little bit, so I'm more insecure when it comes to speaking for that reason lol).
Well, at the end my question is a rethorical question since I feel I know what I need to do. In fact if somebody is interested in language exchanging and is interested in become more fluent in Spanish (from Latin America) we could figure something out.
As my final thought I have to say that the thing I lack the most is the use of phrasal verbs, probably you'll notice I didn't use (m)any of them on this text.
So: I'll make use of this website, I'll try to write daily and... I guess that's it.
Any suggestions and/or comments would be much appreciated, the things I put in italics are the stuff I don't feel confident about, probably there are better ways to say what I tried to say. Thanks for reading me!
Hi! How do you make corrections ? I can not figure it out!
You gotta press the right click of your mouse and shadow what you want to comment on, you'll see a little pencil over the shadowed words, you gotta click on the pencil and a little window will appear, there you'll be able to write your comment.
Great job, @Apples! I'm sorry that practicing English has become somewhat of a chore for you; I totally understand that feeling. However, you speak and write really well! You are definitely an advanced English speaker based on this post alone. I hope that you can find joy in learning again soon. And if not, then back to practicing French! Haha. Keep up the great momentum.
Your English is a thousand times better than my French. One of the best tips that I heard is that to advance in vocabulary, one might start to enroll in an upper-level course in another subject in a target language that you are interested in. So, you could find an online course in, say, computer programming, or visual arts, etc. in English.
For expanding your vocabulary you may want to consider using an SRS (Spaced Repetition System) like Anki, where you can make new sentence cards when you find more advanced words while reading. I find that studying one advanced domain at a time (I.E. Music Production, Neuroscience, Agriculture, etc.) can be helpful to get more repetition of domain-specific vocabulary. Since you're a native Spanish speaker, most advanced words will be similar in English anyway, so you may not even have to put them in the SRS. Either way, I think reading is the secret.
SRS could be super useful for phrasal verbs too. I made a specific flashcard deck for subjunctive in Spanish
Reading, coupled with SRS, is king when it comes to vocabulary building.
Thanks, @xtina_park! You really helped me a lot with all your comments in this entry.
@jpettit Thanks for your suggestion, I'll consider it, especially since there are many things I like but I can talk about in english! It's incredible how many things I can let pass through just because I haven't thought about them yet.
@Raul_Curcuma First of all: thank you for your help. I'll think about using Anki or any other SRS, the problem is that even though I've used it before I couldn't follow it (?) properly (ended up being a tedious task for me) But I'll try to give it a shot again, soon. : )
@Apples Try to lower the number of new cards you learn daily, it'll result in fewer cards to review in the following days, so it wouldn't be that laborious. Find the balance. I'd suggest maybe 5 cards per day and then work from that to see what suits you best.
@Apples And one more point. Don't make cards with isolated words. Look for sentences or blocks of text that tell some story.
Personally, I found SRS to eventually become too time-consuming once the deck became large. For language learning, I just use the Kindle and look up words as I go and only read for pleasure. I also use the Chrome attachment Learning Languages with Netflix. I watch once with the setting that allows for subtitles in native language as well as the target language and slow the playback to 80%. Then I download the script to read and review it, then I watch again while I follow along with the script (I often pause and add notes as I go), then a third time without any script or subtitles at all, only listening. Works better for series- movies are just too long. But very effective. Sometimes I will make some flashcards from the script, but usually only whole sentences/phrases, like Lukas mentioned.
@cain9 oh great idea! I'm going to give this Chrome app a try later today. Thanks!
I'm on and off with SRS. I can see the benefit, but I often find it so boring...
Wow @cain9, that's an amazing advice, I'll try it out later.
@Lukas I'll do that as well Lukas, thanks!
I wish my Irish was as good as your English. Good work! One other spaced repetition system you may wish to try is completely NON digital, and is called The Goldlist Method. I really like Lydia Machova's video and pdf about it, makes it much more understandable. Essentially you write a list of phrases or sentences with words you want to learn every day, along with the translation, and then after two weeks you go back and see how much you remember, rewriting the ones you still need to work on.. she describes it better in her resources: https://youtu.be/2__3bGfSjuE and https://www.languagementoring.com/goldlist/
/// to see another person's explanation, this is a good video too, but hard to see his pages, but I like how he uses it.
https://youtu.be/Uta1Tm55bco
Keep up the good work!
I recommend reading articles in your areas of interest or about current events. They tend to use a lot of complex but functional vocabulary, and you can find them in varying lengths and levels of formality. There's also a bonus since you're staying well-informed!
---I would also be interested in a language exchange if we found our schedules were compatible!
@cai9 I used the similar methods as you mentioned above. And in conjunction with Kindle, I also use "Audible". Normally before I read a book in Kindle I like to listen to the same book in Audible and then read it later. One issue I am trying to avoid is getting incorrect pronunciation on the new words, so Audible is very helpful in setting me up with the right accent.