Saturation Listening

[bobcoss]

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