Mook's language log

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mook_wazo
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:06 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1 [Testing Soon]), Spanish (B1 [Estimated]), Mandarin (HSK 2 [Estimated])
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Mook's language log

Postby mook_wazo » Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:35 pm

Hi,

Apologies for the long post. This is my first day contributing to the site and I find it interesting to add one's thoughts, experiences, and ambitions to a communal log, so I thought to give it a shot. I am a budding academic linguist who just received his first diploma and a current foreign language teacher and tutor. Here's a brief background and my current study regimen, as well as imminent goals:

I first was introduced to the study of language upon entering high school. As a foreign exchange student, I was able to learn French considerably well (with a fluency or at least faux-fluency that sounded good enough to stump natives; I have since not done very much that impressive!). I maintained the study of French language, literature, and culture, and now teach these to grades 3-8 (ages 8-13).

The next language I spent a great deal of effort studying was Spanish, for its beauty and utility. I studied it intensively in university and can read very well, though my oral comprehension is sub-par these days. I can make myself understood, though not without a degree of envy for my younger self, whose ready reach of the Spanish lexicon had not yet diminished through the passage of time.

A tier lower find themselves languages in which I have what one might describe as a phrasebook's worth of vocabulary. I'm just a touch beyond a walking Berlitz in Mandarin and Toki Pona. I have also made some considerable progress this past month in Russian and am almost able to categorize my control of this language in the same manner.

After this are languages that I have studied intensively in short bursts in which I could carry basic yet meaningful conversations. They are Hebrew, Japanese, Esperanto, ASL, and Afrikaans. I would not at all describe myself as capable in these languages, but can still describe them quite well in terms of grammatical peculiarities.

This year I plan to vastly ameliorate my hold over the Russian language. It's beautiful, and I am in love with Russian literature. I plan to make meaningful connections between 150 Russian words and their English translations each day for the next few weeks and finish the remaining lessons of my Assimil lesson book, "Le Russe," by the end of April. After this I will supplement my study with reading, translating, and memorization of phrases and words from Crime and Punishment à la Audiolingual/Language Lords, all the while using Anki, or some other spaced repetition software. I have, luckily, developed a taste for tedium. By this summer, I plan to be able to hold my own in conversations pertaining to a variety of subjects with my cousin (L1 Russian) and by this December, I hope to have a similar grasp of Russian to that which I had over Spanish during my prime (between B1 and B2) in areas of speaking, writing, listening, and reading.

Also beginning in April, I will be picking up the study of modern Greek, one of my heritage languages. By this December I hope to engage my grandfather (L1 Greek) in conversation.

Hopefully, keeping a log visible to others will provide a nice touch of motivation to compliment that which I have already accrued. Best.
11 x

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mook_wazo
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:06 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1 [Testing Soon]), Spanish (B1 [Estimated]), Mandarin (HSK 2 [Estimated])
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Re: Mook's language log

Postby mook_wazo » Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:41 pm

Week 0:

This week I spent some time reorganizing my daily and weekly schedules to account for the ideal language learning system where my workweek is concerned. I have also adjusted my daily word goal; while I love sitting down and memorizing scores and scores of words, I think my original goal in mind of 150 new words a day + fluency drills and some extra time for immersion was a little much now that I've tried to fit it into my work week, but I don't think it's something that can't be worked up to (ending a sentence with 2 prepositions!); I may start with a smaller amount of words (30) and establish that as part of my schedule before trying to increase it. A habit must first be formed before it can be developed upon, after all. I will have time for more words on my half-days and off-days, so I will be giving it a try. If I have even the slightest notion of imminent burnout, I'll decrease the number of new words a day. :shock: I reviewed some of my Assimil lessons as well. Excited to continue learning.

With all this in mind, my daily schedule is roughly the same:
Sun-wed follow the same pattern: 30 New words + revision of old word, 1 Assimil Lesson, Lonely Planet Russian Phraseboook & Dictionary and misc. (music, YouTube, etc.)
Thurs: 60 New words + revision, 2 Assimil Lessons, LP and misc.
Fri-Sat: weekend binge! 50-100 words, 2-3 Assimil, read Crime and Punishment

A priori, this fits my schedule well and still allows time for work and down-time. Best of luck to all who are also studying this year. :D

m
4 x

User avatar
mook_wazo
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:06 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1 [Testing Soon]), Spanish (B1 [Estimated]), Mandarin (HSK 2 [Estimated])
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Re: Mook's language log

Postby mook_wazo » Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:47 am

Week 1:

I've begun to do my 30 flashcards and reviews a day and have thus far been able to stick to it consistently. Instead of Anki, I've been doing all flashcards by hand and using a Leitner box that I built for spaced-repetition. Alongside this, I have gotten the gist of some of the Russian grammar that's dissimilar from English via a Barron's grammatical overview. I haven't done as many assimil lessons as I would have preferred, but I did do some. The routine is still being constructed and I'm still adjusting quotidian habits to make everything work in an ideal way; so far I've been doing alright! I haven't noticed many changes in my ability to read or understand spoken language, but I suppose such is not to be expected so early on. Overall, I give this past week a 14/20.

С наилучшими пожеланиями,

m
2 x

User avatar
mook_wazo
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:06 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1 [Testing Soon]), Spanish (B1 [Estimated]), Mandarin (HSK 2 [Estimated])
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Re: Mook's language log

Postby mook_wazo » Sun Apr 16, 2023 2:17 pm

Weeks 2-3

I am currently on day 23 of the Leitner schedule that I'm following and "haven't missed a day" in the sense that when I was away from home or found my self particularly sloth on a given day, I always managed to "catch up" and string missed review sessions into one multi-day revision + new cards. My problem was that on the super-review days I didn't add 30 new cards per missed day; bummer! But, I have noticed steady improvement, so I'm content.

In addition to the Leitner Box, I also happened to chat with my Russian-speaking cousin and we were able to have short snippets of conversation (e.g. "That's a lovely dress! Thanks, I'm a little cold, though. What's for dinner? It's delicious!) Riveting stuff. Nevertheless, I was delighted to find myself understanding what she said (though I have a sneaking suspicion she used a limited lexical field with me! :shock: ). I also attempted to listen to some audio and watch a few videos to estimate the utility of the words I currently know. The "easiest" video was of a foreigner (Canadian) speaking in Russian about his experience with learning Russian of which I was able to understand perhaps 30%. The hardest bit of audio was a passage from a book I'm familiar with, of which I understood close to 5%. Progress is progress! I'm developing capacities for speaking and listening to materials that are pertinent to me, so that's what's important in the short term besides my attempt to forge my quotidian habit of 30 words a day.

Best to all,

m
5 x

User avatar
mook_wazo
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2023 3:06 pm
Languages: English (N), French (C1 [Testing Soon]), Spanish (B1 [Estimated]), Mandarin (HSK 2 [Estimated])
x 29

Re: Mook's language log

Postby mook_wazo » Mon Apr 24, 2023 4:26 pm

Week 4 (more or less)

I've been loads better at sticking to the higher number of cards a day + revisions. Some days the number of cards I revise soars up into triple digits so, I'll maybe only learn 5 cards on those days. I've noticed I'm able to understand a lot more than even last week. Sentences are beginning to form more easily (though still not without great effort!) so I'm going to begin some speaking exercises soon. I admit I haven't been listening very much. I'll start with something like 25 minutes a day (which isn't too unrealistic given my work commute; I'd just have to find a CD or something since I don't have a smartphone). I finished my initial list of 450 or so words and have started to fill in the cracks with the next common 2000 or so words in the back of my Lonely Planet Phrasebook and Dictionary; lots of useful stuff in here! :D

I'm very much enjoying the tactile experience of the Leitner Box. I still have an use Anki daily (for other general studies, advanced French vocabulary, etc.), and I don't know if I can confidently say that I have gotten more benefits from the Leitner method. :? But, it's still been fun and I don't regret making it. Making flashcards, translating with a dictionary, and drawing the occasional picture aid in the initial encoding of the words into my memory.

Best of luck to those pursuing their language studies,

m
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