Jeff's language log

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jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
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Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:43 pm

2017 - Summary of week 49

Anki: Some more Cantonese cards.

Duolingo: Every now and then I get sentences which seem totally unfamiliar. A few days ago, there was a burst of dative sentences for German. [Subject] is showing [indirect object] a/an [direct object].

CS: A few sessions with the book "Grundkurs i tjeckiska". I mostly skim the grammar explanations and go to the text, read it and see what I can understand, read the word-list, read the text again once or twice. Productive Czech = non-existent. Receptive Czech = who knows? Not much, but still a lot more than half a year ago.

DE: I watched the video Esperanto lernen? Wie? which is an interview (in German) with Gabriel Gelman (who runs Sprachheld) and Chuck Smith (one of the Polyglot Gathering organizers). I listened to Gabriel's talk in Bratislava but never checked his channel until now. It seems as if there are more videos there in German, so this is good for me.

YUE: Another lesson (and +20 cards).

A code-switching exchange at work planted a seed of inspiration to brush up my Portuguese (about time!). One of the books I'm reading at the moment is "In the land of invented languages" (by Arika Okrent). Lessons learned so far: Babm never took off (no wonder). Julius Lott got into conlanging from Volapük (and created Mundolingue) and Elias Molee created a Pan-Germanic language called Tutonish.
5 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Sun Dec 17, 2017 11:02 pm

2017 - Summary of week 50

Anki: My Esperanto deck is huge. During the week, I reached a bunch of cards with synonyms on the Front (hypothetical example: malsanulejo, hospitalo | hospital). I split those into individual cards for the two words (malsanulejo | hospital, and hospitalo | hospital), but found out that the deck already had some of them... Who on earth compiled that list I once imported? Lesson learned: don't import a list which you haven't proofread yourself.

Duolingo: Nothing new here.

CS: In the beginning of the week, I did some more lessons from "Grundkurs i tjeckiska" (9, 10 and 11). On Wednesday, I had a look at FSI Czech FAST and did the lessons from Tape 1A, Tape 1B and Tape 2B. Last night (less than 24 hours ago) I went back to CzechClass101 and listened to three podcasts. Earlier today I studied another four. I also added words and sentences to Anki. No dialogues yet.

YUE: Another three podcast lessons, and many more Anki cards. Still too much teaching language, but at least there are dialogues.

I read Leosmith's threads about reaching B2 in Korean and LIE to a Polyglot. So far I've listened too little to my recent target languages (probably to all my languages, but that's another story).

I finished "In the land of invented languages" (by Arika Okrent) and started "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language" (David W. Anthony) which was recommended here a long time ago.

The conlang book inspired me to have a look at Toki Pona (again!), but I didn't do anything besides watching five entertaining videos by Christopher Huff (a familiar face from the Polyglot Gatherings in Berlin).

I watched the second episode of På spåret and beat the winning team (I got 38 points on my own, and they got... 23?).

A new week, and hopefully some time for listening to my target languages.
6 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Dec 26, 2017 12:22 am

2017 - Summary of week 51

Anki: Daily sessions. Still some editing here and there (fixing duplicates, removing HTML etc.). Many new cards (see below).

Duolingo: Daily sessions, sometimes more (typically French/Italian/Portuguese).

CS: No textbook lessons, but a lot of CzechClass101 podcasts. I spent around 30 minutes per day on podcasts and Anki work. 172 added cards.

DE: I started using a library related app which makes it a bit easier to listen to (yes, the library's) audiobooks on the phone. Die Verwandlung was one of very few ones in German. While I need to listen, and also like to listen, I need to do something else at the same time. Just listening makes me fall asleep in no-time.

YUE: The CantoneseClass101 podcasts I'm working on at the moment are usually longer than 10 minutes, so I've done two or three lessons per day. (I don't want to spend much more than 30 minutes). No fewer than 475 (!) added cards.

I watched the third episode of På spåret and beat the losing team with one or two points.

One week left!
4 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Jan 01, 2018 3:18 pm

2017 - Summary of week 52

Anki: Daily sessions. A lot of new cards! (see below)

Duolingo: I almost broke my streak (!) three days ago but was saved by the Streak Freeze which I bought a very long time ago.

CS: No textbook lessons this last week either, but no fewer than twenty CzechClass101 podcasts - some of them mostly had cultural background information and some reminded me of word lists. Not many lessons left at the Absolute Beginner level. 312 added cards.

DE: I finished Die Verwandlung and started another audiobook, Herr und Knecht (by Leo Tolstoy) - funnily enough this was only available in German.

YUE: Eleven CantoneseClass101 podcasts. 326 added cards.

I watched the fourth episode of På spåret and lost against both teams.

Stay tuned for Anki statistics.
2 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

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smallwhite
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 6:55 am
Location: Hong Kong
Languages: Native: Cantonese;
Good: English, French, Spanish, Italian;
Mediocre: Mandarin, German, Swedish, Dutch.
.
x 4876

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby smallwhite » Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:15 pm

jeff_lindqvist wrote:
Duolingo: I almost broke my streak (!) three days ago but was saved by the Streak Freeze which I bought a very long time ago.

:o You mean Father Christmas and Duolingo streaks are fake?!
3 x
Dialang or it didn't happen.

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:42 pm

Maybe other users base their streak on renewed freezes. I do my reviews.
1 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:04 am

<Anki stats alert> (sentence-heavy languages)

Czech
Mature: 521
Young+Learn: 509
Unseen: 44
Suspended+Buried: 0
Total cards: 1074

Esperanto
Mature: 21506
Young+Learn: 1951
Unseen: 257
Suspended+Buried: 0
Total cards: 23714

Mandarin
Mature: 27498
Young+Learn: 0
Unseen: 0
Suspended+Buried: 0
Total cards: 27498

Portuguese
Mature: 15339
Young+Learn: 1877
Unseen: 61235
Suspended+Buried: 0
Total cards: 78451

Yue/Cantonese
Mature: 2428
Young+Learn: 876
Unseen: 0
Suspended+Buried: 0
Total cards: 3304
</Anki>

Half a year ago it seemed that approximately one thousand cards reached mature level in two months. Compared to those figures, it's nearly the double now (~6000 more for Esperanto and Portuguese, slightly fewer for Mandarin). Cards (new or not) take longer to become mature if you don't do daily reviews. Maybe I've done mine with more regularity during the past six months. I rarely rate cards Good, and almost never Easy unless I know them inside-out, including pronunciation and spelling. For most languages (including Mandarin and Cantonese), this means pronouns and numerals. Not much more.

Now, does this all this card-flipping "work"? Honestly, I doubt its effectiveness. The only language where I can blaze through hundreds of reviews per day and feel that I know what the cards mean (though not necessarily produce them myself) is Portuguese. That deck is 100% Tatoeba based, and (probably) contains nothing but basic sentence structures. Tom does this, Tom does that. I can imagine studying that deck the Glossika way (repeating aloud) - something which I intended during the summer, but I had to give it up because the changes made the Anki file very different from the online backup, and I couldn't sync it.

Next chapter: Summary of 2017.
5 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

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zenmonkey
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2528
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 7:21 pm
Location: California, Germany and France
Languages: Spanish, English, French trilingual - German (B2/C1) on/off study: Persian, Hebrew, Tibetan, Setswana.
Some knowledge of Italian, Portuguese, Ladino, Yiddish ...
Want to tackle Tzotzil, Nahuatl
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=859
x 7030
Contact:

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby zenmonkey » Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:13 am

Wow. That’s a truly impressive set of mature cards. I am speechless.
0 x
I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:08 pm

This is a statistical summary (similar to my post here). To make it a bit more "interesting" (haha!), I've decided to present it in two parts since a lot happened during the last six months.

Summary of January-June 2017

Top 5 languages
Swedish - 51.75 hours: all on reading.
English - 51.75 hours: see above, only reading.
Russian - 31 hours: 4.5 hours of listening (to old material), 15 hours of reading (Dan Brown), 7 hours of grammar exercises (this happened during the first month) and 4.5 hours shadowing Assimil.
German - 22.25 hours: 12.75 of listening (e.g. Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen, Jules Verne), and 9.5 hours of reading (but I never finished that Sakriversum - maybe this year? :roll: ).
Chinese - 9.75 hours: 3.25 of listening (old material), 4.5 hours of grammar exercises and 2 hours of shadowing (old material).

Top 6-10 languages
Italian - 8 hours: all related to FSI Italian Headstart lessons.
Irish Gaelic - 5 hours of reading (Cuairt na Cruinne in Ochtó Lá, Jules Verne).
Slovak - 4.25 hours of lessons at slovake.eu plus leafing through a phrase book.
Scottish Gaelic - 4 hours of lessons from Cainntear's research project.
Portuguese - 3.25 hours of reading (children's books).

11-13
Cantonese - 3 hours of FSI lessons during the first weeks of the year.
Finnish - 2.5 hours of lessons (Kuulosta hyvältä).
Norwegian Bokmål - some impressive 0.75 hours of reading.

I read as much in English as in Swedish (hence the identical numbers). And as you can see, this is based on the first six months, so nothing related to RDearman's study.

Next chapter: July-Dec 2017
7 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10461

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:03 am

Summary of July-Dec 2017

Top 5 languages
Swedish - 52.75 hours of reading.
English - 52.75 hours of reading. There's a lot which I haven't counted, e.g. numerous hours of podcasts, movies, lectures, songs.
Cantonese - 32 hours: 11.5 hours of listening (=watching cartoons) and 20.5 hours of podcast lessons.
Czech - 27.75 hours: 5 hours of listening to radio (and watching the occasional cartoon) and 27.75 hours of podcast lessons.
Chinese - 23.5 hours: 3.25 hours of listening (mostly watching movies), 18.25 hours of grammar exercises and other activities (drills, sentences), 2 hours of shadowing (old material).

Top 6-10 languages
Portuguese - 18.5 hours: 30 minutes of reading (O Alquemista, Paolo Coelho - I never finished that one), 13.5 hours of grammar etc. and 4.5 hours of shadowing.
Esperanto - 13 hours of grammar etc.
Russian - 3.75 hours of shadowing (Assimil).
German - 3.5 hours of listening (Die Verwandlung and Herr und Knecht).
French - 2 hours of listening (Le Petit Prince).

Top 11-13 languages
Scottish Gaelic - 1 hour of lessons.
Hindi Urdu - 1 hours of podcast lessons from Urdu101.
Italian - some 0.75 impressive hours of shadowing.

As you can see, everything I did in Czech occured during the last half year, and so did most of my Cantonese hours. Shadowing got a boost in the summer during my walks.
6 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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