A language learners’ forum

A new decade, a new log. I thought this would be a good idea. Old log can be found here. Start fresh!

The decade in review was posted in my old log, so you can visit it there. But!

PLANS FOR THE NEW DECADE

Well, not so many. I'm continuing with Spanish and my interpreting studies. And I plan to get better at some languages that I may want to interpret in and out of (Russian and Chinese, I'm looking at you). And I want to get better at Korean and Japanese as well. So I feel that those, along with the language families I'm already invested in, will have the priority - unless something weird happens and I do something else, WHICH WILL INEVITABLY HAPPEN BECAUSE IT'S ME.

So, I won't give you any specific goals, but here are the plans:

- Improve Spanish to full interpreting proficiency (and learn interpreting techniques)
- Add English (easy), Russian (fair shot), Chinese (maybe), and another language (haha no) to my list of interpreting languages
- Get better at Asian languages
- Consolidate my Slavic, Germanic and other Romance languages
- Dabble in anything else.

Language skills in 2020:

Native: NL, EN
Speak well: ES, DE, RU, FR, RO, EO, SV
Speak reasonably: IT, ZH, PT, NO, EL, CZ
Need improvement: PO, IS, HE, JP, KO, HU
Passive: AF, DK, LAT
Dabbled in: BRT, ZH (SH), FI, BG, EUS

So there you have it.

In this log, Tea with Tarvos, you can always come and visit for a cup of tea! Bring as many flavours as you like, and let's start the fun!

The first post for this year is basically a post saying "welp". I've had some bad medical news (the latest in a string of disappointments), and the medicine I have been taking means I've been tired out of my mind and not been able to do much if at all. Actually sleep is the main commodity I trade in these days.

I've learned a few Finnish words, though - for dealing with, uhm, things - and I've been spending a lot of time on Wikipedia reading about stuff and a lot of time on reading on current affairs.

And now I want to learn Cantonese. I should probably just bury myself already.

You're awesome! I am looking forward to following your new log.

The old one has brought me so much inspiration and information (hey, I even had to think a lot about some of the shortcuts on your list of languages, it is huge!), thank you for it. You've achieved so much, while also having so much on your plate as far as life and medical struggles go. If you need to sleep a lot now, it's no tragedy. Cantonese won't run away. And sleep is good for your overall health and your brain. Trust me, I'm a doctor now

I wish you all the best in 2020 and the whole decade.

I should be studying for my exam, so I should put Cantonese on hold for a second - though it's giving off its sexy Asian vibes to me! I've decided that when I finish the exam next week, I can have a Cantonese class as a reward. I'm currently strangely interested in all the Sinitic languages, and Cantonese has the advantage that I already know a bunch of characters (though they're all simplified so I'll have to deal more with trad here but that's OK.

I watched three episodes of a HK drama called "Sexy Central" which is as vapid as you'd expect it to be, but I am allowed vapid content if it's in foreign languages (that's my rule). It's just five HK girls partying and swooning over dudes (though there was an SM episode in there somewhere that made me choke up with laughter). No swooning over girls makes me a sad Panda, but hey, it's HK - you can't have everything, yet. Well maybe it will come.

Actually my most coveted travel destinations right now are Finland, the Basque Country, and HK/Macao - they're what's on my bucket list to travel to. I hope my health permits me to do all these things still because we've still got THAT to contend with as well, plus studies, so it won't happen soon, but hey. I might even foray into the Chinese mainland again if I go HK/Macao. Never been that far south.

More medical bullshit, more feeling sick, but it also feels like the depression is back, so I have nothing to report. I have an exam tomorrow (not the most difficult of exams, fortunately), but all I feel like doing is crying and staying in bed, YAY!

I did watch a Chilean movie. Twice. About a woman in a psychiatric hospital after she tried to commit suicide. I shouldn't watch those things.

Well, I haven't done much this week. The exam wasn't that difficult, so no complaints there, but I've felt so bad that I haven't done much studying. Nevertheless, my teacher was extremely satisfied with my performance Saturday morning in class and that was a relief because she's not exactly easy-going with her standards. Says I'll do fine on the exam mid-february at least for the most part and gave me some specific tips to prepare.

I'm still the only student, so I'm still going it alone. They must be very happy with me if they're spending that many resources just to get me to the required level. But yeah, I'm the only Spanish student. It's a lonely road to the top. There's a mock conference next week I've got to prepare, so there's that.

She was impressed with my English too, but I'd be weirded out if she wasn't.

Apart from that I'm nearly done watching Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, like the anime dweeb I am. Actually I'm not even an anime dweeb, this is actually the first anime I've watched through to the end. I blame my ex. But there's your Japanese dabbling.

Just to wish you well as someone else who studies while fighting depression.

chove wrote:Just to wish you well as someone else who studies while fighting depression.

Thanks! Although a big part of it is my liver disease. The depression is just the icing on the cake.

The spiral is downwards, so not much is happening except me watching Vis a Vis. Which I guess is good for my Spanish and follows the recommendations I've been given, but I'm now pretty much just bed-bound, that's how awful I feel.

Liver problems + depression = Tarvos on a mission to prevent imminent death.

I’m sorry things are so rough right now. I hope things ease up soon.