Learn Spanish watching Lingus.tv

This is the last in a series.

When you initially start learning a language, the idea of one day reaching the Advanced level might seem like a remote, faraway dream. But if you’re consistent and patient, getting to an Advanced level of Spanish is definitely within the realm of possibility.

Let’s take a look at the three sub-categories of Advanced and figure out what it takes to get there.

ADVANCED LOW: A person in this category has a good handle on Spanish grammar. He can describe things and narrate in the past, present and future tenses and when an unexpected bump in the conversational road emerges, he can roll with the punches if it is related to a routine situation. However, the Advanced Low student still has a tendency to use literal translations or structures from his native language in Spanish. He also does a lot of self-correction in mid-sentence, which highlight that he’s not fully a native speaker. Also, the Advanced Low tends to have a vocabulary that can seem very generic. Instead of knowing several different ways to express a single idea, he only knows one way and that’s the way he always uses.

ADVANCED MID: At this stage, the student is rocking. He is an active participant in both formal and informal conversations and has no problem whatsoever narrating and describing things in different Spanish tenses. He definitely knows enough Spanish to work in the language at this point. Where Advanced-Mid speakers get tripped up is when they have to back up their opinions or talk about abstract concepts, like politics or morality or religion, for example, in an extended conversation. That’s when they typically might hit a brick wall because they lack the right vocabulary or conversational structures to ease in and out of these linguistic alleys.

ADVANCED HIGH: The student at this level can pretty much do it all. He can provide a structured argument to support his opinions and he can construct hypotheses. He still makes errors, here and there, but they’re minor and may even go unnoticed because of the fluency of his speech. The Advanced High is also good at compensating for his deficiencies. He knows how to talk around a situation by paraphrasing or describing, if he lacks the precise words to express himself.

So what’s the bottom line? Getting to the Advanced level and continuing to progress really comes down to building your confidence in using the language and expanding your vocabulary. A great way to do both is to find conversational language partners who you can meet with on a regular basis to chat with in Spanish. Another great way is to read and write in Spanish. Reading in Spanish, exposes you to new words and new ways of expressing ideas. Writing in Spanish helps you uncover your weak spots in the language and gives you a non-stressful way of working out those kinks.

And if you do all that and you’re successful, one day you will finally reach the summit of Mt. Spanish and look down at all that you’ve conquered. By that point you will be at the SUPERIOR level, which is essentially native-level (or near native-level Spanish).

Hey, you didn’t think that “Advanced-High” was the end of the journey, did you?

Saludos,

Eleena

Eleena also blogs about the Spanish language at Voices en Español, a bilingual blog and conversational Spanish podcast.

This week I was going to blog about what it takes to be considered an Intermediate Spanish level student, but there are still some more things I’d like to say about the Beginner level.

I’ve seen people post questions in other Spanish learning forums and web sites asking for advice and suggestions on how to ramp up their learning speed. For many, the conventional methods of reading a textbook or attending a class a few days a week isn’t enough to keep them motivated nor to get the concepts to stick.

So how about treating your Spanish learning as a game that you can customize and play whenever you’ve got time? Here’s my proposal to you: Commit to spending a minimum of 10 minutes a day, every day, to learning Spanish. Over the course of one year, you will have magically (and hopefully effortlessly) have spent at least 61 hours solely on Spanish.

Can’t find 10 minutes? Trust me, you can. Monday through Friday a minimum of 40 minutes a day to focus on Spanish automatically falls in my lap. How? That’s the amount of time I spend just in walking to and from the Metro station. Since I’m walking, the only thing I can do is listen to my iPod.  Believe me when I say that you won’t have to make time for this activity because you already have the time.

Here are 10 ways you can find at least 10 minutes each day to study Spanish:

1.    When you wake up in the morning, tune in to Spanish radio or Spanish TV.
2.    In the shower.
3.    While brushing your teeth.
4.    During breakfast.
5.    When you buy your morning coffee or stop at a newstand for a paper or cigarettes.
6.    During your daily commute, when stuck in traffic or waiting for the bus or the train.
7.    In an elevator or walking to your car or the bus or train station.
8.    While on hold or waiting for someone.
9.    At the store.
10.    When you take your dog for a walk.

Depending on what your lifestyle and routine is like, you can certainly find other ways.

And what, exactly, should you study? Well, this is the beauty of the game, you can study whatever you like.

For example, you could draft a list of words or expressions you want to memorize and look for opportunities to “use them” throughout your day. I recommend buying a pocket-sized notebook that you can jot down phrases in and that way you can look at them frequently throughout your day, whenever you’re seated or waiting for something or someone.  If you’re not living in a Spanish-speaking country, you will probably have to say these words or phrases silently to yourself, in your head, just so that the people around you won’t think that you’re crazy. But don’t worry about them, you’re working on your Spanish.

In other situations, remind yourself of the Spanish words for objects or experiences you’re seeing or having throughout the day. For example, if you see a couple hugging and kissing on the street, ask yourself internally what are the Spanish nouns or verbs related to kissing and hugging. The idea is to imprint a Spanish vocabulary on top of the words you commonly use in your native language.

If you’re a beginner, concentrate on memorizing words and expressions related to your daily routine. If possible, get a recording of a native Spanish speaker saying some of these phrases and upload them to your iPod, cellphone or mp3 player. Download a few episodes of Lingus.TV and take them on the go, if you’ve got a gadget that handles video.

Be creative! The bottomline is that you can squeeze the extra time you need to study Spanish and you will be successful if you maintain that focus. ¡Suerte!

-Eleena

Eleena also blogs over at Voices en Español, a bilingual blog and conversational Spanish podcast.