What next? (learning Spanish, maintaining German, random dabbling...)

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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:53 am

I really should quit setting long term goals for myself. Because within a few weeks it always seems to become clear that said goals are either inachievable, or they don't actually fit with where I want/need to go.

I am probably being unnecessarily negative right now because I've got a lot on at work, after an all too short interlude at the start of January, and I don't have much mental energy left over at the end of the day to hit the books. When I started taking a proper, focused interest in language learning as an adult I had been going from one undemanding low-paid job to the next and language learning filled a deep need for intellectual stimulation that was not being fulfilled at the office. The problem I have right now is a much better problem to have - in many respects I'd hesitate to call it a problem at all. In fact the problem is that I need to learn how to use my free time to better recover from the strains of my job, so that I am fresh and ready Monday morning to face the challenges I am being paid to face. It's a nice place to be. But it doesn't help me collect languages.

So for now Italian is sadly still stuck on the A0 plateau. I haven't even touched Anki for days and I am ready to just wipe the decks and start again later.

German needs to be the focus. My main priority is finishing off the Super Challenge, since reading trashy fiction and watching TV is about as relaxing as language learning gets - it is the one magical benefit of the intermediate stage that makes up for all the intermediate frustrations.

I tried setting up a short term problem solving challenge which means I am using the most part of February to try and nail the passive. Given the pressures on my time, I think this is actually turning out to be a nice approach. When I do have the energy to study, I have one thing to focus on, which I know will help improve my German overall. But I am not overwhelmed by the sense that I have a load of other problems I haven't solved yet. Divide and conquer, I suppose. The proof will really be whether I actually manage to nail the passive...

...and if it works I already have a really long list of other problems I ought to work on!
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Sat Mar 04, 2017 11:04 pm

I'm back from a short trip to Amsterdam, where I had tremendous fun using my German and English to decipher the Dutch that was going on around me. High/low point was the first time somebody spoke to me in Dutch, I could understand perfectly well what they were saying thanks to the vocab used being practically identical to German, and my brain froze, because rather than attempting to respond in English (or German) it decided that Dutch would be far more appropriate, ignoring the fact that I don't actually know how to say anything in Dutch, leaving me struck dumb for more seconds than is comfortable! I have neither the time nor the access to resources/native speakers to be able to do anything with Dutch right now, but I still found it fascinating how much of a leg up in comprehension my German has given me.

The hotel I stayed in had ZDF and German Comedy Central on the TV and I read half of the first Wilsberg book on the train (because when you are halfway through a couple of books you've had on the go for ages, the best approach for holiday reading is to start a whole new book and ignore the others), so I got some light German practice in while still being on holiday mode.

Coming back to normality, I am finding myself somewhat frustrated by my German class. As I've moaned about before, my free time has become a lot more precious over the last few months and I am finding that I often have to make the choice between doing homework or coursework for class, or doing something else in German that fits in with my immediate problems/interests. Since I'm paying for the class and I don't want the shame of turning up unprepared, the homework/coursework wins that battle, but I find myself resenting it and I'm not even sure how much value it is in doing it as the practice drills get turned into a mechanical activity that I just need to grind through so I'm prepared for the next class. If I had twice as much time for German, it wouldn't be a problem, and the benefits of the class would outweigh the fact that I am finding some of the themes a bit boring. I think we only have another 6 classes or so left for the year and now I have completed most of the courseworks and in class tests it would be a bit stupid to quit, but I'll have to see how I settle back into a self study routine over the summer (not to mention whether or not my working life ever settles down again!) before I decide whether to continue with the class next year.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:58 pm

I finished two books over the last couple of weeks. Making several rail trips over the same period helped :-D

I finished off the first book in the Wilsberg series two weeks ago. It was quite a short read, and I ended up finishing it within a couple of weeks, which was a nice confidence boost. I didn't find the case to be particularly spannend, however Wilsberg is quite the character and I liked that he is a private detective, which changes the rules a little.

Yesterday I finished reading Die Alchimistin by Kai Meyer, which I've had on the go for a few months, but it's a bit longer than Wilsberg! Dark historical fantasy is not a regular genre for me, however the adult themes were a nice contrast when I realised I was utterly sick of children's fantasy literature. Language wise I found it quite straightforward - I could follow the story without a dictionary but used one for some sections to enrich the experience. There were a couple of questions left over from the story which are bugging me. The story ended like it had wrapped things up although there are two more books in the series. No idea if the next books answer those questions or it was just lazy writing. Only one way to find out I guess, although I'd like to read something a little lighter first.

Another sign of progress is that Jan Böhmermann is finally becoming comprehensible. I've been regularly watching Neo Magazin Royale and listening to his podcast on Spotify and my brain is getting used to it. Sadly it's not contributing much to my SC total because of my habit of falling asleep halfway through - however it's actually working so who cares about the Twitter contest :-D
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:26 pm

For want of anything better to do, I did the structures test on Dialang for German this evening. Last time I did it was in June 2016, when I scored a B1. This time I scored a B2. So although it doesn't feel like my German has improved much since last summer, I must be doing something right.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Tue May 02, 2017 5:40 pm

I think I am taking some kind of break when it comes to German. It wasn't deliberate, but it feels quite natural so I am going to run with it. My course came to an end and although I made lots of plans as to what to do when I'm not doing homework, I just haven't been in the mood for it.

I am still reading/watching TV, but I have a whole list of grammar things that I really need to brush up at some point, but not right now. I'm spending some time catching up on some English books which have been sitting dormant on my bookshelves for far too long. I'm not a particularly fast reader and can't keep up with everything I want to read anyway, so it feels like time well spent!

I've also just come back from an amazing trip to Italy. When I was a kid, I wanted to learn Italian because the idea of Italy seemed really exotic to me. I even spent some of my pocket money on Usborne's Italian for Beginners. And yet it took me another 24 years to actually go there. Seeing the paddy fields of Piedmont with a backdrop of snow capped mountains, I don't think my childhood expectations were far wrong! It's a shame that despite my childhood interest, to date the only Italian I have succeeded in picking up is musical terms and swear words. The only thing keeping me away from language learning wanderlust is the hard earned knowledge of how much work it takes to learn a language. Travel wanderlust is stronger than ever though. I'd pack up and go back tomorrow if I could.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Sat May 13, 2017 4:36 pm

I've just finished reading Homo Faber by Max Frisch. It showed up quite a lot when I was googling things to read for German learners. I think it may be quite popular on high school courses and the like, which I actually think is a shame because I would not have appreciated the book at the age of 16. In any case, it is not a cheerful read and the main character is not at all likeable - and yet by the end of the book I couldn't help but feel for him. Although the events in the book were exceptional (otherwise it would have been a boring book!) his flaws were not exceptional at all. It was frustration at these flaws which caused me to feel from ambivalent to annoyed while reading the first part of the book, and yet they were a fundamental part of setting up the conclusion to a book of the type that hangs around in your head for a while after you finish it.

Now it's time to read something trashy...
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Thu May 18, 2017 9:24 pm

This week I have found the time and the motivation to get back into the swing of things studying German. It feels good! I have most definitely reached the "lazy" stage with the language. My speaking is good enough to have a conversation or even solve problems, however inelegantly. I can write if I have to, but I'd rather not. When it comes to reading and listening I am already enjoying native materials, only looking up words when not understanding them bothers me. Basically I could carry on as I am with some level of usable German quite happily...except I'm not happy about it because I do want to get to the next level, which means focusing more on the details!

I already knew that one thing I ought to concentrate on over the next few months is tidying up my grammar. My initial plan was to spend a lot of time on a small number of problem areas, but a few grammar tests towards the end of this year's course proved to me that I have a lot more problem areas than I wanted to admit to myself. It's all solveable stuff and most of it relates to cases (relating to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, the lot...) rather than conjugating verbs (just a bit of tidying up of Konjunktiv II in the past tense and some practice of reflexive verbs needed right now). I'm currently working through Hueber's Übungsgrammatik für die Mittelstufe. Plus points are the two-page-per-grammar-point format, and the level of language used in the exercises is just right - I'm picking up some useful new vocab on the way, but not too much. Negative points are that, presumably to fit in with the format, some explanations are occasionally a little lacking, but since this is a grammar review rather than learning from scratch it's ok.

I've also reached the conclusion that I need to work more intensively on comprehension and stop being so lazy about it! Whenever I take B1 level comprehension tests I score 100% or close to it. Well, good for me. B1 is nothing ;) I had a go at one of the Goethe Institut practice tests for B2 earlier this week which was illuminating. I am fairly happy with my listening score (20/25 points) and feel that the only thing holding me back from a perfect score was a few bits of vocabulary. The reading test was, however, disappointing (10/15 points), and points to a deficiency in vocab/expressions which means that I am not interpreting some details of the texts correctly. This also raises questions about how well I am understanding anything I read/watch in German, but I'm not going to worry about that for now! Clearly if I carry on working on B1 level stuff it's not going to help me, since these deficiencies are in exactly the kind of expressions you are supposed to be able to understand at B2 level. So, having had a sufficient break from the textbooks, I have pulled out Erkundungen B2 and have started working through it, with a particular focus on comprehension. Impressions so far are that it is challenging in just the right way. And since my interest in studying has been rekindled, I am not finding it painfully boring at present. Actually, I'm quite enjoying it.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Mon May 29, 2017 4:08 pm

I swallowed a whole German book in 5 days - which is unbelievably fast for me. The book is Die Therapie by Sebastian Fitzek. It was just the right level for me to read through at a similar speed to English (go me!). A so-called psychothriller, the first two thirds or so were indeed very gripping, which is one of the main reasons I read it so quickly. The ending, however, really annoyed me. Still, at least it tricked me into getting lots of German reading practice before finally letting me down at the end.

My return to hitting the German textbooks is so far going pretty well. It seems that the optimum amount of study for me is an hour a day split between the two books, plus whatever time I need to make Anki flashcards and review them (normally no more than 15 minutes). Plus a few days off every so often for good behaviour. Despite the urge to cram, it's better to allow myself time to let things sink in. I think I could have picked up the B2 materials this time last year (in fact I attempted it before giving up again) but this time around I feel I have a lot more confidence in doing so. I've definitely covered all the important grammar points now at least once (which wasn't the case this time last year) so it feels much more like I need to be consolidating what I already know and working on getting the details right - not to mention building vocabulary etc. I wouldn't mind taking a real exam to prove my level, however unless I want to travel to Germany to do it I may have to wait until summer 2018. For now I'll just focus on getting what benefit I can from the grammar book and coursebook and see where I stand after a couple of months.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Mon May 29, 2017 4:41 pm

A little more internet research has revealed that it looks like I could take Goethe B2 in London in November, although the dates have yet to be confirmed. This is definitely something I could aim for.
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gsbod
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Re: gsbod's language log (mostly German, some Italian)

Postby gsbod » Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:24 pm

I just got back from a short trip to Berlin! It was planned at rather short notice. A few things came together meaning we could take off for a long weekend somewhere, and Berlin seemed to be the ideal destination since it's been over a year since my last visit and I was starting to rather miss it. I was only there for two full days so decided to forego the nightlife (well, managed to fit in a couple of beers alongside the Spree at sunset) in order to cram more into the day time. I did a lot of cool tourist stuff and then spent about an hour and a half in Dussman stocking up on books and DVDs. Good job we travelled by train! Two days was really not long enough for Berlin. I wish I was still there...

While I was at Dussman, I picked up a couple of exam prep books for the Goethe Zertifikat B2. I feel much more certain that I should aim for this exam in November. Five months is plenty of time to prepare. My rough plan is as follows:

From now to end of August:
Complete Übungsgrammatik für die Mittelstufe
Do as much of Erkundungen B2 as I can
Try to read 1 German book every 2-3 weeks
Watch enough German TV to keep my listening sharp

From September until the test date in November:
Work systematically through the reading and listening tests in the practice books
Engage a tutor, likely through iTalki, to work on the speaking and writing sections
Keep trying to read 1 German book every 2-3 weeks
Keep watching enough German TV to keep my listening sharp

Sounds easy enough?
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