23 Febrero 2005 (miércoles)

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Tarea

Ejercicios 9-46, 9-47
Paginas 318, 319

NOTE: In class today, Professor Tarazona warned us that in the future, she may take up homework at the beginning of class instead of the end. Please work on it before you get to class instead of in class. You have been warned!

WebCT Exercises: March 2, 2005 (Wednesday)
9-6, 9-7, 9-8, 9-10, 9-13, 9-14, 9-15, 9-17

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Examenes

Our next test is on Wednesday, March 2.
We have another in-class composition on Monday, February 28.

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Notas

Wow. I almost missed class today because of NASTY traffic on I-85 going into town this morning. I did miss class on Monday because I was sick as a dog. A nasty stomach kind of sick, so if you were in class with me today, don't worry, the culprit has been expelled many times over. :-(

Anyway, I hope you didn't miss class today. But whether you missed class today or not, I advise you to study the pages 310 through 313 for hours and hours. Why? Because the verb tense in the pretty blue boxes there is so difficult, the book has split its explanation up into every single chapter remaining this semester! I'm not exaggerating. Look at it yourself: the entire second half of chapter 10, all of chapter 11, and the negative imperative commands of chapter 12--ALL subjunctive! So I can guarantee that the verb tense on pages 310 through 313 will be on every single exam, every single composition, and damn near every single quiz for the rest of this term. I don't know how to say it any clearer: Know these pages backward and forward or you will not fare well in this class.

Now that I'm done with the melodrama, there's not much else to say. We covered a few exercises in class today (9-37 and 9-38) and practiced conjugating some verbs. I might ask Professor Tarazona if we can take a day off in the not-too-distant future to review all of the verb tenses we have studied so far, because if you're mortal like me, it's getting very hard to keep them straight. It takes a LOT of practice. Just to review, here's a list of what I've counted so far:

Tense	Example	Translation
Infinitive	Yo tengo que salir.	I have to leave.
Present Indicative	Yo bebo.	I drink.
Present Progressive	Yo estoy trabajando.	I am working.
Future	Yo voy a bailar.	I am going to dance.
Preterit	Yo canté.	I sang.
(Past) Imperfect	Yo comía.	I was eating.
Present Subjunctive	Yo quiero que hables.	I want you to speak.

Before we end the semester, we're going to add at least three more that I know of to that list, and if I'm not mistaken, I think there are actually even two or three more that we won't even study this term. I know I said in my notes last semester that verb conjugation is the hardest part of any foreign language, and now you see why.

One thing I don't like about this class is that there is hardly any focus whatsoever on the classic way of teaching a foreign language: relentless translations back and forth. Opinion o' me is that once a student gets proficient at handling the grunt work of conjugating verbs in his or her sleep then it's okay to quit focusing on such tedious work. But until then, it really is the best way to study.

My suggestion, if you really want to get good at this, is to make up lists of hundreds or even thousands of simple sentences in various tenses. Stuff like "My mother used to wash my clothes, but now, I wash them." (Mi madre lavaba mi ropa, pero ahora, yo la lavo.) Throw around all of the tenses listed above in your sentences. Go back and forth from each language to the other. If you want to cheat and use sentences that someone else has written, then buy a copy of this book instead. (If you make up your own, you'll increase your vocabulary as well.) In any case, you will have to practice a lot more than just doing the exercises in ¡Arriba!.

But that's just opinion o' me. By all means, use whatever works for you to study best.

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Monday's homework assignment was not collected at the end of class.