Snufkin's 2020-2024 log - [NL, HU, DE & FI]

[Snufkin]

Who said that November wasn't a good month to start a log ? I have almost two months left and I do plan to make the most of 2020. I had introduced myself a while ago but I guess a second short introduction won't do any harm. I'm a French-speaking Belgian and I recently discovered a passion for languages. I was exposed to multiple languages in my childhood but this has never piqued my curiosity for languages. Quite the contrary, I used to believe that I was a science guy and that languages were not for me. It's not until I went to university and had to work on my English for my studies that I realised how fun language learning was. So what's the plan?

Main goals for 2020

- Set up a daily routine and make language learning part of my life.
- Have fun !

Dutch

A language that is spoken by the majority of my fellow countrymen. I've always kind of liked Dutch, I remember watching Flemish TV shows when I was a child, Kabouter Plop is just part my childhood. Four years ago, I signed up for a summer Dutch course at KUL (back then, my motivation for Dutch was at its peak). I had sat an exam and got a B1+ level with decent grades. That means Dutch still lies somewhere in my head, I just need to find it. My passive knowledge is good enough to understand any TV show or read a book but my active skills are embarrassing.

I'll be using La pratique du néerlandais by Assimil (the Dutch intermediate course) to get back on track. To spicy up things a little bit, I'll be working on my spoken language as well with the help of Wa zegt ge - Vlaamse spreektaal voor anderstaligen by Sofie Begine. Books, comics and Flemish TV shows are of course on the menu too. The more, the better. I'd say that Dutch is my absolute priority right now.

Hungarian

A language I'm very much attached to, it's my mum's native tongue. I do speak some Hungarian but I'm absolutely clueless about the grammar. On one hand, I don't want to use beginner resources because it's honestly boring. On the other hand, I need to master the grammar rules to deal with more advanced materials. Assimil seems to be a good compromise between short lessons, small grammar notes and bits of humour. It'll be extra fun because the copy I own happens to be my dad's copy. Should I mention that he never completed the book though? I hope this is not a bad omen. As I progress through the Assimil book, I'll be looking for intermediate textbooks as well.

Walloon

For most of my life, I thought (and was told) that Walloon was just bad French, spoken by uneducated people. It turns out it's an actual language! Who would have thought that? I find it saddening we're not taught any Walloon at school and that Walloon is no longer a language used to communicate. I've been reading Walloon texts online and wow many Belgian French words are actually Walloon words. I need to know more about the Walloon language. Unfortunately, resources to learn Walloon are scarce. However, I did manage to find a book with the audio! It's called S'initier au wallon liégeois par les proverbes et les expressions. The book contains 32 lessons and I can't wait to get started.

That's it for 2020

[Snufkin]

Here's my first update (1st week)

I spent my last week uploading my lessons on my school's online platform. From videos to quizzes, I'm ready to teach my students science online. As for languages, I ordered 2 notebooks for my Dutch and Hungarian courses which I will start on Monday. I know you're not supposed to write anything with Assimil but, in my case, I need to write down new words and expressions so that I can remember them.

Dutch

* I watched four episodes of "De Rechtbank" on VIER (40 min each, includes parts in French)
* I bing-watched the first season of "#hetisingewikkeld" on VIER (8 episodes, 25 min each)
* First Skype call with a Flemish penpal, she said my accent was great and that made my day! (30 min in Dutch, 30 min in French)

Hungarian

* Does speaking Hungarian to my mum count? I have yet to find a Hungarian penpal who's interested in a language exchange (and who doesn't disappear after the first call).
* I had hoped to go to Hungary this Christmas to buy some books but the pandemic seems to have hit Hungary pretty hard too. I guess it's time to dust off some of my children books in Hungarian that are somewhere in the attic. Who knows what I will find there?

Walloon

* I read the first 17 pages of my Walloon phrasebook, it's a nice introduction to the history of the Walloon language. That said, I have no idea how accurate the text really is.

English

* I had a Skype call with an American penpal (30 min in English, 30 min in French)

[nooj]

Unfortunately, resources to learn Walloon are scarce. However, I did manage to find a book with the audio! It's called S'initier au wallon liégeois par les proverbes et les expressions. The book contains 32 lessons and I can't wait to get started

If you would like a good Walloon grammar (that you can modify to suit your dialect), see: http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/node171.html

There's a fantastic documentary about Walloon speakers who work to normalise and revitalise their language called Le bout de la langue: https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_le-bou ... id=2628844

Have you seen this TV show? https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/emissions/det ... ous?id=156

[Snufkin]

If you would like a good Walloon grammar (that you can modify to suit your dialect), see: http://users.skynet.be/lorint/croejh/node171.html

There's a fantastic documentary about Walloon speakers who work to normalise and revitalise their language called Le bout de la langue: https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/detail_le-bou ... id=2628844

Have you seen this TV show? https://www.rtbf.be/auvio/emissions/det ... ous?id=156

Nice finding, thank you! That IPA section will be useful to me to internalise the pronunciation. I read about the different dialects (it's briefly mentioned in the book too) and how two spelling systems co-exist. I find all this crazy! I'm wondering to what extent this hinders the transition to a modern Walloon language that would be easier to promote.

Your link is dead but that's probably the documentary that made interested in the first place. Apparently, there's a whole bookshelf of Walloon books at my local library. Where have I been my entire life ?

[Snufkin]

2nd week (16-22 November 2020)

Dutch

* Another 4 episodes of "De Rechtbank" on VIER (40 min each)
* Finished the second season of #hetisingewikkeld (8 episodes, 25 min each)
* Skype call with a native speaker (40 min in Dutch)
* 70 pages of "2020 Kamp Alpha" on my Kobo
* 2 entries on LangCorrect
* 2 Assimil lessons : I wanted to do one lesson a day but I forgot the book at my workplace and I can't get it back before Tuesday because of teleworking.

Hungarian

* 3 Assimil lessons : I could have done more but there's no rush
* 2 vlogs (15 min each)

Walloon

* First lesson done, I like that each lesson includes small cultural notes.

[Snufkin]

Alright, I haven't posted here in a while but I'm back for a little review of my 2020.

Dutch

Overall, I'm relatively satisfied with what I have achieved . I almost finished the Assimil course. To be honest, I clearly underestimated my level because I didn't learn that many new words. Here and there an idiom but nothing worth an entire course. The review lessons were nice but often unnecessary. And the few words I didn't know were easily understood with the context. Anyway, the course was fun to do and one cannot refuse extra revision (especially Assimil's active wave). Moreover, it gave a certain rhythm to my language journey. My spoken Flemish textbook is the next one on the list (which I unfortunately didn't open during these two months). I don't know how I'm going to divide my work, a chapter a day seems a lot to me.

I talked to my language partner every week, we only took a break during Christmas holidays. It's quite motivating to have someone who is equally invested in language learning. I like that our calls are actual conversations and not lessons. I'm still looking for another language exchange partner and I hope to find another one soon.

My immersion was also successful, I lost track of all the series and episodes I watched. I also finished 8 novels (each was about 200 pages), I blew my own mind. My Kobo is now my best friend, I carry it with me everywhere. My next goal is turn certain words I encounter into flashcards (but only the ones that don't show up that often because the book itself acts as natural SRS). I need to find a good workflow, some people on here seem to be experts of Anki. I wand to read more Flemish novels as well in order to expose myself to Flemish sentence structures.

What I failed to do is writing. In total, I have written 5 or 6 entries on Lang-8/Langcorrect . But writing is like speaking, right? It's just that you immediately say out loud your sentences . I just have no inspiration and it feels pretty dumb to just write 2 or 3 sentences. However, I do need to write more! So from now on I'll try to write an entry per week about an article I read during the week.

Hungarian

I stopped using Assimil after 25 lessons, that didn't work for me. I realised that for Hungarian I needed more grammar and a somewhat more structured way of learning new words (for example, learn new words by topic). I sort of stopped working on my Hungarian for a while, until I found a Hungarian language partner. I did watch two TV shows and read one book but that's all for two entire months. We've been speaking for two weeks and I got my hands on a second-hand Hungarian textbook series : MagyarOK (up until B1). What I like about our exchange is that we also send each other two-paragraph-long texts about a topic, that's a two-in-one exchange.

Walloon

Oh my dear Walloon, what a language! I finished the book and I loved everything about it. The content, the audio but also the many cultural and linguistic notes. I didn't try to study any vocabulary, I mainly enjoyed the journey. I don't want to stop the exposure but speaking the language is not my priority at the moment. However, look at what I found



A bilingual French-Walloon BD from a very famous Belgian cartoonist (Walthéry) and with audio. Is this a dream? It seems so ... Well, they know how to attract Belgians.

Conclusion

I'm glad I managed to get back to learning languages and that I didn't wait 2021 to start my journey. Let's say that my 2021 goal is to continue having fun with languages and possibly add a new language (stares at German). I might restart a thread for my 2021 goal but I'm not sure if it's useful to anyone and if I have to courage to keep track of what I'm doing.

And oh wait, a happy New Year to all of you

[pokolfajzat]

sok sikert a magyar nyelvhez

[Snufkin]

After a long hiatus, I've decided to revive this log!

Since 2021 I've made significant progress in Hungarian! I haven't taken any language exams, but I'd say my level is now around B2. I completed the MagyarOK series last summer and I've been reading books and watching TV ever since. I recently got my hands on Hungarolingua 3 and I intend to complete it as well. From what I've seen, it focuses more on vocabulary and that's exactly what I need! My grammar got a lot better as well, I'm more aware of what's going on in a Hungarian sentence. I do feel like it's never enough though and I want to consolidate all the basics.

I wish I could be as enthusiastic about Dutch. I have been too lazy to even touch a textbook or learn new words. I read books in Dutch and regularly listened to podcasts, but it's all been pretty passive. It's high time I worked on my Dutch, I cannot abandon it, not after all those years learning the language. In a similar way to Hungarian, I might start over again from a lower level. It's probably a waste of time in the eyes of some but arguably the only viable solution for me.

In September, I welcomed a new baby into my chaotic but lovely family: Finnish. Not only am I having so much fun with the language, but it also revived my interest for languages in general. Let's be honest, Finnish a pricey language. Textbooks are expensive and italki tutors are well out of my price range. Luckily, the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux offers online Finnish courses for a reasonable price. We're using Suomen Mestari 1 and while it's rather slow-paced, the classroom atmosphere is positive. Finnish has also sparked my interest for Estonian, ouch!

Finally, I started learning German some time ago!

[Snufkin]

I'm in Germany right now, on my way back to Belgium after a two-week long break in Hungary. These two weeks have been quite hectic, albeit not necessarily in terms of (active) study time.

Hungarian

I almost finished reading A Hetedik Út titka , a book from a Dutch author (Tonke Dragt) that I read when I was a child and that I wanted to read again. I decided to not make any Anki card, just enjoy the book and see how much I can understand without looking up words. It was the description of situations, landscapes, etc that was the most difficult to understand. I hope to close this "gap" with Hungarolingua which seems to offer more descriptive vocab. I could've done some more intensive reading, like not the entire book, just a few pages but I wasn't in the mood. It goes without saying that I got to speak a lot.

German

My main resource at the moment is Assimil, and I've just finished the 37th lesson as I write this. I'm using Deutsch Spektrum A1+ as well, I'm half-way through the book and I quite like the slow but steady progress I'm making with the book. To consolidate what I am learning (and to kill time during my daily commute) I'm using our government's online platform to learn languages. It has German and I thought why not give it a try. I mean it's free and I get to see words in different contexts. The exercises aren't engaging at all but each lesson ends with a short writing prompt (which I get corrected by a native speaker) so that's nice. Im' not fully satisfied of my pronunciation, I'm afraid my Dutch is contaminating my German. At my level, I don't think it's a problem though (however my frustration builds up quickly)

Finnish

I reviewed the vocabulary from the first and the second chapter. I made the homework our teacher sent us. Unfortunately, I missed two lessons already because the teacher follows the Flemish holidays and not the Walloon ones. What can I say, Belgian surrealism at work again ...

Dutch

awkward silence.

[Snufkin]

The weather leaves no doubt that I'm back in Belgium. Luckily I was born waterproof and perfectly capable of withstanding gloomy days. While in Hungary, I did my best to resist the temptation to buy books. Of course that did not apply to Germany and I ended up buying 3 (second-hand) books. A copy of Harry Potter as well as the translations of two other children books.

Hungarian

I plan to start Hungarolingua this week, I haven't really decided how I want to use the book. In any case I must add new Anki cards as I reviewed all the cards from my Hungarian card. My deck is currently at 13k cards and it is in dire need of a clean up : duplicates, useless cards, poorly formatted cards, etc ... it has become a real mess. So far my solution has been to delete/edit cards as I review them.

German
Yesterday my last order arrived, it's "Phonetik - Das Aussprache Training" from Klett. It's exactly the kind of book I was looking for, each sound of the language is presented with IPA and with plenty exercises. I definitely don't want to rush it, one sound per week might be a good start.

I'm halfway through my A1 textbook, there's only 6 chapters left. I should finish it by the end of April, right before my travel to Hungary. I got a solid routine with German. Usually I'm doing 3-4 pages from that textbook, 1 Assimil lesson and 1 online lesson per day. When I have the energy, I use another textbook (Duits voor zelfstudie), it's a much more fast-paced book, hence why I'm not using it every day. Every 2-3 days, I'm also doing a short writing exercise.

Today was the last Assimil lesson (49th lesson) before starting the active wave. I'm genuinely curious to see to what extent I'll be able to translate these short dialogues to German.

Dutch

Time to dust-off! So, I had this grammar workbook that I bought ages ago and that I never bothered to open. I could sell it but at the same time I can only feel guilt for not having completed it. In all modesty, the exercises are a tad below my level and it might be a bit of a waste of time to go through the entire book. On the other hand, it's a good way to review the basics and it shouldn't be too hard to do these as I'm watching Netflix or something. According to a friend, I already have a B2/C1 level in Dutch but it certainly doesn't feel so. The short-term plan is to finish that workbook and do the "Nederlands op niveau (B1 to B2)" textbook too. I swear I'll never touch intermediate materials again once I've finished these two.

Finnish

Not much to report. We started Chapter 4 and our teacher said we'll probably stop after this one as we're nearing the end of course. Apart from my weekly lesson, I don't do any Finnish. I could probably work on my pronunciation but at this stage I don't feel like it's that important