Journey to 1000 Hours [German]

[squirrel]

May 14, 2024
Reading: 20 min
Vocabulary: 45 min
Pronunciation: 35 min
Listening: 80 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 25 pages [447/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 80 min [385/9000]

May 15, 2024
Reading: 70 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
Pronunciation: 15 min
Listening: 95 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 52 pages [499/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 95 min [480/9000]

Total Hours: 681

[squirrel]

May 16, 2024
Reading: 55 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
Pronunciation: 10 min
Listening: 65 min
-
Super Challenge Reading: 42 pages [541/5000]
Super Challenge Listening: 65 min [545/9000]

Total Hours: 684

I started reading Der kleine Prinz again. I tried reading it probably about a year ago and barely understood any of it, but this time, it's too easy. Even though I still feel like I haven't progressed very much, it's definitely exciting to see even a little bit of improvement. There's definitely some random vocabulary words here and there, but for the most part it's extremely comprehensible. Next, I'm going to try some graded readers leveled at B2. I'm definitely not at that level yet, but given that the B1 readers and this book have been a little easy, I'll give it a shot. After I finish those two, I'm going to try reading Coraline.

[squirrel]

May 17, 2024
Reading: 60 min
Vocabulary: 40 min
-
Super Challenge Reading: 44 pages [585/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [545/9000]

May 18, 2024
Vocabulary: 45 min
Listening: 200 min
-
Super Challenge Reading: 0 pages [585/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 200 min [745/9000]

Total Hours: 690

[squirrel]

May 19, 2024
Vocabulary: 60 min
Listening: 335 min
Reading: 30 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 26 pages [611/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 335 min [1080/9000]

Total Hours: 697

I decided to completely finish watching Once Upon a Time today, which took about 8 episodes. This is the longest I've ever worked on German in any given day, but the majority of it was just comprehensible input. It was still pretty challenging though and I'm probably going to take it easy the rest of the week. I was only going to watch about 3-4 episodes today but ended up wanting to watch a couple more and after I stopped for dinner, I only had 2 more episodes left, so I thought I might as well just finish it.

I also started reading Café Leo von Angelika Bohn, which is graded at B2. It's definitely more challenging than what I have been reading, but it's not so difficult that I don't understand it. I think it's a good level for me.

I definitely wasn't planning on spending so much time on German today, but I honestly didn't want to do anything else (and was probably using it as an excuse to procrastinate unpacking). As long as I'm not forcing myself to study and I'm enjoying it while I'm doing it, I don't think it's a bad thing. I just need to make sure I get lots of sleep tonight.

[squirrel]

May 20, 2024
Listening: 15 min
Pronunciation: 20 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
Reading: 20 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 15 pages [626/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 15 min [1095/9000]

May 21, 2024
Reading: 50 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
Listening: 25 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 30 pages [656/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 25 min [1120/9000]

Total Hours: 701

I started watching Bojack Horseman today. I may have mentioned this before, but I tried watching this a long time ago and it was way too difficult. I felt like they talked really fast and couldn't make out what they were saying at all. Now, it's so much more comprehensible. There are some sentences/phrases/lengths of time here and there that I understand 0% of, but most of the time, I know what they're saying. It's also pretty normal to have an episode or two when I start watching a new show where I don't understand as much. I think I have to get used to the individual voices and learn some of the new vocabulary, so I'm sure that's contributing to my level of understanding also. There are some things that are also obviously supposed to be puns (Bojack Horseman is riddled with puns), and I don't "get" them, but that's something I don't expect to pick up on for a long time. Overall, I think it'll have some great vocabulary, and because they do talk more quickly than other shows I've watched, it'll help with my listening comprehension.

As far as Café Leo goes, I'm definitely taking a bit longer to read it than the B1 level books, which I think is a good thing because it means it's a better level for me. I think it's in the Goldilocks zone - not too easy and not too challenging. There are more idioms in this one than in some of the other graded readers I've read, which is great.

When I got back into studying after my break, I let myself just focus on listening and reading for a while because those are what I enjoy the most, but now, I think I'm ready to start regular output again.

To motivate myself, I am considering starting a little challenge (but not 100% sure yet) similar to the output challenge I saw some people doing - 50,000 written words and 100 spoken hours. If I decide to do this, I would count speaking practice as vlogs, conversations on iTalki/HelloTalk/somewhere else, presentations, etc., as long as I am spontaneously producing the language. Reading out loud, shadowing, practicing pronunciation, etc. don't count towards the hours. I think these are reasonable goals for the end of the year (about 250 words per day and 3 hours spoken per week), but I don't know if they'll be enough to get me to the level I want. I'll reevaluate in a few months once I see my progress with this method.

Edit: typo

[squirrel]

May 22, 2024
Listening: 40 min
Reading: 40 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 30 pages [686/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 40 min [1160/9000]

May 23, 2024
Vocabulary: 50 min
Reading: 55 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 44 pages [730/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [1160/9000]

Total Hours: 705

I finished Café Leo, and next I'm going to read my last graded reader (also B2). After that, I ordered some more books so I'm going to change the order I read things in. I'm going to read all of Sailor Moon first but after that, I'm not sure what to start with. I think I'm going to compare the lexile scores of everything and go from there. It's not perfect since they measure the English level, but it's better than nothing.

I also decided I am going to do some kind of output challenge. I have hourly goals for the year for both writing and speaking, but I think some kind of challenge would help jumpstart my motivation. Starting tomorrow, I'll try to write 50K words by the end of the year and speak for 100 hrs. We'll see how that goes.

[squirrel]

May 24, 2024
Reading: 25 min
Vocabulary: 45 min
Listening: 50 min
Writing: 20 min
Pronunciation: 10 min
Speaking: 10 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 17 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 50 min [1210/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 292 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 10 min [10/6000]

Total Hours: 708

I did a few exercises in Schreiben lernen and Einfach sprechen! today to start the other challenge. Definitely struggling with output, but even with just the little bit I did, I felt it get easier as I went on, so hopefully, I'll get back up to speed pretty quickly.

I had a harder time with Bojack Horseman today than the last couple days. I went from understanding most of it pretty well to only catching a few words here and there. Sometimes that just happens from time to time, so I'm going to wait it out and see if it gets better again. If not, I'll watch something else and come back to it later.

[squirrel]

May 25, 2024
Vocabulary: 45 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [1210/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 26, 2024
Vocabulary: 50 min
Listening: 105 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 105 min [1315/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 27, 2024
Listening: 75 min
Vocabulary: 45 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 75 min [1390/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 28, 2024
Listening: 50 min
Vocabulary: 50 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 50 min [1440/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 29, 2024
Vocabulary: 10 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [1440/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 30, 2024
Listening: 25 min
Vocabulary: 25 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 25 min [1465/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

May 31, 2024
Vocabulary: 45 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 0 pages [747/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [1465/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

June 1, 2024
Vocabulary: 60 min
Reading: 30 min
Pronunciation: 10 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 21 pages [768/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 0 min [1465/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 0 words [292/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

Total Hours: 718

Well, it's been a rough week for me. It's a bit personal, so I won't get into it too much, but I was laid off unexpectedly from my job, which caused a little bit of a dip in motivation, energy, etc. Trying to find the bright side: I have quite a bit more free time now, so I'm going to try to ramp up my studies over the next few months until grad school starts or until I find some kind of temporary position. Depending on how my financial situation works out (waiting for info on a couple things), I am considering a 3 month subscription to Babbel Live and just really making use of their unlimited classes per month option, now that my schedule is much more open. In the meantime, I'm going to try to consume as much CI as possible and keep practicing output. I'll be wary of burnout, but honestly I think putting my head down and studying is the way to go for me for now.

[squirrel]

June 2, 2024
Vocabulary: 50 min
Grammar: 30 min
Writing: 10 min
Reading: 40 min
Listening: 25 min
-
Super Challenge Books: 30 pages [798/5000]
Super Challenge Movies: 25 min [1490/9000]
Output Challenge Writing: 110 words [402/50000]
Output Challenge Speaking: 0 min [10/6000]

Total Hours: 721

[wallflower]

Goals:
700 Hours: May 31, 2024

June 2, 2024

Total Hours: 721

Just wondering if you realize how far ahead of your goal you are? Nice work, squirrel!