Vegantraveller's 2020 Adventures with Languages (DE, EN, FR, IT, JA, SV)
Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 7:45 pm
Hello everybody,
Here I am with my first study log on this wonderful forum! I’ve actually been keeping a language study log since 2018, to monitor the time I spend with languages and learn them more efficiently. This has helped me a lot to increase my commitment and make me more accountable in not wasting my (precious) free time in useless activities. By sharing it here with you, I hope, on the one hand, to further increase my commitment to learning languages and, the other hand, to share experiences, methods, and hints with other like-minded fellow learners.
Just a quick overview about the languages I can speak fluently or I am focusing on:
ITALIAN (N)
I am a native speaker of Italian, I live in Italy, and all my education has been in this language. I’m deeply in love with it, sometimes I even wish I were a foreigner to appreciate it even more! I’m also very proud when someone chooses to learn it: if you’re doing so, please feel free to ask, I’ll be happy to help you out.
ENGLISH (C2)
English was the second foreign language I came in contact with, but the first one I studied, and the one I’m most proficient in. I’ve been studying it since I was in middle school, it was of course my favourite subject back then, and made me discover my passion for languages. I use it now daily for my job (I’m a sales executive in the food business), but there’s always room for improvement, so I keep on studying it. What I love about English is its conciseness and lexical richness. Oh, and I’m of course in love with the British (RP) accent (the accent I’ve tried to mimic and master, by the way!).
FRENCH (C2)
The first foreign language I ever heard was French: my parents are convinced Francophiles, a part of my family also lives in France, and so I took a lot of holidays there. When I was just six years old, my parents even enrolled me in a children’s class at our local Alliance Française, but the experience was short-lived since I wasn’t that keen on French at the time. But after I developed a passion for English, I chose to take optional classes in French and Latin at my middle school, and then attend a high school with a strong foreign-language curriculum (where I studied English, French, German, and Latin). French is a beautiful language, definitely on par with Italian for its sounds, rhythm, and intonation. And I love the culture, for sure.
GERMAN (B2)
German was my fourth foreign language (if we include Latin), and it was love at first sight. I studied it three years at high school, then I took some courses at university (I majored in International Studies and Economics, but tried to add all the language instruction I could!), but then, since I started working with companies dealing mostly with Asian markets, I let it slip into oblivion. I’m now determined to improve it at least to a C1 level, so I’ve taken it up again, thanks also to my current job where I’ve been using it regularly. What I love about German is its precision, its peculiar musicality, and the culture, of course.
JAPANESE (B2)
Japanese is my enduring love, I dare say my “life mission”. I’ve spent countless hours on it, but it’s always been a pleasure to study it. I first began learning it some twenty years ago when I was at university, and I was immediately hooked by how different it was from European languages. I then took many courses at university and private schools (both in Italy and Japan), endless hours of private tuition for conversation practice (and even volunteering in Japan as a “guinea pig” for Japanese teachers on training), and seized every opportunity to talk to Japanese friends and colleagues. I’ve also been lucky enough to always use it in my professional career, thus boosting my skills and confidence. I still use it regularly for my job, so I’m quite good at formal Japanese and keigo. I simply love everything about Japanese and Japan!
SWEDISH (A2)
I’ve always been fascinated by Northern Europe but I never felt ready to take up a Nordic language. Even after visiting Sweden twice, and falling in love with the country, I had many doubts to begin learning it. Not because I didn’t like the language (it’s beautiful!), but because I didn’t want to spread myself too thin and take time away from other languages (Japanese, in particular). Then, in 2018, I finally took the plunge and I’m now determined to reach a solid B2 level. Having learned English and German, I must admit Swedish is not that difficult, particularly in developing my passive skills (reading and listening). But reaching satisfactory active skills is another kettle of fish entirely.
SPANISH (A2 active/B2ish passive) suspended because of lack of time
I've decided to take up Spanish again and study it more properly: I can pretty much use it when I travel to Spain and, thanks to Italian, my passive skills are somewhat B2ish, but I need to enrich my active vocabulary since I'm stuck when I want to express more complex thoughts. I must admit I have never dedicated much time to it, studying it on and off over the course of the years, and just absorbing it by travelling to Spain, watching movies, and listening to music. However, I'm not going to dedicate much time to it, since my current focus is bringing up my Swedish to B1 (hopefully B2), and my German and Japanese to C1, but it can be a nice side activity instead of wasting time on social media!
OTHER LANGUAGES
As most people out here, I’ve also studied and dabbled with many more languages in my life, either reaching a passable level (Spanish -refocusing on it again), letting them get rusty (Russian - I studied the language for three years, then I abandoned it completely), or just getting a very first bite of them (Arabic, Mandarin, Czech, Dutch, and Portuguese). I also learnt an ancient language over seven years at school (Latin), but I was never really fond of it, as I couldn’t use it to communicate with anybody (I like travelling and getting in touch with real people, that’s why, even if they’re fascinating, I’m not that into dead languages).
Thanks for reading so far, I can’t wait to share my learning adventures with you!
Here I am with my first study log on this wonderful forum! I’ve actually been keeping a language study log since 2018, to monitor the time I spend with languages and learn them more efficiently. This has helped me a lot to increase my commitment and make me more accountable in not wasting my (precious) free time in useless activities. By sharing it here with you, I hope, on the one hand, to further increase my commitment to learning languages and, the other hand, to share experiences, methods, and hints with other like-minded fellow learners.
Just a quick overview about the languages I can speak fluently or I am focusing on:
ITALIAN (N)
I am a native speaker of Italian, I live in Italy, and all my education has been in this language. I’m deeply in love with it, sometimes I even wish I were a foreigner to appreciate it even more! I’m also very proud when someone chooses to learn it: if you’re doing so, please feel free to ask, I’ll be happy to help you out.
ENGLISH (C2)
English was the second foreign language I came in contact with, but the first one I studied, and the one I’m most proficient in. I’ve been studying it since I was in middle school, it was of course my favourite subject back then, and made me discover my passion for languages. I use it now daily for my job (I’m a sales executive in the food business), but there’s always room for improvement, so I keep on studying it. What I love about English is its conciseness and lexical richness. Oh, and I’m of course in love with the British (RP) accent (the accent I’ve tried to mimic and master, by the way!).
FRENCH (C2)
The first foreign language I ever heard was French: my parents are convinced Francophiles, a part of my family also lives in France, and so I took a lot of holidays there. When I was just six years old, my parents even enrolled me in a children’s class at our local Alliance Française, but the experience was short-lived since I wasn’t that keen on French at the time. But after I developed a passion for English, I chose to take optional classes in French and Latin at my middle school, and then attend a high school with a strong foreign-language curriculum (where I studied English, French, German, and Latin). French is a beautiful language, definitely on par with Italian for its sounds, rhythm, and intonation. And I love the culture, for sure.
GERMAN (B2)
German was my fourth foreign language (if we include Latin), and it was love at first sight. I studied it three years at high school, then I took some courses at university (I majored in International Studies and Economics, but tried to add all the language instruction I could!), but then, since I started working with companies dealing mostly with Asian markets, I let it slip into oblivion. I’m now determined to improve it at least to a C1 level, so I’ve taken it up again, thanks also to my current job where I’ve been using it regularly. What I love about German is its precision, its peculiar musicality, and the culture, of course.
JAPANESE (B2)
Japanese is my enduring love, I dare say my “life mission”. I’ve spent countless hours on it, but it’s always been a pleasure to study it. I first began learning it some twenty years ago when I was at university, and I was immediately hooked by how different it was from European languages. I then took many courses at university and private schools (both in Italy and Japan), endless hours of private tuition for conversation practice (and even volunteering in Japan as a “guinea pig” for Japanese teachers on training), and seized every opportunity to talk to Japanese friends and colleagues. I’ve also been lucky enough to always use it in my professional career, thus boosting my skills and confidence. I still use it regularly for my job, so I’m quite good at formal Japanese and keigo. I simply love everything about Japanese and Japan!
SWEDISH (A2)
I’ve always been fascinated by Northern Europe but I never felt ready to take up a Nordic language. Even after visiting Sweden twice, and falling in love with the country, I had many doubts to begin learning it. Not because I didn’t like the language (it’s beautiful!), but because I didn’t want to spread myself too thin and take time away from other languages (Japanese, in particular). Then, in 2018, I finally took the plunge and I’m now determined to reach a solid B2 level. Having learned English and German, I must admit Swedish is not that difficult, particularly in developing my passive skills (reading and listening). But reaching satisfactory active skills is another kettle of fish entirely.
SPANISH (A2 active/B2ish passive) suspended because of lack of time
I've decided to take up Spanish again and study it more properly: I can pretty much use it when I travel to Spain and, thanks to Italian, my passive skills are somewhat B2ish, but I need to enrich my active vocabulary since I'm stuck when I want to express more complex thoughts. I must admit I have never dedicated much time to it, studying it on and off over the course of the years, and just absorbing it by travelling to Spain, watching movies, and listening to music. However, I'm not going to dedicate much time to it, since my current focus is bringing up my Swedish to B1 (hopefully B2), and my German and Japanese to C1, but it can be a nice side activity instead of wasting time on social media!
OTHER LANGUAGES
As most people out here, I’ve also studied and dabbled with many more languages in my life, either reaching a passable level (Spanish -refocusing on it again), letting them get rusty (Russian - I studied the language for three years, then I abandoned it completely), or just getting a very first bite of them (Arabic, Mandarin, Czech, Dutch, and Portuguese). I also learnt an ancient language over seven years at school (Latin), but I was never really fond of it, as I couldn’t use it to communicate with anybody (I like travelling and getting in touch with real people, that’s why, even if they’re fascinating, I’m not that into dead languages).
Thanks for reading so far, I can’t wait to share my learning adventures with you!