PROCRASTINATION

Too long have I been dilly dallying with this assignment.  Four weeks ago our Spanish teacher announced that one, no more English, only Spanish; two, that in three weeks we would have written an essay in Spanish to be read in class; and three, there would be a test on verb tenses the week after that. 

Well, the first of these didn't happen, at least for me.  I have a very limited Spanish vocabulary, am just catching on to the verb tense thing, and I don't seem to be able to hear what I do know.  Thankfully, the others are very patient with me and with a lot of coaching and a lot of praise and encouragement from our instructor, I struggle through the oral stuff.  My pronunciation is good, I just can't recall vocabulary quickly.

And the essay?  Really, what a difficult thing.  I did one sentence, then another, then another.  Okay, that's a paragraph.  Then I made the mistake of Googling 'essay' and found that there is actually a formal essay format.  Five parts.  There is NO WAY this essay of mine is going to have five parts.  I am going to be lucky to construct three.

I'm not even going to have three if I just don't get at it......................

MOVING ON TO PIMSLEUR

I slogged through the first lesson of Tell Me More. It was a challenge. More of a challenge than I need right now. I did finish that first lesson -- a lot of it was hit and/or miss. It starts out pretty easy and there is some fun stuff in it. Like puzzles to fit Spanish audio words into; voice graphs to help with pronunciation; good sound so that I could hear words and phrases. All in all a very good program. The frustration seeped in when I realized that the program was presupposing some knowledge on my part that I just did not have. Like the conjugation of simple verbs and like male and female nouns. The frustration became too much.

Back to the public library and back to square one. The librarian introduced me to Pimsleur Language Programs. One version comes in a little IPod type thingie called Playaway. It fits into the palm of my hand, has a headphone jack, and even comes with a spare battery. There are eight chapters and I am midway through Chapter 4. The verb conjugations and noun genders are worked into the explanation of the conversations. AND I get to take part in the conversations -- or so it seems. The 'how do you answer?' parts are especially good because they are repetetive. And the repetitive parts aren't boring, just consistent throughout.

The problem for me in this Pimsleur is that it is all audio. I don't get to SEE the words. SO. I have learned something new about myself. Well, it isn't new, it's old, just a new revelation. I learn visually as much as audibly. In fact, if I had to choose one, it would be the written word over the spoken word. I have always needed to write things down in order to commit them to memory. Perhaps my brain photographs graphics better than it stores sounds. Hmmmm... interesting.

One of the doctors at the office where I work speaks Spanish. She said she would help me practice. The think is that it is embarrassing to practice. I know I am pronouncing slowly, clearly and distinctly. I know this because the words on the audio run together. I hear the words singly and then when they are in a sentence they sound totally different. That is why I think it would be helpful for me to SEE the words. Don't know. AND it would be helpful to have others working and struggling with me.

I will struggle onward. It is exercising my brain. And when I finish this Pimsleur The Short Course, I will see if the public library has the "long" course and then I will go back to Tell Me More. There are a lot of options.