Translating texts for practice

[feugen]

I have acquired the Spanish version of a few books I enjoy reading. I am trying to start with an easy book called Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in her Pocker/Junie B. Jones tiene un "pio pio" en el bolsillo. The book equivalents are that of an average second grader. For the most part, I can struggle through the Spanish version, though it takes me awhile to process. Here is my question though, should I use a pencil and write word translations in the book above the Spanish words until I know them?

For example: fruncio el ceno I looked up as meaning "to frown" or to wrinkle your brow. Would it hurt to pencil in "to frown" in the book beside that? I can see arguments on both sides. 1. If I write it, it will solidify it and help me remember it, however 2. Is it helpful at all to continually translate the Spanish to English in my head, rather then just know what it is when I see it?

Your thoughts?

Gracias,
Chris

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I suggest you not to get used to translations, but rather to ideas of what the words express. In this case, perhaps drawing a frowning face instead would be more helpful.

I think it's alright to write the translation above some words that are hard to remember, but doing this all the time may end up in writing too many new words that you might not remember in the end.

Perhaps it might be more useful to write sentences with the new words/expressions. That way you'll have own examples, and recognize them when you find them in other contexts.

By the way, there is a dropdown menu for inserting accents and Spanish characters. Please try using it so you can type words right. This will also help you have the right visual image of each word. The more you watch and type well written words, the more you'll know when they bear accents, how they are derived

[feugen]

Appreciate the reply. I have read your text and will try some of your suggestions. I apologize for not using the accent marks. I did look for a way to do it without using alt-codes and didn't see it immediately. Was not sure on the etiquette for writing here and just ran with it. I am not even close to a comfortable position to begin writing in Spanish, which is why I kind of just winged it.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Don't worry. We're all here to learn and to help.

Accents and Spanish characters are not exactly a matter of etiquette, but rather that wrongly written words may lead to confusions or meaning loss. They're never gratuituous.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by feugen

For example: frunció el ceño I looked up as meaning "to frown" (that is the meaning of 'fruncir el ceño', the unconjugated, or infinitive, form of the phrase)

The idea behind the words and phrases is much more important, as Angélica mentioned.
A phrase with a verb in it should be memorized in the infinitive form (like fruncir el ceño). You'll need to conjugate the phrase according to the situation at hand.