Rem Prepares to Travel (German/Mandarin)
Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 6:51 pm
I'm creating this log so that I have a place to keep track of my progress over the next couple of months as I prepare for my year abroad.
In August I will (hopefully) be heading to Germany and then, next year, to China. I rarely travel and this will be my first trip out of the UK since I was a kid. It's also the longest that I've ever been away for, so I'm understandably a little bit nervous.
All of this is, of course, assuming that I pass my second year at university. All of my exams/assessments are finished for the year, I'm just waiting for some results...and my tutors don't seem to be too worried about me, so I'm taking that as a good sign.
My Goal
My idea goal would be to finally push my German and Mandarin to the level where I can say that I speak them. I'm not quite there yet, but I can almost see a point where I could be.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
My Skills and Strategy
Listening
My listening comprehension is my weakest area in both languages, so I'm definitely planning on doing a lot of work on that. I'll probably watch some of my favourite shows with the German dubs on (I've found that this helps a bit as I already know the story lines and I can focus more on what's being said). For practice with unfamiliar conversations I'll try listening to some German news on TV/radio.
Speaking
This is also a weak area for me, though not as weak as my listening. I'm thinking about maybe having some lessons on italki again, although I kind of lost my nerve with that before. Nothing to do with the tutors by the way, the ones I found were very patient, it's just that I put too much pressure on myself and end up falling apart.
Reading
This is a stronger area for me. I have some books, both in German and Mandarin, that I plan to make my way through. The Mandarin books are graded readers that use simplified characters and, according to my Uni tutor, should be at about the right level for me. I wont know all of the words, but I should be able to read it without it being too painful/difficult.
Writing
As with reading this is one of my strengths. Although I need to pay more attention to word order and endings, I'm at the point where I'm at least able to spot a lot of my own mistakes and correct them myself (so long as I take the time to check what I've written properly). There's still a LOT of room for improvement here though.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Resources
German
Star Trek the Original Series (German subs)
Schaum's German Grammar
A book of Short Stories
Online TV/Radio
Grimms' Märchen (audio)
Mandarin
The New Practical Chinese Reader (Books 1 and 2 with audio)
A couple of Graded Readers
I need to find more resources for Mandarin (particularly for listening)
______________________________________________________________________________
Let the journey begin!
In August I will (hopefully) be heading to Germany and then, next year, to China. I rarely travel and this will be my first trip out of the UK since I was a kid. It's also the longest that I've ever been away for, so I'm understandably a little bit nervous.
All of this is, of course, assuming that I pass my second year at university. All of my exams/assessments are finished for the year, I'm just waiting for some results...and my tutors don't seem to be too worried about me, so I'm taking that as a good sign.
My Goal
My idea goal would be to finally push my German and Mandarin to the level where I can say that I speak them. I'm not quite there yet, but I can almost see a point where I could be.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
My Skills and Strategy
Listening
My listening comprehension is my weakest area in both languages, so I'm definitely planning on doing a lot of work on that. I'll probably watch some of my favourite shows with the German dubs on (I've found that this helps a bit as I already know the story lines and I can focus more on what's being said). For practice with unfamiliar conversations I'll try listening to some German news on TV/radio.
Speaking
This is also a weak area for me, though not as weak as my listening. I'm thinking about maybe having some lessons on italki again, although I kind of lost my nerve with that before. Nothing to do with the tutors by the way, the ones I found were very patient, it's just that I put too much pressure on myself and end up falling apart.
Reading
This is a stronger area for me. I have some books, both in German and Mandarin, that I plan to make my way through. The Mandarin books are graded readers that use simplified characters and, according to my Uni tutor, should be at about the right level for me. I wont know all of the words, but I should be able to read it without it being too painful/difficult.
Writing
As with reading this is one of my strengths. Although I need to pay more attention to word order and endings, I'm at the point where I'm at least able to spot a lot of my own mistakes and correct them myself (so long as I take the time to check what I've written properly). There's still a LOT of room for improvement here though.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Resources
German
Star Trek the Original Series (German subs)
Schaum's German Grammar
A book of Short Stories
Online TV/Radio
Grimms' Märchen (audio)
Mandarin
The New Practical Chinese Reader (Books 1 and 2 with audio)
A couple of Graded Readers
I need to find more resources for Mandarin (particularly for listening)
______________________________________________________________________________
Let the journey begin!