Do you sometimes get that feeling of resistance of doing something that you have procrastinated for a while? The longer you have procrastinated the harder it is to do it. Law of inertia in action. Fortunately it goes both ways. If object is in motion, it will continue to do so if there is no friction. The same is with action. If you have a habit doing something then you will just automatically keep doing it barring normal circumstances (ie. no friction).

This is exactly what happened with me. Last weekend I spent with friends at Big Sur with no cell reception, very limited wifi-connection and not much time on my own.

I still managed to get in my minimum of half an hour per day. I was well prepared with offline Memrise courses and downloaded podcast episodes.

So when Monday came around and I was at my regular schedule I got right back into my Spanish studying habits and got quite a lot of minutes in.

Here is the breakdown:

Day 15 (Thursday) total of 32 minutes:
4 Duolingo
28 Memrise

Day 16 (Friday) total of 52 minutes:
4 Duolingo
35 Coffee Break Spanish episodes 57-58
14 Memrise

Day 17 (Saturday) total of 30 minutes:
8 Duolingo
22 Memrise

Day 18 (Sunday) total of 33 minutes:
11 Duolingo
22 Memrise

Day 19 (Monday) total of 125 minutes:
13 Duolingo
95 Coffee Break Spanish episodes 59-63
17 Memrise

Last week was great! I made more progress last week than the week before. For me that is what is important – making progress and striving to be tiny bit better than the day or week before. Eventually all that progress will add up. The progress was both qualitative and quantitative.

I finally learned about the past tense. I guess you could look at it as the universe of things I can say just doubled in size as I can now say things I’m able to say in present, in the past as well. 🙂

In total I studied 8 hours and 10 minutes versus 6 hours 27 minutes the previous week, or 70 minutes per day versus 55 minutes a day in the week before.

Here is the breakdown:

• 170 minutes on Memrise compared to 112 minutes on Memrise last week. Total number of items in long term memory is 730 with 71 new items in the frequency list course (current total 185) and 113 new in Memrise Duolingo course. 
• 82 minutes on Duolingo. Currently 1220 XP points at Level 8 and at lesson Adverbs 4/10. (Previous week 1094 XP points)
• 228 minutes of Coffee Break Spanish in which I listened to 11 new episodes (episodes 46 to 56).

Highlights of the week:

• I have been able to keep up the Duolingo streak. 
• I studied more than half an hour each day.
• I got in more practice on Memrise (from average 16 to 24 minutes per day).

Lowlights of the week:

• I wanted to write few paragraphs in Spanish, but did not get to it.

The current Coffee Break Spanish episodes 54 to 56 cover the simple past – pretérito. Feels about the right time to introduce these grammar points. I liked how Mark and Kara (the hosts of the podcast) were teaching them, it felt effortless. It was engaging and with lots of repetition, but in the end I feel it stuck.

This day I had quite a bit of walking to do so got in 3 episodes of Coffee Break Spanish. Here is the breakdown:
4   Duolingo
68 Coffee Break Spanish episodes 54-56
31 Memrise

For total of 103 minutes.

This day was one of those days when it seemed I’m so busy that there won’t be much time to study at all. However, by end of the day it still added up to 48 minutes. That is all thanks to my daily routine and habits. A Duolingo session or two in the very morning while still in bed. Then listening to podcast after a shower as I dress and pack my bag. Then on Memrise app on my phone as I wait for the bus and as I transfer buses and on Memrise again in the evening as I wait for the bus to go home and a little on the bus as well.

Here is the breakdown:
9 Duolingo
18 Coffee Break Spanish episodes 53
21 Memrise

Till tomorrow!

This is how my Duolingo tree looks like:

Yesterday I watched a great TEDx talk by Chris Lonsdale

He claims anybody can learn a second language in 6 months applying the following principles and actions. Here they are plus my takeways (after the “=>”) of how I can apply them to my studies.

Principles:
#1 Focus on language content that is relevant to you => I did this by going through the basic Spanish courses on Memrise that focused on vocabulary useful for introductory conversations (instead of starting with grammar books or podcasts that focus on grammar right away). Plus I did the El Menu Memrise course because I wanted to be able to order tacos.

#2 Use the new tool to communicate from Day 1 => I haven’t quite done this, but after weeks one, two, and five I made a video of me speaking in Spanish. Also, whenever I see my friends that speak Spanish I try to chat with them in Spanish for as long as I can (in the very beginning it was only a hello).

#3 Use comprehensible input – when you first understand the message (even through body language and pictures) you acquire the language => I think this indeed means I should do the Spanish only podcasts after I finish with the English-Spanish podcasts and my Spanish level has improved.

#4 Speaking takes muscle

#5 Psycho-physciological state matters – if you are sad, angry, worried you are not going to learn. If you are happy, relaxed, and can tolerate ambiguity you will learn quickly. => I’m all good in this department 🙂

This was a tough day for studying Spanish. I fell in bed super tired after a busy day, but I couldn’t let my Duolingo streak go! Talk about successful gamification and addiction, hehe! So I did a bit of Duolingo and Memrise until it added up to 30 minutes, my minimum goal for this month.

I also had an opportunity to speak in Spanish with somebody at a party, but we managed to have just couple of minutes of conversation before I switched to English. I need to build an arsenal of questions that I can use to switch back to Spanish and continue the conversation.

A fellow Spanish learner pointed me to the following video “How I became fluent in Spanish by dychui”. It is somebody’s account on how he became fluent in Spanish over the years. One of the things that I took away is the importance of listening the language – he listened to podcasts every day. That is encouraging for my strategy of using of Coffee Break Spanish – so I will stick to it.

Here are the podcasts that he mentioned (he mentioned other good resources as well):

• Notes in Spanish – I have come across Notes in Spanish name before, will check it out again. 
• Desde el baño (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Cabreados (Madrid, Spain) – his favorite podcast of all
• Rimbombante (Mexico) 
• Las cosas curiosas – (Málaga, Spain)
• Yo gordo (Málaga, Spain)
• Afectos con Sylvia Tarragona on RTVE – higher, more formal level Spanish

I can’t wait to have good enough Spanish to listen to Spanish only podcasts. Perhaps I will start those after I finish the Coffee Break Spanish Series (now episode 48 out of 80).

On Day 9 (of month 2) I had quite a bit of commute time so I got in 97 minutes in total. Here is the breakdown:
21 Duolingo
38 Coffee Break Spanish podcast 47-48
38 Memrise

Till tomorrow!

Last week’s progress have been good, but I still would like to kick it up a notch. Previously I have felt the most progress when I have learned a lot of new vocabulary. Duolingo is more effective for grammar than vocabulary. Coffee Break Spanish episodes are getting into more grammar than new vocabulary. That leaves me with Memrise. Its a great tool for learning vocabulary so for the upcoming week my focus will be to do more of Memrise. Last week’s average was 16 minutes per day of Memrise, so I will try to do more than that 🙂

Also, if I could get to it, it would be great to write up some things in Spanish. Especially stories that would be useful in potential conversations. Like, why I’m studying Spanish, how I’m studying Spanish, about my travels in Mexico. These are the questions I couldn’t expand on more than just the basics in my last attempt to speak Spanish at a meetup.

On Day 8 I managed to get in 50 minutes of studying Spanish. Here is the breakdown:
15 Duolingo
20 Coffee Break Spanish podcast 46
15 Memrise

Hasta pronto! – Till soon!

Hard work is not sexy. While you are in the midst of it you may not seem to notice the progress, but all those little steps add up. That’s why I like to look back at weekly progress and see how much the daily work has added up to.

Overall I’m happy with my progress last week. What’s more, I loved it! I look forward to walking or running errands because they are an opportunity to study. I’m looking forward to new Coffee Break Spanish episodes – I like the continuity of them. Also its pretty amazing that I’m now at episode 45. When I started I didn’t think I would get that far.

I haven’t missed a day, and each day was at least 30 minutes, but on average almost an hour. Also I haven’t missed a day on Duolingo. This hits 2 of my initial goals for this mission. So far so good.

I’m a nerd, so next I will nerd out with the numbers 🙂

In the past week (week 1 of the second month of learning Spanish, so week 5 or 6 in total) I have studied Spanish for total of 387 minutes or 6 hours and 27 minutes. Or an average of 55 minutes per day.

Here is the breakdown:

• 209 minutes of Coffee Break Spanish in which I listened to 10 new episodes (36 to 45).
• 66 minutes of Duolingo in which I went from 881 XP points to 1094 XP points, but still Level 7. (Now at lesson Determiners 1/3)
• 112 minutes of Memrise in which I kept previous courses watered (324 Learn Basic Mexican Spanish + 108 El Menu course) and learned 114 new items in the Spanish vocab by frequency course 1 to 675.