My Spanish learning journey.

I have dabbled in Spanish learning for the past year, but it is only from January 2017 that I feel I have been studying Spanish in a consistent way.

In August 2017 I am going to Spain with my family and we will be travelling from South to North using public transport.  I want to start this trip feeling confident that I can do all the necessary travel things in Spanish eg buy tickets, ask for directions, ask which bus stop we get on and off at, ask for recommendations for the best places to eat, discover the best dishes on menus etc etc.   Plus I would really love to be able to actually talk to people!

So at the moment my Spanish is basic.  I am a false beginner in Spanish, having studied the language before but this was over 25 years ago.  I have done a few of those online tests and they all seem to say I am A2 level.   In January and February I have worked at improving my vocabulary by studying a memrise course with audio.  I have also worked my way through a basic introductiory Spanish book Colloquial Spanish 1.   I have done a few of those online tests and they all seem to say I am A2 level.   My reading level is above my speaking as I can recognise lots of words as being similar to the French.   My listening level is

Now it is the beginning of March so I have 5 months to work on my Spanish to get it to the B1 level I need for my trip.  This blog is to document my progress with this goal and to discuss the best methods of achieving my aims with this langauge.

So what are my goals?

SMART Goals

Reading and Writing

My goal is to be able to read and speak Spanish.     I will also need to be able to understand spoken Spanish so need to work on my listening skills and also my pronunciation (which I believe to be the two sides of the same coin.)

Listening and Speaking

Writing Spanish is not so important to me at this time, but I need to spend some time on grammar to ensure my spoken spanish is understood.

Grammar and Pronunciation

Resources

Study Plan