Jeff's language log

[jeff_lindqvist]

Savant - me? Not at all! Remember that my new languages are Romance (and thus closely related), and that I already know Spanish. The most difficult grammar points to grasp and to maintain are those I've never learned in the first place (that is, during my previous French and Portuguese studies). Instead of redoing lessons or "strengthening my skills", I decided to just slog through new lessons to see how quickly I could finish the whole tree, partly because they are Romance languages which I'm fairly familiar with. A new lesson doesn't only have that particular vocabulary and grammar. Often when I've finished a single lesson, the system tells me that I've also strengthened some older skills. So, apparently I get some "free" reviews - probably according to some algorithm choosing sentences from the "rustiest" skills.

Anyway! This is only an experiment.

Another thing I've thought about is to see how far I can get in one day (or two?), if I start a new language and apply the same approach without repeats. Say, one language tree in a weekend. I'm not sure it'll work (or for that matter, be all that useful...), but I know that some pretty productive 15-minute sessions have given me over 100 points.

[jeff_lindqvist]

Summary of week 37

Another hell week!

• Duolingo - daily sessions for the Romance languages, and maintaining the old languages. But - I'm near the end of the Romance trees! Who would have known!
• Anki - finally I found time to add new cards to my Cantonese deck!
• I almost managed to catch up my Finnish studies.

Week 38 will be a lot less chaotic. No mini-vacation, no sudden evening activites. Aim: to slowly increase the pace of my Assimil progression, up to one lesson per day (at least so I've reached lesson 30 by the end of September).

[jeff_lindqvist]

You've conquered the French skill tree!

First of all, you're awesome! You've completed the French skill tree! Second of all, we'd like to take this time to thank you sincerely for your lengthy participation on Duolingo. So in honor of you, here is a very special trophy in which to show our gratitude.

But don't stop now, maintain your knowledge and keep your word strength full by continuing to practice.

So, how long did it take to finish the tree? Six, seven weeks. Do I speak French now? What level do I have? A1?

[jeff_lindqvist]

Summary of week 38

• Duolingo - I finished the French tree and reached lvl 12 in French/Italian/Portuguese.
• The Anki sessions continue. I get fewer and fewer cards per day in Cantonese, so it's about time to add more content. Maybe this week?
• Finnish with pain - I've reached lesson 21. Not too bad (considering the minimum effort so far, ~15 min/day).
• Occasional passive listening in multiple languages. Based on my internet behaviour, Youtube recommended Pillar Zeng's channel with polyglot interviews. They were filmed during the latest gathering in Berlin but didn't show up in my list until a few days ago, some three months after they were published.

Plans for week 39: Stick to the Assimil plan, and finish a couple of books in Swedish. By the way, I found a bilingual children's book today in Swedish/Finnish, so that might be an idea for the weekend. Prepare mentally for the upcoming Irish festival in Finland, which (besides the usual pre-travel nerves...) includes fiddle practice (just sessions, but I still have to be in shape ), Irish studies (one of the bands features native speakers from the Gaeltacht of An Rinn, Co Waterford), and of course Finnish, just in case.

[jeff_lindqvist]

I just finished the Italian and Portuguese trees...

Time for coffee!

[Yuurei]

I just finished the Italian and Portuguese trees...

Time for coffee!

Whoa, seems like just yesterday that you started those trees. Congrats
May I ask about how you'd judge your current level in those languages? The results of your experiment, so to speak? I'm really curious, I have to admit.

[jeff_lindqvist]

First of all, I learned Spanish in school. Even if I rarely use it, it's a language I know. And this helps a lot.

• Of "my" Romance languages, Portuguese is closest to Spanish, but it's not totally new since I took a university course some years ago (autumn 2010-spring 2011). However, I've never actually used the language outside school. So, why not brush it up.
  
  Now, anything I see in Portuguese reminds me of Spanish. Many verb endings are the same (or very similar), most of the grammar works the same way, the spelling is very transparent, but then there's language specific vocabulary which I've had to learn. I've finished many lessons simply based on my knowledge in Spanish. My level? Who knows? Close to my Spanish, I guess. Say, if I picked up the Da Vinci Code in Portuguese, I could probably read along without too many problems. Let me listen to (and shadow) a nice audiobook for some time, then I could speak it (with the vocabulary I have).


• French is a language I studied in high school, a long time ago. I only took it for a year though, and when I made a second attempt many years later (autumn 1997), that class used the same book, so nothing I didn't already "know". Since then, I've used Assimil New French With Ease (with various approaches), and read the occasional Easy Reader. Still, French is not a language I can speak. I can really relate to Rdearman's latest post here.
  
  During this experiment, I've been exposed to l'imparfait, passé composé, reflexive verbs, pluperfect, gerund, future, conditional, past conditional, past subjunctive - some of which I knew existed (in a galaxy, far, far away...) but I'd never studied. For some reason, I found myself misspelling words all the time. But somehow I finished the tree. My passive skills are the same as before (with a more solid foundation since I've worked with various verb tenses over and over for nearly two months) and my active skills, well, better than before (see the audiobook reference above). Moreover, I'm not afraid to read French.


• Finally, Italian - the odd man out here. Besides the course Speak Italian Magically (which I got for free in Berlin), I have nearly no experience of the language. I once took a university course but quit before the books had arrived. My spreadsheet has a record of 0.5 hours in 2010 , 7.25 hours in 2011 (probably during the university course), another half hour in 2012 and then nothing until this year.
  
  Obviously Italian has some similarities with the other languages (typically regarding verb endings, tenses, nouns... well, grammar stuff), a lot of shared vocabulary, but surprisingly less than expected (or rather, between Spanish and Portuguese). I've lost count of how many times I've mixed up lui and lei, and other small particles/prepositions/pronouns. Still, I managed to finish the tree. I've mentioned that I have a bilingual book with short stories in Italian and English, and that's seems like something I'd want to work with from now on. Starting with a stable A0 in Italian in the beginning of May, I can now decipher a lot more in writing, and I LOVE the voice from Speak Italian Magically.

By the way, in the beginning of the summer I turned off anything audio-related in Duolingo. Maybe I'm wrong, but it felt that it took longer to finish a lesson with random audio exercises. Moreover, the audio was so-so, and I also found the varying volumes annoying. This means that I've done the last half (or third?) of German, Spanish and Irish without audio, and the Romance trio completely without audio.

[Yuurei]

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply!

[jeff_lindqvist]

Inspired by Rdearman's post here, it once again struck me that while its great being able to understand what you read/hear, it only covers half of the skills. I've relied very much on passive understanding during the whole learning process of the Romance languages, and it's not until now that I realize that I can't "produce" even the most basic words (at least for French and Italian). Not that I'd call Duolingo "output", but where I am right now feels a bit like a (necessary) second/active wave.

I don't regret rushing through the weak languages without repeating a single lesson, but doing "Strengthen your skills" on a daily basis is keeping me on my feet. And of course I know that my meagre skills would skyrocket if I spoke to people. (Actually I DID speak Spanish at work the other day. )

[tarvos]

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