Today, I finished my first language course -- Pimsleur Spanish Level 1! That is 16 CDs! 30 1/2 hour lessons - 15 hours total of audio instruction, and the last CD that accompanies a small booklet to learn how to read . Learning to read after you speak is very smart. As I read along I saw how easy it would be to get confused if I hadn't already learned how to say the words properly. Existing ways of pronouncing English words would definitely get in the way - serving only to frustrate the learning process. Something you definitely want to reduce when learning a new language. I'm not sure how Pimsleur does it for learning languages with characters or different "letters" such as Arabic or any Cyrillic based language. I'll find out soon enough. I celebrated by going to eat at a small walk up window off PCH in Dana Point, CA serving Mexican food. I know it's closer to the real deal because it is next to a Mexican supermarket. I spoke enough Spanish to let them think I could speak it well enough.
The real test now is how much I retain as I tackle my next language and as time passes before I use it actively. Although, I'll probably go through Spanish Level 2 before South America so that will be fresh in my mind. I'll be starting Brazilian Portugese (Different than European Continental Portugese I'm told) soon in the meantime. Admittedly, I was starting to get a little bored with learning Spanish. So I'm looking forward to starting a different sounding language. Brazilian Portugese is similar to Spanish, but from what I've heard so far, different enough to be challenging.
It dawned on me that I don't think I could have focused my mind to learn another language if I was still working. Even at just 30-40 minutes a day (With pauses while listening), it is the mindset one has to be in to learn, not the actual time. Also, the nearly everyday commitment to going through the lessons for a month at a time. One of the things that's bothered me the last couple of years is why Americans work so much. After all, we are supposedly the most productive, wealthiest, and technologically advanced nation. Or at least that is what some people would have you believe. I'll talk more about this later in a future article how I believe that when you take any of these three in isolation / in a vacuum they are true. However, when you zoom out and look at the big picture of life and think about why we try to be more efficient, richer, and advanced you might realize that we can be very poor indeed. I'll leave you with this graph (In Adobe Acrobat format) from one of the largest, if not the largest benefits consulting firm - Hewitt Associates (I used to work there!). I found it on their website a couple of years ago. HERE
The real test now is how much I retain as I tackle my next language and as time passes before I use it actively. Although, I'll probably go through Spanish Level 2 before South America so that will be fresh in my mind. I'll be starting Brazilian Portugese (Different than European Continental Portugese I'm told) soon in the meantime. Admittedly, I was starting to get a little bored with learning Spanish. So I'm looking forward to starting a different sounding language. Brazilian Portugese is similar to Spanish, but from what I've heard so far, different enough to be challenging.
It dawned on me that I don't think I could have focused my mind to learn another language if I was still working. Even at just 30-40 minutes a day (With pauses while listening), it is the mindset one has to be in to learn, not the actual time. Also, the nearly everyday commitment to going through the lessons for a month at a time. One of the things that's bothered me the last couple of years is why Americans work so much. After all, we are supposedly the most productive, wealthiest, and technologically advanced nation. Or at least that is what some people would have you believe. I'll talk more about this later in a future article how I believe that when you take any of these three in isolation / in a vacuum they are true. However, when you zoom out and look at the big picture of life and think about why we try to be more efficient, richer, and advanced you might realize that we can be very poor indeed. I'll leave you with this graph (In Adobe Acrobat format) from one of the largest, if not the largest benefits consulting firm - Hewitt Associates (I used to work there!). I found it on their website a couple of years ago. HERE
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