Seeking advice
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 12:45 am
Hello all. I'm new on this forum and as the title reveals, I'm looking for some advice on two matters. Here goes:
First of all, I've been looking into extensive reading recently, and while I'm keen on it for German, I've got some concerns which primarily reside in my compulsion to look up every uncertain word in the dictionary, even if I could deduce its meaning from context. As it stands now, I already read in a way that I'll first read through a chapter for uncertain words and look them up, then the next day, reread it and hope I didn't forget any of those words by then. And if I do forget the translation and definition(s) from a monolingual dictionary, it just plain bothers to let it go, and I end up repeating the paragraph multiple times and still continuing slower than usual due to this elusive word my brain hangs onto. Perhaps this is more of a psychiatric issue.
Nevertheless, if you have any tips or remarks for me there, I'd appreciate it.
Secondly, what do you think of the pedagogical value of writing in a foreign language? Is it something worth making an effort to do? I also want to ask, what exactly does one write? Just writing whatever isn't really my cup of tea and I don't write in English unless I have a specific aim (like this inquiry right here, an email, etc.). All in all, I like the idea of writing, but I don't know how to approach this.
First of all, I've been looking into extensive reading recently, and while I'm keen on it for German, I've got some concerns which primarily reside in my compulsion to look up every uncertain word in the dictionary, even if I could deduce its meaning from context. As it stands now, I already read in a way that I'll first read through a chapter for uncertain words and look them up, then the next day, reread it and hope I didn't forget any of those words by then. And if I do forget the translation and definition(s) from a monolingual dictionary, it just plain bothers to let it go, and I end up repeating the paragraph multiple times and still continuing slower than usual due to this elusive word my brain hangs onto. Perhaps this is more of a psychiatric issue.
Nevertheless, if you have any tips or remarks for me there, I'd appreciate it.
Secondly, what do you think of the pedagogical value of writing in a foreign language? Is it something worth making an effort to do? I also want to ask, what exactly does one write? Just writing whatever isn't really my cup of tea and I don't write in English unless I have a specific aim (like this inquiry right here, an email, etc.). All in all, I like the idea of writing, but I don't know how to approach this.