Systematiker's attempt at a log

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Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Wed Apr 26, 2017 1:15 am

So here's that update. Things were nuts, but the good kind of nuts, you know? I'm almost caught back up, but it won't last long, to be honest. The current lesson to be learned: I'd make more progress if I weren't spreading my limited time across so many languages, but then I'd also probably have less fun. With less time it gets tempting to focus in, and that would mean pushing on the stronger langauges, which would then mean losing ground on weaker ones, so I manage to just have less time to spread around the same amount of languages (well, minus what I dropped already).

Spanish
ES Reading: 3019 / 10000 ES Film: 112 / 200
I've been staying on top of Spanish best. I got behind on the NT reading, but will catch up. I have had the chance to use it a few times, and it comes out much better (despite abandoning my FSI project entirely). I also find phrases from input popping up in my production, which is a good thing. I have watched several movies (and can now understand Argentenians!), particularly liking El faro de los orcas, and am working through Ingobernable. Podcasts as well, of course. Spanish is my main "escape" language at the moment, for when I have set out some time to work on language stuff but I don't feel like doing anything hard, so I do something fun in Spanish and call it productive.

French
FR Reading: 1718 / 10000 FR Film: 72 / 200
I've enjoyed French a good bit as well lately, finishing La trêve and beginning Les Beaux Malaise (thanks Ani!). I also did a bit of reading but didn't finish anything so it's unreflected, and have been listening a fair bit as well. I got the chance to write back and forth on Facebook with some acquaintances, which was fun, if sometimes poorly spelled. French is where I end up if I'm being lazy but I feel bad for being lazy and don't do something in Spanish.

Catalan
CAT Reading: 3 / 10000 CAT Film: 5 / 200
Not so much here, a couple of podcasts. I would like to get back to watching Gran Nord and Merlí but there's only so much time in the day. And Catalan takes more brain power, so it's not a "lazy language."

Portuguese
PT Reading: 0 / 10000 PT Film: 12 / 200
I've watched some and listened to some podcasts, but fell behind on the NT plan. Interestingly, I feel like it takes less effort to follow Portuguese than it does Catalan. I just need to find a decent show to watch now.

Swedish
SV Reading: 455 / 10000 SV Film: 29 / 200
I've started and abandoned a couple of things here. I'm wrestling with finding things I like that I can also understand. Not so many podcasts lately, either. I need a good, addictive TV series.

Danish
DK Reading: 30 / 10000 DK Film: 5 / 200
There's not much to say here. The daily podcast I was listening to seems to have stopped updated, which has made much less Danish happen in my life. On the other hand, I may be ready to suck up my irritation about Dicte and go back to watching that. We'll see.

Latin
Work with some 16th century documents, didn't need a dictionary. This isn't the end-goal, but it's good enough to not rust.

Ancient Greek
Koine stuff for sermon prep and some Greek students. By the end of their course I should be really good, haha!

Hebrew
Sermon prep. Long road, but doable. I feel like it is coming back, and over time, it will get better.

Dutch
I actually watched three hours of film and read a few pages! Maybe if I do this every now and then it will even result in improvement.

Russian
Nothing, but it's not being rotated out, so this is a bad nothing.

Korean
Back to working on Pimsleur until the move, then I'll go to the book again.

Welsh, Gaelic, Scots, Finnish, Basque
Nothing. As planned.
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User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Wed May 03, 2017 1:03 pm

Since that last update, I binge watched some more of Ingobernable and all of Las Chicas deal Cable, in like three days...and then the air conditioner broke. With temperatures in the 90s here, that was not a good thing. Worse, I'd have rather it happened in a month or two - it would have been hotter, but it wouldn't be cooling off at night. Having it happen this way resulted in summer colds for the entire household. The air just got fixed the day before yesterday, and yesterday itself was still pretty much useless on all fronts. From Saturday on to today I managed to watch one French film (not even, really, it was a war piece and half of it was in either German or English) and a few podcasts...

And...wait for it...


K-drama! Ok, it was one episode of President and it took me three days to get through, but I watched part of it without any subtitles at all and there were a few scenes where I understood all the exchanges! I'm a long way from watching comfortably, but that was truly heartening as I never thought I'd be able to understand that much. Now, to find time to overdo it I'm Korean...
3 x

User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Sat May 06, 2017 5:15 pm

I don't quite have the energy at the moment for a full update, but I've got a bit of time, so I thought I'd write something.

I've been feeling kind of bad about not being able to keep up the level of langauge work I had before the new year - I was really killing it, but after the new year started stuff happened and I never really recovered my balance properly...and then busy times happened again. I also am not thrilled about having to slow down and put things on hold, or the fact that I feel like I might finally be making a breakthrough in Korean but can't find the combination of time and energy to do some focussed study.

I took a look at my data a little bit differently, and it made be feel a little better. I bascially joined the SC and started tracking in October - there was a minimal amount of Spanish and French watching from the prior valid period I was able to count (I think one TV series or so in Spanish), but other than that, it's been pretty much only since October. In that time, I've done over a whole SC of TL reading - spread out across several languages, to be sure (and not counting German!), but my total is up there (plus multiple partially-finished things across several languages, so I'm probably at ~7k pages or so for the last 12 months). I'm also at 255 hours of film across all those langagues, so almost at what would be a double SC (and of that, 124 is Spanish anyway, it almost has a film SC to itself).

I came back a little over a year ago wanting to work on Spanish and French. I've started several new languages, and made progress that I can be quite happy with. My Spanish is better than it's ever been, and in a practical sense, is way more comfortable to use. French, though still noticeably a bit behind Spanish (hmm, 50h of film and 3k pages of reading difference might have something to do with this), could have the same things said about it (mutatis mutandis, because I can't quite speak or hear French the way I can speak and hear Spanish).

So in short: I feel like I'm not making the progress I wanted to, or really much progress at all, but I have been doing well and should be happy with what I'm getting done. (You hear that, Philip? Cheer up)

And now I'm going to go take a nap.


Edit: I realized the math didn't work, went and looked, and I came back last May, not last March. So this is about ten days off a 12-month summary. That feels even better.
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User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
x 2070

Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Sun May 28, 2017 12:18 am

Well, that month went by fast...

We managed to move, and all the boxes are unpacked, so that's something. We've got internet here, but there's been some trouble getting it set up in my study, so I'm having to work from home a bit (not at all easy when all the books are shelved 15 minutes away, small child aside). I've still not settled into the new routine, and getting set up has been enough effort that I haven't even been watching or reading in the evenings, as I've been falling asleep early.

So all I've managed is a tiny bit of listening in Spanish, and a few chances to use Spanish (and even Swedish once!), all of which went well. And the normal Facebook stuff from friends who post in some of my TLs. Which is kind of pathetic to count, but when it's all you've got...haha! I did get on clozemaster yesterday and play around a bit.

This isn't much of an update, it's more of an "hey, I'm still alive" sort of thing, as I don't actually have much that I've done with my langauges. I've got a LOT to catch up on here on the forum as well, I've missed quite a bit. As I get back into things in the coming week, I'll also have to change my focus again - I now know for sure that I'll need to be producing good Spanish by mid-July, as I'll probably have to conduct a service in it, so I'm going to have to ramp up productive activities.

I'm hoping that with a new routine I'll also be able to be more active on here again - I miss it, to be honest.
9 x

User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
x 2070

Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Tue Jun 06, 2017 12:13 am

I say I'm back, and then it turns out, not really..

Computer troubles and the new one first coming today was compounded by the fact that the internet in the office won't be right until Wednesday. So I haven't managed to have a normal day yet. I got told at the last minute (Friday) that I'd be preaching three times on Sunday, so even on Monday evening I'm still tired (hey, but I had to use Hebrew and Greek!). And now I have to re-teach myself how to touch type on an American keyboard; my longsuffering German laptop has been around long enough that this is a very strange experience. At least I've got a new excuse for typos for a while, anyway. :lol:

I use WAY more German up here than anticipated, which is kind of cool. It's in part "here" and in part "different situation" but either way, it's good for me. I feel super rusty in just about everything else, though - I've actually got emails to write in Spanish that I'm avoiding because I don't feel up to the task.

Wednesday should start the new normal, so hopefully I can start working my languages back into my day.
8 x

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Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


Finnish?!
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=708
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Elenia » Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:06 pm

Well done on keeping ticking over in spite of it all. Also, very cool that you get to use so many of your languages!

I'm looking forward to you having more time I miss dying of envy while reading your log!
2 x

User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
x 2070

Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Thu Jun 08, 2017 7:46 pm

I have internet in my study now!!!



That's pretty much it, aside from I've been back at watching a couple episodes in Spanish and French and listening to Danish and French while I run (I hate running, but if I can follow Danish while I'm doing it, that's an improvement)
8 x

User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
x 2070

Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:59 pm

Thursday to Tuesday, that's not too long between updates any more, right?

Anyway, Friday was pretty much a total loss between meetings and teaching, I got very little language learning done then. Sunday is about the same for languages, three services in three locations and the nap in the afternoon that they make necessary means I probably won't do much Sundays.

Monday we took advantage of the German food available here, and I had a typical Munich-style breakfast (which also meant Hefeweizen, so I wasn't doing much the rest of the day either. I mowed the lawn and assembled the last of the new furniture, and that's about it).

So with this morning I'm back to a lot more of my listening - Danish every morning while running, followed by Spanish if I run long enough, and the podcast round in the study when I can listen and remain focused. I've gotten in a little Greek and Hebrew desk time already, in a functional sense, and I might start blocking out some time for desk study type stuff (I could reasonably take a couple 30-minute sessions during my time in the study, without neglecting the rest of what I do). Or use those times to do a bit of reading (especially if I can read relevant stuff, I got some Spanish reading in that was actually related to what I was doing last week).

I think I'll pick my FSI Spanish project back up. I'm able to do it driving, and I've got just enough commute that I should be able to do a unit a day (at least until I have to slow down); I should be able to pick back up where I left off, or close to it. I could also use some of that commute time to finish out Pimsleur Korean, so that I can switch to the book work for at least some of my study time.

My big issue right now is the lack of watching time - I either haven't been up to watching in the evenings, or we've been doing family stuff, and I can't really justify watching Netflix while I'm in the study. And that hurts things like Catalan and Portuguese disproportionately, since I tend towards using that sort of input for them.

    Things I need to do:
  • Start working on FSI Spanish again, because I've got to get that automaticity working
  • Figure out a plan for reading Catalan and Portuguese, because I can't watch like I did
  • Think about doing FSI for Swedish
  • Finish Pimsleur Korean so I can use my book
  • Actually do something in Latin and Russian
  • Think about a rotating plan for reading in Spanish and French so that I'm still getting good progress
  • Start Czech?
  • If I'm gonna rotate, bring back small sessions of the things that are on hold (this is wanderlust for my own languages! I can't do this, I'll lose everything in October!)?
7 x

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blaurebell
Blue Belt
Posts: 840
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:24 pm
Location: Spain
Languages: German (N), English (C2), Spanish (B2-C1), French (B2+ passive), Italian (A2), Russian (Beginner)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3235
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby blaurebell » Tue Jun 13, 2017 7:53 pm

Oh, you're going to join the FSI Spanish mission! I'm also doing that right now :)
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User avatar
Systematiker
Blue Belt
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:09 pm
Languages: ENG (N); DEU (C2+) // SWG (~C1); BAR (~C1); SPA (4/3); FRA (~C1); SCO (~C1); NLD (~B2*); LAT (Latinum Bavaricum); GRC (Graecum Bavaricum); CAT (~B2*); POR (~B2*); SWE (~B2*); HBO (Hebraicum); DAN (~B1*); RUS (~A2); KOR (~A1); FAS (still a raw beginner)
*Averaged for high receptive skill
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7332
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Re: Systematiker's attempt at a log

Postby Systematiker » Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:05 pm

blaurebell wrote:Oh, you're going to join the FSI Spanish mission! I'm also doing that right now :)


Yeah, I am, I guess, "back" to FSI Spanish. I just had to flip back through my log to find out where I stopped, and I wasn't super clear, so I'll probably pick up on like unit 15 or so and go from there.


In other news, I'm still figuring out exactly how to lay things and get back in the groove for some of this stuff.

Pimsleur in the car is working well for Korean, I can knock out a unit a day, so I've picked up at unit 25 of the first level yesterday and will finish 26 today. I was a couple beyond that, but the repetition doesn't hurt.

I can probably pick up my Bible reading plans where I was for Spanish and Portuguese, and I'll probably switch in some other languages rather than do yet another pass in Spanish - I've learned that I can't keep too many of those concurrent and still do any other reading, and that's demotivating.

I did get some Spanish film in last night, but watching in the evenings is not something I can count on. I can, however, watch something when I eat my lunch, so I'll probably try to start working stuff in there.

What I can't figure out is where to do the audio stuff I want to do. I've only got 15-20 minutes in the car each way, and that only four days a week (I can't possibly use the time on Sundays, I'll be too distracted). Right now I'm doing Pimsleur Korean there, but that means if I want to do the FSI Spanish (and FSI Swedish! But I think that might be better with the text as a desk session) I've got to find the time to focus on that audio. Maybe I won't do the second level of Pimsleur, and go straight to a desk session as a break in the study? That will let me do about 3 FSI lessons each week, and I've got 40 left to do...that's a long time. Although it works out rather well timing-wise, if I really do 3/week.

I'll have a lot of captive airplane time next month - I'll be in Seattle for a week teaching an intensive course, and both the flight out and back are pretty long (plus I've got a bit of a drive to the airport), so I may be able to load a fair bit of audio there as well. The only issue is going to be the timing, I'll have to not put too much on myself so that I can still meet my obligations (and drive back after the redeye returning).

And I'm seriously re-considering my Hebrew adventure. I've got to have Ancient Hebrew, and I need to work on it. I gave up on Modern because it was originally only a means, but I've since learned that it's one of the languages that results in extra pay regardless of position, so if I can pass at about a B2 in two of speaking/listening/reading, it has a very practical advantage. But I think I'd have to rotate Russian out to do it, I have enough trouble getting to my reduced list as it is. I'm on the fence about that, since on one hand, it's so weak that I'll lose a lot when I have to take my break, but on the other, I'm already losing process because I'm not super motivated. And I kept a fair bit for almost a decade, I won't likely dip below that, so it's not going to be like some of the others that are really going to be like starting from the beginning...ah, I don't know. And I don't know if I really have time to try to work in Modern Hebrew, with or without Russian.

To a certain extent, the events of the last couple of months have had an interesting effect on even my reduced list. I've lost some active facility with Spanish and French, but I seem to have had what leosmith calls a "bow wave" effect with Swedish and Danish. Catalan maybe as well, I'm listening to a podcast right now and it's not hard to follow at all, but it's also about philosophy, so it may be subject matter. And I don't even know what it's done to Portuguese, I haven't done much in it lately.

The wise choice would be to maintain Spanish, French, Catalan, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew, and make small steps using them, while making Korean my actual study. So if I finish out this Pimsleur level and use commute time for FSI Spanish, and go ahead and rotate Russian out until after October, then really all I need to do is use languages and have some desk time in Korean.

That sounds entirely too reasonable for me :lol: :lol:
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