Tag Archives: blog

April 9, 2013 · 9:08 pm

Where have you been?

WOW where did the last 4 months go?  I know it’s been a long time since I even tried to post something on here.  It really is amazing how easy it is for us to drop something, even if we enjoy it.  There are many reasons  excuses for why I haven’t written, but they can all be summed up into one word: Motivation.

I love many things in my life.  I love my wife and kids.  I love my Savior   I love helping others and I love learning new things.  I often have told people that if I could be paid to learn, I would take that job without question.

I also learned, that I like to write.  I like blogging.  I like putting digital pen to digital paper and posting my incoherent thoughts for all to see.  Yeah I know I don’t have this huge following.  I just enjoy writing.  If someone reads it and enjoys it then all the better, but I write for me.

If you like it so much, why did you lose motivation?

I lost emotion, because I stopped writing and learning for the enjoyment of it.  I wasn’t trying to be the next big language blogger, but I also wasn’t writing for my benefit.  It became work, a job, a chore.  With thing picking up at my paying job, it got harder and harder to WANT to write.

One day, it just happened.  I sat down to write and nothing would come out.  I have never wanted to write something that wasn’t real.  I have mailed in a couple of posts here and there, but there were still from me and my motivation to learn and help others learn.  This was different.  I couldn’t get a single feeling or thought out.  So I didn’t.  Next thing you know it been 4 months.

So what have you been up to?

I have focused a lot at work and been doing some minimal Language learning.  I will be honest.  I haven’t learned any Samoan in the last 4 months.  I went back to Spanish.  It was easier and felt more natural.  Samoan made me make new routines and I just didn’t have the heart do it the last 4 months.  Of course I have been with my kids and my family.

So what does the future hold for this blogger?  I don’t know but I will guarantee you,  what ever happens will be because I enjoy it! And I hope you do too.

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August 12, 2012 · 8:48 pm

Nulu: A useful tool for learning Spanish

Nulu Language learning tool for Spanish

Before I started blogging, I never tweeted.  I didn’t even have a twitter account.  But everyone else who blogged seemed to all have twitter accounts, so it wasn’t very long till I found myself opening a twitter account.  I am so happy I did.  There were conversations and connections I was missing out on.  I have met and started following new people just because they found me on twitter and started following me.  I’ve even used it (per the advice of vocabat) to look up real spanish uses of words and phrases.  It’s a a great tool, even if you don’t keep up on all the hashtags and whatever.

Nulu:  An online Spanish learning tool

One day I received a follow from an account for Nulu.   Continue reading →

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August 4, 2012 · 9:15 am

Guest Post at Eurolinguiste

A few weeks ago I had a guest post by Shannon from Eurolinguiste on sociolinguistics.  Shannon had also asked me to guest post on her blog as well.  I am always honored when someone asks me to write on their blog.  This is the second blog I have ever wrote a guest post for and I enjoyed every moment of it.

So today, I ask that you go over to Shannon’s blog and read my post.  While you are there, go ahead and check out all the other great posts that Shannon writes.  Her Blog is worth the follow.

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April 9, 2012 · 8:01 am

Thai Monday – little changes

I am making a few little changes to my blog.  I explain it all in the video:

I’m going to put combine the podcast site into this one.  Can’t remember why I originally wanted it separate, but it doesn’t make sense at this time to do it.  So that should happen sometime this week.

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Link

If you look on the right hand side you will see my Blog Roll.  I enjoy reading many blogs including many that have little or nothing to do with learning a new language.  That said, to get on my blog roll you not only have to be about language learning, but I must also really enjoy your blog or site.

One of my favorite blogs is Women Learn Thai….and Some Men Too.  Its full of fun and interesting post by both Catherine, the creator of Women Learn Thai, and her many guest writers.  Catherine has pooled together so many great resources of knowledge about Thailand and about learning the Thai language that it would take a life time to get through it all.  It is just simply an amazing blog site.

On her blog, she has a series where she interviews other succesful Thai language learners.  These have provided me and many others an interesting insight into how various language learners have tackled the challenge of learning to speak Thai.  It’s allowed me to see the similarities and differences that various language learners have gone through to achieve a certain level of confidence in the Thai language.

Then to my surprise….

A few nights back, I heard my ipod make its familiar sound to let me know that I had received an e-mail.  The e-mail was from Catherine and she was e-mailing me to interview me as a successful Thai learner.  It was a great honor and of course I jumped at the opportunity.  It was fun answering the questions and remembering exactly what it was like when I couldn’t speak Thai.  It’s a feeling I have now while learning Spanish.

So without further ado….

Here is my interview:

My Interview at Women Learn Thai

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February 21, 2012 · 4:01 pm
February 4, 2012 · 11:02 am

Spanish Friday and Changes

First of all here is the newest Spanish Friday Video:

Sorry, I don’t yet know how to put in subtitles, but I will learn eventually.  In case you didn’t understand, I am combining my blogs.  It was getting too Difficult to do two blogs.  Plus I realized that those who read my Spanish blog may be interested in my Thai things as well. For now I have imported all the posts from my Spanish blog to this blog and I will slowely phase in the important things from that one as well.

In case you are interested, here are some highlights of posts I like;

Me speaking Thai

One of my favorite Rock Groups from Thailand Silly fools

A story about My Thai Friend

I know it wasn’t that long ago I announced it, but I can admit when I was wrong.  The project is still going, but I realized that I don’t have to seperate it from my other projects.  There you go I hope you Enjoy!

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January 27, 2012 · 10:54 am

Why I blog

The picture says it all I think.  I don’t aspire to some greatness.  I don’t think I am god’s gift to anything.  My Spanish is good, but nothing much at the same time.  I live in a little town called Whangaparaoa (pronounced fang-a-pa-rao-a, Don’t ask) and my life consists of working, cleaning, cooking, and hopefully finding a way to court my wife in between all that.  In between all those   To put it bluntly my life is not that interesting.

No I am not trying to tear myself down, just stating the obvious.  I am not expecting to become an overnight sensation and have books and movie deals made about it.  I blog for one very specific reason and one very specific reason only:  for me.  Now it does get more specific than that, but every reason I can give leads to that one answer, I blog for my own personal development.  It may sound selfish, but when I list them you will see it’s not as bad as it sounds.

I blog to get my ideas out of my head and into action.

I don’t know what it is about a blog that makes me take action, Continue reading →

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January 18, 2012 · 2:08 pm

A day in the life of a language learning Dad

This is a picture of me and my daughter Felicity when she was less than a year old.  She is almost 5 now!  Kids grow up too fast!  It’s unbelievable that that person I was holding is getting ready to start going to school!  Scary!

Anyway, I have mentioned before that I started this blog, because many of the language learning blogs were made by single people living abroad in another country or at least in a country that has a significant community who speak the language.  That doesn’t mean their blogs are bad or that I don’t like them, but There was a voice that I wanted to give to those who are full-time workers/parents.

So I thought you would like to see what a typical work day is like for me.  It’s not that my life is really that interesting, but for me it is very important.  So here I go:

Me despierto y me levento no son los mismos

I typically wake up at 7:00 and then again at 7:10 and then again at 7:20, 7:30, and finally 7:40.  Only when I see that I can’t sleep any longer I get up.  I get ready for work and dash out to the car.  Now first thing I do, is plug in my ipod and turn it on to the podcast or lesson I am working on next.  This will depend on which day it is according to my system.

I have a 30 min drive to work, so I can get a lot done on the way there.  Drive times are probably when I get the most studying in at all.  I study everywhere I drive, even if its two mins away.  Two mins there and back means 4 mins of study.  That is 4 mins of perfecting my Spanish.

Trabajo como un receptionista

I have mentioned before that I am a receptionist. I don’t have many duties during the day, but they do like me to look busy.  Since I can’t just start speaking Spanish at work or listen to podcasts, I often write blog posts, read blog posts, and lately I am writing my Thai course.

For lunch I often walk over to a cafe near my work.  That way I can order food and study while I wait.  If it is an output day, I still just listen to a podcast at the cafe.  I don’t want to freak out the other guests with me spitting out, he desayunado esta manana or la pelota es azul.  Then I go back to work and same old same old till 5:00

Vuelvo a casa!

Of course I study on the way home.  When at home at open the door and usually say, “Hola, familia!”  Then I hear one of the best sounds in the world, “DADDY!!!!!!!”  It is usually not long after that I see what the kids of done to the house and we start the battle of who should clean what.  The exception to that was yesterday.  I came home and the place was wonderfully clean, even the kids bedrooms.  I threw out a ‘que orden’ and told them how proud I was that they cleaned up the house for me.

Dinner is often a tag team event for my wife and me.  Sometimes she cooks it all and sometimes I cook it all(she does that more often than me though), but usually it is a team effort.  This always my wife and I to communicate and talk about things.

After dinner I usually offer to do the dishes.  Why?  Because it gives me another opportunity to study spanish at the same time.  My wife notices this, but ignores the fact that I do dishes more is because I really want to study.

Despues, nos preparamos para dormir

A few nights a week, we try to watch a movie as a family.  Other times my wife and I will watch a movie just the two of us.  Then it’s off to bed and ready to start the day again

Like I said it’s not that my life is interesting, but my life is mine. I love it.  I wouldn’t change a thing!

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