Back to School!
Taking college Spanish starting this summer! I hope to; get my brain working again, socialize with new people, and prepare for a cycling trip to the Pyrenees next year (with my bud whose learning French). With luck and success, I'll be able to take 4 semesters of Spanish before the trip.
This summer classes are on-line, but in-class starting in the fall which leads to the Key Question: What bike should I ride to Queens College? A) The same bike I road to Brooklyn College in 1982, a cheap heavy Motobecane. Super cool aside; the City University tuition per semester for non-matriculating seniors is $80! :P |
Having been in the Pyrenees I would avoid "heavy" at any and all costs. If your not there for the views and you dare the descents could be terrifying.
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Take the '82 Motobecane to class. I started a new job last year at 60 and bike to work parking my bikes in full view behind my desk. Two of the bikes are older than most of my co-workers which just adds to my smug satisfaction of 30 years of bike commuting, and doing it in my 60s. I doubt you could take the Motobecane into the classroom with you. But you may be able to bring a small folder into class, which would avoid the issues of securing a bike outside, although Queens College looks to be a bit away from any "Mean Streets".
I'd also vote for the Motobecane because you're still riding to class and that specific bike is a direct link to your earlier school commutes, so there's a nostaligia factor, but also again some smug satisfaction. However, for the Pyrenees I'd also suggest something newer and lighter. Buena suerte! |
“Dos burritos, por favor.”
My Spanish sucks, despite growing up in New Mexico, living in Southern California and Miami, and spending a season racing in Spain. |
Yikes! I saw “Back to school” and I thought oh no, here comes all those back to school ads and the first day of summer was just a couple of days ago!!! Good luck with your classes and the commute.
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Don't be too expectant on quick progress (in Spanish, not in biking). I am a similar age and have recently been brushing up on my high school German.. progress is super duper slow, the vocabulary just doesn't stick like it did when I was eighteen. I'm getting a bit better month by month though.
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Originally Posted by scottfsmith
(Post 22934633)
Don't be too expectant on quick progress (in Spanish, not in biking). I am a similar age and have recently been brushing up on my high school German.. progress is super duper slow, the vocabulary just doesn't stick like it did when I was eighteen. I'm getting a bit better month by month though.
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Originally Posted by BTinNYC
(Post 22934934)
I expect a slog of rote foundation building, starting with forgotten grammar terms like direct object pronoun and indefinite article. Luckily I have endless opportunity to practice here in Nueva York.
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Lifelong education pays lifelong benefits.
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Originally Posted by skidder
(Post 22935014)
And with regard to dialects, see if you can find out what is spoken in the Pyrenees area, it might be a different dialect than true Spanish, maybe even some French thrown into the mix.
There used to be a professional cycling team from the Euskadi region. Euskadi-Euskatel. The latter part was the name of their telecommunications company. One year, before the start of the U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, a rider gave my then girlfriend his cycling cap. |
Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 22935373)
I thought I was going to learn Spanish, only to find I need to learn English grammar. Direct object pronoun? Infinitive? Ruh roh! |
Originally Posted by BTinNYC
(Post 22938325)
Indy that's borderline cruel! 😉
I thought I was going to learn Spanish, only to find I need to learn English grammar. Direct object pronoun? Infinitive? Ruh roh! |
Originally Posted by BTinNYC
(Post 22938325)
Indy that's borderline cruel! 😉
I thought I was going to learn Spanish, only to find I need to learn English grammar. Direct object pronoun? Infinitive? Ruh roh! You will definitely not be fluent after four semesters - but you will definitely have a better experience. Euskara badakizu? |
This condensed summer class is very immersive with 9 hrs/week of class time and about 6 hrs/week of homework. Also, the modern curriculum is so much better at ear training than the HS french classes I took 50 years ago.
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Second semester's Final tomorrow! It's a lot of fun interacting with the kids, they're very good to the old guy. With one more semester I'll have a solid foundation of grammar and vocab. I'm talking whenever I get the chance, but not fluent. Still translating everything in my head.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b2eb058b3e.jpg DiabloScott , I'm there! |
Humble-brag update.
In my third semester, the rote vocab and grammar is pretty much done, and now it's about conversation and writing. Attendance takes about a half hour because everyone gets a follow up question or two about their morning or weekend, and often cross-questioning to other students, such as "What did BT say that he did on Sunday?". First exam was 4 parts, each requiring a 150 word response, and this was a big leap. The professor is superb, there is no dilly-dallying, he's always charging ahead, but the guy is so engaging and charming it doesn't feel like he's whipping us along. Está todo bien. |
I'm jealous.
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
(Post 22935378)
There used to be a professional cycling team from the Euskadi region. Euskadi-Euskatel. The latter part was the name of their telecommunications company.
All Spanish riders with one exception. And yes, still orange uniforms Euskaltel - Euskadi 2024 (procyclingstats.com) ....and a congrats to @BTinNYC for tackling new broadening challenges. |
Originally Posted by BTinNYC
(Post 23177278)
Humble-brag update.
In my third semester, the rote vocab and grammar is pretty much done, and now it's about conversation and writing. Attendance takes about a half hour because everyone gets a follow up question or two about their morning or weekend, and often cross-questioning to other students, such as "What did BT say that he did on Sunday?". First exam was 4 parts, each requiring a 150 word response, and this was a big leap. The professor is superb, there is no dilly-dallying, he's always charging ahead, but the guy is so engaging and charming it doesn't feel like he's whipping us along. Está todo bien. |
I started a German course one months ago and really like it so far. Feel myself like a real student again. During my college years i used such a services https://domypaper.com/ all the time and here turned out that i need that as well from time to time. To be honest, i thought it will more as an entertaining for me, but turned out to be completely different .
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Originally Posted by BTinNYC
(Post 22933192)
Taking college Spanish starting this summer! I hope to; get my brain working again, socialize with new people, and prepare for a cycling trip to the Pyrenees next year (with my bud whose learning French). With luck and success, I'll be able to take 4 semesters of Spanish before the trip.
This summer classes are on-line, but in-class starting in the fall which leads to the Key Question: What bike should I ride to Queens College? A) The same bike I road to Brooklyn College in 1982, a cheap heavy Motobecane. Super cool aside; the City University tuition per semester for non-matriculating seniors is $80! :P As a result, I know a lot of Spanish nouns and adjectives, but virtually no verbs. I also know nothing of grammar, and can't put a sentence together other than asking for a beer. I was able to get by sometimes when we were in Patagonia, but other times, I was a flat failure. I'm also half Sicilian, and with Spanish and Italian being so close, knowing Spanish would have a dual benefit to me. If only I weren't so lazy. |
Originally Posted by easyupbug
(Post 22933944)
Having been in the Pyrenees I would avoid "heavy" at any and all costs. If your not there for the views and you dare the descents could be terrifying.
Pyrenees: Northern Spain - could be Basque area known to be separatist tendencies in Spain. They speak Spanish but also Catalan. Yeah, just to say, if you don't understand some words, well...Catalan. |
How has the commuting been going?
I left college unfinished in 1987 and returned in 2019. Finished my BA in 2022 in order to start my 4th career. Now I'm in grad school. I commute to Hunter College sometimes on the subway and sometimes by bike. It's fun to have young classmates. I'm older than all of my professors except for one. |
Originally Posted by noglider
(Post 23207783)
How has the commuting been going?
I'm 95% commuting on the bus. Riding through central Flushing is pretty fking nutty, especially during rush hours, and that's from a guy riding ~ 3,000 miles a year in Queens. |
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