Throughout my 2.5 years learning Spanish I've always taken one thing for granted; there's always something about language learning I'm not going to enjoy but that will be necessary (or very helpful) to drive improvement. I'm in the process of evaluating exactly how I approach language learning and I realized that this is not necessarily true so I thought I'd ask for the community's (your) opinion on the matter.
Questions:
- Are there activities in your language learning routine that you don't necessarily enjoy but do for the sake of improving?
- Would you drop them?
For me, it's now Anki/ trying to memorize vocabulary, transcribing audio and writing.
Thanks for your time!
Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
1. Reading along with audio books, and looking up unknown words. It was an experiment, and I am going to drop it. Completely kills the narrative's momentum.the1whoknocks wrote:- Are there activities in your language learning routine that you don't necessarily enjoy but do for the sake of improving?
- Would you drop them?
2. Memorising verse. I don't enjoy it, but I'm going to keep it up for a while; I think it may have a long term benefit. (Reineke mentioned a study comparing Arabic L2 learners, and muslims who had memorised bits of the Koran. The memorisers had a better instinct for Arabic grammar).
Last edited by DaveBee on Sat Mar 25, 2017 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
The short answer is: NO!!
1. I can tolerate making Anki cards, but I have a hard time reviewing them. I try to make them more interesting by using them to quiz myself, rather than immediately clicking for the answer, and to see if I can pronounce it correctly. I'll try to keep them, as I notice these words "in the wild".
2. Pimsleur--I really enjoyed the first 30 or so units, and I think it helped my pronunciation, but the construction "I have been there", "I have eaten", etc, tripped me up continuously, and I got sick of trying to repeat sentences where I didn't understand the grammar or know the spelling. I'll probably go back to Pimsleur fofr German, Italian or Japanese, but I'm done with the French one.
1. I can tolerate making Anki cards, but I have a hard time reviewing them. I try to make them more interesting by using them to quiz myself, rather than immediately clicking for the answer, and to see if I can pronounce it correctly. I'll try to keep them, as I notice these words "in the wild".
2. Pimsleur--I really enjoyed the first 30 or so units, and I think it helped my pronunciation, but the construction "I have been there", "I have eaten", etc, tripped me up continuously, and I got sick of trying to repeat sentences where I didn't understand the grammar or know the spelling. I'll probably go back to Pimsleur fofr German, Italian or Japanese, but I'm done with the French one.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
I found Anki horribly boring, but have found a number of Memrise Spanish courses that accomplished the same thing and were a lot more fun.
There's a book called something like "How to be fluent in Spanish" and he talks about memorizing small paragraphs every day. Again, useful but boring. But I can't tell you how many times I've needed a word and realized that I already knew it--from a song that I'd memorized without trying to.
I hate writing in a journal, or for nameless people on Lang-8. But I rush to answer posts on hobby websites and gladly accept their feedback on my writing.
For everything you don't like--step back and look for a different way to do it that you will like.
There's a book called something like "How to be fluent in Spanish" and he talks about memorizing small paragraphs every day. Again, useful but boring. But I can't tell you how many times I've needed a word and realized that I already knew it--from a song that I'd memorized without trying to.
I hate writing in a journal, or for nameless people on Lang-8. But I rush to answer posts on hobby websites and gladly accept their feedback on my writing.
For everything you don't like--step back and look for a different way to do it that you will like.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
In an effort to come upon an effectual routine which I can happily do for years to come without pause, I've had to give careful consideration to the kinds of tasks which I might dislike.
I wont say I *enjoy* everything in language learning - certainly I don't *enjoy* all of the content I work through - but I don't find it unenjoyable. I suspect this is all I can reasonably ask for.
I wont say I *enjoy* everything in language learning - certainly I don't *enjoy* all of the content I work through - but I don't find it unenjoyable. I suspect this is all I can reasonably ask for.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
Thinking about memorisation, I'm now tempted to do this for english. Just because there are some scenes in (english language) books/plays that I enjoy thinking about.CarlyD wrote:
There's a book called something like "How to be fluent in Spanish" and he talks about memorizing small paragraphs every day. Again, useful but boring. But I can't tell you how many times I've needed a word and realized that I already knew it--from a song that I'd memorized without trying to.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. And if I get bored of something, it's a good sign the routine needs changing.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
If I don't enjoy it, it doesn't stay in my routine for long - and the older I get, the less tolerant I am of doing boring things that might be "good" for me. Having said that, I am coming from the perspective of someone who is essentially a hobby language learner. If I had to get good fast, it may be a different story.
I really enjoy watching TV and having conversations in my TL (once I am capable enough) and quite enjoy books. I am also quite happy to deal with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation in shorter intensiver bursts, but long term grinding through flashcards is no longer on my to do list. So on the whole I think I'm covered - even if I'm not moving particularly quickly.
I really enjoy watching TV and having conversations in my TL (once I am capable enough) and quite enjoy books. I am also quite happy to deal with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation in shorter intensiver bursts, but long term grinding through flashcards is no longer on my to do list. So on the whole I think I'm covered - even if I'm not moving particularly quickly.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
I hated anki, so I replaced it by intensive reading. The brain avoids uncomfortable situations so if you hate something, your brain will try to forget it. Pointless exercise. I really don't think anki made any impact at all for my Russian, although I spent 50h on it. Never again! I also don't particularly enjoy grammar drilling, but I do enjoy a good challenge, so as long as I keep the drilling at a level that is beyond my actual skill level, it's all fine. So, ultimately I try to make sure that I mostly enjoy what I do, otherwise it's going to be counterproductive.
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Re: Do you enjoy everything in your routine?
Enjoy is a funny word. I enjoy the accomplishment of certain things and I enjoy the results. I enjoy the speed that improve with certain resources over simply "enjoying myself" watching tv or reading a book. Actually I like the brain stretch of good hard work more than mindless tv watching, except in cases of illness or fatigue, but if the specific activity isn't a net positive in process and result then I drop it.
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