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I don’t mean to brag, but …

Last night we went to bed at our normal time (around 9:00 PM), and this morning I woke up when my mind and body were ready.

I don’t mean to brag, but by 6:30 AM this morning I had already gone on a long bike ride up the hills around our house, practiced my Spanish lessons for 2.5 hours, had a bowel movement, taken a shower, dressed, checked the internet and email, and brewed some coffee and enjoyed a cup.

I don’t normally awaken during the 3:00 AM hour, but I have discovered it to be … incredible, spiritual, glorious, magical, peaceful, and more. There’s just something about being up after the last stragglers have gone to bed, but before most of the early birds.

I believe that all of life is holy, so I can’t really say that one hour of the day is more spiritual than the others. But it just seems that way.

Try it out. Go to bed early some night, and set your alarm clock for 2:45 AM. Spend the 3:00 AM hour sitting in your home, or if it is safe to do so, walking around your neighborhood … observing life, listening to life, feeling life, learning from life.

Ignore a Problem

That seems like a fairly pragmatic solution, doesn’t it? If there is a problem in my life, or in your life, or in the lives of those around us, just don’t notice it … ignore the reality … pretend that it doesn’t exist. Maybe it will go away.

This practice of ignoring a problem is captured in a commonly used Spanish expression, an expression that can take on many forms, such as:

  • Si hay pobreza, que no se note. If there is poverty, just don’t notice it.
  • Si hay corrupción, que no se note. If there is corruption, just don’t notice it.
  • Si hay hambre, que no se note. If there is hunger, just don’t notice it.
  • Si hay marginación, que no se note. If there is marginalization, just don’t notice it.

Some people believe that there are way too many problems in this world, and the need is far too great. They say to themselves, “Anything I might do, any help I might offer, any money I might give, won’t make any real difference in the grand scheme of things.”

But is ignoring a problem the best solution?

About the only time that tactic works is when we are focusing too much on a perceived problem, one that remains a problem only through our continued focus on it.

At all other times, don’t fall into the trap of “just don’t notice it.” Face the problem, and do what you can to alleviate the problem … remembering that every little bit helps.

My family has started a little fundraising page to help alleviate, just a little, the poverty experienced in Guatemala. Check it out at http://www.firstgiving.com/spanish.

And thanks for all the little things you do.

Spanish On The Go

I make the most progress learning Spanish,
not with my nose buried in a book,
nor camped in front of the computer,
nor even by writing copiously (as much as I like to write),
but by conversing with my friends Tuesday nights at Mestizo,
and while walking or bicycling in the neighborhood interacting with Spanish learning programs.

Reading and writing is good, but hearing and speaking seems better … and it is much easier to exercise while hearing and speaking, than it is to exercise while reading and writing.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “The legs are the wheels of creativity.” I take that to mean that exercise improves thinking, and I heartedly agree with that.

You’ve already heard about my preference for Pimsleur, it’s easy to carry that program with me on my iPod or small cassette player while walking or bicycling.

However, today I’d like to share with you my preferred podcast.

If you go to the iTunes store, click on Podcasts, and search for Spanish, you will find several Spanish podcasts available for free. I’ve checked out several of these, but my favorite so far is News in Slow Spanish. The title just about sums it up, this a program that gives you the weekly news (as well as grammar lessons) very S-L-O-W-L-Y. The podcasts are FREE through iTunes, but for about $100 a year you can get access to all the transcripts as well. I have all the podcasts, but I have not yet subscribed to the program … in part because I am getting ready to leave the country for awhile, but also because there is a “study group discount” available. If anyone reading this blog is interested in getting in on the study group discount, please let me know.

So go to http://www.newsinslowspanish.com/ and check it out. One aspect of the program which is not my favorite is the inclusion of “vosotros” tenses, which I am not bothering to learn since I am focused on Latin America. In that light, what I did purchase is the partner program, ¡Hola Viajeros, which you can find through a link on the site, or by going directly to the web site http://www.holaviajeros.com/home.php. This audiobook contains fun stories based on travel adventures to Latin America, and I’m guessing that the Spanish on these programs is “Latin American” Spanish. Ask me in a few months how well I am liking the ¡Hola Viajeros audiobook. And again, let me know if you are interested in going in with me on the News in Slow Spanish study group discount.

HABLAR

I have decided to enhance my understanding of Spanish verbs by learning one verb inside out, backwards and forwards, so well that I can run through all the conjugations in all the tenses in all the voices … in my sleep.

At least that is my plan, I’ll report back once I have learned one verb inside out, backwards and forwards … and tell you whether I have applied that command of one verb to all the other verbs.

So how is that going to work (you might ask) in light of the fact that there are “AR verbs,” “IR verbs,” “ER verbs,” and irregular verbs? No sé, pero estoy aprendiendo si es un buen idea. Besides, the only way to prove whether an idea has salt is to test it.

So the next question is … which one verb is the best verb to concentrate on? I guess that depends on the learner, but it seems best to choose one of the most commonly used verbs … and in that case, should my experiment not succeed as well as hoped, at least I will know one verb inside out … all the tenses … in my sleep.

The verb that I have chosen to focus on is HABLAR (to speak). It is one of the top ten most commonly used verbs, and it appears to be highly regular throughout all of the tenses. Nonetheless, the other reason I have chosen HABLAR is to give a nod to the learning theory behind Pimsleur.

According to Pimsleur, “meanings reside in the sounds of the spoken language.” When we were children, and before we started making sense while speaking, we would hear (ESCUCHAR) people speak (HABLAR) with meaning. Gradually, we learn the meaning of the speaking, and at some point we begin to speak with meaning ourselves … and for the first few years of our language development, it’s all about hearing and speaking and grasping meaning.

Pimsleur goes on to say that “speaking a language is the necessary first step to acquiring the ability to read a language with meaning.” For those who are able to hear and speak, hearing and speaking come before reading and writing. Moreover, reading can be defined as “the act of decoding graphic material in order to determine its message;” or to put it another way, “reading consists of coming back to speech through its graphic symbols.”

I am not a learning theorist, but this makes sense to me. However, the problem is that when we begin to learn a second language, we tend to focus primarily on reading and writing … but maybe we should concentrate instead on hearing and speaking long before we ever pick up a book.

I have followed several paths hoping to accelerate my understanding of Spanish, and Pimsleur is the method that has helped me the most. Now I hope that hearing, speaking, and HABLAR will enable me to grasp fully that second spoken language.

AARP

Not too long ago when someone mentioned the AARP to me, I thought of gray hair, Ben Gay, and senior centers. I imagined little ol’ ladies sitting around doing what little ol’ ladies do – chatting, knitting, volunteering, making a quilt, and what not. I thought it was good that the AARP existed for people like them, because it means that those old people on fixed incomes will get a 10% discount at the diner by flashing their AARP card.

Well, the other day in the mail I received an invite to join the AARP. The letter came complete with a temporary ID card that I can flash to get the 10% discount myself.

It must be said that they have lowered the required age for membership to 50, which I happen to be turning this year. In fact, I have already claimed old fart status from time to time (with all due respect to all older people, whom I love) … like when twenty-somethings look at me cross-eyed when they discover I don’t care too much for texting. In those situations, all I have to say is, “Sorry, I am just an old fart.”

Hmmm. Now that I have taken a closer look at some of the AARP benefits … I can get discounts on travel, and movies, and restaurants, and (time for a little Spanish) muchas otras cosas … I think that I am going to really enjoy being a card-carrying member of the AARP.