2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

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LunaMoonsilver
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2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:41 am

Last year's log can be found here. Like most years, I started off strong and then it dwindled... but the 365-day language challenge kept me learning every day (although I 'missed' a few days, on almost all of them I still studied; I just didn't make it to half an hour) and I'm hoping I'll do even better this year.

I've got two main things going on this year: the languages I'm studying in-depth (listed in the log title above) and a project I've set up for myself to learn the basics of 20 endangered languages in 2020. It's an ambitious one, of course, but as last year was the International Year of Indigenous Languages, I want to keep some momentum going and investigate new languages.

My Main Study Languages

German
Goal: C2
I need to work on my active skills, so I've joined the Output Challenge and, since I'm now living in London, attending meetups should be a bit easier. I'd also like to get into the habit of reading regularly because I do see a lot of progress from that; I just can sometimes be lazy about it.

Smaller Goals:
  • Read 12 novels.
  • Write 50,000 words.
  • Attend one language exchange per month.
  • Record 50 hours of speech.

Mandarin
Goal: HSK 6
This one's a bit of a stretch goal but I'd like to reach it—and I plan to sit the exam, too, either at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. I also want to keep going with the habit of studying Mandarin every day that I built up last year. Plus, reading: I'm bad at it, so it's time to get better.

Smaller goals:
  • Work through NPCR 4-6.
  • Practise reading.
  • Attend one language exchange per month.
  • Complete half of the 2020/2021 SC by the end of 2020.

Spanish
Goal: B2
I'm going to Spain in May and I'd like to feel conversational by then. Plus, setting a goal might make me put more effort in here, which is what I need to do.

Smaller goals:
  • Complete Living Language Ultimate Spanish.
  • Read two novels.
Korean
Goal: TOPIK I Level 2 / TOPIK II Level 3 (~A2/B1)
Once I get into Korean, I really enjoy speaking it and learning it, but I need to carve out the time to sit down and study at the moment. I think the TOPIK Level 2 is at least achievable, provided I put the work in!

Smaller goals:
  • Complete Living Language Korean.
  • Complete Assimil or Pimsleur Korean.

Scottish Gaelic
Goal: A2
My new main language for this year! I'm excited to get into this, especially as it seems like there are a fair few resources out there. It doesn't look as though Scottish Gaelic is mapped to CEFR, but the National 5 exam appears to be around an A2 equivalent, so I can try out a past paper at the end of the year to see how I'm doing.

Smaller goals:
  • Complete Teach Yourself Scottish Gaelic.
  • Complete the Scottish Gaelic Duolingo tree.

20 Endangered Languages in 2020

Just a list. I'll be working on each one for eighteen days before I begin the next, which gives me a finish date of Christmas Day (25/12). My chosen language for the 366-day language challenge is 'generic;' so, the studying I do for these languages, mostly!

  • Scottish Gaelic
  • Ainu
  • Guernésiais
  • Nahuatl
  • Welsh
  • Māori
  • BSL
  • Cornish
  • Ojibwe
  • Basque
  • DGS
  • Navajo
  • Irish
  • Tuvan
  • ASL
  • Manx
  • Frisian
  • Romanes
  • Manchu
  • Breton

I'm also going to try and update this log more regularly this year to reflect my progress on the 366-day challenge. It might not be daily, but hopefully a lot more frequently than last year! :lol: Happy 2020, everyone!
Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:42 am

Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:36 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Fri Jan 03, 2020 12:20 am

1st Jan 2020 / Day 1

Had the best of intentions for the 1st but they went out of the window when I dragged myself back from an NYE house party at 7am and then obviously slept in until well into the afternoon. Still, I got my half an hour of Scottish Gaelic started by working through most of Teach Yourself Gaelic chapter one.

I dabbled in a bit of Gaelic last year, so some of this wasn't new to me but it's really interesting how personal names also decline with different cases, so can't wait to learn more about that!

31 mins Teach Yourself
3 mins Duolingo

Total: 34 mins

2nd Jan 2020 / Day 2

Actually did some stuff on the way to work today, which was amazing because I was v v tired. Mostly spent time on Duolingo, plus started a Memrise course that covers the Teach Yourself vocab (though it has no audio and looks like the creator never made it past chapter five, which is... not ideal) and have learnt about 15 words so far.

I also tried out Glossika; I've not used their new format at all yet but it's not bad—and free for Scottish Gaelic, which was the main draw. We're having wifi issues in my flat (in that we don't have any... ugh!) so I'm having to use my phone a lot and it's not great on there. Hopefully, when it all gets fixed, it'll be better on my laptop. Also yeah, for sure, the sentences are a bit advanced considering my basically zero knowledge, but I like internalising structure and while this is fun, I'll keep doing it.

I do need to spend some time on other languages too, but that's maybe a worry for tomorrow! :lol:

7 mins Memrise
8 mins Duolingo
9 mins Teach Yourself
9 mins Glossika

Total: 33 mins (67 mins)
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Sat Jan 04, 2020 12:52 am

3rd Jan 2020 / Day 3

So, one of the fun things I discovered (definitely not at work!) today was the Austro-Bavarian Wikipedia, which I then also definitely didn't spend like half an hour surfing through. There's 30,000 articles on there apparently and I've had some fun this evening trying to read them out loud. :lol: It's a good resource though, especially since I lived in Austria for a couple of years and like to go back to Vienna when I can—the accent there isn't all that strong but I don't want to lose all understanding of the dialect.

I also looked up what my name would be in Gàidhlig (because it seems like there's a lot of translation) and got Teàrlag (chair-lag) for Charlotte, which is fun; means I can decline it properly! :D I also had a couple of comments on an Instagram post in Gàidhlig so I even got a bit of practice writing out some of the new phrases I've learnt.

One of the other things I'm taking part in, on Twitter, is the #PolyglotTweet challenge that's happening this month. I'm not too bothered about 'winning' (posting every day) but it's been nice to have some corrections—especially since I got them for German, which is the language where I really need to work out the fine kinks.

Fun day all round! Also, I know I only did a three-day work week but I'm so glad it's the weekend. :lol:

Scottish Gaelic
13 mins Memrise
12 mins Duolingo
36 mins Teach Yourself

German
27 mins reading (Das Licht der Phantasie - 33% > 39%)

Spanish
42 mins reading (El ladrón del rayo - 0% > 1%, read with Readlang)

Total: 130 mins (197 mins)
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:37 am

4th Jan 2020 / Day 4

My first Saturday where I wasn't working and didn't already have obligations in a while... so I spent it not doing a lot! Well, I did some reading and some playing on my PS4 and some loading cards into Anki, but nothing all too strenuous!

I have my PS4 set up in German so I played Watchdogs 2 on that for about 45 mins (and wow, forgot that I was bad at games!); might try The Witcher next so that I can watch the TV show with some context and because I feel like it'll be a bit heavier on the dialogue.

Scottish Gaelic
22 mins Duolingo
10 mins Memrise

German
47 mins PS4
42 mins Anki (loading up cards from Readlang)
11 mins reading

Mandarin
18 mins Memrise

Spanish
8 mins Anki

Total: 165 mins (362 mins)

5th Jan 2020 / Day 5

Sunday's been a bit the same too; not much to report. I did finish the first chapter of Teach Yourself Scottish Gaelic though! I can say how I am (as long as it's 'alright' but who ever answers that question negatively, right? :lol: ), my name, and where I'm from. Gonna start chapter two tomorrow, though I do need to go over the pronunciation chapter again. I'm not really getting some of the combination sounds right. Did some more app stuff and some reading, too.

The person I normally have lunch with in the office is off next week so I'm hoping to get some stuff done on my lunch breaks too. (And I'm aiming for 5/5 morning gym sessions—my treat's gonna be a non-dairy latte from Costa on Friday morning and that new vegan Subway sub for lunch if I make it!) Might just be some reading but since we usually go up to one of the boardrooms and watch The Office, I might watch something in German/Spanish/Mandarin instead. Who knows!

Scottish Gaelic
10 mins Glossika
1 min Memrise
6 mins Duolingo
49 mins Teach Yourself

German
19 mins Anki
41 mins reading

Total: 126 mins (488 mins)
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby M23 » Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:05 am

You are hardcore. My hat goes off to you. Good luck with your studying, and I am sure we are all routing for you. :D
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:27 pm

M23 wrote:You are hardcore. My hat goes off to you. Good luck with your studying, and I am sure we are all routing for you. :D


Thank you! And haha, I'm really not—I'm trying extra hard this year but I'm 100% sure my log will dwindle off at some point :lol:
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:02 am

6th Jan 2020 / Day 6

Didn't do any language stuff before work this morning but I did go to the gym, so that's me 20% of the way there to my Friday treats! :lol: I've got to find some solid German podcasts; I did listen to a few episodes of Mordlust (because I like the true crime ones) but I reallllly like comedy and I'm not sure where to start looking.

I mean, I'd give my right arm for a German version of The Adventure Zone but I don't think that exists. :( Still, if anyone has any recs, feel free to send them my way—I prefer podcasts when I'm running so that I don't pay attention to how much time's passed.

Still, I did some German Anki reps at lunch. Looks like the cloze cards don't turn out well on Ankiweb, which rules one of my decks out when I'm away from home (boo!) but the other vocab-only decks were fine. I also did a couple of Korean lessons on Duolingo and they weren't as bad as I remembered! Duolingo is much easier to use on desktop, where you can read the tips—it's annoying they haven't imported those into their app (because they're kind of essential for diving into some lessons).

Then, some Duolingo/Memrise reviews for Scottish Gaelic before I came home and started on Teach Yourself chapter two. Whew, the dialogue is a lot longer for this one—and I ended up writing out my own translation, because (and it's the thing I dislike most about lots of beginner's textbooks; I know it's so that you end up standing on your own two feet quicker but it's annoyingggg) the book just gives you translations of the new phrases and expects you to get on with it. Which yes, is useful and yes, I could go back and look up the ones from the lesson before, but it's nice to have the meanings of individual words to make it a bit more straightforward when parsing how to make my own sentences.

I mean, I managed it but still.

So yep, wrote out my own translation, then essentially treated it like an Assimil text (using this method) so that I'd go over it enough times, instead of just reading it, going, 'oh, yeah, I've got it' and then not being able to do any of the exercises.

I'm going to the cinema tomorrow after work so don't know if I'll do any of the Teach Yourself book, but should still get some app stuff done!

Scottish Gaelic
3 mins Memrise
10 mins Duolingo
47 mins Teach Yourself

German
7 mins Anki

Korean
7 mins Duolingo

Total: 74 mins (562 mins)
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: 31 / 365 365-Day Language Challenge; de, zh, es

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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:25 pm

Which edition of Teach Yourself Gaelic is it? I have the one from the early 1990s:

Image
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2020: Learn Hard With a Vengeance [DE, ZH, ES, KO, GD]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:38 pm

jeff_lindqvist wrote:Which edition of Teach Yourself Gaelic is it? I have the one from the early 1990s:

Image


I have the kindle edition so it's saying... 2010. The audio's still the same though so I'd imagine they're very similar.
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