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Saturation Listening

 

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  #1  
Old June 25, 2012, 09:50 AM
bobcoss bobcoss is offline
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Saturation Listening

Ok, you have been learning Spanish, you have had some success and you can carry on conversations about many topics. But you struggle to understand normal conversations, and have to resort to basic vocabulary to construct your phrases.

This is a technique that you can employ to expand your vocabulary, and improve your listening and comprehension skills. Thank you technology.

First, pick a television series in English that you are interested in. Something that you might have watched in the past, or better yet, a series you wanted to watch, but haven't had the time. I know you watch television sometimes.....

See if you can purchase the DVD or Blu-Ray episodes for that series with dubbed Spanish. I chose the series "Lost" because I never watched it, and it has a mysterious plot with lots of interaction between the cast. I was even more pleased because the previous episodes are recapped or summarized regularly. Subtitles are useful if you are dead set on finding out what that word was you don't understand. But I recommend you don't use them. There are other sources out there to find these episodes if you are so inclined to use the services of the free pirated sites. These are of course illegal, and put you at risk. If you buy the series, you can resell it later.

How do you best use this technique? First, find a way to play each episode in a quiet setting where you won't have people interacting or distracting you. Headphones are best. The controls you typically have allow you to rewind and listen to a part many times. But the best thing to do is to start with the first episode of the season (temporada) and just relax and let your brain associate the dialog with the images, and become attuned to the Spanish. As you progress through the episodes, you will be amazed at what you understand and remember. Remember the themes are often repeated and the dialog is normal every day speech. That is what you want to be able to do right?

Once you have gone through a season or the whole series, you might want to go back to the beginning and watch them again. This time, become more involved. Stopping the dialog and repeat and imitate the dialog, intonation and rhythm of the phrases. There is a lot you can do with this approach.

In the end, you will have broadened your vocabulary and listening ability. You might even be able to speak more fluently and naturally.

Of course, if you are taking classes during this time, don't stop. If you are doing intercambio with a native Spanish speaker continue, and perhaps even use the series as a discussion point. Imagine if you Spanish friend is watching Lost in English and you each watch the same episode in preparation for a conversation via Skype?

You can be successful!

Hasta luego.

Bob
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  #2  
Old September 27, 2012, 09:44 AM
cdowis cdowis is offline
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Some have suggest that this technique will help all levels of learner, not just advanced. I listen and try to pick out words that I know, and try to write down (guess) at words unknown ot me.
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Old September 30, 2012, 07:58 AM
tk421 tk421 is offline
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I have been self studying Spanish for 5 months and from the start I have been watching Spanish TV, while I obviously have a very limited understanding, any words I “know” jump out and I can hear them very clearly.(From clear speakers)

At first I thought how am I going to know when the are saying ¿Por Qué? or porque / Qué or que,

For me at the moment understanding what natives are saying and reading is my focus (passive Vocabulary), the advantage of self studying without a time limit well “Death” you can do what you enjoy and not have the pressure of “ I must learn this now” and if i want to focus on somthing else, i can. If what you are doing is not fun, why are you doing it?

Last edited by tk421; September 30, 2012 at 08:04 AM.
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Old October 01, 2012, 06:57 AM
bobcoss bobcoss is offline
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Excellent. I wish you great success with your learning.

Another thing which I like about this approach is that you can relax and simply enjoy or insert yourself in the dialog without pressure to look up every word or attempt to understand everything. That spoils the activity and you basically stall in your progress. Fortunately the human brain processes the words and sounds and begins associating them from the context.

It's amazing what you learn and begin to understand.

Saludos!
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Old February 09, 2013, 10:26 PM
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Judith Judith is offline
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I always only remember phrases I definitely will never use in "real life" such as "que me meo". wth . I realized that I can remember lyrics way better than any sort of dialogue in movies, but again, I won't talk in verse when I leave my flat
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Old February 10, 2013, 12:13 AM
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Villa Villa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobcoss View Post
Ok, you have been learning Spanish, you have had some success and you can carry on conversations about many topics. But you struggle to understand normal conversations, and have to resort to basic vocabulary to construct your phrases.

This is a technique that you can employ to expand your vocabulary, and improve your listening and comprehension skills. Thank you technology.

First, pick a television series in English that you are interested in. Something that you might have watched in the past, or better yet, a series you wanted to watch, but haven't had the time. I know you watch television sometimes.....

See if you can purchase the DVD or Blu-Ray episodes for that series with dubbed Spanish. I chose the series "Lost" because I never watched it, and it has a mysterious plot with lots of interaction between the cast. I was even more pleased because the previous episodes are recapped or summarized regularly. Subtitles are useful if you are dead set on finding out what that word was you don't understand. But I recommend you don't use them. There are other sources out there to find these episodes if you are so inclined to use the services of the free pirated sites. These are of course illegal, and put you at risk. If you buy the series, you can resell it later.

How do you best use this technique? First, find a way to play each episode in a quiet setting where you won't have people interacting or distracting you. Headphones are best. The controls you typically have allow you to rewind and listen to a part many times. But the best thing to do is to start with the first episode of the season (temporada) and just relax and let your brain associate the dialog with the images, and become attuned to the Spanish. As you progress through the episodes, you will be amazed at what you understand and remember. Remember the themes are often repeated and the dialog is normal every day speech. That is what you want to be able to do right?

Once you have gone through a season or the whole series, you might want to go back to the beginning and watch them again. This time, become more involved. Stopping the dialog and repeat and imitate the dialog, intonation and rhythm of the phrases. There is a lot you can do with this approach.

In the end, you will have broadened your vocabulary and listening ability. You might even be able to speak more fluently and naturally.

Of course, if you are taking classes during this time, don't stop. If you are doing intercambio with a native Spanish speaker continue, and perhaps even use the series as a discussion point. Imagine if you Spanish friend is watching Lost in English and you each watch the same episode in preparation for a conversation via Skype?

You can be successful!

Hasta luego.

Bob
Hola Bob.

A couple of days ago I was in a Mexican market and bought the Telenovela "Tres Mujeres" with Erika Buenfil on 4 DVDs. It's 555 minutes. Only $3.95. All in Spanish with English subtitles. It's nice to watch a novela without the commercial interruptions and not have to wait to the next day or the week-end to pass to see what happens. I have found that novelas are one of the best ways to learn Spanish because they use words that describe all the human emotions. Early on I found out that I was learning Spanish many times faster by watching Spanish novelas. A proposito Roberto, I don't use the subtitles tampoco.

Last edited by Villa; February 10, 2013 at 12:17 AM.
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