Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:09 pm

Thanks for the recommendations, Elenia, but this isn't that kind of trip, as I'm with my cousin who wouldn't appreciate me trudging her around bookshops I don't think. Let's just leave the language book shopping for the LLorg London meet up, shall we? :lol:
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Sat Apr 22, 2017 3:15 pm

Hi all! I'm back from my little trip and all I really have to say is that Wicked was amazing! Since getting back on Thursday, the musical's soundtrack is all I have been listening to. :)

Now, I have to say that I was taken aback by the whole forum hack thing. I am very grateful to emk for creating this copy of the forum so we can carry on with our incessant procrastinating and I hope it doesn't take long to get the forum back up and running.

Ok, so back to my little life update... I'm still reading Sgrammaticando and watching my usual YouTube videos, but I am also really motivated by Esperanto again and have started popping my head into the Telegram EO chat groups.

Also in Esperanto news, Amikumu is alive! Yes, the app created for people to find speakers of other languages around them has finally been launched (just in Esperanto for now but with more languages coming later) and I am very excited about the possibility of coming across a wild esperantisto in my home town. :lol:
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:23 pm

Ok, I admit it - I watch ASMR videos! You got me! :oops:

For those of you who may not know what ASMR is, well here is wikipedia with the answer. Basically, it's the sensory reaction that one may feel when they hear certain sounds etc. It usually boils down to a tingling sensation of the skin, and/or overall relaxation.

There is a whole community of ASMR artists and their viewers on Youtube. The majority of the videos feature people talking about various things in a soft voice or whispering, and making sounds using a plethora of objects. These sounds are called 'triggers' as they trigger an ASMResponse. These ASMR artists also do all sorts of roleplays, but those aren't really my cup of tea.

As you can imagine, I'm sure, the use of foreign languages is fairly common among ASMR artists, because who can resist the allure of a foreign tongue? :P I personally watch videos by English, Spanish and Italian speakers, as well as those with tapping/crinkle sounds, which are my favourite triggers. I also find plosive consonant sounds to be very ASMR-inducing.

For examples of what I personally listen to, see:
Susurrosdelsurr (Spanish), Tokyoberry (Italian), Gibi ASMR (English), 100% 'crinkle' sounds

Note: Most of the most famous ASMR artists talk about things of stereotypically female interest, like clothes and beauty products (which generally don't interest me at all, but which I find myself listening to them talk about for hours sometimes), but if you look hard enough, there is something out there in the world of ASMR for everyone. Also, these videos are best listened to through headphones and in a quiet room.

Letting native speakers of my target languages lull me to sleep with their whispered make-up tutorials etc. counts as language learning, right? :roll:
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Mon May 01, 2017 8:56 pm

Lately, I have been using an app called GoalTracker to track my reading of Sgrammaticando. I decided that it was taking me too long to read this book, so I set myself the goal of finishing it by 7th May, which would break what I had left of the book down into 10 pages daily. The app works all of this out for you, so you just need to remember to update it. The good thing is, if you miss a day, there's no streak to lose; the app just updates how much you need to read/do now to reach your goal by the set deadline.

So far I am a bit ahead of my daily goal and therefore only need to read 8.6 pages per day, but I can see me finishing it in a couple of days time at the pace I'm going. :)

In Esperanto news, I am still chatting to the guy I contacted through Amikumu so that has been a success. I dunno whether I am confident enough to invite him for a coffee or not at this stage though... We'll see.
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arthaey
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby arthaey » Mon May 01, 2017 9:26 pm

Spoonary wrote:Lately, I have been using an app called GoalTracker to track my reading of Sgrammaticando. I decided that it was taking me too long to read this book, so I set myself the goal of finishing it by 7th May, which would break what I had left of the book down into 10 pages daily. The app works all of this out for you, so you just need to remember to update it.

Looks like GoalTracker is Android-only? For iOS folks, there's Leio, which does similar automatic recalculating for book goals. (It only does books, though; it's not a general goal-tracker.)

And you're right, such an automatic app is quite useful! :)
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Mon May 01, 2017 9:40 pm

arthaey wrote:Looks like GoalTracker is Android-only?

Oh is it? I had no idea... :oops: Actually, I just went back to the website I found the app on, and it is actually called Strides, which is available on IOS, but when I searched for Strides on the play store, GoalTracker came up... :roll:
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arthaey
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby arthaey » Mon May 01, 2017 10:13 pm

Spoonary wrote:
arthaey wrote:Looks like GoalTracker is Android-only?

Oh is it? I had no idea... :oops: Actually, I just went back to the website I found the app on, and it is actually called Strides, which is available on IOS, but when I searched for Strides on the play store, GoalTracker came up... :roll:

Maybe they changed the app name. Cool to see that there are multiple options for flexibly tracking reading on iOS!

How many goals do you get for free with GoalTracker/Strides, before you have to start paying a subscription fee?
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Mon May 01, 2017 10:27 pm

arthaey wrote:
Spoonary wrote:
arthaey wrote:Looks like GoalTracker is Android-only?

Oh is it? I had no idea... :oops: Actually, I just went back to the website I found the app on, and it is actually called Strides, which is available on IOS, but when I searched for Strides on the play store, GoalTracker came up... :roll:

Maybe they changed the app name. Cool to see that there are multiple options for flexibly tracking reading on iOS!

How many goals do you get for free with GoalTracker/Strides, before you have to start paying a subscription fee?

I don't know about Strides, although I did a quick search and there seems to be a 'plus' DLC which you can pay for. As I don't have an IOS device, I can't really tell you more than that.

GoalTracker, however, seems to be a more basic version of Strides, with just the essential features and not so many customisation options. That being the case, it appears to be completely free, and I can't find any obvious goal limits around. :?
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Brun Ugle
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Brun Ugle » Tue May 02, 2017 6:19 am

Thanks. That app looks interesting. According to the appstore, subscriptions are for "unlimited trackers, tags & filters, today list, export data and more." I just downloaded it and made myself three trackers. It looks pretty good so far, but of course, I won't really know that until I've tried it for a few weeks.
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Spoonary
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Re: Stirring up 2017 with Spoon [ Español | Italiano | Esperanto | Deutsch? ]

Postby Spoonary » Sat May 13, 2017 12:40 am

Ok, it's time for decisive action.

For some time, I have been lazily attempting to get a grip on my life and make it something I can be proud of. Now, as things seem to be slowly fitting together (or at least, I'm feeling particularly motivated), I feel it is time to start managing my non-work time more efficiently.

I have worked out that, not counting getting ready for work and travelling to and from that time sink, I have at least 4 hours a day to live my life, as it were. Of course, in that time I have to prepare food, eat and clean both my flat and myself, but I think I can also easily dedicate 30 minutes apiece to both exercising (my body) and actively studying my languages each day.

For too long have I been satisfied by watching YouTube videos or casually reading and calling it language learning. Although I am definitely learning something from these activities, I just don't feel like I have anything to show for the hours and hours I spend on them. They are simply pastimes which yes, entertain me, but which don't challenge me to push myself further and to learn more and more.

This is about to change, so watch this space for more frequent updates about how everything goes. :lol:
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