Journey to 1000 Hours [German]

[squirrel]

Last year, I tracked how long I spent studying/immersing in German as a way to motivate myself and set measurable goals. It worked great for me, but unfortunately, due to personal life things, I took a few months off and am having a difficult time getting back into the habit of working on German every day. I am hoping that by making my progress a little more public, I will be able to motivate myself to get back on track. Originally, the goal was to reach 1000 hours before August because I will be starting graduate school around that time, but I think that is a little bit ambitious at this point. Right now, I think I'd like to reach around 1200ish hours by the end of 2024 so that I can hopefully take a B2 exam over winter break.

I'm also going to use this thread to keep track of my Super Challenge progress, so I will include that starting on May 1st.

I'll probably update this sporadically, but I hope to leave an update at least weekly.

Starting Hours: 632

Start Date: April 21, 2024
Goals:
700 Hours: May 31, 2024
800 Hours: July 20, 2024
900 Hours: September 15, 2024
1000 Hours: November 10, 2024

[jeffers]

If you have time to spare along the way, please share anything that you're finding useful, or not so useful, which could be helpful to the rest of us to know about. We love to read about useful courses, books you've enjoyed, good series, etc. Inspiration from other logs is very motivating!

[squirrel]

If you have time to spare along the way, please share anything that you're finding useful, or not so useful, which could be helpful to the rest of us to know about. We love to read about useful courses, books you've enjoyed, good series, etc. Inspiration from other logs is very motivating!

That's a great idea! I definitely use a lot of different resources because it helps me stay motivated, so I'll review any materials I read/use whenever I get the chance:)

[Slowpoke]

That's awesome! I'm way less ambitious than that (aiming for 500 hours by Sept 1 and am at 384 now) and love to see it! What are you at now?

[squirrel]

That's awesome! I'm way less ambitious than that (aiming for 500 hours by Sept 1 and am at 384 now) and love to see it! What are you at now?

I'm at a little over 630 hours (most of which was done last year), so if I do about two hours a day, I should be able to hit 1k by November(:

[squirrel]

April 21, 2024
Listening: 120 min
Vocabulary: 15 min

April 22, 2024
Reading: 45 min
Listening: 120 min
Vocabulary: 15 min

April 23, 2024
Vocabulary: 20 min
Listening: 20 min

Total Hours: 638

Enjoying my time getting back into things so far and definitely feeling like I'm getting into the groove again. Today I didn't get home until 9:00p and have to be up early for work tomorrow, so I didn't do as much as I wanted to, but I'm not aiming for any kind of minimum per day (at least until I'm more consistent). For now I just want to develop a habit again, which is why I'm mainly just doing CI/vocab for now. Hoping to incorporate my textbooks back into the routine in a few weeks.

[squirrel]

April 24, 2024
Reading: 50 min
Vocabulary: 30 min

April 25, 2024
Reading: 15 min
Vocabulary: 30 min
Pronunciation: 15 min
Listening: 140 min

Total Hours: 643

[squirrel]

April 26, 2024
Reading: 65 min
Vocabulary: 30 min
Listening: 40 min

Total Hours: 645

I had hoped that I would have had the energy to watch more tonight since it's Friday, but I'm feeling pretty tired. I try to listen to what my body/mind need, especially when it comes to rest, because I don't want fatigue or burnout to affect my learning, so I decided to call it after just one episode.

I also finished a graded reader (Umzug nach Berlin von Daniela Fries). I finished it in 2 days and felt like my comprehension was surprisingly high, especially after taking a few months off. There were a few words/phrases here and there that I didn't know, but I was reading extensively so didn't stop to look them up. Next up is a simplified version of Krabat (Easy Reader series from Klett).

I have a list of books to read in German, and so far I have 7 graded readers left before I move on to non-simplified translations/native books (translations first and then originals). Honestly, I feel like I'm lingering on the graded readers a little bit too long and need more of a challenge, but I'd like to at least get through the list. First of all, I already bought them, and second of all, I still feel like I'm gaining a lot from them because I'm still "reviewing" grammar structures and vocabulary when I read them.

I have a native level book (War ja nur so 'ne Idee) that I'm reading intensively here and there to challenge myself, and I have also noticed that the Easy Readers from Klett tend to be a little more difficult for me than other graded readers, so I think I'm still on the right track for now.

[squirrel]

April 27, 2024
Reading: 85 min
Vocabulary: 30 min
Pronunciation: 15 min
Listening: 120 min

Total Hours: 649

[squirrel]

April 28, 2024
Break

April 29, 2024
Vocabulary: 20 min
Listening: 40 min

Total Hours: 650

Today I finally finished moving out of my old apartment, which means that I'll finally start having more free time on the weekends, so I'm hoping to start to get back into some grammar study and maybe a little bit of output. I'm not going to force it (want to develop a habit first), but in May, the goal is to focus on Reading, Pronunciation, and Grammar. I actually miss grammar study because it's genuinely one of my favorite parts of language learning, but I haven't had the energy for it recently. Now that I'll actually get some days off, I think I'll probably pick it back up If not, then it means I need the rest for the time being.