learning Mediterranean's minority languages

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lingzz_langzz
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learning Mediterranean's minority languages

Postby lingzz_langzz » Tue Apr 28, 2020 12:46 pm

Hiya!

I'm opening my frist language log, woohoo :mrgreen:

I have recently discovered a few things about my languages and I would like to share them with you, guys. These are:

1. I want to get to know (not necessarily speak and definitely not all of them fluently) like A LOT of languages. Sticking to a few of them doesn't work for me, honestly and I am cool about it! But this leads to point...
2. I like language sprints. Call them a challenge or just my language routine, if you like. Sprints consist of defining a possible end of a language activity in a near future. They don't mean stopping to learn the language afterwards, but what they definitely guarantee is the existence of breaks which are SO essential for learning any language.

That being said, my next sprint starts on April, 30th with Greek.

My goal is to get comfortable while speaking and reading in Greek within 3 months. It doesn't mean fluency. No.
Now, the first sprint is going to be one-month long and I have almost all set for it.

Here are some smaller goals I would like to achieve:

- learn 500 words in May (including the first 100 in the first 3 days of the challenge): I really want to see what you can actually do with those 500 words at the end of the month. My studying will go in 3+1 cycles where there are three days of studying and one day for revision and so called Culture Day. So that's like 20 words per active day of studying which I don't find a lot, to be honest... We will see!
- I got 25 topics to be covered during this month, not fully, obviously, just the imprescindible things.
- I am going to take 3 classes per week during the month where I would like to use my Greek as much as I can (limiting mostly to the topics I can talk about)

I am still not sure how the other 2 months will look like. It strongly depends on my progress in May.

Other than that:
I am trying out a new method of a friend, to learn languages by their families. This means right now I am focused on Romance languages, that for now include:

- Occitan (just for fun, without any specific goal, probably just passively)
- French: finishing my actual sprint in April when I did basically speaking and the plan is to keep it like this in May too,
actually using the language and not learning it in a traditional way

After that I feel like I am going to repeat my French sprint for Italian as I really want to get into Sardinian and Neapolitan.
And there's Portuguese and Romanian which destiny is to be decided still!
Last edited by lingzz_langzz on Wed Jan 11, 2023 8:14 am, edited 4 times in total.
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lingzz_langzz
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lingzz_langzz's language log

Postby lingzz_langzz » Sat May 16, 2020 8:26 am

It's been 2 weeks since I started learning Greek so it's time to sum up a bit!

Greek:

At the beginning I decided to learn around 500 words/divided by topics. This system worked for a week maybe and it's a nice guide if you don't know what to learn today, because you see where you can be missing words, but overall it turns out to be too monotonous and also time consuming so I've been changing my approach gradually.

Right now there are some activities I do and I basically switch between them: learning new things or revising stuff from Academia Egeo, writing down sentences from Colloquial Modern Greek, going by topic and looking up sentences in Tatoeba, chatting with people, studying more grammar than anything else plus my iTalki classes which I love (we've just started story-telling).

I feel a huge difference and progress in those two weeks and I think it might be due to the fact the I was a bit familiar with Greek from back in March when I was learning it for the Language Jam Challenge but mostly, writing down whole sentences helped me a lot to see how much I can actually say even with a limited vocabulary.

Romance languages:

OCC: I'm definitely switching my focus from I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-Occitan to I'm-gonna-focus-on-Aranese. There are more chances I meet someone from there than from other regions and it's easier for me to get materials for this particular dialect.

Aragonés: I´m having a huge problem with this language because of fabla. All I find is in fabla and I want materials in dialects (specifically in baixorribagorzano) so if someone knows ANYTHING, please let me know. Until that my learning is kinda stopped because of this (I know about literally two books written in this dialect but I cannot afford them this month).

Other than that, I´m thinking about getting into Portuguese and Italian at once. I know a lot of native speakers so that I can practice speaking to them directly, with little to no preparation (like looking up the differences). But this is probably going to happen in June when I get a small break from Greek classes (like a week) and I will decide it then.
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lingzz_langzz
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Re: lingzz_langzz's language log

Postby lingzz_langzz » Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:21 am

Ep! I guess it's time to reactive this thread.

To make it a bit more structured, I will be updating it once a week, every Sunday. I'm going to set some goals here as well and see how it went.

Here's how it works. I'm currently learning only one "new" language which is Arabic. It's part of my project, you can learn more about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOB7foWScV4&t=1s

On the other hand, I'm "using" a bunch of other languages like: Italian, French (rarely), Occitan, Galician. I don't learn them, I just use them or consume content in them, hence they don't really count and they are rarely equally important to my main language.

So here it is how it went since April 2021.

Arabic: I started learning fusha but as I'm always into useful language learning, MSA was a big NO for speaking so I left it after almost two months and switched to Levantine Arabic. I managed to reach the goal that I set to myself after 3 months. More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz3NAeM1Unw

As per my other goals, initially they were the following:
3 months - 5-minute conversation DONE
6 months - 15-minute conversation
9 months - 30-minute conversation
12 months - 60-minute conversation

I will be trying to stick to it but I see my focus is changing. I don't want to stick to one dialect anymore. I want to explore and to have fun with this language and I feel like learning just one dialect is a little bit limiting which is totally not the point of language learning. So I will be exploring other dialects over months and see how it goes.

Occitan: I'm participating in an intensive course of Occitan which will last till the end of the month. I'm hoping to get at least my grammar in place so that I can then move on and start talking to people and immersing myself in it. As it's so similar to Catalan, shouldn't be a big deal!

Italian: I'm not doing much with Italian recently. Just chatting because I already can hold a conversation.

Galician: started recently, also trying to chat but as I still haven't looked into the grammar to hack some of it, the language will have to wait for next month to come.

Goals for this week:
:?: go through two chapters of the Occitan course
:?: figure out a plan on how to continue with Arabic
:?: keep chatting in whatever language I can
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lingzz_langzz
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Re: lingzz_langzz's language log

Postby lingzz_langzz » Sun Jul 11, 2021 7:56 pm

Hiya!

Let's start a little recap of this week. In general, I'm still struggling a bit with finding a good approach for Arabic but I'm trying out something new so we'll see how it goes, for now it seems to work! Let's start with it:

Arabic: I already know that the answer to the famous question: MSA or dialect? the answer is: BOTH. The other question is HOW TF I do that now... Well, initially I thought about diving deep into any dialects I encounter (so most probably darija and masri) but I think it would be too much. Then I thought so maybe Levantine and MSA? And it could work but I'd say it's too early for me. Please I'm not really motivated to learn a language that's not used for speaking thus mastering the dialect will be my go, I guess.

Ok, so we can move on to my next dilemma which was: how should I learn a dialect? Sounds really easy but I realized just today that maybe using script for learning purposes is not the best thing to do as I need to assosciate sounds with it and they are not well represented in the Arabic script + I will rarely see it written so... I decided I will be using the transliteration and it seems like it's just easier to assosciate sounds that are actually represented in the script. I will stick to it now and see how it's going.
Goal for next week: finally finish with super basic A0 topics and move forward because otherwise I'm gonna be bored to death.

Occitan: the course is accelerating and I have already started writing short messages on Discord which is really boosting my motivation! I'm slowly going through the notes that are by the way really good - straight to the point, without many nuances, just how I like it :D Three weeks to go and I should be at A2 by the end of this month.
Goal for next week: keep going through my notes (grammar) and Quizlet some vocab!

As for the rest, nothing really changed. Looked into some Galician and I will be probably just continue doing so. And chatting!

C'ya!

Edit: I FORGOT. I have a new Lebanese teacher and yesterday I spent ONE HOUR talking to her almost entirely in ARABIC. Honestly no idea how did it happen but I'm still soooo proud of myself! :o
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cjareck
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Re: lingzz_langzz's language log

Postby cjareck » Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:24 pm

I've subscribed both to your log and your channel. If you put in the subject the names of the languages you learn, I would do it even sooner ;)

Fusha is the most important for me since my main goal is to read historical sources. It would be nice to conduct interviews with veterans, but I would have to learn Egyptian and Levantine, which is beyond my range. At least for now. I hope to learn from you how to deal with dialects :)
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lingzz_langzz
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learning Levantine Arabic, Occitan and Galician

Postby lingzz_langzz » Fri Jul 16, 2021 7:14 am

True! I might add those languages actually, but then the title would change pretty often haha I hope that's not the problem!
I've been around here for some time but I don't know yet how all those things work so yeah, I will definitely update it!

Ohh I see, then yes, fusHa is a good choice! I will go back to it at some point but for now it's more appealing for me to learn even more dialects than fusHa itself :lol: :lol:

I'll be happy to help! I think I kinda figured it out now but it's been 4 months. However it's the first time I'm learning a language that has that special situation so that time was really needed :roll:
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learning Levantine Arabic, Occitan and Galician

Postby lingzz_langzz » Mon Jul 19, 2021 9:27 am

Here we are again, a new week is coming!

Arabic: I managed to abandon the family topic finally :lol:
I am now focusing on broader topics, trying to express an opinion, diving deep into more abstract words and the "useful word" that help you express more and more concepts with small amount of words, connectors and so on.
I've noticed I recently was studying mostly vocabulary and then went through my book that basically contains questions and answers to them. I barely touch on grammar, unless there's a grammar point I don't really know where it comes from. I guess looking at grammar mostly in fusha helped a lot!
Goal: I will just keep going like this. I want to know broaden my vocabulary, be able to hold a longer conversation (in a chat for starters) and have vocabulary on most of the basic topics.

Occitan: I am not able to learn that intensively as I thought so I'm taking it slow for now. I have good materials I will be using even after the course. Not a lot of progress this week but that's okay!
Goal: I decided I will continue the course on a regular, not intensive, basis from October on and until that point I want to go through all the materials and start learning vocabulary actively. This should give me an A2 and like this I could join the course from B1 level.

I spent some time chatting in Italian actually this week. I noticed how easier it's getting right now, even that I'm not really learning it, not even consuming too much of Italian content. For now I will keep doing things I feel like doing, no agenda for Italian until further notice.

As I'm going to Galicia in September, I want to take my Galician to the next level in August and actually learn the language during this month. I guess it's possible if I simply take a look at the differences between other Romance languages I know and if not, well, then that has to be enough for the trip! This month it will be still on hold though as I really don't have the energy for anything more than Arabic and Occitan.
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Re: learning Levantine Arabic, Occitan and Galician

Postby lingzz_langzz » Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:52 am

So... I didn't study at all the whole week but I guess I just needed it.
I instead managed to plan quite specifically what I will be doing for each language. I noticed how easy it is to just put it away if I have to think at a given moment what I would study next.

Occitan: I have reaaaaally good materials from my intensive course and as I'm planning on taking the regular course from October on, I will be looking into my notes more in depth for those next two months. I already know the grammar in theory so I can now focus on the texts, the vocabulary and actually trying to use the language, chatting mainly.
Goal: 1 chapter every two days might seem very challenging but considering that the grammar part is done, I am left with the texts and the vocabulary which is usually not SO different from the Catalan on.

Galician: this week I would like to focus on grammar and see where I would need to put more focus. Once this is done, I will just go through Aula Galego 2&3 until I go to Galiza, focusing on the texts, absorbing the language, not really learning it.

Arabic: I would like to put my focus on vocabulary mainly. I think the grammar I know is sufficient for my level and it wasn't never a big deal for me anyway (I think in any language tbh). So I'm using this dictionary:
Image

I would like to go through most basic topics and chose really just the functional words. In the background, I would like to do a speaking challenge and go back to my favorite activity: intensive sentence writing. I don't really know why I stopped doing it but I always enjoyed learning like this because you can really just use the language and avoid translations up to like 95% of the whole text and just guide yourself by the way you think and associate things.
Goal: this week I will be taking the vocabulary for House, Food&Drinks and Work. I am somehow familiar with them already but it's time to extend it, especially with verbs! This week will be also an experiment for my sentence writing - I would like to see how many of them I can write dedicating an hour/day and based on this, I will set my goal. As for speaking, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it so I will jus tgo with the flow for now.

Also, tomorrow I'm having a language test to see if I can start a Levantine Arabic course in Barcelona, instead of private teachers from iTalki.
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Re: learning Levantine Arabic, Occitan and Galician

Postby lingzz_langzz » Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:31 pm

Sziasztok!

My last week was pretty regular, I was still overthinking everything that's connected to language learning -my methods, if they work, why not, what about my routines, I don't have and I should. This, partly led me to a crisis with Arabic. On Saturday I was literally about to drop this language forever and never come back.
I feel like whatever you do, in beginner stages, is wrong and sucks. You cannot watch this because it's not your dialect, you cannot talk to this person because you won't understand them and you cannot use fusha because you haven't studied so you also won't read anything, basically. And that's to already skip the part about resources. BUT...

This week I'm starting a Levantine course in a school in Barcelona which is literally the last chance I give this language.
I'm trying out the school this month and will see if I want to continue. At the same time I quit Italki for Arabic because I really need something organized and a little bit more guided. Once I have this strong A2 or B1, I can do things on my one, I can even do more dialects or start learning fusha by reading. Until that, I don't see any other way of doing it.

On the other side, I passed my A2 Occitan exam and I'm so happy!! :D
I'll see when they open an intermediate course and I will for sure continue learning Occitan with them. Until that time I have a huge amount of resources so I'm all set!

I'm not planning anything for this week as I want to work more on my routines and see where I can actually squeeze my languages and what language what time and so on. So... see ya!
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Re: learning Levantine Arabic, Occitan and Galician

Postby cjareck » Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:23 pm

lingzz_langzz wrote:At the same time, I quit Italki for Arabic because I really need something organized and a little bit more guided.

There is a DLI Course on Syrian Arabic (isn't it the same as Levantine?):
https://www.yojik.eu/languages/DLI/DLI- ... yrian.html
Here is an old FSI Levantine Arabic:
https://www.yojik.eu/languages/FSI/fsi- ... rabic.html
Here you have the modern Headstart2 course (only part 2 is military):
https://hs2.dliflc.edu/levantine.html
So don't give up!
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