A Words Enthusiast

[Axon]

I'm a real sucker for long log posts, I tell ya.

The last two weeks I have been speaking noticeably less Chinese than I was for the first two weeks of being here. They threw me into a full time teaching schedule at work for an intensive summer class, so I'm spending two hours a day commuting and eight at work. That means I've had to write articles when I'm on the subway, and if I can't get a seat then I just listen to audio. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy waking up at six to take the subway into town, but I just spend the time doing my literal favorite thing.

My enthusiasm for Vietnamese comes and goes. I need new listening material as I've listened to all the Elementary Vietnamese and Teach Yourself dialogues about five times each. I can tell that I've assimilated a large amount of it already but I worry that repeating this material over and over (plus my homemade listening course with the grammar points) is having diminishing returns. I'm speaking so much English during the day that I don't like to do any speaking exercises and it's easy to zone out if I'm listening to a dialogue that's still too hard for me to understand. Again, if you want to learn Vietnamese, spend eight to ten weeks with Elementary Vietnamese and a regular tutor. That's what I should have done back in college instead of floundering for eight months. Although it's better if you can speak Mandarin and Indonesian first. It's also so easy to learn to type in Vietnamese. For the longest time I thought I'd have to memorize a ton of stuff, but you can pick it up in an hour. You have to memorize, like, eight stuff tops.

There's a teacher at another campus who speaks French fluently and accurately in the strangest accent I've ever heard. He grew up in Florida, speaking it at home I believe. He enjoys speaking with me and I always feel a buzz for French after we part, which led to me getting some Harry Potter audiobooks in French. So far I've listened to about 45 minutes, not a whole lot but enough to show me that I wouldn't be able to follow any other literature that I didn't already know very well. Whole sentences and phrases jump out at me sometimes through language understanding, whereas long paragraphs and sections are clear to me because I just know what's happening in the book. Duolingo stories are more my level. I found a Penguin Parallel Text that I hadn't touched for a year and it's a little easier now. As my French is almost all "naturally acquired" I still prefer to use audio where I can instead of possibly pronouncing things wrong in my head.

I've read a bit of Indonesian news and fiction and listened to some music. It hasn't disappeared yet. That Basic Indonesian textbook audio (overpronounced to the point of worthlessness) is still on my phone and I was pleased that I could understand the most advanced dialogue upon first ever listen.

I got another Harry Potter book in Russian and it's significantly less comprehensible than the French. Good candidate for listening-reading though, my Russian could use some of that. Or just Lingvist. I feel like Russian is more "useful" than French as in my mind more Russian speakers are monolingual. That's not really based in fact though.

Once this 6WC is over I'll push myself to read and listen more in Chinese. I have a series of short dialogues in Chinese on my phone already, just two people explaining points of Chinese culture in a simple question-and-answer format. The guy has kind of a weird accent but he's easy to understand. I listen to these sometimes but feel guilty because those are minutes I could be using on Vietnamese.

[MamaPata]

Sounds like you're managing to get a lot in! How is the teaching? Are you enjoying it?

My experience of the Russian Harry Potter books is that they're really not very good translations, so might be worth looking for something else? Apparently they were group translations with people doing different chapters so it's very variable. I saw sentences where I could tell what the English was and it was clear that the translator hadn't actually understood.

[Axon]

Sounds like you're managing to get a lot in! How is the teaching? Are you enjoying it?

My experience of the Russian Harry Potter books is that they're really not very good translations, so might be worth looking for something else? Apparently they were group translations with people doing different chapters so it's very variable. I saw sentences where I could tell what the English was and it was clear that the translator hadn't actually understood.

All my experience before was with teens or adults, and here I don't have anybody over 12. Some of these kids are tiny! I thought it would be somewhere between challenging and a struggle to teach kids, but I've learned a ton in this intensive week.

My methods of teaching adults, individually or in a group, are largely based off my own learning methods. That is, I try to teach them how they can see patterns and extrapolate things, as well as encouraging them to study a lot in their spare time so they can reach their own goals. With kids, I have so far found that they much prefer to be guided, as all their lives they've had adults telling them what to do and setting goals for them.

Also, these are very low level students and I'm not allowed to communicate in Mandarin with them (though it's obvious I understand and they often ask me classroom questions in Mandarin). There's a Chinese teacher's assistant who translates a lot, but about a third of the time I find myself wanting to translate in a different way.

Maybe that sounds like a frustrating picture, but honestly I've had a blast and been so impressed with some of these kids in terms of what they can learn in a short time. I am extremely heavy on in-class repetition because I know there's no chance of them consuming English for fun outside of this class and their textbooks for their regular school classes are not the best. So on the last day (they gave a short speech about vacation plans) it may have seemed that they hadn't learned a lot of English, but the patterns and vocabulary they'd picked up were really drilled in.

And thank you for the note on translations! Maybe I can find some different audio books.

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Today I haven't done a whole lot, between five and twenty minutes each of Spanish, German, French, Polish, Indonesian, and Cantonese plus my Vietnamese hour. My mind was buzzing with Cantonese after I watched twenty minutes of a film, which gives me high hopes for my trip to Hong Kong on Sunday. Little mistakes here and there in the visa process have made it cost about double what it should have in both time and money, and I'll be glad to see the end of it - either on Thursday or in three months if the embassy doesn't like the look of me this time.

Yesterday I was listening to Vietnamese in the train, standing room only. I glanced over at the woman next to me as she was texting and it turned out she was messaging someone in Vietnamese! Something about going to eat kimchi. I'm only 250 miles (400 km) from Vietnam, but still, what a coincidence! Fortunately my desire to learn languages was overshadowed by my desire not to bother women on public transport. In any case I had all kinds of things prepared if she happened to turn to me and say "Xin lỗi anh, anh có biết tiếng Việt không?"

I've really stuck to my goal this year of only studying the nine languages on my profile, and I've made progress in all eight that I've studied. Will Polish see a comeback in the next three months? Anything is possible!

[Axon]

The last few days I've been off work and then went to Hong Kong. In another thread I'm cataloging languages I've spoken in and languages I've been spoken to in as a tourist in Hong Kong. I for one had heard a few different things about languages in Hong Kong - they hate you if you use Mandarin, everybody speaks English, nobody should try speaking Cantonese... so far these are all false.

I'm glad that I still have comfortable conversational fluency in Indonesian. The cashier I spoke with was from Kalimantan and I spent all my time in Java with one short trip to Bali. I'd read that Indonesian is relatively homogenous all over the nation, and that's pretty borne out by what I heard in a short conversation from her. She did say "Bahasa Indo" which I'd never heard, and then when I asked how many Indonesian convenience stores there were in Hong Kong she said "Banyak, dua puluh lebih." I'd always heard that phrased as "lebih dari dua puluh." I don't know if it's individual difference or actually a feature of Kalimantan Indonesian.

Speaking German with a German tourist made me realize that I haven't spoken German for two years. I did a little bit of writing and a LOT of reading and listening in these two years, but pretty much zero conversation. The guy came up and said "Deutsch?" and I said "Ja" automatically, but of course he was asking if I was German, not if I spoke it. He used a word I didn't know right off the bat when asking me about the art exhibit. I was expecting "Ausstellung" but he said something else and I thought he was talking about the particular piece we were looking at. Flubbing the answer gave him pause and he asked how long I'd been living in Hong Kong to forget all my German

We ended up talking for quite some time. My listening is still quite strong - it was a crowded place and he was speaking quickly, but I picked up some unknown words from context and bluffed my way through the few things I didn't understand. My speaking... well I've never really gotten in a groove of having German conversations every day like I have with Mandarin or Indonesian. I made one mistake I thought I'd squashed way back in college: confusing empfehlen and empfinden like a first year student all over again! But he never complimented my German and only occasionally switched to English, which I'll take as a good sign.

Wow, this is the first day I've had spontaneous conversations in all three of my "comfortable" languages!

[Adrianslont]

Nice.

I’ve never noticed the Indonesian convenience stores - I’ll keep a lookout next time I go to Hong Kong. (Goes into every second convenience store hoping to speak a bit of Indo).

I was wondering what you had been hearing about Hong Kong and languages - thanks for detailing the rumours! I was curious.

I have been in Europe for six weeks now and I’m constantly surveying Asian faces and voices, hoping to hear some Indo - I should put that in the “you know you’re a language nerd” thread. I have only had one sighting, in Pisa, and it was a very brief sighting, not a conversation.

[Axon]

Nice.

I’ve never noticed the Indonesian convenience stores - I’ll keep a lookout next time I go to Hong Kong. (Goes into every second convenience store hoping to speak a bit of Indo).

I was wondering what you had been hearing about Hong Kong and languages - thanks for detailing the rumours! I was curious.

I have been in Europe for six weeks now and I’m constantly surveying Asian faces and voices, hoping to hear some Indo - I should put that in the “you know you’re a language nerd” thread. I have only had one sighting, in Pisa, and it was a very brief sighting, not a conversation.

The one I went to was in Wan Chai, across from a hotel and kind of near one of those pedestrian overpasses on Gloucester (look at me, giving directions like a local). It's called Indo Market - not Indomaret

[DaveAgain]

There's a teacher at another campus who speaks French fluently and accurately in the strangest accent I've ever heard. He grew up in Florida, speaking it at home I believe. He enjoys speaking with me and I always feel a buzz for French after we part, which led to me getting some Harry Potter audiobooks in French. So far I've listened to about 45 minutes, not a whole lot but enough to show me that I wouldn't be able to follow any other literature that I didn't already know very well. Whole sentences and phrases jump out at me sometimes through language understanding, whereas long paragraphs and sections are clear to me because I just know what's happening in the book. Duolingo stories are more my level. I found a Penguin Parallel Text that I hadn't touched for a year and it's a little easier now. As my French is almost all "naturally acquired" I still prefer to use audio where I can instead of possibly pronouncing things wrong in my head.

There is a 1 hour radio adaption of Alice in Wonderland that you might like to try.

[Axon]

There is a 1 hour radio adaption of Alice in Wonderland that you might like to try.

DaveAgain, again with the excellent French audio resources! I've downloaded three of these now. Thank you!

I've actually been listening to some German podcasts on the train recently. My commute is almost exactly an hour, sometimes up to an hour and 15 minutes if I miss a train. So I've listened to some of Nummerwelt and Die Frage. I strongly prefer Die Frage. Nummerwelt is a cool idea but several episodes that I've listened to sound a bit rambling and the host doesn't appear that into it. Die Frage is extremely well produced and I've been quite interested by the two that I've listened to so far. I'm hovering around 95 percent comprehension, more when I pay full attention. Actually they use a ton of English. I'm actually a little shocked by how many English words are thrown into German conversations. Goes to show how relatively little German media I consume.

The question about actively studying languages made me think I should probably set a little goal, or at least track study time, for my "Rusty" languages. Wanderlust is striking more and more frequently and I haven't really given in, just daydreamed and listened to some Teochew. The point is that I have a two hour commute five days a week and I feel like I'm doing pretty well with using that time for languages. If I tracked it more, maybe I'd strike a better balance with my time. Maybe I wouldn't see much benefit since it would pretty much all be listening, but I know I'd strengthen my foundations.

I continue to have daily conversations in Chinese. If I use English my coworkers use English. If I use Chinese they use Chinese. Easy practice. I also try to fit in a little Chinese listening on the train, though I don't have the best material for it. I've also been trying to read more as I have a good collection of books, translated and original, here with me. I can slowly puzzle my way through Forrest Gump in Chinese. One sign that my reading has really plateaued? Every time I learn a new character I see it all over the place. It's not as hard as before to switch my mind to reading characters, but if I'm walking around town and my mind isn't in character mode, I automatically look at the English. So I'm ignoring probably upwards of 75% of the characters I see every day, save for the ones I need to understand or the ones that have become second nature.

Bits and bobs of Indonesian and Spanish and French.

A bit about my feelings using Cantonese: It was great fun, even though if you read the Languages in Hong Kong thread with a critical eye you'll think "this guy doesn't know any Cantonese." As I'm in Southwestern China instead of a place where overseas Chinese live, I have no occasion to speak Cantonese but I'm still very happy that it's the kind of thing I can call to my mind when I need it.

I might have written before that I'd like to reach a high level in my "Also" languages, but realistically I would be very satisfied if I could just use them as travel languages, or to have the odd unexpected exchange with a lost tourist or something. I am thinking of my dad here, who took French in high school and college, traveled around Europe a bit in his twenties and thirties, and then somehow kept the language available with zero maintenance for twenty years until the next time he went to France, speaking it every day with only occasional difficulties.

[Axon]

The past few days I have very much enjoyed StringerBell's suggestion of reading Wikihow in other languages. Some of it I've read aloud, some of it I've read silently, some of it I've skipped from language to language with abandon.

So here are some recordings, including the first time I have ever recorded myself speaking French. I can hear quite a few flaws in each one, of course (I'm actually writing this before I've made the recordings - just covering my bases). I would greatly appreciate criticism and/or suggestions, especially if it were written in the relevant language. Thank you.

SPANISH:
Las entrevistas de trabajo constituyen una excelente oportunidad para comercializarte tanto a ti como a tus habilidades ante posibles empleadores. Estas entrevistas son breves, por lo general de entre 20 y 30 minutos, y es necesario que aproveches al máximo este tiempo. Puedes impresionar a tu entrevistador de diversas formas, desde la presentación inicial hasta cuando salgas de la oficina. Con una combinación de una preparación sólida, confianza en ti mismo y cortesía elemental, podrás distinguirte de los demás candidatos.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1JK5CEEVTwg

FRENCH:
En été, au moment où le soleil commence à décliner, qui n'a jamais été piqué par les moustiques ? Ces piqures font parfois mal, démangent toujours, mais il est possible d'en atténuer les symptômes. Occupez-vous-en rapidement si vous voulez que ce ne soit plus qu'un mauvais souvenir. Nettoyez rapidement la zone piquée avec de l'alcool isopropylique, une lingette antiseptique ou même simplement de l'eau. Sachez aussi que ces démangeaisons ne partiront pas immédiatement, quel que soit le produit utilisé, du citron, de l'aloe vera…
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1sqAeI5UcYX

GERMAN:
Geschenktüten sind sehr praktisch und kommen in vielen verschiedenen Farben und Größen daher. Sie sind außerdem ziemlich teuer, vor allem wenn du größere und exklusivere Tüten kaufst. Und manchmal findet man trotzdem keine, die einem wirklich gefällt. Bastle deinen eigenen Geschenktüten und lege sie für kommende Geburtstage oder andere Anlässe zurück. Der oder die Beschenkte werden sich mit Sicherheit über die individuelle Beigabe freuen.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1AGcCE79PvH

INDONESIAN:
Tidak seperti kebanyakan platform media sosial lainnya, Instagram memberikan fleksibilitas yang memungkinkan para penggunanya untuk mengubah nama pengguna akun. Nama ini dapat digunakan pengguna lain untuk mengenali, mencari, dan menandai Anda pada foto melalui aplikasi Instagram setelah akun dibuat. Terlepas dari apakah Anda ingin membuat nama pengguna akun lebih mudah dicari atau sedang ingin menggunakan nama yang berbeda, Anda bisa melakukan perubahan nama pengguna dengan mudah.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s17iPKQXoo43

MANDARIN:
家里没有传统煤气烤箱或电烤箱？别担心，用微波炉也能迅速烤出真正的蛋糕！你可以用微波炉制作生日或派对蛋糕，或是烘小小的咖啡杯蛋糕，作为晚饭后的甜点，非常方便。
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0aWy5aBiP6a

RUSSIAN:
Баллы Microsoft являются игровой валютой, используемой для покупки определенных единиц в магазине Xbox Games Store. Баллы Microsoft покупаются на реальные деньги, а цена их варьируется в зависимости от курса вашей национальной валюты.
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1jnwL0aVp8W

---

No recordings yet for my "Also" languages, at least not until I can get through something other than simple tourist phrases. I am REALLY not used to reading French, Mandarin, or Russian aloud. I can feel it in my muscles for French and Russian. My mouth barely knows what to do with the sounds and I'm constantly second-guessing myself when recognizing some of the words. I had to repeat the Mandarin over and over to get it to sound even a little natural, even though there were only three words I didn't know. I should do that more. I'm definitely going to remember the word for "microwave oven" now.

I wish more people would post recordings that aren't perfect. I like hearing everybody's voices.

[rdearman]

How did you find stuff in other languages? Everything is in English for me and I can't seem to change the language either.