Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

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kelvin921019
Green Belt
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Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:45 pm

Finishing everything in A2 and next step....
I have been very busy with a lot of personal matters and barely have time to finish the grammar and vocab part of an A2 test. I got 88/100 but felt that I have been forgetting quite a lot of Russian grammar knowledge since it has been almost 1 month since my last intensive studies.

I finally finished inserting all new words in the book into Anki and will proceed to V Puti this weekend. Once again, I'm not committing myself to any schedule but I think I have to pick up some intensity (not just casually watching podcast or doing random lingq) and hope I can reach the desired level by the end of this year.

One big problem with V Puti is that the link provided by the book to the audios of the exercise simply does not work. Fortunately I found another site with those audios available and have confirmed that these are accurate (at least for those I have checked).
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kelvin921019
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Languages: Cantonese (N)
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:37 am

V Puti - the book
I have tried using the book for 2 days, and in terms of material, I think that's fine. A good transition from A2 material with some recap of earlier concepts. But I have to say this is a really messy book:-
- the layout of the book is not visually pleasing - words not justified and with an exceptionally narrow margin
- the audio part: the link provided under the book simply doesn't work, fortunately I have found another site with the corresponding audio [Update: turn out that's the official site to V Puti, just not the website provided in the book...]
- Worst thing: It doesn't have an answer key! I have to resort to googling, or rely on other exercises (like those available in the official site) to check my answers. It really sucks when I have paid for both the book and SAM yet there is no answer key to its tasks. There is an instructor's manual but there's no way to purchase it. I think there's a teacher's corner in the site but it requires making a request together with proof of a teaching position (which of course I'm not)

On the bright side, since I'm self studying, I can simply skip quite a lot of materials and focus on materials for self study only.
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kelvin921019
Green Belt
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:11 pm
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Wed Jun 15, 2022 5:24 am

Third rant on V Puti
I have finally finished the 1st chapter of V Puti. I think with some help of modern technology I managed to deal with some preliminary difficulties (which I probably need to overcome in later stage)
- for lack of transcription - I resorted to the speech-to-text function. Fortunately it's some textbook audio so words are pronounced pretty clearly
- for lack of answer key - I have to look up dictionary to verify the use of prepositions or conjugations. For listening comprehension, I resort to the homemade transcript.
- I skip all the group work. I briefly verbally do the writing task but it's impossible to check if it's correct or not. I have to resort to safer construction or preferably those I can copy from the book.

So I can progress the book pretty quickly even though I can't fully utilize the book. Nevertheless it is still a good book for improving my listening skill and general comprehension (input).
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Caromarlyse
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby Caromarlyse » Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:01 am

That's a pain. The next book along in the same loose series (Russian: from Intermediate to Advanced) uses the same companion website but does provide transcripts and answer keys.
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kelvin921019
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Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:11 pm
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
Chinese Mandarin (Semi-Native)
English (C1-2)
Spanish (B2)
Japanese (N1)
Russian (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Sat Oct 29, 2022 4:53 pm

Russian: V Puti ma.....
I have been rushing through the V Puti book over the past 3 months. The amount of Anki workload is large enough to deprive me of any time to update this log. I almost needed to go full sparta mode last month since it was announced that the accompanying website will be permanently closed next month. Luckily a new site was launched last week which will (hopefully) last forever so I can take a good rest from the intensive schedule.

Russian has been more and more comprehensible for me and I am pretty certain that after V Puti I should start speaking in Russian. However, I am a bit occupied by the heavy workload in life and work and probably I may start a new book (probably the next book by Olga Kagan) and aim to work on B2 materials. I am still thinking whether I should take an exam given that the language now has lost most of its charm to me. I may just move on to the next language and treat it as a "mission accomplished"

Japanese
I finally finished the 3000 tango book and now start the sou matome N1 goi book to complete my vocabulary learning phase. I originally thought that it would be another long list of new vocab but luckily there are quite a lot of overlapping between both books. I guess I will be able to complete it by the end of November and start working on the grammar part.

My aim is to take N1 exam next July and so far the schedule is manageable.

Next "language"
I'm still struggling between whether I should start a new language next year. It's probably French. In the meantime, I'm tempted to start a computer language and catch up with the modern world. I still have quite some time to think about.
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golyplot
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby golyplot » Sat Oct 29, 2022 4:58 pm

kelvin921019 wrote:I'm still struggling between whether I should start a new language next year. It's probably French. In the meantime, I'm tempted to start a computer language and catch up with the modern world. I still have quite some time to think about.


In case you're not aware, computer languages are not like natural languages. It's more like learning math, crossed with an instruction manual. And once you're experienced at programming, you can generally pick up any programming language without much difficulty, since they're specifically designed to be similar to each other and the basic concepts are generally the same.
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kelvin921019
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:09 am

golyplot wrote:
kelvin921019 wrote:I'm still struggling between whether I should start a new language next year. It's probably French. In the meantime, I'm tempted to start a computer language and catch up with the modern world. I still have quite some time to think about.


In case you're not aware, computer languages are not like natural languages. It's more like learning math, crossed with an instruction manual. And once you're experienced at programming, you can generally pick up any programming language without much difficulty, since they're specifically designed to be similar to each other and the basic concepts are generally the same.


Thank you indeed, it would be very helpful. Fortunately I am also kind of a math / logic nerd and hopefully it will be a good sign.
I will go ahead and do some research in advance as to how to approach this "language" since apparently it's not natural language and I guess it's not within LLFORG's jurisdiction :lol:
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kelvin921019
Green Belt
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:11 pm
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
Chinese Mandarin (Semi-Native)
English (C1-2)
Spanish (B2)
Japanese (N1)
Russian (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Wed Dec 07, 2022 2:33 am

My goals for 2022: A review
At the start of this year, my goal for each of the language are:
- Attempt C1 Spanish (deferred)
- JLPT N1 (deferred)
- Russian B2 (deferred and probably cancelled).
As you can see, I have to delay each and every goal because of personal committments.

One of the most possible goal this year is JLPT N1 but it ended up taking me the entire year just to finish all the core vocabularies (3000 tango book + sou matome N1 book + endless Anki). Leaving all grammar items untouched. I am now trying a sample N1 paper and check if N1 on July 2023 is possible.

I have just finished chapter 10 of V Puti but chapter 11 going to take me 1 month to complete (it's about FOOD) so it is expected that I will finish the book by January 2023.

Spanish - I put it on an eternal maintenance mode.

In short, I basically failed each of my goals for this year but it doesnt mean I failed language learning. It simply means that I need more time to achieve my goals and may be 2023 will be all about these 3 langauges + computer language. It starts to get a bit frustrating not to learn something new for an entire year.
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kelvin921019
Green Belt
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:11 pm
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
Chinese Mandarin (Semi-Native)
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Spanish (B2)
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Russian (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:22 am

Russian
As expected, it took me the entire January to finish Chpt 11 of V Puti. The next chapter will be on sports and I guess it won't take much time for me to complete the chapter and thus the book.

I started recently reading post on Pikabu (the "Russian reddit") to get myself immersed in relatively colloquial and short native Russian content. It has been a great challenge. My vocabulary count according to Anki is about 5000 (so probably about 4000 after discounting repeated words / expressions) and I can barely complete one short post.

It requires a lot of guessing using the stem and I think I can only understand about 70% (or lower) of the words used (while grammar most of the time is not a problem). Contrary to Spanish, which I can use English as the "bridge", and Japanese, which I can use Chinese as the "bridge", there is no way I can figure out the meaning of most words and I can only look it up using a dictionary and memorize it. I think that's the first time I am really grinding through the intermediate pleateau.

I guess I will spend more time doing listening and reading after V Puti, and start going through B1 vocabulary list. I may even start italki lessons to work on my active skills.

On the bright side, at least now I find a good way to enjoy Russian language and it gives me some motivation to go on.
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kelvin921019
Green Belt
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:11 pm
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Cantonese (N)
Chinese Mandarin (Semi-Native)
English (C1-2)
Spanish (B2)
Japanese (N1)
Russian (B1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16306
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Re: Kelvin's RU, JP, ESP log <- In this order

Postby kelvin921019 » Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:41 am

2023: My Goals
Today marks the 3rd year of my language learning journey, which have effectively changed my habits in life. The first 1.5 year I went full speed in Spanish and Japanese, having achieved something beyond what I had expected in the beginning. The schedule slowed down due to personal commitments and changes in the overall envrionment. I have already spent 2 years in Russian and finally reached a level where I can start to read articles in LingQ and Pikabu (I am guessing a low B1 in terms of reading and listening).

After thinking through all the options, this year my language-learning goals will be in the following priority:
Top Priority: Japanese N1 exam
This is the only goal I have set this year which I am 100% going to challenge. I have been working on N1 exam material since last year and I have tried a few N1 papers. My assessment is that I can probably do it in July after filling in most of the gaps in sentence structure / grammar and do more practice.

Second Priority: To get my Russian to a (self-assess) conversationally fluent and passive B2 level
While I'm quite eager to do one more Russian textbook after finishing V Puti, I think it's time to move onto native materials, in particular to get in touch with Russian used by native. For this, my plan for 2023 will be to
(i) work on B1 vocab list
(ii) do a work book on verb of motion (since it's one of my biggest weakness)
(iii) Try italki class
(iv) Tonnes of reading + listening + anki

Third priority: due to personal commitment, I think it's less likely that I can spend time on programming language this year, in particular to prepare a full plan on how to get myself to "fluency" in that language. Instead, if times allow I want to do an "Assimil challenge" - to see whether I can attain decent level of fluency with Assimil only.

I will not be using any Anki, but I will do Bidirectional translation using Assimil with ease, complete the 11x lesson cycle (about half year?), do a bunch of lingQ, and whenever I'm ready, move onto Assimil "using French" and see I can speak / write in French by the end of the year.
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