Feeling kind of burnt out on Spanish

Day 11 of my DuoLingo Spanish streak, but closer do day 70 of my total Spanish study, and... I'm feeling pretty burnt out. It's always the same thing: get on DuoLingo/Other Spanish site and do a lesson. I was practicing by watching telenovelas, but I used up my allotted amount high speed data on my cell phone plan. So that's out. I tried listening to Aesop's Fables on LibriVox... But I couldn't understand anything, and couldn't use context to help. With telenovelas I can at least follow by watching the actors, which helps me guess what they're saying. Gaĥ.

I don't have this problem with Esperanto. Yeah, I have trouble understanding when it's spoken. But I can read it! And being able to read and understand a language other than your own is such an amazing feeling! I can read a little Spanish also, but not as well as I can Esperanto. Today I was reading random articles on Vikipedio (Esperanto Wikipedia), and I understood it clearly enough that I actually learned something! And my listening comprehension I'd improving as well! But I still feel so limited on Spanish.

Oh well. I'm gonna push on and continue learning. Eventually my Spanish will be what my Esperanto is now. And by then my Esperanto will probably be three times what it is now. That's a pretty pleasant thought!

Until then, I just gotta keep practicing. There are many Bahá'í prayers translated into Spanish, so I may try using one of those when I say my nightly prayers. That sounds like a good way to practice, and maybe help me get excited about learning Spanish again. That's the main problem, really. I'm just not excited like I was. But if I keep one keeping on, I'm sure that'll come back. I just have to get to the level where I can understand newspapers and such. Then I'll be able to put my Spanish to use, which is what excites me about Esperanto right now.

I think studying a Spanish speaking culture would also help. And, since it looks like it might be joining the Union as a state soon,  I think Puerto Rico is a good place to start. So look for a post on Puerto Rican culture in the near future!

Alright, that's it for now.

Ĝis!

Fundamento de Esperanto

From Wikipedia:
" The Fundamento de Esperanto ("Foundation of Esperanto") is a book by L. L. Zamenhof, published in the spring of 1905. On August 9, 1905 it was made the official source for the language by the fourth article of the Declaration of Boulogne at the first World Congress of Esperanto in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France:

'The only basis of the Esperanto language binding on all Esperantists, which no one has the right to change, is the little work Foundation of Esperanto. If anyone deviates from the rules and models given in the said work, he can never justify himself with the words "thus desires or advises the author of Esperanto". Each Esperantist has the right to express any idea, which cannot be conveniently expressed by the material found in the Foundation of Esperanto, in such a manner as he finds most correct, as is done in every other language. However, for the unity of the language for all Esperantists it is recommended to imitate as much as possible the style that is found in the works of the creator of Esperanto, who has worked the most for and in Esperanto and knows best its spirit.'"

You know, I've never actually read the Fundamento. I should. It might improve my Esperanto.

Also, I reached level 7 on DuoLingo Spanish today, and I'm on a ten day streak!

Link:
http://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/fundamento/gramatiko.html

La hejmo de mia familio

Mia familio vivas en la usona stato de Arkansaso, proksime la urbo de Bradfordo. Ili havas ~24281m², malgranda laŭ la normoj de la areo. En ilia propraĵo estas malgranda sed bela rivereto, multaj da arboj, agro, ĝardeno, kaj la domo.

Ili havas 8 kaprojn, 5 femalojn kaj 3 masklojn. Ankaŭ ili havas 4 hundojn, 6 katojn, kaj plurajn kokojn.

Ĉi tiu estas la hejmo de mia familio.

(It was short, I know, but I'm rather proud of myself. There will be more posts in Esperanto in the future.)

Esperanto Self-Taught by William W. MANN

As anyone who has studied Esperanto for any amount of time will know, its grammar can be mastered very, very quickly. The hardest part of learning Esperanto is picking up vocabulary. A simple vortaro (dictionary) does the trick, but it's set up alphabetically, not categorically, so that won't help if you want to learn groups of vocabulary words at once, such as how to describe the world around you, or the names of various animals. You can also pick up vocabulary by going through a course like Gerda Malaperis, which I strongly suggest you check out. It's rather slow, though.

There's another option, however. Esperanto Self-Taught with Phonetic Pronunciation, by William W. Mann. This book focuses almost entirely on building vocabulary. And unlike a dictionary, it is provided according to categories. So you'll have a bunch of words for describing the world, and then animals, and then colors, times, seasons, and so on.

Better yet, it's available as an audiobook from LibriVox. This way you can download the mp3 files and build your vocabulary on the go and improve your ear for the language at the same time.

And while we're on the subject of audiobooks, there is an Esperanto translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, one of my favorites, available on LibriVox as well. La Adventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando. If you're a fan of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, then you'll enjoy using this classic to train your ear to the sounds and rhythms of Esperanto.

Well, that's all for now.
Ĝis!

Links:
Gerda Malaperis on Lernu: http://en.lernu.net/kursoj/gerda_malaperis/
Esperanto Self-Taught on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/esperantoselftau23984gut/
or buy a hard-copy from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003YL4OWM?pc_redir=1404824661&robot_redir=1/
LibriVox Esperanto Self-Taught Vol. 1: https://librivox.org/esperanto-self-taught-with-phonetic-pronunciation-volume-1-by-mann-william-w/
Vol. 2: http://librivox.org/esperanto-self-taught-with-phonetic-pronunciation-volume-2-by-william-w-mann/
Vol. 3: http://librivox.org/esperanto-self-taught-with-phonetic-pronunciation-volume-3-by-william-w-mann/
La Adventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando: https://librivox.org/la-aventuroj-de-alicio-en-mirlando-by-lewis-carroll/

Just a few great tools for language learners

When I first tried (and failed) to learn Spanish during high school I was limited to using a book, pen and paper. Because I was home schooled and my mother did not like allowing me to interact with people my own age or significantly different from our own family*, I didn't even have the option to try practicing my language skills. Basically, I was being set up for failure.

Now, however, I have a lot more options. For learning the language itself I have the excellent DuoLingo app, which also has German, French, Italian, and Portuguese available for English speakers and many courses available for speakers of other languages as well, and for practicing I have my friends on Facebook and Google+, as well as the UniLang Spanish language forums. UniLang also has forums for many other languages, including Esperanto.

Speaking of Esperanto, anyone wishing to learn "la internacia lingvo" should check out Lernu, an awesome website dedicated to teaching Esperanto. It has several different Esperanto courses and is available in a ridiculous number of languages. Besides the courses, it is also set up as a social networking website with user profiles, messaging, and forums, providing an opportunity for new Esperantists to interact with other beginners as well as more experienced Esperantists from around the globe.

Back to Spanish: if you're American you really have no excuse for not practicing Spanish, unless you're in a situation like I was growing up, since it is absolutely everywhere here. Businesses will put up signs when they're hiring in both English and Spanish, menus are often bilingual, with both English and Spanish available, there are Mexican restaurants and grocery stores in most decent sized cities, we have Telemundo and often have Spanish language local channels, as well as radio... Basically, whatever you do and wherever you go you have the opportunity to practice in America.

So get out there. Learn!

*This is not representative of most home schooled individuals' experiences.

Links:
http://www.unilang.org
http://www.lernu.net
http://www.duolingo.com
http://www.telemundo.com

First Post: If I Only Know Two

Hello, Saluton, Hola, Salaam,

I'm Alexander King, and I have a problem: I'm only fluent in one language.

In this era of economic and cultural globalization that is a serious issue. Despite what some will try to tell you, you cannot count on English everywhere you go. Not everyone knows it and, honestly, not everyone wants to. If English weren't my native language I doubt I would want to learn it either.

Why not? Well, for one, it's really hard. It has an illogical grammar, spelling system, and the accent is all over the place. Even I, a native English speaker, have trouble with it. Particularly the spelling, but also grammar and punctuation.

This is one of the many reasons I don't believe that English is very well suited for use as the international language, but that can be left for another post.

Moving on. As stated above, I am fluent in only one language: English. My native tongue. And I obviously see this as a problem. So what am I doing about it? I'm working to learn at least one other language and reach a fluency similar to what I have in my native English. Thus the title, "If I Only Know Two."

Of course, I'm not limiting my self to just one other language. But I do want to be realistic. Most Americans don't learn even one language, other than their native English, to fluency, let alone all the languages on my list. But I will certainly try to become fluent in all my chosen languages. 

And what are the languages I've chosen? They are: the six official languages of the United Nations (those being my native English, and French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin) as well as German, Farsi and Esperanto.

My two "focus languages" right now are Esperanto and Spanish. Esperanto because of its simplicity and Spanish because it is the second largest native language in the United States as well as the second largest in the world (the first being Mandarin and English is third). After these I intend to learn Farsi, followed by German or French.

After German/French, I really don't know in what order I'll be learning in. Nor do I feel it matters. In fact, that list itself is't very important. As I continue learning and blogging it will be added to, subtracted from, rearranged, and possibly completely replaced. But it's a starting point, which is what's important. I have to start somewhere.

Most of these posts will be in English, but I plan on writing some in Esperanto and Spanish as I improve in these two languages. Hopefully I will be able to post in other languages as well at some point in the future.

That's all for now.