What Makes a Good Log?

[jeff_lindqvist]

- a bit of metrics - if the person is consistently doing yy number of anki cards over extended periods of time or is already writing thousands of words it's nice to see. (If that is the only thing in the log, it's a little boring)

That's why I add some full sentences now and then. I don't want to lose too many readers.

[garyb]

It goes without saying that many people write logs primarily for themselves, and different people find different things more useful. But one of my favourite things about the forum is reading about other people's experiences and sharing my own, and the purely subjective things that make a log interesting for me (and I try to keep in mind when writing my own) are:

- Same language(s) that I study.
- Experiences of speaking the language with other people. One recurring theme in my log is my positive and negative experiences of using my languages with native speakers, so it's interesting to see how others get on with this.
- Discussion and recommendations of course materials, TV, films, books, podcasts, music, etc. It's great when people give information and opinions on these rather than just stating that they're using them.
- Thoughts about learning methods and what might be working or not working for them.

Things I enjoy less:

- Logs that are purely metrics and progress bars with nothing else. Nothing against them, I realise that's the most obvious case of authors writing for themselves rather than an audience and that's fine, but I'm not going to read it.
- Bad writing: super-long paragraphs, excessive mistakes in the author's native language, etc.
- Unrealistic ambitions that are doomed to failure: beginners taking on several languages at once with complicated daily routines, goals to reach C1 from B1 or B2 in a number of months, attempts at learning more than a few new words per day... But I've been there and so have many others, and one has to learn somehow!

Things I'm on the fence about:

- Details of personal life and opinions. A personal touch is great, and I know that my own log is all about how languages fit into the rest of my life. But sometimes it can go too far with tangents about health, politics and society, technology, work, etc. that have little relevance to language studies and this forum doesn't feel like the right place for it.
- Writing in target languages. I love to see people making the effort, but at the same time I'm just a bit lazy so I tend to skim over it or not read it at all, plus I don't really enjoy reading incorrect language. And obviously if it's in a language I don't know then I can't read it in the first place. I go through phases of writing in my TLs, but I almost always provide an English translation in order to keep it accessible and save people the effort.

[Josquin]

Things I'm on the fence about:

- Details of personal life and opinions. A personal touch is great, and I know that my own log is all about how languages fit into the rest of my life. But sometimes it can go too far with tangents about health, politics and society, technology, work, etc. that have little relevance to language studies and this forum doesn't feel like the right place for it.

I don't really agree. I enjoy knowing more about the people I read about almost daily. Also, it would be a bit boring if the forum only was a place for sharing language learning experiences and not also about your personal life. At last we're all human beings and a lot of forum members are like online friends to me. It wouldn't only be a bit boring but also kind of sterile if all we would talk about was how to learn languages most efficiently and not how studying relates to our "real" lives. It's only natural that people share things with each other once they've got to know each other and more often than not our outer circumstances determine our success in language learning.

[garyb]

I don't really agree. I enjoy knowing more about the people I read about almost daily. Also, it would be a bit boring if the forum only was a place for sharing language learning experiences and not also about your personal life. At last we're all human beings and a lot of forum members are like online friends to me. It wouldn't only be a bit boring but also kind of sterile if all we would talk about was how to learn languages most efficiently and not how studying relates to our "real" lives. It's only natural that people share things with each other once they've got to know each other and more often than not our outer circumstances determine our success in language learning.

That's not at all what I was arguing: I didn't say that it should just be sterile discussion of language learning, and I thought I made it quite clear that how languages relate to our "real" lives is exactly what interests me and what I like to write about. I just think it's a balance and I find it a bit strange reading excessive and completely irrelevant personal information and opinions of strangers.

[Josquin]

Okay, then I probably just don't understand where the line between interesting and "excessive" personal information is. But we needn't discuss it further.

[Ogrim]

I also like people who consistently post, as do others. I remember Radioclare told me on the old forum she got confused when I started posting on a Tuesday instead of Thursdays because I was part of her Thursday reading list.

• Write in paragraphs like you would a letter.
• Write to someone, an imaginary reader and tell them about yoru day, week, month.
• Solicit comments and questions.
• Post consistently
• Tell the reader what materials your using (since we might be learning the same language and want to buy it)
• Give the occasional review of things you've used, films you've watched, books your reading, etc.

I am afraid I do not post consistently, nor do I intend to, so I will disappoint you on that point. I write my log when I have time and I have something to say which I think is worth sharing with others. That means that in one week I may write several posts, but then I may not post at all for two or three weeks. I never write my log when I am on holiday for instance.

I do like all the other points rdearman raises and I think I more or less follow that model when it comes to my own log. However, I think everyone should be free to structure their log as they see fit - some people talk a lot about their personal lives, some prefer to stick to language learning only, others write about a range of different stuff in different languages (mainly Iversen of course ), and some seem to use the log simply as a way of registering their progress, time spent learning etc. As long as people stick to the forum rules and what they write about is somehow related to languages, then fine with me.

[anamsc]

My number one criteria for reading logs is that they be written in a language other than English. I don't care whether the writer is a native speaker of the language they are writing in. I try to limit my English exposure, so reading logs in other languages is a plus.

[MamaPata]

My number one criteria for reading logs is that they be written in a language other than English. I don't care whether the writer is a native speaker of the language they are writing in. I try to limit my English exposure, so reading logs in other languages is a plus.

But to make other people feel better, I will say that I mostly read logs in English or languages I study. I think it's great when people write in their L1 or TL, but I read a lot of this forum on my phone if I have five mins here or there (for example, currently on a very packed bus so can't read my book). Therefore, it's pretty fiddly to google translate things.

Obviously people are going to do all of the above, as they should!

[Cavesa]

I love to read about personal experience with various courses, techniques, and so on. I love recommendations on books, tv series, or movies, I already know several logs, where I can draw inspiration from rather often. Travelogs are a treasure, especially those containing practical information (like Stelle's). I am interested in how language learning fits into the life of the author, even though I agree this is a more delicate matter, the choice what is appropriate to post and what is not. Unless someone breaks the rules (and I trust our moderators on seeing the line), it is their log and either I want to read it, or there are plenty others to choose from. Goals and success stories, and struggles with language learning, all that is awesome and valuable to read.

Basically, I love the logs that include different and more in depth information than a random google search. Many people in this community are awesome at sharing what I am interested in, as we are probably missing the same things in the usual sources.

P.S. cookies improve any thread

[rfnsoares]

I love reading about experiences, challenges and experiments. Logs are the most interesting part of this forum. Actually I would like to follow all the logs, but I really do not have time to do so, so I tend to follow the logs of people who are learning the same languagues that I am and also to follow the English learners' logs.
For example, one interesting fact that I recently knew was about the time that people spent writing in their target language. I thought that I was the only one who spent hours on a single post
Besides, there are logs on the forum that are quite inspiring and interesting, I would not like to mention names but I found very interesting Iversen's log and some day it will became a model.