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

[gsbod]

Have fun in Heidelberg, Anya! I was there earlier this year. It's a beautiful place. I have previously picked up some nice language learning materials from a bookstore on one of the streets running parallel to the high street - I think it might be this one

[gsbod]

Working through my German Anki deck today, I made a mistake I hope never to make in real life - confusing Lebensgefährte with Lebensgefahr!

[Via Diva]

Working through my German Anki deck today, I made a mistake I hope never to make in real life - confusing Lebensgefährte with Lebensgefahr!

One can argue they don't stand too far apart, haha, but yeah, I hope I wouldn't mix these up too o_O

[gsbod]

The thing I love most about language logging is the bit where you say "I'm going to do X" and then you end up mainly doing Y, but since X and Y both involve your target language, good things continue to happen.

So I've actually covered a few chapters in Grammatik aktiv. One thing I didn't mention in my earlier summary was that it comes with a CD with some audio drills too - although they are a little sparse so if you really love drills you'd probably best just stick to FSI. FSI German didn't suit me, so I'm still happy. After reading about how Cavesa is working through her Spanish grammar book from various start points, I thought I'd try it myself with Grammatik aktiv and it works rather nicely, except it has rendered the progress bar on the first page of my log too much of a hassle to update now. But what really matters is progress through the book, and not progress through the progress bar.

I've not read very much of Mord Unter den Linden. Despite the A2 level on the front of the book I'm actually picking up a load of new vocabulary. In fact, I think in this case all A2 actually means is "this book contains no Pretäritum". Anyway, the new vocabulary is all really useful stuff, at least useful to anyone who is aspiring to either read about crime or commit it. But my progress has been slowed by the fact that I have been properly sucked into DW's Top Thema now. Since the end of August I've worked through every single article published, I've worked through every single article published since the end of August (edited for amusing word order fail) with a particular emphasis on studying new vocabulary. Since there is a limit to how much vocab I can practically study in a week, the Lernkrimi has taken second place to current affairs. But it's all helping my German, and once I get bored of all the miserable things that are happening in the real world, I'll go back to miserable things happening in a fictional world instead.

This Personal Super Challenge nonsense is also still happening, however rather than making regular updates about it in my log, I'm finding it easier to use a private spreadsheet I've set up on Google Docs. I'll report back when I actually finish reading a book or something.

Anyway, something incredibly cool is happening to my German so I must be doing something right. A few weeks ago I could confidently say that my best language for reading was French, my best for listening Japanese. German has now overtaken Japanese for listening (although partly this is due to lack of use of Japanese) and is on a par with French for reading - which means my comprehension must be nearing B2, although I won't claim it until I can motivate myself to try out the Goethe past paper for B2. Also my speaking, on a good day, is as good as it's ever been on an equally good day for French or for Japanese.

However, I am motivated now to try and take my German to a higher level than I have managed so far for any language, so I've got that wobbly feeling that I'm somehow moving into unchartered territory once again. It's pretty exciting, I just need to try not to get distracted. Dabbling in Korean is just fine, since it is purely a bit of geeky fun, rather than a burning desire to do something useful with it. But as I am refining my approach to learning German, I keep thinking to myself "hey, I should try this out with French some time". And yes, I should, but not yet.

[gsbod]

I tend to use A4 notepads to write out exercises when I am working with textbooks and the like, and I just reached the end of the notepad I've been using for German. Flicking back through it I noticed that I started using this particular notepad back in November 2013, and since I tend to date my work I have unwittingly recorded how consistent (or not) my German studying has been. In short, it was very inconsistent until October 2014! I studied from end of November until 3rd January 2014, then I managed a couple of days in May, and a couple of weeks in June.

Clearly signing up to the German class at the end of September 2014 was some kind of turning point, because since then my studying has been pretty consistent - although the materials I've used have varied over the year, I've got proof that I've been doing some kind of study on a very regular basis. (I use a different notebook for the German class too). I've also got proof that further to my consistent study, my German has actually improved!

So, here's to filling up my next notepad for German consistently too!

I've also just looked at the dates in the notepads I've got for all the other languages I've studied more or less seriously over the years:

Korean: 12th September 2015 - well that's still current!
Japanese: 11th March 2015 - only six months ago, feels like longer!
French: 10th July 2014 - I can't believe that was over a year ago! I think because I still read French regularly, it feels more of a part of my life, even though my productive skills have declined considerably
Spanish: 16th April 2014 - since this was just a pre-holiday dabble last year, no surprise here

[PeterMollenburg]

I tend to use A4 notepads to write out exercises when I am working with textbooks and the like, and I just reached the end of the notepad I've been using for German. Flicking back through it I noticed that I started using this particular notepad back in November 2013, and since I tend to date my work I have unwittingly recorded how consistent (or not) my German studying has been. In short, it was very inconsistent until October 2014! I studied from end of November until 3rd January 2014, then I managed a couple of days in May, and a couple of weeks in June.

Clearly signing up to the German class at the end of September 2014 was some kind of turning point, because since then my studying has been pretty consistent - although the materials I've used have varied over the year, I've got proof that I've been doing some kind of study on a very regular basis. (I use a different notebook for the German class too). I've also got proof that further to my consistent study, my German has actually improved!

So, here's to filling up my next notepad for German consistently too!

I've also just looked at the dates in the notepads I've got for all the other languages I've studied more or less seriously over the years:

Korean: 12th September 2015 - well that's still current!
Japanese: 11th March 2015 - only six months ago, feels like longer!
French: 10th July 2014 - I can't believe that was over a year ago! I think because I still read French regularly, it feels more of a part of my life, even though my productive skills have declined considerably
Spanish: 16th April 2014 - since this was just a pre-holiday dabble last year, no surprise here

Yet more proof of the power of consistency. Nice work! I hope I can get to your level in multiple languages some day gsbod. Good luck on your next German notepad!

[gsbod]

Thanks for the support PM. I too wish I could manage to get to a really decent level in multiple languages. I seem to have got the hang of getting to the "independent user who still makes loads of mistakes" phase, but breaking through to the next level is still elusive.

Especially on weeks like this, where I'm really busy with work, slightly under par thanks to a cold, and struck with a general wanderlust that has left me wasting a lot of time fantasising about whether now is the right time to get stuck back into French (no it's not) and what/how should I best be studying German. Being a reflective learner is great, until you tip the balance from reflecting into procrastinating, and I've been doing too much of the latter this week.

I've enrolled onto another German evening class which starts up again next week. Once I get a feel for how the class is going to be structured, it should be easier to decide what to do with the rest of my German time. In the mean time, I should just carry on as I have been. It's been working, after all.

I have actually found a German meetup group within easy after work travelling distance. No native German speakers came, but there were half a dozen native English speakers spending the whole evening speaking German and blowing away a number of stereotypes about how bad us Brits are at learning languages. It was really good fun and I can't wait to go again. I have no regrets about learning Japanese but something like this meetup group simply does not exist for Japanese anywhere near my city. I really, really wish I'd started with German sooner.

[gsbod]

So I gave in to the raging wanderlust. I reached a point where I was spending a lot of time thinking about the languages I'm not supposed to be studying, and very little time on the one language I was supposed to be focusing on. And sometimes when you reach a dead end, the best option is to turn around and try going in a different direction.

At least that's my excuse.

It's worked though, I mean, I think I've found my way again. But I might have picked up a hitchhiker or two on the way.

So here's what I've been up to:

Japanese
I've been dabbling with Wanikani. I haven't got far enough in to even consider paying for the paid for content (you get the first three levels for "free") and although I quite like the way it works, realistically, it's going to be too much to commit to right now, so I think I've dropped this one off already.

Korean
So this was supposed to be my official dabbling language. It's still there. I am really slowly trying to learn hangeul by spending a few minutes on it every weekend, hoping that the SRS effect will help me!

French
I think I want French to stick around, just as long as it doesn't interfere with German. This forum is a really bad place if you don't want to be tempted by French, given the number of excellent logs packed full of resources and cultural tidbits that just happen to involve a lot of French. Apart from a couple of novels earlier this year, I had pretty much abandoned French in favour of German and my listening in particular has become very rusty, which I don't like. So, I'm starting out again with Les 500 Exercices de Phonétique A1/A2 and Grammaire Progressive Intermédiaire for some re-orientation before I move on to listening to some juicy native audio. Just as long as it doesn't interfere with German.

German
So I think there were two roadblocks interfering with my German. The first being the child in a sweetshop mentality I developed after repeatingly telling myself that I can only have one language right now. The second being the uncertainty around what I was doing in relation to my German class (i.e. would I sign up for new one? if so, what level?). Well, in the end I signed up to the level that is the natural follow on from the one I did last year. Although my vocabulary is maybe a little stronger than my fellow students (thankyou Anki) my grammar sucks as much as theirs does, so I think I've made the right choice.

I'm still continuing to work through Grammatik Aktiv, Mord Unter den Linden, and my Personal Super Challenge. I've just got passed the halfway point in Kafka am Strand. It's such a long book and although I am getting the benefit of a gradual improvement in comprehension as I continue to read, thanks to it being so long, I am still longing for the satisfaction of finishing it! I'm also messing around with a B1 textbook but I'm not 100% certain whether I will stick to it for now. I've dropped the DW Top Thema for now because with everything else I'm studying intensively, I was making too many long lists of new words to be able to learn efficiently, but I'll swap it in and out with something else if I get bored later.

Logging
I've been experimenting with different ways to keep track of what I'm doing and right now I love Google Docs. I have a spreadsheet for my Personal Super Challenge and I've set up a document with a list of all the main things I am working on in each language which I can update once a week to get the satisfaction of seeing the numbers go up. It's simple and accessible and working quite well for me right now.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

As for 어 and 오, sure they are difficult at first, but maybe German will help you. If you listen to the words "oben" and "kochen", you will hear that the "o" sounds in them are different. The first is similar to 오, and the second one is similar to 어.

Ummm... Because I am curious but I know nothing of German pronounciation, can you give me an example in English word for both "o" sounds?

[gsbod]

As for 어 and 오, sure they are difficult at first, but maybe German will help you. If you listen to the words "oben" and "kochen", you will hear that the "o" sounds in them are different. The first is similar to 오, and the second one is similar to 어.

Ummm... Because I am curious but I know nothing of German pronounciation, can you give me an example in English word for both "o" sounds?

It's a little tricky, since vowel shifts are very common between different English accents, however in my own version of English the "o" in "rock" is very similar to that in "kochen". However, as far as I can tell, the "o" in "oben" doesn't exist in English. The closest sound would be the "o" in "over", but if I use this sound when I speak German it's a dead giveaway that I'm a Brit.