pressing ever forward, and a few reflections

Nothing dramatic to report today, but I've been continuing daily study & practice.

Lesson 25 of Pimsleur Spanish 3 today, and last night I zipped through lessons 3 and 4 of Learning Spanish Like Crazy (LSLC). The early LSLC lessons are mostly review so far, but there's still value in going through each of them at least once in my opinion.

They introduce new general-use vocabulary, speak at a different tempo from the Pimsleur speakers, emphasize a less formal manner of speaking than does Pimsleur, and adopt a somewhat different approach in general. And more advanced lessons will assume a foundation of the earlier material.

Mostly, though, my experience with Pimsleur has proven to me that repeated exposure to and practice using fundamental Spanish will increase my confidence and facility with the language.

LSLC came with lessons in .mp3 format and transcripts in .pdf (plus a number of .mp4 video lessons). I refer to the .pdf transcripts when/if doing so suits me, but Pimsleur's trained me to focus on listening & speaking first before letting my mental impressions of the text get in the way.

We'll see how my approach develops as I engage the material further.

The LSLC Wednesday evening Teleclass really has me kinda excited, though. I've now participated in two of them, and I have a feeling this may turn out to be a really valuable resource for accelerated improvement.

I've also been reading a book entitled Easy Spanish Reader by William T. Tardy. I've read the first 15 pages in idle moments over the last few days, and it is indeed pretty easy reading.

I hit up international news in Spanish in my Treo's web browser when I'm out & about some. Reading the news is more challenging, but I find it interesting. And anything that keeps up my interest in Spanish surely helps keep the whole process going.

The other day I scooted through a crowded gas station in Madison on my way to work, because I wasn't feeling well & figured I'd better start the day with a full stomach.

While ducking & weaving through the crowd, I noticed how rapidly strangers & I spoke to one another in passing, rattling off things like, "Skewzm'therebd." (Excuse me, there, buddy.)

We had no trouble understanding one another as native speakers of English, but I saw a fair number of people in the room for whom English did not appear to be a primary language. I wondered if they found my utterances totally incomprehensible.

I'm acquainted with some local expats from Spanish-speaking countries to the south, and have noticed some of them gradually cultivating reasonably advanced English skills over the last several years. How much time and effort have they had to invest?