Category: Free Inquiry

Hola Compañeros Bloggers!

As I sit and reflect on my Spanish learning journey, both negative and positive thoughts come to mind. Although learning a glimpse of the Spanish language was eye-opening and interesting, there were a few bumps on the road and things I wish I did differently.

First off, I think I under estimated how much work needs to be put in order to learn a new language. I think I went in thinking this would be easy considering I am bilingual in both English and French. Although being bilingual helped a little bit, it didn’t take away from the fact that learning a new language is very difficult and time consuming.

I also do not believe that Duolingo is a good platform to learn a language. Don’t get me wrong, this app is very well put together and is very helpful; however, I believe that Duolingo is better for somebody who is trying to practice a language they already once knew and are trying to regain their knowledge on the language. I do not think it is ideal for somebody that is trying to learn a new language from scratch. Although it did help me get the basics of the language, it is simply just not enough.

I do feel as though this free inquiry was very beneficial.  I now know how to introduce myself, hold a short (and slow) conversation,  and say a few facts about my schooling and family- which is something I never know how to do before. I just really feel that if you want to learn a new language it is extremely beneficial to either have someone teach it to you, or by going to a Spanish speaking country.

I think that the next time I get the opportunity to do a free inquiry, I would focus on something other than languages. Although I am very passionate about learning and languages, I just don’t think I find it realistic to learn a new language on my own.

Thank you so much for joining me on this learning journey. I truly enjoyed every step of the ride

See you next time

LOBO

Hola fellow bloggers!

After several weeks of constant engagement,  progression, and passion for the Spanish language, I feel as though I have hit a wall. I am at a point where I keep asking myself: “well, now what?”

I unfortunately lost my 32 day Duolingo streak. I went to bed early one night and completely forgot to do my daily practice. After this occurrence, I lost motivation to keep going and make a new streak. It felt as though I had to start from square one again which quite frankly, was very discouraging.

After watching shows in Netflix, practicing on Duolingo, and speaking in Spanish with Kaylyn, I am no longer sure what to do to improve my Spanish. I am trying to get my Duolingo streak up again (I am now at 2 days) but this simply does not feel like enough. Although this is discouraging, I have to understand that this is a normal challenge when it comes to learning. I know I am doing everything that I can to learn. With my busy schedule, there is only so much I can do. In an ideal world, I would take a Spanish class or course at Uvic or elsewhere but that is simply not an option right now!

I need to be more easy on myself. I know I am trying my best to learn and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

See you next week

LOBO

Hola fellow bloggers!

This week, I decided to dive into the numerous different countries around the world that speak the Spanish language. I would love to travel around the world to countries that speak Spanish; there is no better way than learning a new language then to be 100% exposed to the language. Although it is kind of unrealistic to travel right now, I would love to travel after my degree; might as well start researching now!

Here are a list of countries where Spanish is the official language (retrieved from Wikipedia): Mexico, Columbia, Spain, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama. Uruguay, and Equatorial Guinea.

Picture of beautiful Machu Picchu, Peru

That’s a lot of countries! I do have to keep in mind that there are some countries where Spanish is a minority language. For example, I remember travelling to San Diego and there were many Spanish speaking individuals; this is because san Diego is very close to the Mexican border.

I would love to travel to Spain, Peru, or Cuba. I  have already been to Mexico; I remember learning “un petito leche’ which is a saying I will always remember. This is way I deem travelling and submerging myself in a Spanish speaking culture is so important; I will learn things that Duolingo will simply never be able to teach me.  As I try to teach my Spanish to the next level, I need to consider planning my next trip to countries that mainly speak Spanish and to be honest, I am not complaining! These countries are rich in culture and have historical value I would love to learn about.

See you next week bloggers,

LOBO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_Spanish_is_an_official_language

Hola mi Compañeros et Compañeras bloggers!

Yeah, let’s pretend I didn’t use google translate for that…

Update on my Duolingo streak: I am now at 30 days! That’s a whole month! I am really proud of myself and my dedication to this inquiry. 

For this week’s blog, I want to research what the internet says about learning the Spanish language. Is it a hard language to master? If you know both french and english, does it make it easier to learn? What are the best ways to learn the language? 

I searched on google “Is Spanish a hard language to learn?” and boy do I wish I did not look that up. The first thing to pop up was Spanish is the hardest language to learn. Great! After feeling a little scared, I looked up to see if Spanish was easier to learn if you are fluent in both French and English. The internet says that indeed, if you speak both it makes it easier, especially French. I find this very true. Sometimes when I practice on Duolingo, some words are very similar, if not the same, to the French ones. It makes it just a bit easier!

Thanks for tuning in this week!

LOBO

Hola mi amigo!

Como estas?

I am still keeping up to date with my Duolingo streak – I am now at 17 days! I do really enjoy Duolingo however, I need to take on some more challenges in order to improve and practice my Spanish. I have been practicing a lot with my friend Kaylyn and that has been helping a lot. Holding a conversation (even though at times it is very difficult) is the best kind of practice and is something Duolingo could never offer. Kaylyn is very good at speaking Spanish; she took it all throughout high school and is practically fluent. When we talk to one another in Spanish, she is definately the one carrying the conversation and helping me out. It is good practice for the both of us, as when she is helping me that is good practice for her as she has to explain it to me. I want to keep on speaking to Kaylyn in Spanish every once in a while, as it is the best practice I can get.

The next step in my learning journey is an interesting one. I want to start putting Spanish subtitles every time I watch something on Netflix. If I have the audio on in English and I am reading it in Spanish, hopefully I will be able to make the connection between the two. This might be challenging, but it is a simple and hopefully effective way to add Spanish into my every day life!

Tune in in 2 weeks (after reading break) to see how my Spanish Netflix journey goes!

Lboucher LOBO

Hello fellow bloggers!

This week was my first official week learning Spanish on my chosen software: Duolingo.

This was not my first time using Duolingo. I decided to create a new account so that I could start fresh on my learning journey.

I set my goal time for 10 minutes a day. As soon as I started practicing, I remembered just how much I love this software. Why? Because when you get an answer wrong, at the end of the lesson, they repeat the question you got wrong so that you get another chance to get it right. They allow you to pronounce sentences, match the English word to the Spanish word, write out sentences in Spanish, listen to sentences and write what they’re saying, and SO much more. Duolingo allows you to learn languages in so many different ways. They use pictures, voices, encouragement notes, and so much more to keep you motivated and interested.

The only thing that I do not like about Duolingo is that they give you five lives. If you run out of lives, then you must wait a few hours for your lives to refill. They do this because if you pay for the premium Duolingo, you have unlimited hearts.  It just frustrates me that if I fail, I may be punished by not being able to keep practicing. This is something I am going to have together used to. I really enjoy the software and do not want this to get in the way of my learning.

Not everything in life is perfect!

Thanks for tuning in!

LOBO

Hi fellow bloggers!

This past week I have been looking at possible softwares to learn Spanish. I gathered some information from a website that dives into 10 possible softwares, listing their pros and cons and helping me pick the best possible option.

https://www.toptenreviews.com/best-learn-spanish-software

I was surprised to see just how many software options there were. All softwares vary from $0-$350 and vary difficulty levels. Also, some were books that you can purchase and study off of that. After reading about all of the possible options, I decided to go with the software that is most familiar and accessible for me: Duolingo.

Like I previously said, over Christmas break, I downloaded Duolingo on my phone and started learning Spanish for a few days. I loved the App and found that it was very simple yet very effective. It made me write, pronounce, and listen to Spanish and really made me push myself to learn. Therefore, I believe if I start taking this seriously, I might really benefit from this App and achieve my goal of learning the basics of the Spanish language. The only thing I remember I found annoying was that when you run out of hearts AKA “lives”, you have to wait a certain amount of time before being able to keep practicing. I found this extremely limiting and frustrating. I could pay to have a limitless amount of “lives” but I just find it very frustrating.

During this next week, I will practice everyday on Duolingo. Next week, I will update you on my experience with Duolingo. Will I have a positive or a negative experience?

Come back next week to find out!

See you then,

LBoucher (AKA LOBO)

Hi Blog!

Over Christmas break when both my parents were working and my sister was at school, I got very bored. Although I love being home and spending time with family, I needed to stimulate my brain one way or another. One day, I decided to download the app Duolingo. I decided I wanted to try to learn Spanish as a way to keep my brain stimulated. Unfortunately, this only lasted 2 days because my family and I went on a vacation to New York and I no longer had time to practice Spanish. I really enjoyed the two days I learned Spanish and really want to learn more.

With this free inquiry opportunity, I decided it would be a good idea to really take learning Spanish seriously. I am already bilingual and being trilingual would be a dream of mine. My first language is French and I speak French at home with my family. I learned English when I was 3 years old and have always gone to an English school. Spanish, being a slight combination of both French and English, is something I believe I am capable of learning and deem it necessary as I live in a multicultural country and enjoy learning about different cultures.

Thanks for tuning in, see you next week!

Laurence (AKA LOBO)