Well, I let my Spanish slide for a while. I have a number of good excuses but one was that my Palm died and so could not practice everything in Supermemo. A couple months ago I got an iPhone and and started looking for a way to get Supermemo to work. Instead I have been moving my cards to Anki (more later) and use iAnki on my phone.

It is taking a while to import my old cards into Anki and review them. So far I have a little over 5,000 cards in the system and hope to work the remainder of the Supermemo cards shortly. The process has been good since it has allowed me to review all my cards but I can’t wait till I start up with new material again soon.

Deck Statistics

• Deck created: 3.0 months ago
• Total number of cards: 5332
• Total number of facts: 3246

Card Maturity

• Mature cards: 4261 (79.9%)
• Young cards: 556 (10.4%)
• Unseen cards: 515 (9.7%)
• Average interval: 75.8 days

Card State

• Active cards: 5332 (100.0%)
• Inactive cards: 0 (0.0%)
• Suspended cards: 0 (0.0%)

Correct Answers

• Mature cards: 94.8% (2868 of 3026)
• Young cards: 87.6% (13514 of 15423)
• First-seen cards: 84.0% (4098 of 4880)

Average Reviews

• Deck life – 140.1 cards/day
• In last week – 189.0 cards/day
• In last month – 159.2 cards/day
• In next week – 121.4 cards/day
• In next month – 72.5 cards/day

Average Added

• Deck life – 58.6/day, 1758.7/mon
• In last week – 324 (46.3/day)
• In last month – 367 (12.2/day)

Average New Seen

• In last week – 212 (30.3/day)
• In last month – 494 (16.5/day)

I just saw this YouTube video mentioned on openculture. It outlines the different tools available to learn a foreign language broken into 3 categories:

1. Podcasts
2. Online Classes
3. Downloadable Programs

There were a few places I had not checked out, and will have to see if they are worthwhile. Check out the video and see what you think.

Practical Spanish Grammar – pg 119

What is a reflexive verb? I honestly had no idea before beginning to learn Spanish. The object of a reflexive verb is the same person or thing as the subject. We have them in English but I don’t think they are ever called out as such, we just use them ‘reflexively’.

Robert sees himself. – this is reflexive – Roberto se ve.

Robert sees her. – this is not reflexive – Roberto la ve.

In English the reflexive is many times used only for emphasis. For example you could say, Did you wash? or Did you wash yourself? but in Spanish the reflexive verb lavarse is required, Te lavaste?

In English the reflexive pronoun always follows the verb and is formed by adding -self and -selves. But in Spanish, just like direct and indirect object pronouns, reflexive pronouns can only precede a conjugated verb but they can be attached to the end of an infinitive.

Yo me voy a lavar. (I am going to wash myself.)

Yo voy a lavarme. (I am going to wash myself.)

Se is the reflexive pronoun for all third-person subjects, both singular and plural. Only context can differentiate.

Ella se divierte. (She amuses herself.)

Ellos se divierten. (They amuse themselves.)

Note: With the addition of the reflexive pronoun, we have seen that some verbs, such as lavar (to wash), take on a reflexive meaning, lavarse (to wash oneself). With other verbs, such as ir (to go), the reflexive form, irse (to go away), have a different, non-reflexive meaning. And still other verbs, such as jactarse (to boast), only have a reflexive forms.

Practical Spanish Grammar pg 116

I understand direct objects pretty well from high school. A direct object is the noun or pronoun that the verb directly acts upon, completing the meaning of the verb. And the Spanish usage seemed a little more complicated, but not unmanageable, that is until you start mixing in indirect object pronouns and reflexive pronouns.

In English the direct object nouns and pronouns always follow the verb. In Spanish, the direct object pronoun precedes the conjugated verb but may either precede or follow an infinitive verb or present participle (the form of the verb that ends in -ndo, often the equivalent of English verbs that end in “-ing”). The direct object follows an affirmative command but always precedes a negative command. When following the verbs, the direct object is always attached to it, forming one word.

Usted me entiende. (You understand me.)

Quiero verte. = Te quiero ver. (I want to see you.)

Estoy ayudándote = Te estoy ayudando (I am helping you.)

¡Dígame! (Tell me!)

Personal & Impersonal Direct Objects

In Spanish, if the direct object is a person or personified object the preposition a precedes the direct object.

Veo la casa. (I see the house.)

Veo a la niña. (I see the girl.)

If the person is indefinite, the a is omitted, “depersonalizing” the direct object and treating it more like a thing.

Veo al médico. ( I see the doctor.)

Necesito médico. (I need medical help.)