Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Abrí mis ojos

Tengo dolor de cabeza fuerte despues de estudiando a ultimo momento para mi examen.

I probably made 5 mistakes in that one attempt to say something in Spanish but I don't care. My brain  is completely fried from two days of futile cramming. Plus, I don't care because I can't coast by anymore. I have to try harder, even if it means I'll look stupid.

I am tired of sucking at Spanish. So I'm gonna try to do a bit more than just attend my weekly classes and scribble out my homework during my lunch break. I'm gonna force in a little bit of Español into every day in some shape or form. Today I watched two hours of La Reina del Sur on Telemundo's On Demand channel. It seems like it could be a compelling telenovela. Once I got past the fact that the heroine selected turquoise colored pumps to run for her life in for the entire first episode, I was hooked. The telenovela is based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte about the rise of a female drug lord whose reach spanned three continents. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even read the book.
Another novel method of practicing I've stumbled onto: Tweeting. Last Sunday, I attempted to express my frustration at studying (while using a subjunctive) in a Tweet and got an impromptu lesson from the lovely @emilyinchile, who kindly helps out in the grammar department when she's not blogging about her life in Santiago de Chile at Don't Call Me Gringa. ¡Muchas gracias Emily! I'm thinking of designating one day per week for Tweets solamente en Español. Lo siento, chicos y chicas, pero es necesario. I will understand if you decide to unfollow me based on that alone.





My iPod playlists are also coming into play. I've been listening to Juanes ever since my South American friends introduced me to their music back when I was a wee intern in Stuttgart. I have to say, it's even more enjoyable now that I understand the lyrics better! A Dios le pido, a song I loved and danced to numerous times before I understood the words, turns out to be quite good for practicing subjunctives. One of the uses of the subjunctive form is to express deseos or wishes, so a song that asks God for a whole lot of stuff helps to get subjunctives on the brain.
And then there's my daily dose of Neruda. His poems, full of romantic entreaties, are quite good for familiarizing oneself with imperatives.
Quitame el pan, si quieres,
quitame el aire, pero
no me quites tu risa.
Hopefully, all the little tricks in addition to my lessons will add up to a Spanish-unleashing Celine someday. Someday before May 21, 2011, preferably. Ojala.

4 comments:

  1. Can I say I was thinking I was doing somewhat OK with my slow spanish learning until I had no clue on half of your spanish examples? :)

    I love the variety of methods you're trying and apparently I need to check out more Telemundo if they're rocking turquoise pumps!

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  2. Awww haha I feel better already, though I wish my knowledge manifests itself in more practical than theoretical moments! But yes, the turquoise pumps are definitely worth seeing!

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  3. There is a really good (FREE) program through my local library called Tell Me More. Check to see if your local library offers it.

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  4. Oooh I do like the word FREE. Will check it out!

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