Komma’s Log: Focus on French

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aledda
Yellow Belt
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: Uruguay
Languages: Español (N)
English (C2), Português (C2)

Studying now: 日本語 (N4->N3), 한국어 (beginner)

Dabbling: Italiano (beginner), Deutsch (beginner)

On the waiting list: 普通话 (~A1)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=5561
x 141

Re: Komma’s Log: A fresh start with a new language (JP)

Postby aledda » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:49 pm

Oh, don't worry! That happens a lot!
Typing in romaji on the computer is practical but sometimes you end up writing something else :lol:
0 x
Please, feel free to correct any mistakes.

Komma
Orange Belt
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:00 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: German (N); learning actively: Japanese (beginner); learning passively: English (probably C1/2), French (false beginner); on halt: Spanish (beginner)
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.org/vi ... =15&t=1067
x 155

Re: Weekly Update: March 14-21

Postby Komma » Tue Mar 21, 2017 10:15 pm

Somehow my weekly update is a bit shifted :mrgreen:

Japanese:
I just decided to learn Katakana now after all. In Genki it is used as well as Hiragana in the first chapters (although there is always the Hiragana written out as well). And Kanji won't start until the third chapter, but that will take a few more days or so until I reach that.
I already started learning the first 20 Katakana characters, though I still need a lot of review on them.
Since I'm done with my university homework, I can now focus a bit more on my language study. I plan to finish Katakana this week and then revise them next week and during my textbook studies.
I also plan to set up anki for my needs. I want to make a template so I can create all card types in one go. But first, I need to decide on the card types. I will use Gabe Wyners suggestions here, but prefer to create the template on my own instead of using his.

"Fremdsprachenlernen mit System":
I've read a bit more in the book by Hans Krings. A very interesting point here in his 'big 5' points for learning languages is the 'mental processing'. That understanding the input isn't enough for learning. One has to actively make the connection between what is being said and how it is being said. The perception of these differences between two languages is important.
:arrow: So, when I do read material in the languages I study, I try to stop here and there and try to realize how something is said.
2 x
: 38 / 113 Assimil French - passive
: 5 / 40 Language Transfer
: 20 / 81 Le petit Prince
: 0 / 52 Grammaire progressive - intermédiaire
: 0 / 28 Vocabulaire progressf - débutant

Komma
Orange Belt
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:00 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: German (N); learning actively: Japanese (beginner); learning passively: English (probably C1/2), French (false beginner); on halt: Spanish (beginner)
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.org/vi ... =15&t=1067
x 155

Focus on French

Postby Komma » Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:28 pm

After reading a few articles on focus I finally see the problem with trying to do everything at once like I used to do.
I still want to learn multiple languages and despite languages a few other subjects as well. However, since the time is limited and hopping from subject to subject just wastes the precious time that could be used for learning, I decided to focus on one language and avoid the rest at all cost.

My goal in French is to study it to a level of at least C1 and taking a test, so I have proof and can put it on my CV. This is not my underlying motivation to study french. Although my motivation might not be very passionate as well. Mostly I studied French at school to a level of A2/B1 and since I want to learn all my life, this is one of my first projects since I already started it. The problem with passion is for me, that I am mostly passionate about new things. Starting everything but never getting very far. I realize now, that my aim of being proficient in many areas only results from focusing on one after the other and not all at the same time. As James Clear writes: "If You Commit to Nothing, You’ll Be Distracted By Everything". And that was exactly the case for me. I thought I would miss out on something and started so many things that I actually missed out on everything.

I dedicate a minimum of 9 hours of practice time every week for French. That translates to 1 hour on weekdays and 2 hours on weekends. I don't have a specified ending date for reaching level C1, but when I commit to this amount of learning I will make much more progress than I used to.

For getting in the mood of French I will finally finish my Assimil course. This really is a refresher of my previous knowledge and I aim for 3-4 lessons per day, since they are actually too easy for me. Nevertheless, since I bought the course and there are still words I don't understand and it is not always so easy with the listening it's a nice introduction. Same for language transfer 'introduction to french'. Although it's so basic and not even by a native speaker, I really enjoy the LT approach. When I still dabbled in Spanish the LT course allowed me to actually form sentences after so little time. The course at universtiy didn't really helped much there.
For grammar I have a grammaire progressive du francais which I would work through.
And for the fun I just bought a copy of Le petit prince.
2 x
: 38 / 113 Assimil French - passive
: 5 / 40 Language Transfer
: 20 / 81 Le petit Prince
: 0 / 52 Grammaire progressive - intermédiaire
: 0 / 28 Vocabulaire progressf - débutant

Komma
Orange Belt
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:00 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: German (N); learning actively: Japanese (beginner); learning passively: English (probably C1/2), French (false beginner); on halt: Spanish (beginner)
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.org/vi ... =15&t=1067
x 155

My Strategy

Postby Komma » Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:54 pm

I just found my notes on language aquisition books/courses I took a while ago and now want to apply what I've written down.

Phase 1 - understand
I will start with reading. A lot of reading. I read for vocabulary input and implicit grammar aquisition. It depends on the time I got, whether I actually look up unknown words and put them into anki or just read and let the most important words sink in by just reading a lot.
For grammar aquisition I will stop and think about a sentence once in a while and do some mental processing of the connection of what's being said and how it is said. At this stage it is mostly about understanding vocabulary and grammar. I will go through a grammar as well for refreshing the most important concepts and then try to find them in the books I am reading making these connections (ah, that's what I just learned!).

If possible I will get the audio to the texts I read, so I directly get the pronunciation correct. Especially of the sounds of words inside a sentence. This way I want to get in contact with real french pronunciation and first listening comprehension. Although at this stage I don't focus on listening without reading.
After reading the book I might go back and only listen to the audio and see how much I understand when I don't follow the text visually.

I haven't decided yet, how long I want to do this understanding phase, probably not that long, since I already do understand quite a bit of French already and want to move on to things I am not comfortable with.
Maybe I just stick to Assimil French and Le petit prince before moving on to phase 2.

Phase 2 - practice and output (written)
In phase 2 I then get active myself. Here I actually start practicing grammar and vocabulary by doing excercises and producing output.
Here I aim for holistic excercises where grammar is used in context. From reading my notes that includes mostly translation excercises and analyzing sentences or just create output and let it get corrected (hypothesis testing and getting feedback. Don't avoid mistakes at all cost since this would cause only using known structures and not learning anything new).
For vocabulary practice I also throw in some free association and action chain or themed vocab excercises (e.g. learning words and phrases for buying a sweater: I decide on the blue sweater, go to the changing room and try it on. I buy the red sweater instead because it is cheaper. - something like that. Produced useful vocab connections on one theme without the problem of confusing words of one category (sweater, shirt, jacket..))

Phase 3 - conversation
This might also be just phase 2b, depending on whether I find someone to do conversation with.

In all phases a lot of reading, listening and watching videos will be continued to get enough input and building implicit knowledge of the language. I remember that I learned English that way as well. The grammar excercises at school were only so helpful to get some understanding, but mostly watching interesting TV shows made me actually learn the language.
0 x
: 38 / 113 Assimil French - passive
: 5 / 40 Language Transfer
: 20 / 81 Le petit Prince
: 0 / 52 Grammaire progressive - intermédiaire
: 0 / 28 Vocabulaire progressf - débutant

Komma
Orange Belt
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:00 pm
Location: Germany
Languages: German (N); learning actively: Japanese (beginner); learning passively: English (probably C1/2), French (false beginner); on halt: Spanish (beginner)
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.org/vi ... =15&t=1067
x 155

Weekly Review

Postby Komma » Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:52 pm

Today was actually the only day where I intensively did some French studying. I read a few pages in le petit prince and did 2 lessons of Assimil.
For Assimil I put the unknown words into Anki (which I reviewed today as well. there were still some leftover words from some time previously).
For the petit prince I mostly mark the words I don't know and that are not explained in the back of my student's version. I don't want to read and look up everything as I go. I will postpone that to the time I am finished and then go through the book again.

Using a time tracker, I studied 1 h 15 min today. And that made me think about the time commitment of 1 hour per day on weekdays and 2 hours on weekends. It is kind of hard to do that much studying. I lose my focus kind of fast. However, I prefer trying to use the hours I normally spend mindlessly browsing the interent for something useful. Maybe I should only do 30 min of studying and just extensively read or listen to something afterwards without worrying about looking up anything at all.

I guess it is going to be easier as I progress, since at the moment I still do a lot of translating in my head while reading.
1 x
: 38 / 113 Assimil French - passive
: 5 / 40 Language Transfer
: 20 / 81 Le petit Prince
: 0 / 52 Grammaire progressive - intermédiaire
: 0 / 28 Vocabulaire progressf - débutant


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