From Weeklong Learner to Lifelong Learner (2020-2021)

[Raconteur]

WEDNESDAY, 3 MARCH 2021
Nothing but a PN review, the day kinda got away from me. (≈40 min)

THURSDAY, 4 MARCH 2021
Another productive day, spent on Speakly, PN, and Sch. (≈2.5h)

– Che fai stasera? Facciamo qualcosa insieme?
– Mi dispiace ma non posso.
– Perché no?
– Devo lavorare stasera.
– What are you doing tonight? Should we do something together?
– I'm sorry but I can’t.
– Why not?
– I have to work tonight.

Tu vuoi mangiare qualcosa?
Do you want to eat something?

Come si dice in italiano?
How do you say it in Italian?

– Sono i tuoi figli?
– Si, sono i miei figli.
– Are they your children?

– Yes, they are my children.

– Questo è per me?
– Sì, questo è per te.
– Is this for me?
– Yes, this is for you.

Noi dobbiamo parlare.
We have to talk

Vado a Parigi tra una settimana.
I'm going to Paris in a week.

[Raconteur]

FRIDAY, 5 MARCH 2021
PN and Speakly (≈55 min)

SATURDAY, 6 MARCH 2021
Speakly and PN, along with a quick review of my own grammar notes, based on the Sch book (≈1.5h)

Io non sono stato in Italia prima.
I have not been to Italy before.

–Non ti ho mai visto prima in ufficio. Sei nuova?
–Sì, oggi è il mio primo giorno.
–I've never seen you in the office before. Are you new?
–Yes, today is my first day.

Mi piace viaggiare da solo
I like to travel alone

che giorno è oggi?
what day is today?

——————————————————

Today I found out that Moses McCormick died unexpectedly. He was a true inspiration to me and countless others. Laoshu, you will be missed.

2009 (or thereabouts), long before the era of influencers, I remember sitting in my dorm, watching with awe the uncut, unscripted videos of Prof. Argüelles and Moses McCormick. "Recorded with a potato," one would say today, but brimming with authenticity and love for the subject.

Laoshu, cut a curious figure back then, sitting very close to the camera, in his signature hat (fishing[?] hat with a neck flap), talking about his learning goals and strategies, often rambling quite a bit, while doing his best to instruct and motivate his viewers.

Prof. Argüelles, educated at world's best universities, well traveled, spoke to viewers from the perspective of an experienced academic. Moses, in comparison, was like a dude living down the street – someone immensely passionate about his hobby, but nevertheless relatable.

Both Prof. Argüelles and Laoshu, inspired me a great deal, but in entirely different ways. It was Moses who made me believe that language learning is open to everyone, including myself. Everything about his early videos said: "look, I'm just a normal guy in a funny hat... you can do this too, my friend." And for this, I will be eternally grateful to him.

[Raconteur]

Feeling unmotivated lately. The first hump of the year. This led me to reflect a bit on language learning myths in general, and how they shaped my expectations over the years (ideas about how quickly one should advance in a new language). I am irritated by the lack of progress I’m experiencing… but I should know better. I do know better. In fact, considering how little time I had to study over the last few months, I shouldn’t really expect things to go any faster. No. Given my circumstances, slow progress is okay. It is normal. All I have to do is keep at it.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, despite wanting to learn new languages for well over a decade, all I have to show for it is a bunch of failed attempts. What’s the issue? it’s nothing particularly unique – wanting too much, and too quickly. Rather than making slow but consistent progress, I’ve searched for learning hacks and jumped around from one language to another.

This led me to a very simple language learning philosophy for 2021 and beyond.
1.) Just keep at it, don’t focus on results.
2.) New language every 5 years (2021-2025 it’s Italian)

SUNDAY, 7 MARCH 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN) and Speakly (≈37 min)

MONDAY, 8 MARCH 2021
PN and Speakly (≈1.5h)

TUESDAY, 9 MARCH 2021
PN and Speakly (≈30 min)

WEDNESDAY, 10 MARCH 2021
PN and Speakly (≈30 min)

THURSDAY, 11 MARCH 2021
PN (≈34 min)

FRIDAY, 12 MARCH 2021
Speakly (≈30 min)

SATURDAY, 13 MARCH 2021
PN and Speakly (≈1h)

Ti piace viaggiare?
Do you like to travel?

La posso aiutare
May I help you?

Tu hai parlato con lui?
Have you talked to (with) him?

Io non ho ancora mangiato
I haven't eaten yet

Tu devi già partire?
Do you have to leave already?

[Raconteur]

SUNDAY, 14 MARCH 2021
Some days are just better than others. The learning flows, you remember phrases, even the ones you shouldn't. Aside from the usual PN and Speakly, I’ve decided to spice things up and add some TV. (≈1.3h)

Now, passive listening and/or watching with English subtitles doesn’t count towards study time. However, watching TV in Italian (with TL subtitles)... now that I can add to my tally in good conscience.

For this Netflix Comprehension Exam I chose dubbed BoJack Horseman. Why? Let me count the ways. 1.) Because I love that show dearly. 2.) Because I can follow the story, more or less. 3.) Because the characters almost never shut up, which is far better than watching drawn out action sequences in your target language. 4.) Because hearing BoJack freak out in Italian is priceless.

I can’t exactly follow the dialogues just yet, but I’m surprised by how much I’m picking up. Words, phrases, sometimes even an occasional back and forth. I went over the episode once actively, trying to follow the dialogues best I could. Then, I also let the episode play a few more times in the background, mostly while doing other things (email, cleaning).

I know I’m not discovering anything new here, but Netflix is actually pretty cool for language learning: lots of content, available in many languages (especially with VPN). Another cool feature, you can watch/listen at 0.75 and even 0.5 speed. I never noticed this before. My only gripe, foreign audio and subtitles don’t always seem to match (2 different translations of the source material). I first noticed this with Polish… like why Netflix? Why have two different translations?

Mister Peanutbutter e BoJack Horseman nella stessa stanza...ma che cos'è questo un episodio crossover?
Mr. Peanutbutter and BoJack Horseman in the same room… what is this, a crossover episode?

Dieci dollari per il pane!? Non voglio vivere in una società dove pane e coperto non sono gratis.
$10 for bread!? I don’t want to live in a society where the premeal bread [bread and cover charge?] isn’t free.

[Raconteur]

Another week of studying behind us…

MONDAY, 15 MARCH 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN) and Speakly (≈1.3h) + mostly passive listening to BoJack and Italian songs, not counted towards active study time.

TUESDAY, 16 MARCH 2021
PN, Speakly and 15 min of active watching/listening. Different episode today, lower comprehension, I wonder why. Is it more about the particular topic or available brain power? (≈1.5h)

WEDNESDAY, 17 MARCH 2021
Speakly and 10 min of active watching/listening. (≈1h)

THURSDAY, 18 MARCH 2021
PN & Speakly (≈1.6h)

FRIDAY, 19 MARCH 2021
PN & Speakly (≈45 min)

SATURDAY, 20 MARCH 2021
Speakly and 10 min of active watching/listening. (≈51 min)

SUNDAY, 21 MARCH 2021
Speakly and 15 min of active watching/listening. (≈1h)

–Dobbiamo parlare. Hai due minuti per me?
–Non ho tempo adesso…
–Va bene. Possiamo parlare più tardi. Ma è davvero importante!
–Va bene. Parliamo stasera.
–We have to talk. Do you have two minutes for me?
–I don’t have time right now…
–Okay. We can talk later. But it is really important!
–Okay. Let’s talk tonight.

Sei libero stasera?
Are you free this evening?

Mi piace guardare le commedie.
I like to watch comedies.

È veramente strano.
It's really strange.

Che cosa hai fatto ieri?
What did you do yesterday?

Ho guardato la TV invece di studiare.
I watched TV instead of studying.

[Raconteur]

Nigel Van Wieck, Q Train, 1990.jpg

[Raconteur]

Here we go again…

MONDAY, 22 MARCH 2021
Speakly and 10 min of active watching/listening. (≈40 min)

TUESDAY, 23 MARCH 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN) (≈35 min)

WEDNESDAY, 24 MARCH 2021
Speakly and 10 min of active watching/listening. Got really frustrated when working with Speakly today, for some reason couldn’t remember a thing. So frustrating. (≈40 min)

THURSDAY, 25 MARCH 2021
PN and 10 min of active watching/listening. (≈1h)

FRIDAY, 26 MARCH 2021
Ufff, first missed day of the 365 challenge. There goes my perfect score.

SATURDAY, 27 MARCH 2021
Speakly (≈30 min)

SUNDAY, 28 MARCH 2021
PN and 10 min of active watching/listening. (≈45 min)

Princess Carolyn, ma che stiamo facendo!?
Princess Carolyn, [but] what are we doing!?

John Stamos é morto! Perché, Signore? Perché ci hai portato via John Stamos?
–Quello non è John Stamos.
–John Stamos is dead! Why, Lord? Why did you take John Stamos from us?
–That is not John Stamos.

[Raconteur]

Another month bites the dust. Missed one day towards the 365 Challenge. Overall, pretty happy with my consistency... less so with the progress. But, patience. Patience.

MONDAY, 29 MARCH 2021
Assimil + 15 min of active watching/listening. (≈1h)

TUESDAY, 30 MARCH 2021
Duolingo (≈30 min)

WEDNESDAY, 31 MARCH 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN), Duolingo + 15 min of active watching/listening. (≈1h)

Merging: preposition+article
Article: il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le

• Di + article: del, dello, della, dell', dei, degli, delle
• A + article: al, allo, alla, all', ai, agli, alle
• Da + article: dal, dallo, dalla, dall', dai, dagli, dalle
• In + article: nel, nello, nella, nell', nei, negli, nelle
• Su + article: sul, sullo, sulla, sull', sui, sugli, sulle

The compounds formed by con and per are archaic and literary, with the exception of col (con + il) for which the contraction is optional.

[Raconteur]

Lazy end of the week / beginning of the month. Doing that bare minimum: enough to keep the challenge going, but maybe (just maybe) not enough to actually learn something. I’m happy about the consistency, but I really need to step on it.

THURSDAY, 1 APRIL 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN), + 9 min of active watching/listening. (≈30 min)

FRIDAY, 2 APRIL 2021
Duolingo, + 11 min of active watching/listening. (≈32 min)

SATURDAY, 3 APRIL 2021
Duolingo, + 8 min of active watching/listening. (≈40 min)

SUNDAY, 4 APRIL 2021
Duolingo (≈30 min)

La tua domanda non ha una risposta
Your question does not have an answer.

Cosa mangi?
What do you eat?

Fai come dico, non come faccio.
Do as I say, not as I do.

Even though in English the possessive in the third person (his, her, its) varies based on the owner, remember that in Italian the gender and number are determined by the thing being owned: il cane di Giulia > il suo cane ("Cane" is masculine, so we use the masculine, even though it is her dog.)

[Raconteur]

Banter, banter, banter… making my log more interesting than it actually is.

MONDAY, 5 APRIL 2021
Italian with Paul Noble (PN) (≈35 min)

TUESDAY, 6 APRIL 2021
Duolingo (≈32 min)

WEDNESDAY, 7 APRIL 2021
Duolingo (≈31 min)

THURSDAY, 8 APRIL 2021
Duolingo (≈34 min)

FRIDAY, 9 APRIL 2021
Second missed day of the 365 challenge.

SATURDAY, 10 APRIL 2021
Duolingo & Speakly (≈34 min)

SUNDAY, 11 APRIL 2021
Duolingo & Assimil (≈39 min)

La donna entra nel mio ristorante.
The woman enters (walks into) my restaurant.

Non ricordo la domanda.
I do not remember the question.

Il gatto segue il topo.
The cat follows the mouse.

Leggo un libro mentre mangio.
I read a book while I eat.

Sono a pranzo.
I am at lunch.

Il gatto è nero e il cane è bianco.
The cat is black and the dog is white.

Non vado se lui va.
I am not going if he's going.