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Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 2:19 pm
by Bex
Mista wrote:My advice: forget about the SC discussion thread, and log whatever you want.

I know and I did this last year but it's frustrating to have a discussion thread where I'm just slammed down instantly...how very dare I make such a suggestion.

I got a sense of everyone giving a big sigh [here we go again] and then an automatic slam down the moment I asked my first question on the thread, there was no discussion and that really pissed me off.

I was only asking if we could discuss it and I got a very clear "NO!"

I'm not sure I want to be part of anything where the participants are not encouraged to voice their opinions or suggestions.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 3:58 pm
by rdearman
Or consider this. Every year for 10 years or so we have the exact same discussion every time. It gets old. If you want to create a listen and read challenge you can start your own. Some people may prefer it. :D

I don't think anyone was trying to stop you voicing an opinion. But rehashing the rules again for the 10th time probably isn't a good idea. Every time we do it somebody gets angry about it. Better to just let sleeping dogs lie.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 4:07 pm
by Cavesa
What seems to be the matter? The purely listening stuff not being too included? Well, I understand the reasoning sticking the SC a bit more closely to the original path. But creating a separate Listening Challenging (perhaps with a different and cool name) is actually not a bad idea.

There are lots of people, who love podcasts, audiobooks (those have always felt a bit weird in the SC anyways), radio, and so on. I'd say the Bex Challenge might actually be a success! And fill a gap on the current Challenge list.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 6:26 am
by Bex
I'm not going to change the SC rules, so I suppose I'll have to live with it and just use it to improve myself as I see fit. I may even ignore the rules completely ;)

My idea has always been 10k pages and 1000 hours listening plus a sprinkling of grammar. I always planned on using 2 Super Challenges to help me hit these random in my head targets.

I'm at 5732 pages since I started tracking in 2018 and this second SC will allow me to reach the 10k reading target I'm aiming for.

My listening on the other hand is only at 205 hours after my first SC; so I have a long way to go. This SC will add another 150 hours but really I am hoping I can manage more. However I may struggle with having time to do more and I know that, so it's probably better to concentrate on an achievable target for now.

I'm going to have to really change my habits to fit this SC into my life, as I'm currently studying for other qualifications as well, which takes up 2-4 hours of my day ATM. No more evenings doing nothing for me :D

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 10:10 am
by Bex
Only a few days left of my 3 month Kwiziq subscription are left now. I've managed around 75 hours of grammar study over that period, which I'm more than happy with.
Screenshot_20200524-112908_Chrome.jpg

All the way to the end of B1 was pretty do-able without much issue, B2 on the other hand was a slog. I'm going to review A2-B1 and also start moving forward now by learning the unfamiliar B1-B2 material.

I decided not to renew my subscription of Kwiziq for now. I found Kwiziq was great for familiar grammar revision, even subjects I was fairly bad with but had a basic understanding of but I found it difficult to use for gaining an understanding of new concepts at the B2 level, especially when you loose points for wrong answers. Maybe I'm just not ready for those concepts yet.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 11:00 am
by jeffers
I've just started using Kwiziq this week as well. How to you see that chart of "Your Progress So Far"?

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 12:05 pm
by Bex
jeffers wrote:I've just started using Kwiziq this week as well. How to you see that chart of "Your Progress So Far"?

It's pretty well hidden...you can only see it if you go through to cancel your subscription from the Dashboard. You then have to press the 'cancel auto-renew' button (I think) in order to see it. You don't have to actually cancel the auto-renew, you just go through the first step of the process...hope that makes sense.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Sun May 24, 2020 12:23 pm
by jeffers
Bex wrote:
jeffers wrote:I've just started using Kwiziq this week as well. How to you see that chart of "Your Progress So Far"?

It's pretty well hidden...you can only see it if you go through to cancel your subscription from the Dashboard. You then have to press the 'cancel auto-renew' button (I think) in order to see it. You don't have to actually cancel the auto-renew, you just go through the first step of the process...hope that makes sense.


Strange that they would hide such a useful chart. I'm not on a subscription yet, since I'm on my free week. I'll have to look for it later.

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 1:49 pm
by Bex
OK so mulling over my options after Kwiziq and general plan going forward:

I need to...
1. start reading (for the SC).
2. start listening (for the SC).
3. review grammar issues from Kwiziq.
4. learn new B2 grammar from Kwiziq.

1. I've charged up my kindle and I'm ready to start reading the next Harry Potter book, I think I'm due to start the 6th one in the series! So that's my next 2 reads sorted (1248 pages) and around a quarter of the SC!
2. Podcasts will keep me entertained enough, I've never had any issue completing the listening part of the SC.
3. I am still unsure how to revise the grammar issues I have logged on a regular enough basis. They are mostly verb conjugation issues, I know the SC input will help immensely with recognition of these but I really need to create some output/practice of these problem areas and I'm not sure how to do that ATM. I do have a workbook on the Subjunctive so I'll start with that for now and worry about the next step/other areas later.
4. I'll probably leave this until I'm happier with (3) my A2-B1 revision. I'm planning to read through the Kwiziq B2 material from their library and then just make sure I understand the grammar concept. Basically I'll treat it like a grammar book...using other websites/YouTube for further investigation if required. I'm not too bothered about producing these myself I just would like to recognise them when I'm reading or listening for now.

So musings done, plans roughly in place now I just need to actually get the motivation to get on with it. My Kwiziq subscription ends on Saturday so I'll put my plan into action on Monday 1st June :D

Re: Bex 2020 log: Back to basics [ES]

Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 2:21 pm
by Bex
Well I've started reading again for the SC after not reading anything significant for months. I thought I'd post my initial thoughts here so I could look back at the end of the SC and see if I'd progressed at all.

Thinking back to the beginning of the last SC the Harry Potter book I started reading at the time was way to difficult for me; I was looking up every other word and then the sentence as well :roll: . I would say I was probably just over an A2 level at the time and reading HP was really, really hard.

Guessing that now I'm at a B1+ level (goodness am I really progressing that slowly :oops: ), the 6th Harry Potter book I started on Monday was much easier than I was expecting. I can pretty much read each sentence, there are still vocabulary issues but I feel like I could actually learn something from reading this time and not just feel like I'm wading through mud; like I did in the previous SC.

It's a much more positive SC start anyway :D