Believe it or not, if you have been speaking Spanish here for a while and have mastered some of the basic conversational forms, maybe it is time to consider writing a blog, if you go in for that sort of thing. I have found that reading the papers and then graduating to novels and poetry was helping me considerably, but it seemed that I had reached a plateau and wasnt able to improve any further -- until a Uruguayan friend of mine convinced me to start a blog. He said that his own blog was a valuable means of teaching him written English, and that the same strategy might work for me.
I have to say, I think he may be right. So many idiomatic expressions, as well as the peculiarities of the written language (where to put the accents, for example) continue to escape my grasp, and I think it is for lack of practice and reiteration. By forcing myself to write something on a regular basis I am sure that I will also force my memory to hold onto the new words and forms that I am learning. Another advantage of the blog is that it is informal so there is no pressure on you. You can just natter on as you please.
Anyway, I have kicked mine off with three separate articles, which can be viewed here: http://trozosdeunviralata.blogspot.com/
I am recommending this as a useful pedagogic strategy for those of you who have some command of the language already, say an intermediate or advanced beginner level. And any of you who are adept and read my blog, by all means feel free to correct my grammar.
I have to say, I think he may be right. So many idiomatic expressions, as well as the peculiarities of the written language (where to put the accents, for example) continue to escape my grasp, and I think it is for lack of practice and reiteration. By forcing myself to write something on a regular basis I am sure that I will also force my memory to hold onto the new words and forms that I am learning. Another advantage of the blog is that it is informal so there is no pressure on you. You can just natter on as you please.
Anyway, I have kicked mine off with three separate articles, which can be viewed here: http://trozosdeunviralata.blogspot.com/
I am recommending this as a useful pedagogic strategy for those of you who have some command of the language already, say an intermediate or advanced beginner level. And any of you who are adept and read my blog, by all means feel free to correct my grammar.