From Weeklong Learner to Lifelong Learner

[Raconteur]

SUNDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2021
Starting to see a pattern forming: one day deep, then one day shallow. Today, DL and SRS in the evening. A bit later, right before bed, a quick look at Assimil Lesson 10. Will need to go back to this lesson tomorrow and practice it some more. (≈35 min)

MONDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2021
Spoke too soon, as today was another low effort day. The usual Duolingo (DL) and Spaced Repetition Software (SRS) exercises. Then, some more practice using Assimil Lesson 10. (≈35 min)


– A tavola, il pranzo è pronto!
– (Come) to (the) table, lunch is ready!

– i tuoi vini sono sempre eccellenti!
– your wines are always excellent!

TUESDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2021
Finally finished Assimil Lesson 10, + some quick DL and SRS reps. (≈35 min)

Carlo e Isabella aspettano i loro amici a cena.
Carlo and Isabella are expecting (waiting for) their friends for dinner.

La mattina Davide prepara la colazione per i suoi bambini.
In the morning Davide prepares breakfast for his children.

– Qual è il pranzo di oggi?
– Lasagne
– What’s (what is there) for lunch today?
– Lasagna


– I am very pleased to see you
– Me too

Any and all corrections welcome!

[Raconteur]

WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021
Today I’ve decided to give DL more of a fair shake and spent over half an hour with it (rather than the usual 5-10 min). Surprisingly enough, it’s beginning to grow on me – while using the computer, mind you – the app, with its vast assortment of annoying pop-ups and gimmicks, remains an absolute disaster. Anyway, the short lessons, easygoing grammar tutorials, and little stories make it a nice break from more demanding kinds of book learn'in. One could justifiably call DL language learning lite, but that’s still better than skipping a day. In addition, I’ve reviewed the introductory notes for the Assimil program. I went over these a long time ago… but wanted a quick refresher, both to evaluate my current approach and gather some additional inspiration/motivation. Finished up with SRS in the evening. (≈60 min)

lui taglia il pane
he cuts the bread

l’acqua bolle
the water boils

[Raconteur]

THURSDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2021
Tłusty czwartek, Fat Thursday, is a wonderful excuse to pig out on some heavenly pączki (Doughnuts? What an inadequate translation!). Supposedly Poles consume over 100 million of these guys every tłusty czwartek – about 3 per capita. I am happy to report I did my duty to uphold this tasty statistic.





Language learning wise, I had a strange urge to return to Colloquial Italian: The Complete Course for Beginners (C) by Sylvia Lymbery, which I didn’t really gel with all that much last year. I looked over my notes and did some Unit 3. Also a quick rep or two with SRS and DL.

I got started pretty late with Italian today, and had to stay up to reach my 365 challenge objective. I like that this challenge motivates me to do something, whereas I would probably just take a day off otherwise. (≈40 min)

[Raconteur]

FRIDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2021
Wrapping up the workweek, I continued with C Unit 3, followed by a few minutes of SRS and DL. (≈40 min)

La sera la gente viene qui a fare la passeggiata.
In the evening people come here to take (do) a walk.

Giorgio abita a Firenze?
// Abita a Firenze, Giorgio?
Does Giorgio live in Florence?

Lavori in un ospedale, vero?
You work at a hospital, right?

Come si chiama il medico?
What’s the doctor’s name?
(lit. ‘How does the doctor call himself?’)

SATURDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2021
Very basic day, had to stay up late to make sure I clock in my 30 minutes, which I’ve spent with DL (story, scriptorium and a few new lessons) and SRS. Need to start getting to language learning earlier in the day! I keep telling myself that… (≈30 min)

SUNDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2021
DL and SRS only. (≈31 min)

[Raconteur]

MONDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2021
Another “hardly working” day, with only ≈30 min of effort towards Italiano, using the Assimil method. Working on Lesson 11. Aiming to push myself a bit more, in order to see some noticeable progress in the upcoming weeks and months. Health hasn’t been very good, which sort of gets in the way.

TUESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2021
Duolingo (DL) and spaced repetition (SRS) only. (≈40 min)

Gli uccelli mangiano frutta.
The birds eat fruit.

Tu bevi il tè.
You drink [the] tea.

Non vuole venire in California con me.
(She) doesn’t want to come to [in] California with me.

Sono un po' triste.
(I) am a little sad.

WEDNESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2021
Picked up Colloquial Italian (C), continuing with Unit 3, along with some DL. Another late night, so cutting the update short. (≈40 min)

La risposta è sì.
The answer is yes.

[Raconteur]

THURSDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2021
Just DL today, but still keeping my head above the water, if only just barely! (≈30 min)

Quanta acqua bevi?
How much water do (you) drink?

Giovanna è in un museo con suo nonno.
Giovanna is in a museum with her grandfather.

Sono studenti della facoltà di medicina.
They are medical students.
(lit. They are students of the Faculty of Medicine.)

FRIDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2021
Allowed myself a less-than-structured day, watched some Nuovo Espresso videos on YouTube to see if my comprehension has improved. The first three videos were a breeze, while the fourth still proved slightly too demanding – I got the general meaning tho, and even picked out some new vocab from the context. Also SRS and DL in the late, late evening. Time for sleep. (≈30 min)

[Raconteur]

SATURDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2021
DL, SRS, and a new C dialogue from Unit 3 → scriptorium, pronunciation, vocab, etc. Nothing fancy.

Ellie è il mio cane.
Ellie is my dog.
(Can you say “il mio cane” for a female dog?)

SUNDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2021
Tonight, tried something new – Speakly. I’m doing a 7-day trial, and will be focusing on it for the next week or so (if I like it). So far so good, it’s a very straightforward app, and yet seems to be packing more of a punch than most well-known competitors, like Duolingo. Dare I say… a more “serious” language learning app? TBD.

Predictably I'm using it for Italian, starting from the beginner level. Some repetition here, sure, but it's actually a welcome reinforcement of the foundations (shaky, in my case). Besides, even the very first listening exercise introduced some words and phrases I haven't seen yet! Ouch. (≈30 min)

anche io la penso così
I think like that as well

[Raconteur]

MONDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2021
First full day using Speakly, got some great sentences. Mixing the app with some of my favorite approaches: speaking out lout, scriptorium, SRS, etc. One thing I’m finding inconvenient is that the lengthy texts are not divided in any way. Would be great to mark the spot where I'd like to resume next time, or at the very least have a paragraph number or whatever to reference later on. (≈50 min)

come vanno le cose?
how are things going?

sempre di più
more and more
(Lit. always of more)

questa non è la mia macchina
that’s not my car

non lo so
I don’t know

non lo so perché
I don’t know why

Io vivo in Italia. Vengo da Siena ma abito a Roma. Mi piace Roma ma mi piace anche Siena.
I live in Italy. I come from Siena but I live in Rome. I like Rome but I also like Siena.

La mia casa è piccola ma mi piace.
My home is small but I like it.