Spanish (advanced), French (intermediate), Levantine Arabic (beginner)

[caledi]

Hello! I am new to the forum, although I have lurked here and at HTLAL for a long time. This year, I think I will have time to concentrate on language study, so I thought I would add a log to keep track of what I work on. I am writing the introductory post here in English, but my intention is to write in only Spanish and French in the rest of this log. Anybody else can feel free to write here in any language they would like!


My language background
I have been interested in languages since I was a kid. I have studied dozens of languages, although I have forgotten what I have learned in most of those languages. I just finished grad school and started working, so I have a bit more time to study languages than I have in recent years. I would like to concentrate on three languages this year: Spanish, French, and Levantine Arabic.


Spanish
Spanish is by far my best language. I studied it in school and college, and lived for a few years in Spain. I also went through a period in high school and college where I was obsessed with Spanish and read every Spanish grammar book and website I could find. I don’t have problems understanding or expressing myself in Spanish, although now that I am back living in the US I have found that I have gotten a bit rusty.

My goal for Spanish is a long-term one: I would like to achieve native fluency. When I lived in Spain, I passed for a native on a pretty regular basis. However, I know there is a huge gulf between passing for a native and knowing the language as well as a native. So this year I would like to find all of my weaknesses and take steps towards improving them.

My plan is to alternate months between Spanish and French -- I will concentrate on studying Spanish in January, March, May, etc. and French in February, April, June, etc. I plan on choosing one ability (from speaking, listening, writing, and reading) and one topic (from grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and culture) as focus points to concentrate on each month. For January, I am working on Spanish reading and culture. The reading aspect consists of reading as many Spanish books and magazines as I can, as well as some websites. I am not a huge reader, so basically I just want to get into the habit of reading again (this time in Spanish). As far as culture, my plan is to watch El ministerio del tiempo and El tirón, and look up any cultural, historical, or other references that I don't understand. I am also keeping a list of any weaknesses of mine that I come across so that I can address them in the future on my path to near-native fluency!


French
I would say I have an intermediate level of French, although it is very uneven. A few years ago, I worked my way through Living Language Ultimate French (Beginner/Intermediate) and then went to live in France for about a year and a half. While I was there, I spoke in French all the time, but never really wrote much in French or had any specific grammar instruction. As a result, I can understand French quite well and speak it pretty well, but I make tons of errors, I am terrible at writing, and my vocabulary leaves much to be desired.

I don't have many specific goals for French -- I would just like to improve. My dream, which may or may not be feasible due to general life circumstances, is to one day move back to France and to work in a French-speaking environment. I think in order to do this, I would need to improve on the correctness of my French and my ability to use it in more formal situations. I would also like to be able to volunteer for the Paris 2024 Olympics, although I think I have an adequate level of French for that at the moment. In terms of CEFR levels, I think it would be beneficial for me to get to roughly a C1 (and C2 is of course better!).

As far as plans for French, I will revisit that in February when I have a French month. I think I will probably focus on grammar in February, since it is the most obvious area that needs improvement.


Levantine Arabic
Arabic is a language that I have wanted to learn since I was a kid. I had Arabic in my first year of college (many years ago), but I found learning MSA very demotivating. I generally don’t really learn languages to write them, so a dialect would have been a better fit for me.

I have dabbled with learning Levantine Arabic off and on since then, although never enough to make meaningful progress. This year, I am back to “on” in my dabbling stage, so we’ll see how long that lasts! I would eventually like to learn enough Levantine Arabic to understand it well and speak it passably in informal situations — e.g. for watching TV or chatting with people.

Currently, I am working through FSI Levantine Arabic pronunciation, as well as watching some Youtube channels and Top Chef Middle East to get used to the sound of the language. Once I finish FSI I will probably do Pimsleur, but that is still TBD.

[cmia11]

I absolutely loved El ministerio del tiempo and I hope you will have a great time too watching this TV show.
Good luck for your challenges !

[caledi]

I absolutely loved El ministerio del tiempo and I hope you will have a great time too watching this TV show.
Good luck for your challenges !

Thank you!

[caledi]

Bon, je viens de terminer mon premier mois d'études, donc ce mois je vais commencer à étudier français ! C'est pour ça que j'écris ici en français, mais je vous préviens que mon français n'est pas du tout parfait !

Le mois dernier -- l'espagnol
En janvier je me suis concentrée sur la lecture et la culture. Pour la lecture, je suis plutôt contente : j'ai commencé à lire chaque jour dans le bus, j'ai lu trois livres et je me suis inscrite à un club de lecture. Et pour la culture j'ai regardé El tirón, Pasapalabra et El ministerio del tiempo. Chaque fois qu'ils ont fait référence à quelque chose que je ne connaissais, soit un fait historique, une référence culturelle, une chanson, etc., je l'ai cherché sur Wikipedia et j'ai lu l'article. Et j'ai commencé de bonnes habitudes pour mes études : j'ai une liste de reproduction sur Youtube avec toutes les chansons qu'on a mentionnées que je ne connaissais pas, j'ai une liste de tous les mots nouveaux pour moi et j'ai fait aussi une liste de tous mes doutes grammaires sur l'espagnol. Et j'ai essayé d'incorporer l'espagnol dans ma vie : j'ai parlé avec mon chien en espagnol, quand j'avais une question je l'ai cherchée en espagnol sur Google, j'ai écrit dans mon journal en espagnol, ma liste de tâches a été en espagnol, etc. Donc que pense que ce premier mois est allé assez bien.

L'arabe levantin
Bon, ça vas.. Je travaille encore sur le cours de prononciation de FSI. Ce cours est assez ennuyeux, donc je vais super lentement. Mais bon, je suis pas du tout pressée pour apprendre cette langue. J'espère pouvoir terminer ce cours ce mois et après je ferai Pimsleur. Et parfois je regarde des Youtubers en arabe, je n'entends presque rien, mais peut-être cela aidera ma prononciation ?

Ce mois -- le français
Ce mois je vais me concentrer sur la compréhension orale et sur la grammaire. Mon plan actuel est de faire Kwiziq pour la grammaire (d'abord des quiz gratuits et après on verra si je veux payer), et de regarder la télé activement pour la compréhension orale. J'essayerais de regarder des choses diverses : le JT, Chasseurs d'appart, Plan coeur (j'ai pas encore commencé cette série, mais il est sur Netflix), et Top chef (ce qui commence en mi-fevrier !). Je regarderais la plupart des choses avec des sous-titres si possible, car je comprends bien la langue, mais je loupe souvent de petites nuances de grammaire et de vocabulaire. Et bien sûr, j'essayerais d'utiliser le français quand je peux dans ma vie quotidienne, en parlant avec mon chien, en lisant, etc.