It is not the easiest thing in the world to get people to talk to me in Spanish. I find a huge range in willingness of Spanish speakers to speak Spanish to me without reverting promptly to English. There…
I have mostly abandoned the grammar books. Not entirely, but the focus of my Spanish work in the past week has been studying flashcards, watching Spanish-language television, and reading El Diario, the Spanish-language newspaper here. Most of my news these…
To my great relief (and comfort), I can see properly again. My eye doctor saw me two days early, on Monday, and gave me a new vision prescription. Now studying is a million times easier, not to mention actually…
Today I passed by John Jay College of Criminal Justice, at 59th and 10th, where I taught for several years in the early 1990s. I was an adjunct there, a part-time instructor in the English department, as well as…
This afternoon I did some grammar exercises, but my eyes were still bothering me, so I had to stop after less than an hour. I switched to reading El Diario, which I thought might be less straining, but after about…
I bought the local Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario, again today. I started to read it. But there was a problem. My eyes were killing me. My vision has really declined since the start of this project—too much squinting at…
I never thought I would write these words, but I am getting a little sick of Spanish grammar exercises. I decided I needed some variety in my language-learning life, so this afternoon I went and bought myself a copy of…
I studied Spanish on subways today. I am using a new book that I am pretty happy with: Advanced Spanish Grammar by Rogelio Alonso Vallecillos. In it he goes into detail about some subtler language issues that have been confusing…
Today, amid my Spanish studies, I was forwarded an e-mail announcing sad news for this city’s libraries. The message began as follows: “The New York Public Library is facing a potential $37 million cut in City funding. This…
Last night Brandt and I saw the closing night of the play Enron. It opened just two weeks ago, on April 27. Perhaps after a long recession, people don’t want to see a play about corporate greed and crime on…
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