Languages vs Time

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aokoye
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Languages: English (N), German (~C1), French (Intermediate), Japanese (N4), Swedish (beginner), Dutch (A2)
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Wed Jan 01, 2020 6:19 am

A likely not brief update from me, becuase I am seemingly incapable of being brief when I'm not given a word limit ;)

I managed to apply for all three of the scholarships whose applications were due today (12/31/19). More specifically, I did so before 9pm PST which was my goal. The next one, which is the one that I likely have the highest probability of getting, is due on the 10th.

Hebrew wise, I ended up ordering the follow up book to the book I'm using now, The Guide to Lashon Hakodesh, Volume 2: Mastering Hebrew Verbs. It should come on Friday, but I probably won't start it until February. I'm pretty pleased about this decision given the numerous good reviews that I've found and given how much I like the first book. Also, looking through later chapters of volume 1 of Lashon Hakodesh, it looks like most of the book I was talking about in my previous post is covered in this one.

I ended up writing out all of the verbs in this book in a notebook and also some grammar rules. So far it seems like that was helpful. I also got my hand around some of the vocabulary I was having trouble with.

Right now I'm still working on chapter 5 which is focused on past and future tenses of verbs in the pa'al/qal binyan. It's not so much that it's hard so much as that it's just a lot of exercises. The "problem" is that I see the use in them and I'm finding doing them useful, but it's a lot of words. More specifically, 84 words (broken up into sets of 6) that they want you to translate into English. Thankfully this is the only chapter that has that many individual words outside of a sentence to translate and once you get to chapter 10 (out of 16) it's only sentences. My goal is to finish the rest of this chapter tonight so I can start the next one tomorrow.
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aokoye
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:10 am

Update time.

Not shockingly, Hebrew has fallen by the wayside. My brain is really not a fan of learning two languages at the same time anymore. I've been able to do it before, but I suspect it was a "German and..." where my German is significantly better than the other language. I suspect the only way to really keep up my Hebrew at the moment is to a. learn 5 words a day max and b. read the Tanakh for the sake of fluent reading as opposed to for comprehension.

In better news, French is coming along. I've had to scale back my grammar goals, but otherwise the first three of weeks of the term have gone really well. I had a French test yesterday on the 5th chapter of our book and I actually felt prepared. What a concept. I also was able to get through some chapters in the Grammar book last week which felt productive. I skipped around to grammar that I needed to review for my test and then went back to the earlier chapters (and then skipped some that were actually not worth me going over). Look at the chapter my class is starting tomorrow, I'm feeling somewhat confident in terms of grammar though I suspect the subject of the chapter will bore me nearly to tears. Lots of stuff about fashion, makeup, and perfume...which I couldn't care less about. Such is life, I like the book in general, but there will always be parts of things that I don't like. That doesn't mean I have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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aokoye
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Location: Portland, OR
Languages: English (N), German (~C1), French (Intermediate), Japanese (N4), Swedish (beginner), Dutch (A2)
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Mon Feb 03, 2020 6:43 pm

Against my better judgment, yesterday I decided to sign up for Kwiziq. I blame me being sick - I'm hoping it's not the flu but am going to go to urgent care this afternoon just in case given little time I've had symptoms and that the only "oh maybe it's not" is my not having a fever (and per the CDC "It’s important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever.").

Anyways, Kwiziq seems good so far. The price is the main thing that gives me pause, but I'm currently in the 1 week free trial period. I like that I can use it when I have no desire to open a book but want and need to practice grammar. I've also been better about watching French videos on Youtube and 6play, which I think has been helpful for my comprehension. I also am now looking for French online food magazines (or hard copy magazines with online content). I realized the other day that I've never followed a recipe in French which is definitely a skill I'd like to have. It's certainly not a must, but I enjoy cooking and have done the same with German, which has been really enjoyable.
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aokoye
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Sun Feb 09, 2020 6:58 pm

So it turns out that it's ok to take nearly a week off of school and work and have to schedule a make up for a [French] test when you have some sort of non-flu virus that has really kicked your ass. I say this while currently taking a short break from studying for said test. My French professor has been very flexible and gave me two days and three potential times to take said test - I opted for Monday before class as opposed to Friday. Note that said test was given to the rest of the class this past Wednesday.

I was feeling bad but today has been the first day all week that I've actually been able to study. I'm still sick (chest congestion, a cough, and currently a headache which I think is a result of exerting not a whole lot of energy), but at least I have the ability to be productive. It's also very clear that it would have been fair to myself if I had tried to take the test on Friday.
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aokoye
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Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 6:14 pm
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Languages: English (N), German (~C1), French (Intermediate), Japanese (N4), Swedish (beginner), Dutch (A2)
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:37 pm

French class is going worse than last term with regards to my objective performance (tests) but my speaking is getting better. My pronunciation is also getting better. My professor doesn't seem all that concerned about my tests but I'm personally not pleased. That said, this last test was a wash given that I was very sick for the week leading up to it and ended up studying for all of 3 hours (because that's all I really could study even though I ended up taking the test the week after it was scheduled). Said cold also sent me down an emotional spiral which wasn't helpful either.

I read a post on Medium titled How I Learned French in 12 Months about something who passed the DELF B2 with a very respectable score after ~12 months of study. The post is surprisingly well written given the topic. It's interesting to me because, while I spent the last 12 months very differently and also reached a somewhat high level in a short amount of time (though I don't have any proctored proficiency tests to prove it), there are things he did that I think I can take from his post. More specifically, his use of French to English flashcards (5k on Anki), using iTalki for speaking practice, and listening to podcasts. I think that adding those in/slightly changing the way I do some things will end up being useful to me and in some ways less stressful than what I've been doing as of late. I also need to work on my speaking, it's the thing I'm the most self conscious about so if that means a bunch of iTalki sessions then so be it I suppose.

Goals for this weekend:
Anki stuff (shocking....)
Listen to at least one podcast in French (planning on doing that after I click "submit" here)
Get caught up on homework (not going to totally happen)
Do a chapter or two in Grammaire progressive
Remember that I have an iTalki session on Sunday afternoon
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aokoye
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1818
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 6:14 pm
Location: Portland, OR
Languages: English (N), German (~C1), French (Intermediate), Japanese (N4), Swedish (beginner), Dutch (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=19262
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Re: Languages vs Time

Postby aokoye » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 am

I somehow managed all of my goals for the weekend - well, more or less. I'm not going to get caught up on all of my French homework, I don't have the mental energy. I got the most pressing thing started, which was very good, and I'll try to get some of the other stuff that is piling up done as well.

I had an iTalki session and it went really well I think. Given that my goal is to speak more fluently, where "fluent" means fluid, I think one 30 minute lesson a week will be helpful. I think the plan is to read an article before hand and then chat about said article. Financially it works out well as the person I did a lesson with today was charging $6. I can do $6 a week.

My Anki "fun" involves this 5,000 most common French words deck and the 10k French sentences deck from the same author. I can get through the words pretty quickly, though the sentences take a bit longer. I'm also only doing them French to English which makes my brain a little happier with the world and a happy brain (or a less pissed off brain) means me being more likely to stick to it.
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