Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

This is the first class that left me not knowing what to write in my blog. I feel like Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish basically wasted a half-hour (the entire class), and at this point in the course with four classes left, it is disappointing. Over the past few weeks I felt like the classes really flowed together and built on one another, starting with basic conversational Spanish and slowly introducing more complex sentence structure and vocabulary. The last two classes, however, have been flops in my book. For all intents and purposes, we are still not formally out of the present tense, and are now covering very basic concepts that should have come much earlier in the course. I see classes 26 and 27 as real missed opportunities to hammer home previously taught concept taking me to the next level of Spanish conversation. One of the wonderful things about the Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish program is how quickly it ramps up the teaching, throwing you into conversations with a native speaker from class 1. It would have been nice to see this accelerated learning continue, but instead it has stagnated.

What was taught? Well, we learned vocabulary for bachelor parties and hangovers, and how to invite people to events (in a simple way). The only concept that had even a hint of complexity to it was when obligations were discussed - tenés que + infinitive (you have to...) and no tener que + infinitive (you don't have to...). The latter can also mean you mustn't depending on the context, which could lead to misunderstandings for a non-native speaker who may miss some of these subtleties. Good concept for week two, though, not week five.

I still have high hopes for the final three classes. Despite what I posted yesterday in today, the course has exceeded my expectations to this point and I hope it finished strong. I trying not to fall victim to the "what have you done for me lately" viewpoint.