Scogar's German Log

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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
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Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:14 pm

So last night my 9th tutoring session occurred. I know I am getting a better proficiency at this but man is it going to be expensive doing things this way. Not sure what to do about that...I'll have to noodle it over the course of time. I think for now I stick with it through the A2 exam and see where I'm at. I can't really envision actually passing the exam. I know that's defeatist and I know one needs positive thoughts but the level of vocab I need is mind-boggling. And I only have 13 weeks to go.

I didn't do too good on last week's goals because of all the other commitments and interruptions I found myself embroiled in:

    Complete this week's homework
    Read ahead for vocabulary & comprehension of next week's class
    Write my absentee letter in German for the two week vacation in September
    5 Exercises from Sentence Builder
    Finish Studio 21 A2 Vocab list
    Reread Die Wäschklammer with vocabulary list for comprehension
    Read and understand a Learning German blog post
    Listen to two Slow German or equivalent podcasts
    Practice A2 vocabulary
    Write in a journal about the vocabulary I am studying

I did actually get LWT to work and have loaded and worked through the first two podcasts in Slow German. I'll need to practicce the vocabulary but now that I'm up and running that should work. I also watced an episode of Hawaii 5 Oh in German. I was able to get context from the scenes and of course picked up a few words, phrases, and the gist of some conversations, but beyond that it was pretty useless and fast. I'm also watching Deutschland von oben, love the series and since seeing the English version of Die Alpen von oben I have wanted to see these in German. So this should be a good goal to add. I have a ridiculous amount of homework this week so I'm not sure just how much I can get done but let's see how I do with the following:

    Complete this week's homework
    Read ahead for vocabulary & comprehension of next week's class
    Write my absentee letter in German for the two week vacation in September
    5 Exercises from Sentence Builder
    Watch the rest of the Deutschland von oben episode
    Reread Die Wäschklammer with vocabulary list for comprehension
    Read and understand a Learning German blog post
    Listen to two Slow German or equivalent podcasts
    Practice A2 vocabulary
    Write in a journal about the vocabulary I am studying

Oh well looks pretty much the same I guess
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Thu Aug 24, 2017 11:41 pm

Down to 12 weeks now and had a heck of a time getting everything done. I am getting there slowly. The lights are on but can't really tell if anyone's home. Continuing on with pretty much the same stuff
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Sat Aug 26, 2017 1:39 pm

So it's already Saturday and I haven't done too much. Work was a bit more hectic than I wanted and the drama on the home front wasn't very helpful either. So I have watched the rest of the episode Deutschland von oben. It was quite a ways past my level although I was able to get context and speculate as to some of the specifics. I have also just this morning wrote my absentee email to the Goethe Institut for missing the sessions I expect to miss. We'll see if that's understandable - it likely is, though I don't have high hopes it is correctly written. I have been keeping a journal - its not really a lot. I write a few sentences and try to get a point across. I am learning from this though I definitely get a lot wrong. Michael has been very helpful with this.

So I'm not sure if the weekend will settle down or if the drama will escalate leaving me with little study time. Hopefully the latter as I'm getting tired of the females bickering. Assuming Michael will need a week or so off too I can focus on vocabulary and another item I should check out at some point is DW Interaktiv.
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:47 am

11 Weeks - without vocabulary there is no way I can pass this test. But I can't get to the vocabulary due to the homework and all my other non-language commitments. However since we are leaving for our two week vacation and I have little homework I can actually concentrate a bit more on vocabulary. Also with Michael's upcoming vacation that should give me a bit more time as well. Not sure how to track my progress on this though.

So for the next couple of weeks my goals are:

    Complete the homework assignment
    Read ahead for vocabulary & comprehension of next week's class
    Finally reread Die Wäschklammer with vocabulary list for comprehension
    Listen to Slow German and add the vocabulary to LWT
    Add a few more Grimm's Marchen to LWT
    Practice A2 vocabulary
    Keep my Tagebuch
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:59 pm

November has come and gone. The desire to learn this language has almost disappeared. The amount of time and energy I took to be tutored and finish the weekly homework made me so one-dimensional it was ridiculous. Not only did I get nothing done but I felt as if I barely hung on in German. I have taken a lot of time off...about 4 months. I would like to continue learning but I think I have to balance some reading, some writing, and some vocabulary...at least for awhile. But what level makes sense?
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Thu May 17, 2018 12:33 am

Heute ist 16. Mai 2018...it has been close to a year that I have rejected German. Wow what an overdose! And I took nothing from it. The tutoring was actually ridiculous based upon my piss poor vocabulary. I am ready to kick back into German, somehow, some way. I'm not sure if I should try to use this log or the paper log I have. This one is accessible over the web and I may learn some things from other language learners as well.
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:17 pm

And yet another year has gone by. too many hobbies, not enough time, and really difficult to learn a language when there are so few opportunities to practice let alone immerse myself. The current plan is to focus on Anki - the 4000 Word list that I downloaded. If I can manage learning that in the next year to year and a half as well as read I may make some headway. I suspect that learning takes a logarithmic trajectory at some point. For me that point is a long ways off.
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Scogar
White Belt
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:09 pm
Languages: English (N), German (A?)
x 15

Re: Scogar's German Log

Postby Scogar » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:18 am

Anki is just too boring. I'm not sure how to keep track of what I understand and what I don't. I think that it's time to read and watch TV. I learned some advice about picking a method and just sticking to it. I think that method is going to be reading and inserting the texts into LWT. I really want to add Slow German but it seems that it is a bit too hard right now. I have found Lingua and should exhaust the A1-B1 levels first. Also I think I will become a Patreon of Easy German. Paying $1/week gets me transcripts I should be able to import into LWT and I'll get some testing.

Stick to reading for now
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