I bought TOM SAWYER and HUCKLEBERRY FINN in Spanish on Kindle yesterday afternoon. Now I can start reading books I’m already familiar with but in my target language!
The first one, TOM SAWYER, is accompanied by Twain’s English version, which is immensely helpful. But I realize now that the Spanish language edition doesn’t quite capture the unique flavor and style of Twain’s writing. Translating Southern vernacular and idioms are — for all intents and purposes — impossible. There are even places where the book states “not translated” because the idiom or phrase doesn’t make any kind of sense in English, let alone in Spanish!
Still, the sentences that are translated are helpful in reminding me of the ways in which things get flipped in Spanish from the way they’re written in English. That’s one of my hiccups when I try to figure out how to say something on the fly. I have the “noun/modifier” flip down pat (beautiful house/casa bonita; big river/Rio Grande!). But there are other places where things get flipped, too, and I’m having a more difficult time remembering them. With practice and the repetition of conventions, I will eventually get there, but it’s going to take a while!
OTHER NEW SPANISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITIONS
I also got two (maybe three?) other books that were recommended to me by a friend. They’re “graduated” stories. The first one is very basic at first (all in present tense, for example) but it graduates to other tenses as the chapters go along.
The premise behind learning to read Spanish in this way is that as I read, I learn new terms along the way. I’m not supposed to stop at every word that I don’t understand. Instead, I am instructed to read each short chapter completely through without stopping to look up unknown or half-remembered words, to see how much of it I can comprehend on the fly even while missing pieces of the puzzle. Then, after the first reading, there’s a list of new words with their meanings. Then I can go back, reread, and understand more of the chapter. Over time, just the act of reading (for pleasure, not “study”) will carry me along to greater and greater understanding of what I’m reading.
Of the first two chapters I’ve read this way, I understand perhaps 50 to 60% of what’s going on the first time through. (These aren’t preschool or elementary level reads. No “Run, Spot, Run” or Dick and Jane. They are fourth and fifth grade level chapters.)
Then I look at the vocabulary list to read and learn the meaning of the words I didn’t know. Then I go back and read the chapter again. The second time through, I understand perhaps 75 to 80%… and that’s GOOD, according to the author/teacher.
But I’m a stickler (anal) when it comes to wanting to learn something fast and now, so it’s a wee bit frustrating for me. That’s okay.
It’s okay to get frustrated, as long as I bounce back fast, put the book down and do some other Spanish lesson from MADRIGAL’S MAGIC KEY TO SPANISH, and come back to READING it again later, each time understanding more. Eventually, it will all click and I’ll feel much more accomplished than I do right now!
It’s a process!!!
Tranquilo, bebe! I have all the time in the world, nearly every day, to make it happen.