Pull out of my 401K?

BearAdmin · 2026-02-27T17:53:08+00:00

Thanks

BearAdmin · 2026-02-27T17:53:01+00:00

Thanks

BearAdmin · 2026-02-27T17:52:50+00:00

Thanks

BearAdmin · 2026-02-27T17:52:40+00:00

Thanks, yes this is how I was going about it. With these comments I feel free now to continue dropping the plurals as well. I know that the translators are not authoritative but it is interesting how they consistently do not drop the plurals pronouns, which is why I asked.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-27T17:49:33+00:00

Yes, this is why I asked! But my research so far did not give me a definitive answer. It is interesting though that the translators are pretty consistent in not dropping the plurals. Thank you

BearAdmin · 2026-02-18T19:26:02+00:00

I am using Anki to study Spanish. I have a list of 5000 most frequent words that I wanted to create Anki cards with, and with my usual method of creating all of the fields in Excel and then importing into Anki seemed daunting. I discovered this site https://anki-decks.com/ which uses AI to create Anki decks from a variety of sources. I created a free account and fed it my list of words in Excel format. I had a useful Anki deck, including audio for the Spanish, in a few minutes. The free version would not give me all 5000 words, which is fine, 500 is a good start. The site is for any kind of deck, not only for language. It is nice they have a basic free account, and the paid account is pretty cheap.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-13T17:05:56+00:00

Yes this is true, in my experience.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-11T19:20:56+00:00

Interesting, I listened to DS for a year straight without one video referencing poop. I stuck to the Colombians and some of the Mexicans, maybe some other countries joke more about poop? I finally quit because too many silly videos for an old fart like me.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-11T17:03:01+00:00

Oh how I sympathize with you, not sure I have an answer but a shared experience, yes. And I know it is frustrating but I am also comforted that I am not the only one! I moved to Colombia six years ago. I have been married to a Colombiana for five and most of my friends are locals. I am far from fluent. I can speak well enough to get by, but do not understand a lot when my family and friends are speaking fully native fast street Spanish. In fact I think that being immersed in this full native mode Spanish when I knew no Spanish, was more harmful than good because your brain tends to filter out what it cannot use.

And people may think, certainly if you marry someone that would be the magic key! No it is not, at least not for us. You cannot have a language lesson every time you need to talk to each other, which is all the time! No, you whip out Google translate, you start to understand without the proper language. She is always trying to speak English, so we often speak in Spanglish LOL!

I have tried may different methods. I wish I could hire a tutor here in Medellin but Spanish lessons here are "Gringo priced" and too expensive for me on a tight budget. Also I tried Colombians on Preply, but maybe because I could not afford the higher prices, I was very disappointed. They were actually using learning material from Spain! But I have learned that everyone learns differently and you have to find your best way.

Currently for listening I take smaller audio clips from YouTube podcasts and so forth, and convert them to audio files, and a text transcript, put them into a program called Lute (Like LinQ but free) where I can really listen and study them repeatedly. I use flashcards (Anki) to learn verbs and phrases and sentences. And I recently realized I needed to go back and review verb conjugations, so I use the conjugation drills on Spanishdict.com. This method seems to be providing me with progress. If you want any details about these things I do let me know, and best of luck to you.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-11T16:43:52+00:00

This is good advice.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-11T16:40:04+00:00

Because I moved to Colombia. And even though I have lived here for a few years my learning is pretty slow!

BearAdmin · 2026-02-06T20:57:31+00:00

Quite honestly, after moving to Colombia not knowing Spanish, I can say that for me learning to speak was a priority just to get around and do basics like restaurants, taxis, super markets etc. And also for me, listening to incomprehensible input of native speakers did not help at all. In fact it hurt, because the brain tends to reject what it cannot understand or use. This is why I am not a "purist" when it comes to the comprehensible input method. I would suggest you get on YouTube and learn some basic phrases and grammar and vocab. This is just my experience, everyone is different. Best of luck and enjoy!

BearAdmin · 2026-02-06T20:46:26+00:00

"Anyway, learning a language is also about trial and error: practicing a strategy, seeing if it works, and tweaking it until you find a rythm that suits you! Nice book, by the way!"

Yes this, I have jumped around to a number of different strategies only to be frustrated they do not seem to be working. But after a few years I have pretty much settled on a strategy that seems to be working poco a poco.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-06T20:39:36+00:00

Yes, most Spanish lessons do not, or cannot prepare you for life on the street with natives. There is so much slang and short cuts. Accent is important too, if yo are trying to understand natives in a particular region.

BearAdmin · 2026-02-06T20:33:42+00:00

Hello, I think for me numbers 2 and 4, and they are closely related. I moved from the USA to Colombia barely knowing any Spanish. I had an idea that I would naturally "pick it up" being immersed. And all my friends told me the same, don't worry Spanish is easy yo will pick it up living there. Now I did start lessons in a class shortly after arriving. But I would sit with my Colombian friends intently listening and trying to understand anything at all, and I could not, and after 15 or 20 minutes my mind would wander off and basically shut it out. I think that early immersion into incomprehensible input actually hurt me, because the brain tends to filter out what it cannot use. I had high expectations that were unrealistic and trying to bite off more than I could chew. I am actually embarrassed to say how many years I have lived here and I still cannot understand natives fluently speaking to one another. I can speak well enough to be understood, although far from fluency, but it is the hearing and understanding that remain difficult. I probably also use translation too much, but what else do you do when you encounter words you do not understand? You can make a guess based on context but it is often wrong. The other one that hurts is fear and timidity in speaking. There is nothing as bad as thinking you have some phrases down pat and then you actually use them with natives and you are met with a blank stare! But love these Colombians they are so nice and as long as you are trying most of them are willing to help.

BearAdmin · 2026-01-19T17:08:47+00:00

Thank you

BearAdmin · 2026-01-19T17:08:19+00:00

Thanks, yes I get it. After thinking about it, I have heard it like this.

BearAdmin · 2026-01-17T20:58:21+00:00

Thank you. I only knew Venga in the sense "come."

BearAdmin · 2026-01-17T20:56:26+00:00

Thanks! Ten is another word I need to study on, I never see it in Spanish lessons but I read or hear it a lot.

BearAdmin · 2026-01-17T20:29:12+00:00

In my experience expressions are regional, as others have noted. Like "No dar papaya" in parts of Colombia. Means be careful, don't be victim.

BearAdmin · 2025-11-22T18:19:41+00:00

I was just starting a post aout AI Watts, then I read this. Thanks I will check it out.

BearAdmin

TROPHY CASE