Practice Practice

Practice drawing this week is easy when the current subject is so interestingly taught. We are learning how to draw eyes and noses, and how to change shapes of eyes and placement of iris an eyelids and eyebrows to show a variety of emotions. We have just begun the nose. We have not yet had the lesson on the mouth. I have included a couple of practice sketches.   In language learning, I am now practicing with the "goldlist method". It is fun. I have read an article that says it is a waste of time and that it is inefficient scientifically given the need for repetition immediately after learning something, and then spaced repetitions that gradually have longer times between them as the learning becomes part of longer term memory. I hope I can make my lists for for 2 months and see for myself. It cannot hurt as I have not been able to work up the motivation to use flashcards to memorize vocabulary.  I have also managed with great patience, I must say, to download an audio book by Pimsleur as I want to see if this method can work for me. In the past, this type of formatted learning and repetition has never earned, nor kept my interest.  

My goals are clear: to be functionally fluent in Spanish, keep up my high intermediate level of spoken French, and develop some basic fluency in speaking German. Already, I can read and listen to all three languages at levels that give me great delight.  In fact, I have just listened to the first chapter of an audio book I downloaded from the library: Hermanas by Gary Paulsen, " a thought-provoking tales of two 14-year olds, one a Mexican prostitute, and the other, Texas cheerleader-trapped..."  My goodness! Estoy emocionado.