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Easton's Bible DictionaryThe curb put into the mouths of horses to restrain them. The Hebrew word (metheg) so rendered in Psalm 32:9 is elsewhere translated "bridle" (2 Kings 19:28; Proverbs 26:3; Isaiah 37:29). Bits were generally made of bronze or iron, but sometimes also of gold or silver. In James 3:3 the Authorized Version translates the Greek word by "bits," but the Revised Version by "bridles."
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary1. (n.) The part of a bridle, usually of iron, which is inserted in the mouth of a horse, and having appendages to which the reins are fastened.
2. (v.) Fig.: Anything which curbs or restrains.
3. (v. t.) To put a bridle upon; to put the bit in the mouth of.
4. (v.) imp. & p. p. of Bite.
5. (n.) A part of anything, such as may be bitten off or taken into the mouth; a morsel; a bite. Hence: A small piece of anything; a little; a mite.
6. (v.) Somewhat; something, but not very great.
7. (n.) A tool for boring, of various forms and sizes, usually turned by means of a brace or bitstock. See Bitstock.
8. (n.) The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers.
9. (n.) The cutting iron of a plane.
10. (v.) In the Southern and Southwestern States, a small silver coin (as the real) formerly current; commonly, one worth about 12 1/2 cents; also, the sum of 12 1/2 cents.
11. (p. p.) 3d sing. pr. of Bid, for biddeth.
12. (imp.) of Bite
International Standard Bible EncyclopediaBIT AND BRIDLE
bri'-d'-l (methegh wa-recen): The two words occur in conjunction (Psalm 32:9 the King James Version, "Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee"; the Revised Version (British and American)) "else they will not come near unto thee," margin, "that they come not near." Methegh, translated "bit" above, is properly a bridle or halter in which the bit was a loop passed round the under jaw of the animal; recen has a similar meaning. The counsel in the verse is that men should render a willing obedience to God and not be like the animals that man has to bridle and curb in order to get them to do his will. Compare James 3:3, where we have "bit" as translation of chalinos, "a bit" or "curb," "We put bits (the Revised Version (British and American) "bridles") in the horses' mouths that they may obey us." "Bridle" occurs separately as translation of methegh (2 Samuel 8:1), "David took Metheg-ammah," King James Version margin "the bridle of Ammah," the Revised Version (British and American) "the bridle of the mother city," margin, as the King James Version; the meaning may be that he took the control or dominion of it; "I will put. my bridle in thy lips" (2 Kings 19:28 Isaiah 37:29); "a bridle for the ass" (Proverbs 26:3); of recen (Job 30:11), "They have also let loose the bridle before me," the Revised Version (British and American) "and they have cast off the bridle before me" (acted in an unbridled (unrestrained) manner); Job 41:13, said of "leviathan" (the Revised Version (British and American) "the hippopotamus"), "Who can come to him his double bridle?" the American Standard Revised Version "within his jaws?" the English Revised Version "within his double bridle," others, "into the double row of his teeth"; Isaiah 30:28, "a bridle in the jaws of the people causing them to err," the Revised Version (British and American) "a bridle that causeth to err"; of machcom, which means "a muzzle" (Psalm 39:1), "I will keep my mouth with a bridle," King James Version margins "Hebrew, a bridle, or muzzle for my mouth"; so the Revised Version, margin.
Greek5469. chalinos -- a bridle
... a bridle. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: chalinos Phonetic Spelling:
(khal-ee-nos') Short Definition: a bridle Definition: a bridle, bit. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5469.htm - 6k
5596. psomion -- a fragment, morsel
2801. klasma -- a broken piece
2772. kerma -- a slice, hence a small coin
5468. chalinagogeo -- to lead with a bridle
5589. psichion -- a crumb (of bread)
Strong's Hebrew6595. path -- fragment, bit, morsel
... path. 6596 . fragment, bit, morsel. Transliteration: path Phonetic Spelling:
(path) Short Definition: piece. ... From pathath; a bit -- meat, morsel, piece. ...
/hebrew/6595.htm - 6k
3955. lashad -- juice, juicy or dainty bit, a dainty
6604b. pathoth -- a fragment, bit, morsel (of bread)
4964. metheg -- a bridle
1917. haddam -- a member, limb
7170. qerats -- a piece
985. bitchah -- a trust
986. bittachon -- trust
4965. metheg haammah -- Metheg-ammah
5391a. nashak -- to bite
A Bit Ahead
Bit and Bridle: How to Escape Them
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Make it a Story.
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Taken into the Innermost Life.
Teaching Three Things in one Action.
A Heart-Breaking Verse.
The Forgotten Preacher.
A Blessed Library Corner.
ThesaurusBit (46 Occurrences)
... 2. (v.) Fig.: Anything which curbs or restrains. 3. (vt) To put a bridle upon; to
put the bit in the mouth of. ... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. BIT AND BRIDLE. ...
/b/bit.htm - 24k
Mouth-bit (1 Occurrence)
Bridle (12 Occurrences)
Chaldeans (82 Occurrences)
Wood (226 Occurrences)
Coat (54 Occurrences)
Chaldea (8 Occurrences)
Eden (19 Occurrences)
Bitterness (37 Occurrences)
Bible ConcordanceBit (46 Occurrences)
Matthew 7:3 And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?
Matthew 7:4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me take out the grain of dust from your eye, when you yourself have a bit of wood in your eye?
Matthew 7:5 You false one, first take out the bit of wood from your eye, then will you see clearly to take out the grain of dust from your brother's eye.
Matthew 9:16 And no man puts a bit of new cloth on an old coat, for by pulling away from the old, it makes a worse hole.
Matthew 17:27 But, so that we may not be a cause of trouble to them, go to the sea, and let down a hook, and take the first fish which comes up; and in his mouth you will see a bit of money: take that, and give it to them for me and you.
Mark 2:21 No man puts a bit of new cloth on an old coat: or the new, by pulling away from the old, makes a worse hole.
Luke 5:36 And he said to them, in a story, No man takes a bit of cloth from a new coat and puts it on to an old coat, for so the new coat would be damaged and the bit from the new would not go well with the old.
Luke 6:41 And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?
Luke 6:42 How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye.
Luke 15:8 Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it?
Luke 15:9 And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me.
Luke 24:42 And they gave him a bit of cooked fish.
John 4:5 So he came to a town of Samaria which was named Sychar, near to the bit of land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph:
John 13:26 This was the answer Jesus gave: It is the one to whom I will give this bit of bread after I have put it in the vessel. Then he took the bit of bread, put it into the vessel, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
John 13:30 So Judas, having taken the bit of bread, straight away went out: and it was night.
John 19:23 And when Jesus was nailed to the cross, the men of the army took his clothing, and made a division of it into four parts, to every man a part, and they took his coat: now the coat was without a join, made out of one bit of cloth.
James 3:3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.
Genesis 18:5 And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.
Exodus 12:46 It is to be taken in one house; not a bit of the flesh is to be taken out of the house, and no bone of it may be broken.
Exodus 29:23 And take one bit of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one thin cake out of the basket of unleavened bread which is before the Lord:
Exodus 37:7 And he made two winged ones, hammered out of one bit of gold, for the two ends of the cover;
Numbers 21:6 Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:9 Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the standard: and it happened, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of brass, he lived.
Numbers 31:20 And every bit of clothing, and anything made of leather or goats' hair or wood, you are to make clean.
Ruth 2:14 And at meal-time Boaz said to her, Come here, and take some of the bread, and put your bit into the wine. And she took her seat among the grain-cutters: and he gave her dry grain, and she took it, and there was more than enough for her meal.
Ruth 4:3 Then he said to the near relation, Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is offering for a price that bit of land which was our brother Elimelech's:
1 Samuel 2:36 Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest's places so that I may have a little food.
1 Samuel 3:18 Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him."
2 Samuel 23:11 After him was Shammah, the son of Ela the Hararite. And the Philistines came together in Lehi, where there was a bit of land full of seed; and the people went in flight from the Philistines.
2 Samuel 23:12 But he kept his place in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack and overcame the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great salvation.
1 Kings 17:11 And when she was going to get it, he said to her, And get me with it a small bit of bread.
2 Kings 19:28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came."
1 Chronicles 11:13 He was with David at Pas-dammim, where the Philistines had come together for the fight, near a bit of land full of barley; and the people went in flight before the Philistines.
1 Chronicles 11:14 And he took up his position in the middle of the bit of land, and kept back their attack, and overcame the Philistines; and the Lord gave a great salvation.
Job 2:8 And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it.
Job 13:28 Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.
Job 33:6 See, I am the same as you are in the eyes of God; I was cut off from the same bit of wet earth.
Job 42:11 And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring.
Psalms 32:9 Don't be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
Proverbs 17:1 Better a bit of dry bread in peace, than a house full of feasting and violent behaviour.
Proverbs 28:21 It is not good to have respect for a man's position: for a man will do wrong for a bit of bread.
Isaiah 30:14 And he will let it be broken as a potter's vessel is broken: it will be smashed to bits without mercy; so that there will not be a bit in which one may take fire from the fireplace, or water from the spring.
Isaiah 30:28 And his breath is as an overflowing stream, coming up even to the neck, shaking the nations for their destruction, like the shaking of grain in a basket: and he will put a cord in the mouths of the people, turning them out of their way.
Isaiah 37:29 Because your wrath against me and your pride have come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.
Isaiah 44:19 And no one takes note, no one has enough knowledge or wisdom to say, I have put part of it in the fire, and made bread on it; I have had a meal of the flesh cooked with it: and am I now to make the rest of it into a false god? am I to go down on my face before a bit of wood?
Amos 5:19 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
Related Terms
LinksBible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus


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Yesterday was a great day! I was treated so well, I don't think I deserved it. But Kevin assures me I did, so I'll have to take his word for it. He gave me the best present I could have ever asked for. He wrote a book compiled of different pictures from when we got engaged to when Eli was born. He wrote in his own words what a blessing each of our children are in our lives and how grateful he is to have me as their mother and his wife. It was very sentimental, I want to cry just thinking about it. He is a gifted writer and I will cherish forever what he wrote for me. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day present.
Elizabeth gave an excellent talk in Primary yesterday about strengthening our families. We were very proud. She did it without much practice since we threw it together that morning before church. She reads so well that it wasn't hard at all. And unlike me, she loves to be the center of attention and doesn't have a problem with stage fright, so she did just fine. We are thinking about trying acting lessons for her this summer. We'll see if it will be promising for the talent show at the family reunion. We are all looking forward to that!!
Fathers and Sons is this weekend and Kevin can hardly wait to take Kyler camping. They'll have loads of fun and Liz and I will get to do a girls thing. Oh and futsal is going well. We are undefeated so far and I haven't hurt myself yet. Last week was an exciting game, we played the other team in our ward and we won 4 to 2! I have yet to score a goal in a game and I'm determined. There is always this weeks game.
Lift Your Lamp!
6 days ago

subset: commoncrawl


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The new Ricky Gervais movie 'The Invention of Lying,' is being sold as a light-hearted date comedy, but it's actually a mean-spirited attack on religion.
In a world where everyone tells the truth, Gervais' character tells his dying mother the first lie ever: that she's going to a better place where she will be re-united with all the people she loved in life who have passed on.
It's time Hollywood stopped insulting people of faith and started providing its audience with entertainment that honors their sensibilities. Please spread the word about our group. Let's change the culture of Hollywood."
Monday, October 5, 2009
Another Hollywood Attack on Religion
Posted by Tommy Flores at 12:46 AM
Labels: antichristian, Bigotry
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Sunday, March 4, 2012
He stole my heart so I stole his last name
2 comments:
WERE YOU HURT?ReplyDelete
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I gathered the final pumpkins from the garden a few days ago, a little earlier than I'd have liked, but it was a question of getting them in before the rodents ate them! This lot should last me six months anyway as this variety – a type of Queensland Blue – is a good keeper. And it keeps my arm muscles strong – cutting into these hard skins is not for the faint-hearted! It's a busy busy time in the garden, pulling out the last of the summer crops, and putting in the next ones – garlic, onions, brassicas so far, with more to go in soon, including peas peas and more peas 🙂
Nights are cooler so it's collection time for firewood – I'd prefer to do it during the summer but the danger of snakes is too high for me then. Living the simple life is lovely, but golly there's often not too many moments to savour it, especially at the change of seasons.
Taking a couple of days off though, for some R&R, and have vehicle maintenance done. See you later 🙂


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16 Jul 2017 - 23:43
Eubank passes Abraham test to retain title
London: Chris Eubank Junior defended his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) world super-middleweight title with a unanimous points decision win over Arthur Abraham in London on Saturday.
Eubank retained the belt he took in February with the three judges awarding him the contest 118-110, 118-110, 120-108 at the end of 12 absorbing rounds at the SSE Wembley Arena.
The Brighton-born boxer, with his father, the former middleweight champion Chris Eubank in his corner, proved too much of a handful for the decade older Abraham.
The Armenian-born German manfully absorbed punch after punch from the fleeter-footed home favourite who kept up his relentless pounding until the final bell.
Eubank's reward is an invitation to the inaugural $50m (£38.4m) World Boxing Super Series Muhammad Ali Trophy.
Eubank, who took his record to 25-1, paid tribute to Abraham.
"He's the most durable opponent I've faced. I hit him with every punch in the book. The statement was made.
"I'm happy with the performance. I got to show my skills, I got to go the 12 rounds and get the experience in."
His dad described his son as "the most talented fighter on the planet".
Eubank senior added: "I believe he's the best in the world. Over the coming nine months, he will be able to clean the slate and come away with the Mohamed Ali trophy and all the belts."
On the undercard Britain's Lee Selby defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) world featherweight belt with a unanimous points decision against Argentine challenger Jonathan Victor Barros four days after the death of his mother.
The 30-year-old Welshman -- who has held the title since 2015 -- emerged the winner of a gripping bout with the three judges scoring 119-108, 117-110, 117-110 after 12 rounds.


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Hi everyone,
It has been a while since we have added anything new on here. We have been trying to work out what vitamins assist with PA. My husband has had PA for many years but we would like to find out if there is something he should be taking other than a mens multi-vitamin? He has recently started taking probiotics to assist his stomach. He doesn't really have any issues with what he can and cannot eat but we just thought it may help in some way. I was reading through some other posts and saw that a B complex assists with PA also. He recently had a blood test and all his bloods were perfect so he is not lacking in anything really but if it helps in any way with the fatigue etc that would be great!
I am just interested in finding out what helps everyone else.
Thanks everyone!


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My Book of Rocks and Minerals
A perfect first book for any child interested in starting their own rock and mineral collection, this is a fantastic introduction to the world of rocks, gems, and minerals. Children will learn all about where rocks and minerals come from, what a fossil is, and how they can go about starting their own rock collection, as well as how to identify any rocks they find. From amethyst to sandstone, common rocks and minerals are shown alongside fun facts and simple bite-sized chunks of information. A "Which mineral have you got?" section allows children to find and match rocks and gems in their collection to those in the book. With over 40 key rocks and minerals to discover, My Book of Rocks and Minerals is an absolute must-have for budding geologists aged 5 and up.
Dr Devine Dennie is a geologist and science communicator based in the USA. He is the writer and presenter of Geology Kitchen, a 12 episode series of videos explaining geological concepts with food.


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Stats about mental health problems are currently becoming more increasingly alarming. The essential consider the apparent rise in psychological health and wellness cases have actually not yet been fully identified. As a matter of fact, authorities might have released inaccurate numbers given that individuals have the tendency to conceal mental illness or disregard them. This is additionally the reason many psychological illness aggravate. Probably, the only great information to come out from this is that there are some typical mental health and wellness disorders as well as problems amongst the statistics. According to the documents of a variety of Washington-based psychiatric hospitals, there are four specifically common strands of mental illness that have been videotaped.
Amongst all the typical mental health and wellness problems, depression is stated as being the most typical. Given that it is usually hard for most people to discover clinical depression until it has taken complete result, the problem could usually go completely unnoticed. For some people, the psychological and also physical changes are gradual, which just makes it more difficult to discover the issue.
Bi-polar Condition
Bipolar illness, as compared to anxiety, is more difficult to spot. The condition causes the individual's mood to turn, being manic one moment as well as depressed in the following. While this generally fits the stereotype of people with this certain pressure of psychological wellness illness, the truth is that there are periods where the person displays a reasonably regular state of mind. This period of normality in between the reduced as well as high points is usually sufficient for casual viewers to discount the possibility of an individual having bi-polar disorder. Usually, casual viewers and the patient himself will only keep in mind the regularity of the state of mind swings and the opportunity of a problem much later. Now and then, a session of psychiatric counseling mandated by firm plan could discover the issue. However, not all companies have such a system in place.
Roughly two million people are experiencing schizophrenia at any provided time, which ought to be a cause for alarm. The problem is frequently characterized by the person hearing "voices" in their head that nobody else can listen to, a common trait of outrageous people. This mental health problem has a variety of sub-varieties as well as could successfully disable a person's capability to communicate with others if left neglected or treated. Schizophrenia can additionally sometimes cause various other psychological wellness disorders. While there are medicines that have actually been confirmed index to reduce the trouble, there are still some situations where drug should be complimented by counseling. About 20% of individuals that create the problem never ever totally recover and times of excellent stress and anxiety and anxiousness could in some cases lead to a relapse.
Probably, Alzheimer's Disease is amongst the most devastating mental conditions recognized to guy. The raising regularity of the problem has actually caused alarm system because present medicines just assist reduce the symptoms as well as not actually treat the condition. Normally detected during the latter years of an individual, Alzheimer's could take an enormous toll on one's life and also relationships. As a devastating condition, it swiftly eliminates the patient's positive self-image and capacity to physically function in a normal means. In contrast to various other psychological health issue, Alzheimer's is fairly easy to detect if the individual is effectively informed. As formerly stated, the condition is hard to treat with any kind of level of assurance. Counseling is known to have marginal effects also the mildest of cases. There is still no psychedelic medication that has actually shown significant impacts other than "delaying the inescapable.".
As these psychological health and wellness problems eclipse the human mind, it has actually come to be more clear that more job has to be carried out in terms of research study and also drug advancement.
Data concerning psychological health problems are now ending up being much more increasingly worrying. Probably, the only good news to come out from this is that there this link are some common mental health disorders and conditions amongst the data. According to the documents of a number of Washington-based psychological hospitals, there are 4 specifically usual hairs of mental health troubles that have been recorded.
Amongst all the common mental health disorders, depression is mentioned as being the most typical. In contrast to various other psychological health and wellness issues, Alzheimer's is relatively very easy to find if the person is correctly educated.


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...and the opening of spanish-only.com!
I'm a bit tired because of the way Blogger works, so therefore I decided to move everything to a new blog running on Wordpress (the system I always liked). The address will be Spanish-only.com (already working).
Unfortunately I was not able to move the comments (I'll continue trying this), so at the moment only the posts are on the new blog. In a few days I'll add some redirects to the new site, if everything works out. Otherwise this blog will continue to exist as an archive, but comments will be closed. Of course, a brand new comment system comes with the new blog.
Also, in a few days the feedburner feed will be updated, so there is no need to do it yourself.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Closing of spanish-only.blogspot.com...
...and the opening of spanish-only.com!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Rapping all day long
I'm still here, happily doing my daily SRS reps, watching telenovelas (no, they're not just for chicas or mujeres) and listening music. Listening A LOT of music, each and every day, for hours and hours. To be honest: I just can't listen to audiobooks or podcasts while commuting. I like reading newspapers, or just staring out of the window while sitting in the train or bus. Not thinking about anything.
So, podcasts are no real option, nor are audiobooks. I have to think too much, and I just want to relax. And music simply helps me to relax, especially Spanish music. I've written more regarding this a while ago, and in the meanwhile I've listened hours and hours to reggaeton, bachata, rock, (latin)rap and more. The last few weeks I've been discovering Spanish rap. At first I was just enjoying the beats and lyrics, so far I could understand them. But then something cool happened.
I have the weird ability to listen to a CD for weeks and weeks, hours and hours per day. And the cool thing is that even after three weeks a CD doesn't bore me. It takes at least 4 - 5 weeks before a CD really starts to bore me. This way I can absorb the lyrics, giving me some new neat vocab to work with, but it also helps me understanding something said at 500 miles per minute. For example: there are quite some natives in the classes I attend, and after school we often continue to speak Spanish, but mostly they speak at 500 miles per minute which was quite difficult for me. Was difficult for me, because now I can understand them without a problem. Sure, sometimes I need a second or two before I fully understand what they've just said, but I can understand it. All because of rap and reggaeton.
Another neat thing that happened is that is influenced my pronounciation. So far I developed an Iberian accent which I really like. I had to work hard to get this accent, but eventually I developed one. It's a pity I didn't find out earlier how music can help to build your accent. For example: I got a CD with some cool reggaeton. As common in parts of Latin-America some singers pronounced the jota as a 'h' - hota. After a while I began saying things like muher, hente, caha, etc., etc. Now, this is something I didn't want to happen because of my Iberian accent.
It took some effort not using it anymore, but it proves that music strongly influences your pronounciation. Instead, I'm listening rap now, from Spain. And it really helps with my pronounciation, both maintaining and building it to perfection.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Learning materials provided by the Spanish state
Well, not exactly. But they ARE offering their television programs over the internet from now on. For free, gratis, gratuito. Some days ago I was reading the web edition of El País, like I do once in a while, when I came across this article. I appears that RTVE changed their website and added a feature which ables people from all over the world (yes, not only Spain, like a lot of Spanish television stations tend to do) to watch the programs broadcast the last 7 days.
In the past they only offered a 24 hour news service (which they still offer, but frankly: it's dull as ****), where you now can watch telenovelas and more. Fullscreen, good quality, YouTube-like (you MUST love YouTube. So get your *** over to RTVE.es, now!
Oh, besides, I'm still terribly busy with school. I'm still here, checking comments and answering them when possible or needed. Just give me some time and stick around.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Why rolling your R
As you probably noticed, there have been less posts the last few weeks. It's not because I don't want to write, it's simply that I don't have time. Unfortunately, this will continue to be for about a month, but I'll try to publish at least one post per week.
Studies are going really well and I'm getting more and more fluent in Spanish which really feels good. I'm a bit of a perfecionist and this works both ways; I'm getting fluent faster and I'm getting better than I could've imagined. For example, last week someone asked me why I spent so much time perfecting my accent and pronounciation. "Isn't getting understood most important?" Well, of course getting understood it most important, but I want to get beyond that. Mainly because I want to move to Spain one day, I'm perfecting my Iberian Spanish pronounciation (I know, there isn't one pronounciation, but there are some standards). Although some people don't seem to find this very important, I do find it important and I'm willing to invest some serious time in this.
Similar to this my uncle also asked me this week why a rolled R is so important in Spanish. My first reaction was: 'A non-rolled R just sounds weird', and this includes not using a 'flap' for non-rolled R's. Again, I spent some serious hours tackling the rolled R and as soon as I mastered it, it gave a boost to my learning progress. Also, when you eventually 'master' Spanish - but have a poor pronounciation - people will almost always listen to that instead of what you're actually saying, some might even hate it so much that they don't like to talk with you (happened to me).
So, is pronounciation important? YES! I would say. And why wouldn't you concentrate on your R's (both rolled and flapped), c/s/z, uve's, etc., etc.? It only takes a little bit of extra energy when starting with Spanish, but the advantages are HUGE.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Preparing for tests
Doing your daily Anki sentences, listening music, watching Spanish television, etc., etc. It's great to do that every day, but frankly: it's only for your general studying, to get better in Spanish in general. But what if you have to prepare for Spanish tests, either in high school or in college? How do you prepare for, let's say, the vocabulary part? This can be rough, especially if you don't know where to start.
On an average, people try to jam vocabulary lists in their head using brute-force learning. Reading words over and over again, saying them out loud. Some people in my class do this, and even I did it. With no success. But now I pass the vocabulary tests with almost straight A's. And it's quite easy AND fun because I know I'll pass the next test.
So what do I do? It's simple: I use Anki for my vocabulary training. The book we use in school is called Gente 2, and the vocabulary in the tests comes from the stories in that book. Every test we need to know the vocabulary in 4 of the 11 chapters bij heart. Therefore I read the chapters, and each and every word I encouter that I don't know, I write down. Actually, I add it to Anki, something like this.
Sentence where the word is in
[Show answer]
translation of noun/verb in this context
Where my daily sentences give me the opportunity to practice grammar, this method helps me concentrating more on the unknown word. Because the use of a word differs, I put the sentence under it which also helps remembering the word better. It works great like this, and it's also a relaxed way of learning as the most work is reading the stories and looking up the definitions. After that you can reach your goal with 20 - 30 minutes of studying every day, beginning two weeks in advance.
But what if you have to learn word lists for school? Only adding the words doesn't help much, because the words won't stick that good. Try finding sentences where the word is used in. The Wordreference website is a great source for sentences like that, although a good dictionary can help aswell.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Studying grammar CAN help
At first, I was all for the 'input before output', 'output will come automatically', etc., etc. And I must say it has worked for me, it has worked wonderfully. BUT! As soon as I had to study the verb endings for class and the irregular verb forms, my study progress went even faster. At first I thought this was only because I was getting more input, but in Spain I noticed that my grammar studies were actually VERY fruitful.
Although at times I didn't know what tense to use, I eventually became more familiar with 'when to use what' and because of my grammar studies earlier I knew the correct verb form. Later on, it became part of my intuition and I knew exactly what to use when, something very exciting. Also, everytime I read a book, and I see a certain verb, I know exactly in what tense it is and therefore knowing the endings helps me understanding more and adding more and more to my natural intuition.
A while ago I was reading some articles regarding language acquisition. One article was about the theories of Stephen Krashen (the man who 'came up' with the input = out method) and it stated that students who had a massive amount of input with some grammar study were eventually on a higher level than students who only got input without grammar study. Unfortunately the article is in Dutch, otherwise I'd posted it here. But the main thought is that studying grammar is not a waste of time, as long as you don't spend too much time on it. Studying grammar won't learn you Spanish, input does. That doesn't take away that studying grammar can boost your progress.
So what to do? I suggest buying a good grammar book, especially one which explains the verbs. Don't rush the use of a grammar book, I suggest plain beginners to stick to easy input, even courses (FSI, SpanishPod), to get familiar with the Spanish language. Read children's books, even better; use bilingual texts (if audio is available: USE IT!). It will help you getting a good foundation, after which you can start studying grammar (concentrate on the verbs first). Believe me, it will boost your progress.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Back home
As you might have seen (did a small comment yesterday) I'm back. I went to Málaga last week for a small intensive course (way too short, but it was something arranged by my college) and a stay with a family. Staying with the family was great, the people were nice and the mother was a teacher herself. So not only I learned a lot from her, we also discussed learning methods (in Spanish, of course). The language intitute was just great. Normally I think classes suck in general, especially my college classes (I still attend my college classes, but at times I hate them), but the way the people at the institute were able to explain things... WOW!
The trip showed me some things that'll be valuable to you (and me, of course), especially regarding grammar. So expect some posts on that.
In the meanwhile I urge you to stick to your sentences. This trip was the first trip to Spain after I started doing my sentences on a daily basis, and the results were stunning. The family I stayed with were impressed by how well I could express myself (the correct use of different words, the vocabulary range, etc., etc.) and that my grammar was correct most of the time (I know I'm arrogant, hehe). And although I did some serious grammar studying next to the sentences, most of my speaking abilities (yes, speaking abilities from reading) came from the sentences.
Now I first need to switch back from Spanish-mode to Dutch/English-mode.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Cuentos en Español
Stories in Spanish. This is something I wanted to share with you earlier, but simple didn't have the chance to do so. Remember me writing about children's books, and how important they're for beginners? Right, I gave some tips for books, but unfortunately it's quite difficult to get them if you're not a member of Instituto Cervantes. Luckily enough there are some neat resources, of which I'd like to discuss one in this post.
Eleena of Voices en Español came up with the great idea of posting Spanish [translations of] children's stories on the web, with the exact audio done by a native speaker. The accent of the speaker may vary, as the speakers vary. Nonetheless it's a great source of reading-listening, next to the nice and simple (although real enough) language. Copying the audio to your mp3-player and printing out the text is a great way to learn while commuting. I'm actually planning to do so and just bring a marker with me so I can colour the unknown words and add the sentences to Anki.
The plan is to add one story per week, so there should be plenty of materials soon enough!
Click here for Cody's Cuentos.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Busy, busy, busy
The coming up week I'm quite busy. I've got a psychology paper to finish and have a Spanish exam on Tuesday. So new posts have to wait after that. Besides, the week after, I'll be in Málaga for about one week.
So sorry for not updating much, but I promise I'll post at least one more thing before I leave for Spain.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Reasons why NOT stop studying Spanish
People think of a lot of reasons before they start studying a language. How useful is it to be able to speak the language? (in the case of Spanish; VERY!) Is it possible for me to use it in the near future? (in the case of Spanish; probably, yes) Can I get enough materials to learn the language? (Spanish; YES!) Do I really want to learn this language? (that depends on you, hehe) Etc. Etc.
But when they eventually start studying a language and stop after a while, they don't even consider why they should stop. Has the language suddenly become less useful (this is possible, depends on your situation) or has your source of material suddenly dried up (don't give this as a reason regarding Spanish, because there's ALWAYS material for Spanish)? It doesn't matter actually, because most 'reasons' are no actual reasons, most people simply don't have a reason to stop studying Spanish (or any other language). It's simply lazyness. So here are a few reasons why you shouldn't stop studying Spanish.
1. Think about your reason to start studying Spanish
Is it because that cute Spanish girl you met last summer? Do you love the mentality of people in Bolivia? Do you like Mexican food and want to move to Mexico because of this (yes, Mexican food is good, so it's not that weird to move for this)? Whatever your reason is/was, it still counts in most cases. Just think about it every day to motivate yourself. Personally, my first reason to start studying Spanish was because I liked the sound of the language. It still like the sound, but also got some great Spanish friends who only speak Spanish and no other languages. Currently that's even a bigger reason to become better.
2. The time you've invested so far
How many hours have you spent studying Spanish? 10 hours? 100 hours? 200 hours? Again, it doesn't matter. Every 10 minutes well-spent counts. You don't want to be that person that invested a lot of effort in something to forget everything later on, don't you? Why would you start running 10 km to quit after 4 km and return? It's a waste of energy, even if just started studying. Every minute learning (and then I mean learning in a correct way) is spent well, no doubt about it.
3. Look back
This connects with the point above. You look back and see what you've achieved so far. What were your successes? How did you feel when you achieved these things? When I look a year back, I see this bilingual guy, who couldn't roll his R's and could only say hola ¿cómo estás?. Now, I see this guy who has several Spanish(-speaking) friends, can roll his R's, can fake accents and can simply have fun going out with Spanish friends and speaking nothing else than Spanish. I couldn't imagine what I know now, and I'm still not even near where I want to be (at times, I still suck. Actually, most of the time. But that doesn't matter). But I'm happy what I've reached so far, and eager to continue.
4. Think of the joy
Image yourself being in a Spanish-speaking country, hanging out with cool people, going to cool clubs and bars, and meeting cool new people. That's what can happen if you succeed in being fluent in Spanish. You just made it possible for you to get connected with over 400 milion people, on the same level of communication. IF you succeed. Don't be the person dreaming about being in a Spanish-speaking country and doing cool things with natives. Be the person who DOES these things.
5. Money
Although money shouldn't be your first reason to study Spanish, it's perfectly possible to make a nice amount of money every month if you're good at it. Moving to a Spanish-speaking country might get you a well-paid job (for that country, most likely) and living like a god in France (Dutch saying, hehe). Even if you don't move to a Spanish-speaking country, Spanish might get you the job you truly enjoy (teacher? translator?).
6. Integrate in other cultures
Although going to clubs and bars is fun, learning another language also involves learning another culture and customs. When I was studying Russian I was able to integrate in a completely other culture. Studying Spanish involves learning a slightly less extreme way of integrating, but it's still different to what you're used to in most ways. Especially in Latin-America there are countries with some cool, pre-Hispanic, customs. Getting to know these opens a totally different world for you.
7. ...
I can mention a lot of other reasons why NOT top stop studying Spanish, but I think the point is clear and that you should convince yourself. Just don't quit when you're having a hard time getting the hang of the language, just continue.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Andalucía Televisión
Just a quick post from my side. In the last post I talked about getting native materials and that getting a satellite dish might be a nice solution. For the people who can't afford one and depend on the internet for their Spanish materials I found Andalucía Televisión. As you probably know, Andalucians have a quite heavy Iberian accent (at least the majority, there are quite come ceceos), but it's great television nevertheless.
From here you can watch a live stream in a Youtube-like player (unfortunately it's not available in full-screen, I think). You can also watch previous episodes of their programmes by searching for them in the right frame. On top of this, there are some radio stations which are actually quite good (both the music and the DJ's).
I suggest you check it out (especially if you're learning an Iberian accent) and try to make watching/listening it a daily routine.
TeleMadrid got a similair service, but the quality of the stream is pretty bad in my opinion.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Gathering your materials
I've given quite some tips on how to begin, how to keep momentum, etc., etc. The thing I haven't discussed is what I think are the best materials. Sure, sentences are a important part of my learning routine (and should be important for you aswell), but it's not the only thing. I use some very handy (and often cheap or free) resources to get exposure from. That's what I want to do today; some resources I think are necesarry for you all or which will boost your learning progress.
Get exposure/input
Language learning is all about getting yourself enough exposure. Textbooks want to let you believe this can only be done by artificial dialogues and stupid work lists. Bull**** I say, that's not how natives learned Spanish. Spaniards learned Spanish from hearing and seeing a lot of Spanish, that's why they're so good at it. So the tip I want to give you, is this: Get. Native. Materials. NOW! It's that simple. Buy Spanish books from Amazon.com or get them from a Cervantes library near your place. Although Amazon doesn't have much DVD's for Spaniards, there are plenty other good (Spanish) companies around which sell them at good prices (again, if there's a Instituto Cervantes near your house, you might get them there aswell).
Me for example: I love watching Friends. And although I used to hate dubbed series and movies (which is not good if you want to learn Spanish, so you'd better get over it), I got muself two seasons of it on DVD and searched the internet for transcripts in Spanish. Although I only use the audio for understanding (yes, I don't use the subtitles), I can use the transcripts if I misunderstand something or for acquiring more sentences.
Another thing you should consider, is getting yourself a satellite dish. Yeah, be like a foreigner in your own country, but if you don't live in a country where there are a lot of Spanish channels on cable tv (like in the U.S.) you might want to buy a satellite dish. They can be a bit expensive, but if you can tune in on hundreds of Spanish channels, it's work every dime. You could also try WWITV of course, but there are only a few good channels and buffering a channel can take ages.
If you were going to spend money on Spanish learning materials (other than native materials), you'd better spend it on SpanishPod. The first 7 days of your account you have access to all the premium materials, which are really good. Not only you have a nice podcast to listen to, you also have a PDF file with the dialogue transcript, a vocabulary list (brrrr, word list), expansion (THIS is what you need. Ready-to-copy sentences. Personally I translate the English part to Dutch, but it's still good) and some good exercises to train and measure the learned language. After the 7 days it can get ugly, because a premium membership is $30 a month. If you can't miss that amount of money, consider the basic membership, which gives you the dialogue PDF and mp3 in CD quality. But better get the premium content, because it's a great source of sentences (the first 90+ lessons will give you over 1500 sentences).
So what's the best way to use SpanishPod? Of course to listen to the podcasts, but try to listen to the ones you like (subjects you like, of course) and things you think you may need in the near future, and listen to them often. The podcasts aren't linked together liked normal lessons, so you can pick out the ones you want to do first. Also, find out what's the highest level you can take at the moment. The first few levels are in English, but later on (the higher levels) they're entirely in Spanish (which is good, because you want to have a lot exposure. Believe me, you want to get to it quickly). Listen every podcast a few times and read along with the dialogue. Also try to mine sentences from the dialogue to add to Anki.
Next thing to do is (if you have a premium account, or when you're still in the trial period) to copy the sentences from the expansion part to Anki. This won't take much time, and you're even learning from quickly seeing the sentences. As Anki supports audio, it might be a nice idea to download and edit the fix (this comes with every podcast, but is premium content) to add the audio of the sentence to the written sentence. The fix contains the loose vocabulary, but it also has each and every example sentence from the expansion tab as audio.
So not a member? Sign up NOW! (Yeah, some blatant advertising from my side, but I mean each and every word of it).
Stay tuned for more b*d-*ss material tips!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
How difficult is it to study Spanish?
People often ask me if it's hard to study Spanish, or they simply say it is a tricky language to learn. However, the biggest problem for them is that they see this 'wall' (an unknown language) and think it's almost impossible for them to get around it, or that only smart people can learn Spanish or another language. The truth is, however, that Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn, if your native tongue is a European language. But even if it isn't; you already know English (otherwise you wouldn't understand this post) and English and Spanish share the same alphabet and other nice things (the spelling of Spanish is nothing compared to English; they came up with a 'concept' where you spell the things how you say them. [sarcasm]WOW![/sarcasm]). According to Khatzumoto (yeah, sorry, I like the way he thinks. And he is just right regarding a lot of things) it's possible for everyone to learn Japanese, so why wouldn't you be able to learn Spanish?
So how is it possible that people study Spanish for years and years, and that they're still not able to have even the simplest conversations? It's just a matter of choosing the wrong approach. A lot of people use textbooks with artificial conversations, old words, boring content, etc., etc. Textbooks are expecting someone to know a rule by heart by just seeing three examples, or force people to learn out-of-context words. So it's not that Spanish is difficult, that's what some people want you to believe. Just look to some of the advantages you have as a speaker of the English language:
It has the same alphabet, is spelled phonetically, has some of the easiest sounds to produce, has a clear grammar, not many hard-to-pronounce words, etc., etc. So far I can see it's pretty easy to study Spanish. The only thing that lacks most of the time, is that people believe they can't do it. Why would say if it's impossible if you didn't even try?
So, the biggest hurdle to take is to say to yourself: I. Can. Do. It. NOW! And instead of just saying it and then doing nothing, start acting like you can do it. Gather materials, USE them and you'll see Spanish really is one of the easlier languages to master. "Ahhhhh, sure Ramses. I can start studying Spanish, but my accent will suck anyway, I will never master the grammar or idioms and I will NEVER have a big vocabulary" you might say. Nonsense, I will say. Just go, study, enjoy the language. Enjoy your progress, enjoy hanging out with Spanish people. Enjoy each and every thing you do in Spanish, enjoy using Spanish. Just say to yourself: I can do it, and I WILL succeed and master Spanish to the point where I can say it's my second (or third) native language. It's not that hard, it's perfectly possible.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Colour your words
Previously I wrote about word lists and that I believe they don't work. Don't worry, I still think they don't work, but I had some discussions the last few days about it with some people. They find sentences way too confusing to learn the most important words. Also, I've noticed something in my own learning method which should boost your learning progress aswell. But first I'll tell you how I used to create my sentences in Anki.
When I first began to use sentences I was worried about the fact that I wouldn't learn individual words. So instead of just adding sentences I'd first add the infinitive or noun and then the example sentence. Something like this:
La gasolina es más cara que el gasóleo
Petrol is more expensive than diesel
La gasolina es más cara que el gasóleo
Petrol is more expensive than diesel
Ever since I've been using this format. And it works, it simply works. After a few months practicing my few hundred sentences like this I was able to have nice conversations and even pull off more complex presentations. But after a update of Anki, which enables people to add colours to their words and sentences, I've come up with the idea to colour the hard words to help them stick better. So instead of just making a word bold, you can simply add a colour to it, which (according to some studies) boosts the learning progress. And again, everything is much more clear right now, because of the extra attention to difficult words and parts. This is how my sentences look like right now:
Petrol is more expensive than diesel
Of course this is just a simple example, most of my sentences are more complex than this. Besides, it's possible that I have only one coloured word in a sentence, or none. But the thing is that you need to analyze your sentences, read them aloud (if you're alone, of course), write them down (if that's possible, I don't do it normally), etc., etc. Giving colour to the words not only helps you with remembering them in the future, it also helps you with analyzing them because you can distinguish the coloured words easier and see their translations faster aswell.
So bring colour to your sentences and let your learning be more fruitful!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Spanish natives are just cooler
Why are Spanish people cooler than the people from your own country? I don't know, just because they are! Ok, the truth is that you can simply learn a lot from them. Not only language-wise, but you will also learn a lot about the country where they're from. My class counts about 7 nationalities, of which 5 are from a Spanish-speaking country. Every day they teach me 'official' Spanish words, slang words and give me a better view on their culture. Not for the sake of learning, but just because they seem to be cooler I 'hang' with them.
My last stay in Spain I had the chance to spend time with some very cool people, from other countries than Spain (nor they were speaking Spanish like a native). Instead I choose to get myself some new friends, Spanish friends. In the beginning this was kinda hard, because where do you get a pack of new friends? Luckily I was visiting some Dutch friends who know a lot of Spanish people, so I was soon going out with Spanish people aswell. It simply boosted my knowledge of the language and increased my feeling for it. Besides, I also gained a bigger liking for Spanish.
Of course it can be tiresome for natives to always correct you or to learn you new things. You should be aware of that and not want to learn new things language-wise all the time. What you can do is spend some time talking about the differences between your culture and their culture. Often you will see that Spanish speaking people are really interested in completely other cultures. Even the fact that Dutch people have their supper at 6PM amazed a lot of Spaniards. This way you'll pick up some serious new vocabulary, understanding of the grammar AND get a better understanding of the customs of your new friends.
A lot of people say that the best way to learn a language is to go to the country where it's spoken. This can be true is some cases, but it's not fool proof. What will work is to get know some very cool, new, people where you go out with. They'll be happy to help you with your learning and you will pick up an understanding of a new culture aswell. The nice thing about this is that you can find natives in your own country. Go to parties where Spanish speaking people go to. For example; a few months ago there was a big salsa festival in the Netherlands. Some classmates of mine went and met some very cool Spanish speaking people. So don't say it's impossible, just look for the right opportunity. You will find your pack of Spanish speaking friends.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Word lists don't work (and why they don't work)
When beginning with Spanish, your first goal is probably to get a big basic vocabulary. That's a logical step, as you want to understand at least bits of the Spanish you read or hear. You probably learn a nice amount of chunks to survive in a simple Spanish conversation. That's all fine and good, but how are acquiring a new vocabulary? Word lists? Alphabetical word lists? Thematic word lists? Frequency word lists? It doesn't matter and I don't care. As long it's a word list without example sentences (sentences are gooood, because you can add them to your Spaced Repetition System) they're worthless and mostly work contra-productive.
When I started majoring Spanish in college I knew almost nothing. Ok, I knew how to say hello and ask people how they're doing. But that's nothing. So I first started with reading a lot, which I still like. I even made a word list for my tests, just to survive. The first word list was also the last one, and I used it for about 20 minutes. It just didn't like it, it was dull and gave me the feeling I wasn't learning anything. However, I've had many discussions with classmates who think word lists are the one true learning method. They learn a few hundred words before an important test, know them for about three days and then forget 95% of what they've learned. It's no surprise they've only made little progress or at least not as much as I did. The only reason I've learned so much in the past few months is because I started to learn everything in context. I got myself a thematic dictionary, but not to learn the words but to add the example sentences each word has to my SRS.
So what's the reason word lists don't work? "I'll get myself a big word list and add it to my Spaced Repetition System" you might say. Good luck... with failing, I would say. The weakness of word lists isn't just the way you use to tackle them. It's the concept itself. Loose words are useless, especially in a language like Spanish. Unless the language you're learning is Esperanto (where word order isn't that important and words stay the same most of the time - but not always) I wouldn't even consider learning loose words, it's a waste of time and energy. Almost every word in a Spanish sentence depends on a noun, subject or a specific tense. Learning words in one particular form is just useless, and again a waste of energy. You want to see everything in context, using sentences for your plain learning moments or simply watch tv or listen to the radio. It doesn't matter, as long as the words are in context.
The power of context is not only that you get a better understanding of the Spanish grammar or that you get an intuition. Every sentence tells you something, and the words you don't know will stick better if you understand what the sentence is trying to say to you. Analyze your SRS sentences, look for the unknown words and special forms of verbs and nouns. Look for the awkward things in Spanish, it'll be even funny. Each and every sentence which contains a hard to remember word will help you to remember that particular word. It will also help you with remembering most of the other words in the sentence AND the grammatical structure. So throw your word lists away, get yourself a (thematic) dictionary word LOTS of example sentences and start adding them to Anki. Don't have a computer at hand? Doesn't matter, just listen an audiobook or a podcast. Don't want to use the computer but just being plain lazy? Doesn't matter, fire up a DVD with Spanish audio (even a lot of dubbed ones are fun to watch. Me for example always enjoy Bad Boys 2, it's just funny as ****) - better not turn on the subtitles (not even the Spanish ones), they make you lazy.
It doesn't matter how you acquire vocabulary. It doesn't matter how long it takes before you feel confident (but hopefully it won't take too long either). Just do a little bit every day, in context, and you WILL build an impressive vocabulary.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Reading children's books
Every serious language learner encouters it soon enough; a too small vocabulary. Vocabulary is one of the most important things, because you can get fairly far without a strong grammar base. That's why you want to build your vocabulary FAST. "Ahhh, that's easy! I just use a list with the 3,000 most common Spanish words" you might say. Well mate, loose words suck. You want to use sentences instead. But sentences will mostly help you in the long run, instead of in the very beginning.
So what's the best way then? It's hard to say what's the best way, because it's probably as case of combining several methods and investing a lot of time, especially in the beginning (not that I'm saying you should invest less when you're further on your way to fluency). However, reading children's books can and will help your progress significantly. I've discussed "children's books" for adults in the past, but just too short to be useful. What you want are books which are most useful to adult learning and which use a limited lexicon. Books as de ones of the University of Salamanca and esparaleer are probably the best ones around. They don't really contain dull children's stories, but rather short stories which are enjoyable for adults. The downside is that most of the books are quite short, so you want to get yourself at least 3 or 4 to do some serious reading.
So, you have been reading the books and you like them. Starting at level 1, which uses about 400 words, and working you way to level 6, which uses about 2,500 words - taking the books of the University of Salamanca as example (getting to level 6 will take, of course, a lot of work besides reading these books). But what is the best way to use them?
A good friend of mine who speaks several languages at near-native level, says he just takes a book he really likes and start reading, a dictionary at his side to look up unfamiliar words. Normally he won't look up every word he doesn't know, but rather take the words which he stumbles upon more than a few times. This is a method he generally uses for longer books, such as novels. But it can be used for short books aswell. Applying this method to the espareleer books, for example, will result in building up a basic vocabulary fast. An extra feature these books have, is an explanation (in Spanish) for difficult words, just at the bottom of the page the word is on.
But beware, don't read a book just once. Ok, most esparaleer and Santillana (the ones of the University of Salamanca) books are written in the same style, but it's possible that another book relies on another basic vocabulary. The thing you want in this case, is to know each and every book you're going to 'tackle' very well. Add sentences to your Anki database, add words you like or find difficult to your personal notebook (and write one or two example under the word) or mark the words in your book (if it's yours). Do anything you want, as long as you learn from it. The strength of this is that you see everything is context, which is the most important thing in gaining vocabulary. You want to learn these words NOW, and you will. You in the end you will also want to know the structure of Spanish, gain an intuition. You will, but be sure to do everything in context. Even analyze the sentences in the easiesier books, you will find out this can be fun. Read, look up, write down, analyze. Do this with children's books or the simple books mentioned before, and you will get a bigger basic vocabulary soon.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Building and maintaining your accent
When it comes to learning a language, it's a pity that a lot of people neglect the custom to use a proper accent. Ok, in the very beginning it can be difficult to have a proper accent, but you shouldn't worry too much about output in the beginning anyway. Using a proper accent from the beginning is the only way to fluency. It doesn't matter if you choose to use a Mexican, Argentinan or Spain-Spanish accent, as long as you stick with the accent you choose to use. This will be easier for you in the end, and will boost your learning progress because you'll be confident speaking Spanish.
In once met a woman who has been living in Spain for over 20 years. Her Spanish was just perfect, vocabluary and grammar wise. Her pronounciation, however, was just terrible. You could clearly hear she was from England as her r was exactly the same as an English r. Her rolling r was simpy non-existent. Of course people were able to understand her, but they would often make fun of her accent or just wouldn't listen because it was such a drag to do so.
This shows how important an accent can be. You want to be taken seriously, don't you? "Ahhh, as long as they understand me it's ok. It's just impossible to sound like a native". WRONG! I've had some serious 'rolling r' problems myself. I just couldn't roll my r with the tip of my tongue. So what did I do? I've been practicing like a madman for weeks. My roommates got crazy because I was trying to produce rolling sounds all day, but I didn't care. Eventually I was able to produce a rolling sound, but wasn't able to put it into words. So I've been practicing again, for weeks and weeks. Now I can finally put a nice, smooth, rolling r into every word I want. With ease. Why? Simply because I want to have a perfect accent and I don't want to give up this beautiful language just because I can't roll my r.
I liked reading Barry Farber's book "How To Learn Any Language". He said something like: Why would you invest a lot of time and energy in gaining a proper accent afterwards if you can get a proper accent from the beginning with juuuuuuuust a little bit of extra energy? I think is right on this one. I've been practicing a lot of Spanish speaking with a bad accent, and it cost me quite some energy and time to abandon this accent and get myself a proper one. It even set me back a little bit. First, because I was spending so much time practicing my accent. Second, because I felt bad because of my accent and 'why I couldn't do that r sound'. This shouldn't happen to you, if you take up the challenge to make your accent perfect.
I like to visit the How-to-learn-any-language forum, as a lot of great people with great ideas regarding language learning visit it every day. There I've read something about shadowing (another link, with some useful threads). It's quite difficult to exactly explain, but it works like this: you listen-read a text, or a part of a text (for this you need a piece of text - better take a long book you REALLY like - with the matching audio, obviously), and then COPY the spoken text yourself. That's not the trickiest part, but it will get tricky as you need to speak out every word at the same time as the audio. I know, it's hard to do, but it will get easier. I've done it myself, and I actually like it. It enables me to copy the proper accent of the speaker of the audiobook, which will stick and will be there outside the shadowing exercises.
To put it together; acquiring a correct accent isn't hard and won't take much time, if you begin acquiring it at an early stage. However, it can be a pain in the *** if you start too late with it, so you better start early (preferably in the first month of your studies, maybe even the first two weeks). I might take a bilingual book/text to shadow with, so you can pick up some new vocabulary aswell.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The importance of liking your music
I know a lot of people who tend to say that music has really helped their language learning experience in a positive way or is helping them to get a grip on their target language. I agree with them, although I must say that you must not rely too much on songs for language learning. Usually words are changed in a way that they sound nice, but they're not necessary correct when used in the songs. However, songs can be really good to get used to the sound of the language and to boost your love for the language.
I've been struggling with finding music that I really like for long. The Spanish language comes with a list of music genres which are typical for the language. The truth is however, that merengue and bachata music can be nice, but they're not really my type of music. I really like rock music and punk rock in particular. That said, it has been a real drag for me to find some bands I really like. "It doesn't matter if you like the music or not, just listen to Spanish music for the sake of listening" lots of people tend to say. This is not true, you will find out when time passes and you study more and more. You WANT to like the music, otherwise it will just negatively affect your progress.
My search for music that I really like led me to situations I prefer not be in anymore. Because of the lack of music I like, I started listening to some pop music and bachata music. Instead of helping me learning Spanish and increasing my love for the language, it began to break down the love I already had for Spanish. Every minute I listened to music I didn't really like, the more I began to hate the sounds of Spanish itself. I know, maybe I was overreacting, but that was how I felt.
That changed when I found music that I DO like. I started to love the language again, and the sound of Spanish now sound cooler than ever. This shows how important it is that you like the music of the target language you listen to. Maybe the music you like doesn't help you with building vocabulary or getting a better understanding of the grammar, but it can help you gaining a bigger 'liking factor'. On the other hand; listening to music you don't like can seriously damage your progress. In the end you will start studying less and less because you start hating some parts of the language, and the things you want to happen is that you start loving almost every part of it.
Another fun thing to do is to learn the lyrics by heart. This can look dull, but if you're really into a song it can be a really good thing to do. You will get used to the sound, maybe even the particular accent of the singer (if that's an accent you want to learn). Lots of sites which prove lyrics often give the translation of Spanish songs, so you can get a gist of the meaning of the words and sentences (remember: you don't want to translate word-by-word, simply because it doesn't work).
Friday, February 22, 2008
Why sentences are so damn important
If you have been reading Khatzumoto's blog, you probably have read enough about sentences. But it doesn't hurt to just talk about it again. To be honest; I've been really sceptic about this method for a long time, until I decided to just pick up the idea and put it in practice myself. And I have to say, it just skyrocketed my progress in Spanish.
I'm surrounded by native speakers of Spanish in college, and we all just prefer to discuss our daily things in Spanish instead of in Dutch or English. In the beginning this was kinda hard because my vocabulary sucked in Spanish and my feeling for the structure of the language was just dramatic. This resulted in some pretty funny situations. Funny for the native speakers. I just felt depressed at some times and had a headache every day the first three or four weeks. Now I can discuss a lot of subjects with a fairly high level of confidence, just after five months or so. Still, my vocabulary isn't even near that of a native speaker, but I've grown an intuition for the structure of Spanish.
So what has helped me to get this? Simple; sentences. Adding new sentences every day, saying them out loud and decipher the meaning of the words and the structure of the sentence. Instead of learning I just read them, and it worked. It has been working since the first week I began to use my growing sentence database and it still works months after. I don't have the feeling that I'm actually learning something (which will be awkward for you and can result in a minor depression in the beginning), but I am learning something. A few weeks ago I had a presentation about a subject I never talked about before. But I was able to pull it off with just a few minutes of time to prepare, and the words flew out of my mouth. Afterwards I got some compliments about how my Spanish has grown in such a short time. It's not that I'm looking for compliments, but they're always nice.
My sentence database isn't that big at the moment, but I'm always looking for things I might need in the near future. It's handy to have a thematic dictionary because you can pick things you want to learn at that moment. I've been in Spain for almost a month last December. I knew that I'd go to bars and clubs with friends who are native speakers, so the things I wanted to learn involved names of drinks, youth slang and so on. That's why I've been looking for sentences which covered that particular subjects and added them to Anki. The people I went out with were suprised I knew some neat slang words and I was able to understand them when they used sub-culture words themselves. It certainly boosted my 'liking factor' of Spanish, and thinking back about it just makes me happy (something you'll need, because you want to remember yourself why you are learning Spanish - to communicate with cool people).
So start building you own personal sentence database NOW. Don't do excercises now and then but do them every day. It doesn't matter if you do 10 sentences of 100 per day, as long as you keep you Spanish alive and growing. Remember; this isn't time I've come up myself. I've just read a lot of posts of Khatzumoto who got his ideas from the great guys of Antimoon.com. If it has worked for them, and if it's working for me. Why wouldn't it work for YOU?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The difficulty of beginning
Almost every language learner has difficulties with it; starting with the target language. Where does someone need to start? What is needed to start? I found beginning with Spanish just a pain in the ass. The market is flooded by learning materials for Spanish, but most are just rubbish and no-good at all. So where do you want to start?
(Real) materials
I'm not saying learning materials aren't good in general, the case is that just most aren't useful. "Learn Spanish in 2 weeks" Suuuure, if you only want to be able to order cervezas and tapas. If you REALLY want to learn Spanish, you want to have a lot exposure to the language. In fact, the best learning materials are available for free. Take the FSI Spanish course for example, or it's money costing (and slightly better, in my opinion) Platiquemos course.
Of course that's nice and all, to begin with. And the beginning is the most difficult part, next to halfway the way to fluency. As soon as you have a certain rythm it gets easier, until the 'depressing period' (something I'll get back to later) starts. But the thing you want are LOTS and LOTS of natural materials. One way to get these is to watch a lot of television and listening many hours to radio stations in your target language. The problem with this is that you need a fairly high level in the target level to understand much, so you want to have a part in your language learning you can actually understand.
This is where another neat method kicks in.
This is something I didn't come up with (just as most things I use for my language learning), but a guy called 'Khatzumoto' used this to get fluent in Japanese in about 18 months. The whole system works like this: use a computer flashcard program like Anki (don't use paper flashcards for this method as you'll deny de Spaced Repetition philosophy), add cards to it (and I mean A LOT of cards) in this way: target language - native language (or a language you know really well). That's it. Khatzumoto gives the advice to add about 10,000 cards over time, which is possible. As Dutch is my native language I used a Dutch bookThematische woordenschat Spaans (Thematic vocabulary for Spanish) which contains about 5700 example sentences. Other sentences can be get from language learning meterials, like the FSI textbooks or dictionary (especially English - Spanish and Spanish - English dictionaries tend to have heaps of example sentences). Personally I use my college textbooks to mine sentences from. This way I prepare for my exams and learn in a VERY effective way.
It the beginning this may look ineffective, but in the long run everything that's essential in a language (from patterns to the weird irregular verbs in Spanish to the idioms), will be in your brain. Khatzumoto has some very nice thoughts on this subject, so I urge you to check his blog now and then. He also has heaps of reading material regarding the sentence method.
How to get materials
Getting languages courses for Spanish is quite easy, but also expensive. You might consider just buying one course (or legally download the FSI course for free) to begin with and soon switch to real materials, sources Spanish speaking people use for their daily entertainment. This may incluse getting a satellite dish, comics (I actually have all the Tintín comics in Spanish, simply because I LOVE them), books (to begin with, the esparaleer series or the beginners books of the University of Salamanca are with their money) and radio stations.
I'm lucky to study in Utrecht, which has an Instituto Cervantes. Many big cities in the world have an Instituto Cervantes aswell, you can get heaps of reading material and DVD's to borrow at a low price (contribution is only €20 for me, for example). If you're not that lucky, both the internet and Amazon can be your friends.
Welcome to the brand new weblog called "Spanish Only". To be honest; this is not my first weblog about learning Spanish. It's actually my second one, but I just started over because I didn't like my previous host.
As the title states this weblog is about learning Spanish. I'm currently in my fifth month majoring Spanish in college and I must say I love the culture and the language! I've been struggling with beginning with the language in the past, that's why I decided to just go for it and choose it as my major. My goal is to become a Spanish teacher, either in the Netherlands (where I currently live) or in Spain.
This weblog is, of course, not only about learning Spanish. In the past twelve months I tried a lot of methods more or less with success. Even now I'm majoring Spanish I keep studying on my own with methods I found useful to me. The methods I found useful are easy to use for other languages aswell.
The languages I've studied so far are: English, German, French (without any success due to the high level of suckage of high school classes), Russian and a bit of Chinese. However, my current goal is to just spend as much time as possible on Spanish.
Welcome again! Just relax and have a nice time reading and discussing language learning.


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This is also banging.
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Posted by L at 21:49
Brb, going to Italy for 2 weeks.
Posted by L at 12:46
Monday, 20 August 2012
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Friday, 10 August 2012
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Yep, it's Jessie again, with a stupendously sultry new song that'll make you fancy the first person you see, it's a spell.
Posted by L at 18:12
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Exceptionally smooth and while you have a listen, why not read an INTERVIEW with the band from May.
Posted by L at 21:02
'With an artist name taken from the Buddhist tree of enlightenment, Bodhi's sole intention is to build an inspiring and vital back catalogue of groove-based music that pushes house onto exciting new ground.
And just one listen of their first official release makes Bodhi's potential crystal clear. A-side 'SY' is an entrancing rush of sunny, nostalgic synths underscored by the irresistible warmth of a funk-influenced bass line, going all out on joyous old-school house hype. Flip 'Emanation' takes a more laid back approach that pays off in a dreamy cascade of breathless, honeyed vocals, given a punchy presence by a determined bass pattern and tightly shuffled drums.
The relentless beauty of these debut tracks from Bodhi gears them towards dance floor euphoria, whilst always keeping losing their touch of class. 'SY' and 'Emanation' trickle through your aural capacities like sunlight and explode in powerful segments of funk-influenced house. We have no doubt that many will feel the waves of musical enthusiasm that roll off these tracks, and see Bodhi as one of the most fresh and exciting artists emerging in experimental house.'
Posted by L at 14:57
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Friday, 3 August 2012
Japanese band, Jesse Ruins, are really producing some magical stuff at the moment. Celestial, ethereal sounds echo throughout their music creating assured and confident tracks.
First off, where are you in the world right now and what're you working on?
We are in Tokyo, doing this interview.
Could you give a brief Jesse Ruins history?
Jesse Ruins started as Nobuyuki Sakuma as his solo project. then
released a cassette (already sold out) on Cuz Me Pain (the independent
label in Tokyo), then joined in Cuz Me Pain's first compilation LP in
the same year. In 2011, Nah joined in Jesse Ruins. After some tracks
picked up on Gorilla vs Bear and etc., we released first 7" on Double
Denim Records. In December 2011, We signed to Captured Tracks and
released EP and are planning to put out first LP. recently, our
support drummer Yosuke Tuchida has become official member of Jesse
Who did you grow up listening to?
Each of us have quite different backgrounds, and so is our taste in music, but also, we have common point so we can get on together.
Tell us a bit about the most recent song you've worked on.
We've been making songs for our first LP!
What would you say was the perfect environment or situation to listen to your music in?
Tokyo, at mid night.
What other artists are you into at the moment?
Hard Corps
Where would you love to tour?
Want to come to Europe and USA.
Finally, what's next for you, future plans and such?
Finishing the album, then going to tour!
Jesse Ruins / Sofija from Nitewin on Vimeo.
Posted by L at 17:50
Thursday, 2 August 2012
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text:
This weeks challenge at In A Yellow House is SUMMER! I haven't been out much to get pictures yet, as I've been working a ton, so I'm picking an older fave of mine from 2007 to use!
Me and my friends have the most relaxing weekend getaways ever. I love this shot of my good friend napping after a long day of hanging out at the beach! I also love the reflection of her boyfriend in her sunglasses! Makes me smile :)
Check out In A Yellow House to enter your own photo and link up!


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On Friday, March 4, 2016, at 8:20 PM, the suspect walked out of the Walmart store located at, 45485 Miramar Way, in California, MD, with a Samsung 50" UHD TV without paying for it. The suspect was last seen getting into what appeared to be a black Nissan Altima with New York plates driven by a second suspect.
Anyone with information about the identity of the suspects and/or about this incident is asked to contact DFC. Krum at 301-475-4200, ext. *2281 or by email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Ref. CCN 11956-16.
On Tuesday, February 16, 2016, at 4:20 PM, the suspect took a bottle of Courvoisier from the shelf, placed it inside his jacket, and walked out of the liquor store. This theft occurred at Jughead Liquors, located at 45315 Alton Lane, in California MD.
Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect and/or about this incident is asked to contact Deputy Dale Smith at 301-475-4200, ext. *8098, or email email@example.com.
Ref. CCN 8401-16


text:
On July 4th my family drove to Ketchum, ID for a ONE YEAR adventure in small town living. We are pushing 'pause' on the suburban treadmill that we have found ourselves on to live in a place where the mountains are big, the rivers fast and the sun shines all year long.
I grew up and live in Washington State where I never tire of seeing the magnificent Mt. Rainier, the Puget Sound and the forests in the national parks so easily accessible. Over the past couple years it has gotten increasingly difficult to be an outdoor family despite living so close to nature. Two of my three girls went to school 25 minutes from our house and on a typical day would be gone for almost 9 hours when travel time was factored in. After school they were involved in 2-3 activities each, which multiplied by 3 kids is more than enough. My husband and I are a great team and it hadn't gotten completely out of control but when you add it up, sprinkle in many cloudy, rainy days mixed with very short daylight hours, I began to feel that our vision of how we wanted to raise our children was off the rails.
The idea of pushing pause and reevaluating our goals for how we wanted to live, to raise our girls and our vision of our family in 20 years became a necessity. We have been coming to Sun Valley, ID for almost 8 years now and although we certainly could have made big changes in Washington, all stars were aligned to take our family to the mountains.
I will be eternally grateful for this opportunity to live among aspen trees, beautiful, clean rivers and endless activities in nature. Thanks for reading my blog. I would love to hear your thoughts on simple living, raising children in nature, outdoor activities or anything that comes to mind. Learning is iterative and I love to think about things in new ways.


text:
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United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
April 22, 2014
SHANDRA COCHRAN,v.CALDERA MEDICAL, INC
THOMAS J. RUETER, Magistrate Judge.
AND NOW, this 22nd day of April, 2014, upon consideration of the letter of defendant's counsel, dated March 31, 2014, requesting a protective order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(1), plaintiffs' April 9, 2014, letter response, and defendant's reply letter dated April 17, 2014, it is hereby ORDERED
that defendant's letter request is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART.
This is a products liability case concerning implantable surgical meshes sold by defendant, Caldera Medical, Inc ("Caldera"). Plaintiff Shandra Cochran alleges serious medical injuries after she was implanted with Caldera's products in July 2009. Plaintiffs allege that the Caldera mesh products "contracted, degraded, migrated and eroded" causing serious injury to plaintiff Shandra Cochran's pelvic tissue and organs. (Pls.' Ltr. at 3.)
In accordance with the court's First Scheduling Order dated February 24, 2014 (Doc. 27), plaintiffs served defendant with interrogatories and a request for production of documents. See Def.'s Ltr. at Exhs. B and C. Defendant asserts that most of the requested documents consist of electronically stored information ("ESI"). Before producing the requested information, defendant proposed a protocol governing the production of documents and ESI (the "ESI Protocol"). Plaintiffs objected to several provisions of the ESI Protocol. Defendant then submitted the current letter request for a protective order.
The parties present two issues for resolution. First, defendant contends that plaintiffs should share equally the expense or cost of producing defendant's ESI. Second, plaintiffs seek to amend certain provisions of the ESI Protocol. The court will address each of these issues in turn.
A. Cost-Sharing
Defendant represents that it is currently defending approximately 1, 709 claims (filed and unfiled) nationwide involving its various transvaginal mesh products. (Def.'s Ltr. at 2.) According to defendant, the case at bar is the only case nationwide where there is active discovery against defendant. Id . at 3. Defendant further represents that it has limited financial resources. Id . at 2-3. As such, it seeks to have plaintiffs share equally the cost of producing documents and ESI.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) provides in relevant part:
A party or any person from whom discovery is sought may move for a protective order in the court where the action is pending.... The court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense....
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(1).
The United States Supreme Court has held that there is a presumption that each party to a lawsuit must bear its own discovery costs. Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders , 437 U.S. 340, 358 (1978). The Court stated: "[T]he presumption is that the responding party must bear the expense of complying with discovery requests, but he may invoke the district court's discretion under Rule 26(c) to grant orders protecting him from undue burden or expense' in ...
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