Week 2 - Passion Project 2017 - Progress So Far

I have been feeling very motivated over the past week to get a good start on learning Spanish. I did a pre-test using Duolingo, and discovered that knowing French was a great help in picking up on some Spanish vocabulary relatively quickly. I have set myself a goal of doing 15 minutes per day, which I think will be manageable. One of the things that I am worried about is setting myself a goal that is too ambitious, and then feeling like I'm failing if I don't meet that goal each day. Fifteen minutes a day is not very long, so I think I'll be able to keep it up!

Here are some screenshots of my progress with that app so far :

I like the fact that Duolingo breaks the learning up into chunks.

There is always a daily goal...

...and the program tracks how strong you are in certain skills

Also, there are "bots" that you can
text with, so you get to practice
having a "real" conversation.

In this chat, I learned how to
order a sandwich.

I've also been looking into Spanish podcasts that could help me to practice my understanding of the spoken language. I found a website with 10 Best Podcasts for Language Learning and another called 9 Great Spanish Podcasts. I'm planning to check out the ones that seem the most interesting and add them to my iPod. That way, when I go for a walk, or while I'm driving to Halifax and back on the weekend, I can improve my listening skills. 

A third strategy that I plan to use is texting with my sister. She has been living in Costa Rica for many years now, and is quite fluent in Spanish. She has agreed to help me to learn by texting with my only in Spanish from now on (unless it is an emergency, of course!) I think it will be very motivating to do this, because I will want to tell her about things that are going on in my life. In order to tell her things, I will have to learn how to say them in Spanish! 

Finally, I plan to write to Katherin (my sponsored child in Ecuador) to let her know about my plan to learn Spanish. I think it will be helpful to know that she is expecting to hear from me in Spanish, and it will hopefully be a motivating factor if I am ever feeling like my goal is too difficult. It will be worth it to be able to communicate with her directly, rather than through a translator.

I think I've made good progress on my Passion Project so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing my efforts to learn Spanish.