Lesson 3.3 is killing me. Can't get past it.

This lesson is about the discussion of weather. What I need/want to know is, if you hacer sol why don't you hacer rain?  I simply cannot wrap my mind around the use of hacer. It ain't computing, and I'm getting head-bangingly frustrated with it. 

For me it was largely just a memorizing thing as I also couldn't make sense of it. I am working on 7 but still drill on the weather ones as I still screw them up. I recommend you study it some and then move on with frequent reviews in the future. I use Anki as it is a really good flash card (free) program which learns which cards you need extra help on.

¡Hola FredH8 y Scott_C!

Getting your head around weather expressions is generally, as Scott_C says, just a matter of memorization. But, that being said, there are some ways of organizing or looking at these expressions that make them easier to deal with!

We actually have an entire Language & Culture lesson on weather terms, and it's divided up into groups of hacer expressions, estar expressions, and haber expressions to help keep things separate and make them easier to memorize. You'll also find some handy explanations about what sorts of words can work with each of these verbs, and get plenty of practice using the expressions.

As you're working on your memorization, it can also help to look for patterns in the weather expressions that help you set them apart. For instance, you might notice how precipitation is usually described using a weather verb (e.g. llover “to rain, ” nevar “to snow,” etc.) and this verb is normally placed in the present continuous (i.e. está lloviendo “it is raining,” está nevando “it is snowing”) - just like in English. Or you might notice how the most basic ways of describing the weather (i.e. “hot,” “cold," “sunny,” “windy”) are described using hacer and nouns, while the more nuanced ways of describing the weather (i.e. “clear," “cool," “cloudy”) are described using estar and adjectives.

In the end, you've got to find which memorization system and which way of thinking about things makes the most sense to you, and go from there.

I hope that this helps! Do let me know if you still have questions!

Saludos,

Liss

Unfortunately, memorization is probably where I am weakest. I need for things to make sense, and there is no direct way to translate hacer in the context of weather into English. It's one of those things that one simply must accept and deal with as best one can, I guess. My issues with memorization are probbly related to my age. Other things I've read suggest that vigorous aerobics can help with memory, so maybe a stationery bike is in my future. :-) 

At any rate, thanks, Scott C, for letting me know that I'm not alone in my trouble with this. And Liss, thanks that minilecture. That's exactly what I needed at this point. Both of you offer a glimmer of hope.  :-)  I guess I'll continue to fumble through 3.3 for a little while and then just move on knowing that my understanding of the subject of far from perfect. 

 

¡Hola de nuevo FredH8!

Glad to have helped! It can take a little time to get used to the ways in which Spanish does things differently than English, but eventually it will click! 

As for the trouble you're having with memorization, there are a few techniques that you can use to help with this. Exercising while you learn is one of them, and is indeed a great idea. You can always download the audio from Interactive Audio lessons like 3.3 and listen to them while you go on a walk/hike - or ride your potential future stationary bike. :) Some learners also find it useful to write down words or phrases they're having trouble with on cards and put them up around the house, so that they see them all the time and keep their brains working on memorizing them. For these weather expressions in particular, it might also help to make a habit of looking out the window at different times of day and asking yourself, ¿Qué tiempo hace ahora? “What is the weather like now?”

And of course, another helpful learning strategy is just to move on (as you've suggested) and come back to whatever is giving you trouble later, giving your brain a bit of a break!

¡Buena suerte!

Liss

Liss, I actually downloaded a template for Word to create typed flash cards.  They helped. The actual typing of them might have helped most, though. I have moved on to 3.5, which I intitally thought was a “give me” lesson. Then I realized it introduced a few new words as well as some syntax changes that I needed to observe. While I try to approach these lessonss with logical structure in mind, in reality logic goes out the window when I'm trying to learn Spanish as much as it does when I'm speaking idiomatic English. Who thinks about how their own language is structured?

Spanish is phonetic, which helps, but it also has complexities that are hard to get a grip on. The fact that every single word that relates to a noun--adjectives, articles, pronouns (and adverbs?)-- has to be changed to account for plurality is just one complexity. Then that complexity is compounded even further when you take the gender of a noun into consideration. (Who can know the gender of every noun? Because the ending -o and -a is not always the indicator. And who would ever guess that the word for dress--vestido--would be a masculine word?) There are just soooo many moving parts when it comes  to speaking Spanish.  Vocabulary is just part of it.  And conjugation in the various tenses? I haven't even started on that yet!

So, as you can probably tell, I'm finding this whole process a rather daunting one. And I still wake up every day thinking I need to get to my computer and start working on that last lesson. Over the course of the day I will hear certain small phrases and words echoing in my head and imagining scenarios in which the might apply. Then the other day when my niece told her uncle I was learning Spanish online, I responded with a couple of simple sentences in Spanish. :-)  So we'll see. So, yeah, it's daunting but is also fun. And frustrating.  I guess you'd say I'm having a love-hate relationship with it. 

Liss, thanks for your reponses to my questions. Chao por ahora! 

I found flash cards have helped me quite a bit. I regret not getting points for my time away from Rocket Languages, but it really helps drive home the lessons I learned here. If I had one wish, it would be a strong flashcard program driven by each learner's skills and based on the lessons covered thus far.  Totally understand that is a ton of coding and not likely to happen, but we can always dream!

¡Hola FredH8 y Scott_C!

It sounds like you're making progress already, FredH8, so it's working! :) In case you might find a more grammar-based approach easier to work with, you might want to try focusing more on the Language & Culture lessons first (if you haven't tried those out already). They take you through all of the points you've described bit by bit and show you exactly how everything works, which might be helpful for your learning style.

And thanks for the feedback regarding the flashcards, Scott_C! I have passed your comments on to the development team.

Saludos,

Liss