Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga Continues

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Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
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Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
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Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga Continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Sat Jun 03, 2017 9:49 am

All goals from the previous log remain the same.
Last edited by Atinkoriko on Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
0 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Sat Jun 03, 2017 10:26 am

Already, things are off to a good start. I've done half of Schaum's Outline of German Grammar without even realising it and I've run out of case exercises, now trudging through the massive Verbs chapter.

This leisurely 10 minutes at a time pace seems to work fine for me with regards to grammar work.


For French, I have secured physical copies of the FSI Basic course and I've started working through it. It feels somewhat bearable when I have the book in my hand, though I don't use it most of the time since the drills are meant to be done without looking at the page. However, it is rather comforting to hold the physical copy as I do it.
This course will take forever to complete but I've set a short term goal of the first 6 units. This will keep me focused, I hope.


I'm a few hours away from the 150h mark for the French SC, thanks once more to Bob Lennon and his magnificent 400 episode Skyrim campaign.

I've also gotten a copy of Le Rouge et Le Noir, in the same binding style as the Bible - with the soft leather cover and the flimsy but nice to touch pages. Small and a real pleasure to carry around, as well as read.



For Spanish, Assimil continues- Passive wave, active wave and the increasingly mentally draining Scriptorium. As I suspected, the Scriptorium (combined with shadowing) seem3 to have made the active wave much easier, to the point where I fear that I've simply memorised the lessons and thus defeated the point of assimilation.

As a consequence the active wave lessons tend to go very smoothly, with me making only a few mistakes per lesson. I also translate the exercises from English to Spanish, thus extending the lesson.

I've been stuck on the 11th episode of Destinos for months now and try as I may, I just find it hard to sit and watch it. I know it's a great course but I just find it boring. I feel like a child who has to eat his veggies - good for me but no enthusiasm.
Perhaps I'll push each episode to the start of my day like I did with Pimsleur ie I can't get out of bed or otherwise start my day without first completing the lesson for the day. That should work

In any case, my primary focus is on completing Assimil - the passive wave, the active wave and Scriptorium. All other things are secondary for now.

For Russian, I've re started Assimil Russian without Toil, properly this time ie shadowing and scriptorium exactly like with Spanish. I've decided to add two more layers to the course, that is

a. After shadowing I write out the lessons in my designated book for Assimil Russian. This isn't Scriptorium as much as me learning to spell and practicing writing Russian by hand, as well as truly digesting the lessons ie since I have to write out each sentence slowly. This is also for convenience as the original text I have is a PDF and I'd like a physical book which contains the lessons.
Scriptorium will be started about 2 weeks into the course ie at lesson 14 passive wave, I go back and do Scriptorium (by ear, just like with Spanish) on lesson 1. Lesson 15 passive wave, lesson 2 Scriptorium. Separate book for this too.

2. Practicing cursive. After each lesson and for 5 lessons in total now, I first write out the exercises in Russian block capitals in my non Scriptorium book, then I write each exercise sentence in Russian cursive on a spare A4 sheet. Seems like an efficient way to practice cursive.

That's for Assimil Russian. I'm finding the New Penguin Course quite useful as a reference book for grammar but I find it a bit too rigid and dry to learn from. I've completed the first 4 chapters and done the exercises, but with knowledge gotten from other sources. Completing the chapters were just a formality to be sure I'd gotten a handle on on that particular concept ie possessive pronouns etc

I'm sure I'll eventually complete it in the end, but that's not a worry for me. Assimil's seemingly haphazard learning style seems to suit me.

In summary, it'll be a busy and productive summer, or so I hope. Life has a habit of interfering with plans
1 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Tue Jun 13, 2017 10:57 pm

The beatings will continue until morale improves
0 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Mon Jun 19, 2017 5:50 pm

Still slugging on with my study plans. The weather makes it difficult to stay focused and life keeps interfering in plans
0 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Wed Jul 05, 2017 12:56 pm

Quite a long hiatus, that was. I had to take some time off for my own sanity.
3 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

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MamaPata
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Posts: 1019
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:25 am
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Languages: English (N), French (C1*), Russian (B1), Spanish (B1).

Long lost: Arabic and Latin.
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3004
x 1807

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby MamaPata » Wed Jul 05, 2017 1:16 pm

Atinkoriko wrote:Quite a long hiatus, that was. I had to take some time off for my own sanity.


Sometimes you just need a break. You have to do what's best for you in all areas. But nice to see you back.
5 x
Corrections appreciated.

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:41 pm

Thank you, Mama Pata.

Back to business as usual. Pleased to say that I've finally completed Schaum's Outline of German grammar.
1 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:09 pm

Still here, it's been a slow summer
0 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Wed Oct 25, 2017 5:45 pm

Finally finished the passive wave of Assimil Spanish without Toil, halfway done with Scriptorium too.
It’s rather unfortunate that I was unable to do any work over the summer, besides completing Schaum’s Outline of German Grammar, as it would have allowed me to complete everything relating to Spanish for now and allow me to focus on Russian now.

Reading a bilingual version of Kafka’s Die Verwandlung now as well as Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.

Lesson 21 of Assimil Russian without Toil now, using the same study schedule as for Spanish and using the exercise sentences as practice for my cursive.

Time has been limited due to Uni but in any case it’s great to be back
1 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :

Atinkoriko
Orange Belt
Posts: 202
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:31 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Ibibio (N)
West African Pidgin English/Guinea Coast Creole[N]
Actively learning
Int: German, French, Spanish

Beginner: Russian, Japanese

Next: Mandarin Chinese, Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Italian
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 6&start=20
x 398

Re: Still overly ambitious, now 20 years old. The Saga continues

Postby Atinkoriko » Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:07 am

5 hours in a new Spanish Half SC with La Reina del Sur and trying not to be overwhelmed by native speech as I always am during the first dozen hours of the SC. As usual the subtitles are in Spanish because I find that I end up zoning out the L2 when I use L1 subtitles.

The hyper dramatic nature of the telenovela is perfect for staying focused, as well as the relatively straightforward dialogue and telegraphed plot twists. This volume of material is immense, as we Spanish learners are spoilt for choice when it comes to to telenovelas. I could easily make this a 300 hour Super SC if I wanted and still not come close to running out of telenovelas to watch. Incredible.

Although I’m through with the Passive wave of Assimil Spanish without Toil, I’m still halfway through with Scriptorium and the active wave. I’ve resolved to doing 2-3 Scriptorium lessons a day but it’s proven to be very draining and I’ve had to take the odd day off to ‘recharge’. Maintaining discipline with Assimil is a constant battle with yourself.


I suppose the spectre of FSI Spanish hangs somewhere in the not too distant future, at least after I finish FSI Basic French and Basic German. Sigh. So many things to do, so little time.


Also, finished the first two chapters of Schaum’s Outline of Spanish Grammar and about to enter the mammoth Verbs section. Now that will take ages to complete.


German

All’s quiet here. If the gap between B1 and B2 seemed cavernous, the gap between B2 and C1 must be the distance between continents. Thus i merely content myself with reading my bilingual copy of Die Verwandlung. Any work more serious than that would necessitate a larger amount of time and effort, which are currently being dedicated to Spanish, Russian and University. I suppose I should start a Writing Challenge when I can as I need more practice in that area. Similarly I’m tempted to start another 75 hour Half SC, solely as an excuse to watch KeysJore’s Let’s Play of the new Assassin’s Creed Origin. I’ve already watched the first two 30 minute episodes and I enjoyed it so much I closed the tab immediately after to prevent my day from going down the drain.




Russian
Adopting as relaxed an approach to this, barring the rigid Assimil study structure, as much as possible especially with regards to grammar. Russian is s good language with which to frustrate yourself. Different alphabet, touchy pronunciation, 6 cases and assorted grammar rules etc, perfect for burning out on with extensive grammar study.

So I put my faith in Assimil once more, using the same study schedule I did for Spanish (shadowing, Scriptorium) and very lightly supplementing it by progressing slowly through the chapters of the New Penguin Russian course. I’m enforcing my no SRS rule as Anki drudgery genuinely makes me want to pull all my hair out. An extremely effective tool, yes, but simply not for me as I’ve found out over time.

And good news, to quote another happy learner in one of the Assimil lessons - я начинаю читать свободно. I wonder if I got that spelling wrong, sigh.
The alphabet took a little getting used to, to say the least. Writing every lesson down the next day has helped quite a bit I suspect. In any case, I still have a lot of Assimil to cover.

Completing the Michel Thomas Russian Foundation helped immensely. As usual, I’m not entirely sure what I’d do if I didn’t have Michel to introduce me to all the languages as painlessly as possible. Assimil always goes down better with a base general idea of grammar as well as extremely essential vocab.
Unfortunately cases were not delved into in-depth in the Foundation but I suspect they’d be better explained in the Advanced Course (for some reason I have the nagging feeling that I’ve already done the Advanced course but forgotten that I’d done it). In any case I’ll do (or redo) the Advanced course once I get halfway through Assimil (about lesson 50).


French

After completing the 150 hour SC, I now find that French natives seem to speak at normal speed now (wow, what a surprise) as opposed to the machine gun fire it seemed to me months ago. Got tired of Madame Bovary so shelving it for now in favour of some leisurely work with Practice Makes Perfect: French conversation. Yet another language I should consider for a Writing SC when I have the time, as well as complete Schaum’s Outline of French Grammar, mostly for the writing practice as my knowledge of French grammar is very solid due to doing it in primary and high school (where I got a good knowledge of the grammar but virtually no pronunciation skills or an iota of listening comprehension. Language learning in school is the equivalent of swimming in quicksand. You may think you’re making progress, but the only place you’re going is down.)



In all, a more relaxed period of language learning for me- at least compared to those few weeks I was doing about 6 Assimil courses simultaneously. Shudder
2 x
: 50 / 2000 Remembering the Kanji :
: 33 / 75 SpanishFilms Half SC :
: 45 / 124 German Active wave :
: 3 / 100 Assimil Japanese :
: 33 / 100 Russian without Toil :
: 160 / 10000 Russian 10k srs :


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