One man's quixotic* attempt to learn Spanish from scratch
... in just 12 months
... in just 12 months
* Yes, "quixotic" is a word. Look it up.
For reasons that remain obscure, I decided that this year my birthday present to myself would be to spend 12 months learning as much Spanish as I could manage in my spare time, and then to take an exam with the Instituto Cervantes at the highest level I can manage. And to write a blog about it.
Sounds pretty masochistic, eh? Maybe next year I should just pay some guys to beat the crap out of me, or give myself a gift certificate for some unnecessary bowel surgery? |
Well, I have to confess that I’m a complete nerd, so a year of learning a language actually sounds like fun to me. And it appears I’m not alone. According to Wikipedia, Duolingo has over 300 million registered users, and the British Council says that there are more than 1.2 billion people in the world currently learning English as a foreign language. Maybe it would be weird not to be learning Spanish?
But what is the best approach to learning a foreign language? An app on my phone? An audio course? Flashcards? Watching Spanish movies and TV shows? Conversation exchanges on Skype?
I’m going to try them all and attempt to figure out what works best for me. And then I'm going to write about it here.
You'll find more information on my background, what I’m doing and why, how I plan on measuring my level of Spanish etc, together with a weekly report on my progress, reviews of materials I have tried, courses I’ve taken, books I’ve read, interviews with experts in the field and much, much more*
But what is the best approach to learning a foreign language? An app on my phone? An audio course? Flashcards? Watching Spanish movies and TV shows? Conversation exchanges on Skype?
I’m going to try them all and attempt to figure out what works best for me. And then I'm going to write about it here.
You'll find more information on my background, what I’m doing and why, how I plan on measuring my level of Spanish etc, together with a weekly report on my progress, reviews of materials I have tried, courses I’ve taken, books I’ve read, interviews with experts in the field and much, much more*
*Actually, almost certainly nothing more. That’s it.
Weekly progress update
Each week I will post an update my progress in learning Spanish, including what resources I have been using and whether they have worked well or not.
Why not check it out. I promise not to try to sell you anything ... |
ABOUTWho is this grinning fool that appears to have posted a much younger, and heavily filtered, photo of himself online? You might well ask …
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LANGUAGE LEVELHas "C2 Mastery" been achieved?
Noooooooo. But I have reached level A1. You can read all about it here ... |