Pippa's Log

[Pippa Butterfly]

Entry..

I've been following this forum for quite a while now and I am so impressed by the determination that you guys have towards languages. I've been learning English since school but I've been only onto self-study for a bout 7 years now. I thought it might be a good idea to start with what have and have not worked for me in this process.

I've started by refreshing my English grammar using You Tube videos and some grammar books. For my surprise, I was able to run through an English-English book and understand grammar rules without much difficulty. Also, I used to read and jot down some learning tips. It worked well that I moved to the next step and started chatting in English online for the first time and it was magnificent experience but then I became addicted to searching for English resources online and chatting rather than actual studying. I've collected lots of resources and methods but rarely used them. Despite all that I kept on trying new methods and strategies. I feel boring so quickly and failed to plan my studies a head. It's lack of focus maybe or perhaps lack of vision. I always question myself whether I am following the right bath or not. In 2016, I started learning through A British TV series. I decided I am going to learn intensively and I did but never finished the first episode of that season till now. I was shocked actually when I checked the date. a week ago I set a new plan to finish that first episode but I only studied in the first day in the week. I am not sure what keeps me from taking action and move forward but I am determined to learn on my own.

Along with English I have attempted to learn Spanish and Turkish but guess what? I've never finished my first lesson and I gave up on them. I studied French at high school for two years and I decided to pick it up again and today was my first day on duty.
something else bothered me along the way, I failed to fined a learning pen pal. They all claims that they want to learn but they are not better than myself. None of them is doing actual reading or studying. They are only chatting and wasting their time and mine. That was such a disappointment I think I must give up on chatting.

The good news is the last time I took the level test I have reached the C 1 level despite the fact that my vocabulary are still in the intermediate level.

....To be continued.

[Pippa Butterfly]

I spent the first days of August gathering up my resources for French. Finally, I became satisfied with what I have and I can start. So, I started tonight with a French course book for beginner. For my surprise I found myself able to remember some of the basics from high school. That's about 12 years now. I've never counted the years before. Thanks to my beloved French teacher. I hope he's still sound and alive. <3

I was able to : - study the rules in the first lesson
-the vocabulary in the first lesson
-studied the conjugation of the verb ' vouloir' in the present.
-Studied the conjugation of the verb 'être' in the present.


Sadly I didn't have much time to spend on English. I still need to figure out how to make the time for it especially that my level in French requires a lot of effort. Currently I am reading the novel by R. Austin Freeman, 'For the deference, Dr. Thorndyke'. Also, I started a course books for the Upper intermediate level. I only studied the vocab in the first model.

I am not a great when it comes to setting short term goals. Things like Finish a specific book at at a certain time. It just never worked for me. I tend to study anything else but the book I planned to study so I am trying to keep it simple at first to see how things might work or might not work for me and adjust accordingly.

[galaxyrocker]

I became addicted to searching for English resources online and chatting rather than actual studying. I've collected lots of resources and methods but rarely used them. Despite all that I kept on trying new methods and strategies. I feel boring so quickly and failed to plan my studies a head. It's lack of focus maybe or perhaps lack of vision. I always question myself whether I am following the right bath or not.

I'm not learning English or French so unfortunately don't have much to add there, but I wanted to say you're far from alone in this. I often spend way too much time chatting about learning a language rather than actually going out and learning one. And collecting resources for languages I'll likely never learn. Sometimes it feels like a real problem! Part of the issue is, I think, an overabundance of resources; there's just too many out there that it can be hard to focus on one, especially when it gets difficult or boring. Which then leads to the questioning of the right path, etc.


Anyway, welcome to the forum!

[Tristano]

Your level of English looks good to me. I have a suspect though. Is it possible that... Maybe... You underestimate your level? Although I'm not a native myself I can't see big weaknesses from your texts. What I miss from your story is a detailed lists of what you actually want to improve.
Too many people want to improve "everything" without being able to make a realistic plan. Your struggles to maintain your motivations make me wonder if you have a plan. Especially at intermediate/advanced level you need to be specific. Just going through a bunch of books (for example) will make you lose a lot of time.

Said that: The secret to learn languages and keep motivations is to enjoy and have fun! You go a longer way by reading books of your favorite author than memorizing endless conjugations and declension tables.

Good luck!

[Pippa Butterfly]

Your level of English looks good to me. I have a suspect though. Is it possible that... Maybe... You underestimate your level? Although I'm not a native myself I can't see big weaknesses from your texts. What I miss from your story is a detailed lists of what you actually want to improve.
Too many people want to improve "everything" without being able to make a realistic plan. Your struggles to maintain your motivations make me wonder if you have a plan. Especially at intermediate/advanced level you need to be specific. Just going through a bunch of books (for example) will make you lose a lot of time.

Said that: The secret to learn languages and keep motivations is to enjoy and have fun! You go a longer way by reading books of your favorite author than memorizing endless conjugations and declension tables.

Good luck!

You're not the first one to assure me that I have a good English level. I hear that very often even from native English speakers. Well, I managed to reach the advanced level and I took an online level test (from Cambridge) very recently. As you can see, I've learned grammar and I made sure to write in the correct way but still my weakness is with my vocabulary. I wanna upgrade my vocabulary level. I took a vocabulary level test as well and it is in the intermediate level. Also, My confidence with speaking is not that good. I am gonna put more effort on Vocabulary and speaking.

you're right! I am not good at planing. I just say that in my last post. It is not lack of motivation, it is lack of focus. The desire to improve pretty quickly makes me jump from one book to another without finishing anything. I am trying know to take a step by step.

[Pippa Butterfly]

@Morgana and @galaxyrocker. Good to know that there's someone out there could understand my pain. I am trying to overcome the procrastination and lack of focus.

As for my French, decided to add two more books to my study and it's all for beginners. My goal is by the end of the month to finish all three course books. I expect by the end of the year to reach the A2 level.

-Beginner's French
-First lesson is complete (vocab has been added to Anki)
Elementry of french
-Lesson one is on progress

I haven't started with the third one but I will soon.

[Cavesa]

Hi,

I enjoy reading your log, it looks like the beginning of a good learning story.

May I ask which Arabic dialect is your native one?

[Pippa Butterfly]

Hi,

I enjoy reading your log, it looks like the beginning of a good learning story.

May I ask which Arabic dialect is your native one?

I hope so Cavesa. It actually slowed down a bit but I am planing to speed up asap.

My dialect is Egyptian. ^^

[Pippa Butterfly]

It's been more than a week now and I again failed to follow the plan so now I need to adjust. I won't be able to make it by the end of August. Three books seemed a bit unrealistic since each book is at least 200 pages if not more. I actually not working through the books a lone. I have to use online dictionaries for more grammar notes or pronunciation. Last night I realized that I couldn't recall some of the verbs conjugations. It breaks my heart but then I asked myself how many time have I review those verbs or used them as I planned to?! How I expect to get somewhere if I am not doing much to reach it?!
We have a family event coming and I am gonna be busy in the last week of August which might delay the process even more.

[Pippa Butterfly]

Guys, am I allowed to add a progress bar to my posts? I can not figure out how to add it anyway?! I did read the Q&A section but yet I couldn't figured it out yet. Any clue as to how to add it??