Bridging the Gap Challenge #005

<p><a href="https://deliberatespanish.com/blog/notice-mistakes">Getting better at noticing mistakes</a> is one of the best ways of <strong>taking your Spanish to the next level</strong>.</p><p>This challenge has been carefully designed to do just that.</p><p>Here is a bare-bones example in English:</p><div class="translation mistake gap"><p><span class="sp">Sentence with mistakes: What is you problems?</span></p></div><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">Reference 1: Is this your bag?</span></p><!-- --><p><span class="sp">Reference 2: I think I know what the problem is.</span></p></div><p>As you can see, the <strong>reference sentences</strong> hint at the mistakes in a way that is neither too obvious nor too obscure. The final answer would be:</p><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">What is <strong>your</strong> (from Ref. 1) <strong>problem</strong> (from Ref. 2)?</span></p></div><h2>Now for the real challenge</h2><p>Find the mistakes in these four sentences (in red) using the reference sentences (in blue).</p><div class="translation mistake gap"><p><span class="sp">M1: Terminé el instituto y me pasé el próximo año preparándome para poder asistir el programa en Oxford. </span></p></div><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">R1: Después de la boda, tu padre y yo nos fuimos a Canarias y nos pasamos las dos semanas siguientes tirados en la playa.</span><br><span class="en">After the wedding, your dad and I went to the Canary (Islands) and we spent the following two weeks lying on the beach.</span></p><!-- --><p><span class="sp">R2: Es la primera vez que asisto a este tipo de evento.</span><br><span class="en">It's the first time that I attend this type of event.</span></p></div><div class="translation mistake gap"><p><span class="sp">M2: Tengo una amiga quien me está ayudando mucho y me ha ocurrido hacerle un regalo.</span></p></div><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">R3: En nuestro antiguo edificio había un vecino que se pasaba las noches golpeando el techo con una escoba.</span><br><span class="en">In our old building, there was a neighbor who would pass the night banging the ceiling with a broom.</span></p><!-- --><p><span class="sp">R4: No te imaginas lo que se le ha ocurrido hacer ahora a mi hijo.</span><br><span class="en">You won't imagine what my son has (decided / occurred to him) to do now.</span></p></div><div class="translation mistake gap"><p><span class="sp">M3: Mi primer viaje fue en el 2008, y en cuanto salí del aeropuerto me di cuenta que en ese país hablaron muy raro.</span></p></div><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">R5: ¿Cuándo te vas a dar cuenta de que estamos de tu lado?</span><br><span class="en">When are you going to realize that we're on your side?</span></p><!-- --><p><span class="sp">R6: Durante esos años las cosas no iban bien.</span><br><span class="en">During those years things weren't going well.</span></p></div><div class="translation mistake gap"><p><span class="sp">M4: Yo tenía muchas ganas para cambiar de trabajo, pero los primeros meses en mi nuevo puesto me pasé muy mal.</span></p></div><div class="translation reference gap"><p><span class="sp">R7: Aquella vez lo hice por ti, pero no tengo ganas de repetir.</span><br><span class="en">That time I did it for you, but I don't feel like (doing it again / repeating).</span></p><!-- --><p><span class="sp">R8: La primera vez que vine me encantó, pero esta vez no lo estoy pasando tan bien.</span><br><span class="en">The first time I came, I loved it; but this time, I'm not having that much fun.</span></p></div><hr /><p>To really squeeze the learning out of this exercise, do it in two steps:</p><ul><li>In the first step, <strong>go with your gut</strong> and correct whatever you think is wrong without looking at the reference sentences.</li><li>In the second step, <strong>double-check your gut</strong> to make sure that each mistake you found corresponds to one of the reference sentences. If you have more mistakes than reference sentences, or more reference sentences than mistakes, you're still missing something.</li></ul><p>If you think this exercise is too difficult, focus on the reference sentences. Treat them as <a href="https://deliberatespanish.com/blog/fix-mistakes">scaffold sentences</a> and try to recall them from memory. Once you've internalized them, it will be much easier to spot the mistakes.</p><p>You can <a href="mailto:nacho@deliberatespanish.com/blog?subject=Bridging%20the%20Gap%20Challenge"><strong>email me</strong></a> your attempt (or if you like public accountability, post it in the comments), and I'll reply back with the answer key.</p><p>Have fun!</p>