Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Bex
Blue Belt
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 77#p157977
x 1538

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Bex » Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:48 am

devilyoudont wrote:My feeling is that if you feel there's a chance you might burn out, you should switch things up.

I only started last week but already I'm avoiding doing my list each morning :(

You're probably right, I can't see it getting any better and my vocabulary learning needs to be something I can manage longer term.
2 x
Kwiziq
A0: 100 / 100
A1: 100 / 100
A2: 100 / 100
B1: 91 / 100
B2: 53 / 100

AndyMeg
Blue Belt
Posts: 633
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:44 pm
Languages: Spanish (N), English (B2-C1), Japanese (A2-B1), Korean (Lower Intermediate?)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 02#p201902
x 1302

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby AndyMeg » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:36 pm

Bex wrote:
devilyoudont wrote:My feeling is that if you feel there's a chance you might burn out, you should switch things up.

I only started last week but already I'm avoiding doing my list each morning :(

You're probably right, I can't see it getting any better and my vocabulary learning needs to be something I can manage longer term.

I agree.

I've learned that procrastination is a sign that indicates me when I should change an activity and try another one. It doesn't matter how great an activity works for others if for me it becomes so burdensome that I keep avoiding it. I think it is better to try to "put the hours" in something that one can really stick to (this is one of the reasons why I don't use Anki... jejeje).
2 x
Beyond The Story 10 Year Record of BTS Korean version: 36 / 522

StringerBell
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2018 3:30 am
Languages: English (n)
Italian
x 3289

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby StringerBell » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:15 pm

Bex wrote:Reading and listening are going well.


Bex wrote:But the wordlists are becoming a problem, it makes me feel really stressed and stupid that I can't even remember 7 words, so I end up only doing the minimum of 1 wordlist a day.


I noticed something pretty important about those two thoughts. If the goal of memorizing words lists is to improve reading and listening and general understanding, why force yourself to do it (since you seem to dislike it) if your reading and listening are already going well? Word lists are a means to an end...but if you can work toward that end in a more pleasant way, is the unpleasant way necessary? Just a question.

I saw a Steve Kaufman video at some point where he said that he routinely learns, forgets, relearns, reforgets, and on and on until at some point the words stick. It's a normal and unavoidable part of learning a language. After seeing that video, I decided that I would not care if I couldn't recall a word that I'd known at some point. Eventually I learned something about myself: (1) I don't want to spend my brainpower attempting to memorize random words on a list because it's boring, I hate it, and then I have no idea how to use those words in context, and (2) I remember words best by looking them up repeatedly, seeing them in context over and over, and attempting to use them when trying to speak.

If you like memorizing lists of words, then don't let me talk you out of it, but it seems like you're avoiding it and disliking it, so...why bother? If you can reach the end by a more pleasant method (reading and listening) maybe the unpleasant method isn't necessary.

I only have 2 language learning rules: (1) consistency, and (2) don't do anything I hate or is boring. There is plenty of stuff in life that is awful and boring and we have to force ourselves to do. Language learning shouldn't be one of those...it should be something we look forward to!

If you are really bothered by not remembering words/expressions, there are plenty of other things you can do to help yourself...just as one idea, I'll share what I recently started doing with Italian. While reading an article, when I come across a word/expression that is really interesting, useful, or keeps coming up (and I keep having to look it up), I copy+paste the whole sentence containing that word into a word doc. I color code the word, and I write a definition. Everytime I come across that word in another sentence, I copy+paste the whole sentence until I have like 4-5. By the time I accumulate that many sentences, I generally tend to remember the meaning of the word without having to deal with any boring lists. Here is a screen grab so you can see what this looks like:
Italian.png

***guess which word I know by heart now???

The benefit of doing something like this is that I learn the word in context, which for me is much more useful. If I just tried to memorize that "trascorrere" = "to spend" I'd probably assume it was about spending money, and would probably not associate it with spending time, or spending an afternoon, or any other the other ways it's used. However, by focusing on the context of the way the word is used, it's obvious that it's about spending time vs. spending money, and it would never cross my mind to use this verb in the context of money (though maybe it can be used like that, who knows? I'll keep a lookout for it in that context to figure it out!)
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
5 x
Season 4 Lucifer Italian transcripts I created: https://learnanylanguage.fandom.com/wik ... ranscripts

User avatar
Bex
Blue Belt
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 77#p157977
x 1538

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Bex » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:55 pm

StringerBell wrote:I noticed something pretty important about those two thoughts. If the goal of memorizing words lists is to improve reading and listening and general understanding, why force yourself to do it (since you seem to dislike it) if your reading and listening are already going well? Word lists are a means to an end...but if you can work toward that end in a more pleasant way, is the unpleasant way necessary? Just a question.

No you're right the unpleasant way is not necessary, I'm not sure I have the patience to write out sentences for everything I come across that I want to learn but your system seems very thorough.

Maybe Goldlisting will fulfill the urge I have to list everything...it seems a shame not to do something with all those words.
0 x
Kwiziq
A0: 100 / 100
A1: 100 / 100
A2: 100 / 100
B1: 91 / 100
B2: 53 / 100

MonoDeano
White Belt
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:16 am
x 43

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby MonoDeano » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:13 am

Keep Fighting the good fight Bex!
1 x

User avatar
Bex
Blue Belt
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 77#p157977
x 1538

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Bex » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:20 pm

MonoDeano wrote:Keep Fighting the good fight Bex!


Thanks, how's your Spanish coming along?
0 x
Kwiziq
A0: 100 / 100
A1: 100 / 100
A2: 100 / 100
B1: 91 / 100
B2: 53 / 100

User avatar
Bex
Blue Belt
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 77#p157977
x 1538

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Bex » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:46 am

I am not listening enough but I am managing at least a small amount each day. Always one podcast a day (2 hours of podcasts this week), sometimes another in the car, a little TV in the evening and I've started to listen to the radio in the morning occasionally. I am hoping to make my Spanish listening more of a daily habit.

Well I am reading still, I am finding it more interesting reading the podcasts and collecting new vocabulary along the way. 63 pages read this week.

I am starting to notice some of the words are repeated regularly and some I have learnt from my wordlist - yay!

I have actively learnt 49 words so far...small steps :D

I was very disappointed that I was finding it hard to memorise only 7 words and also that when I returned to revise my words after a week I only knew 3 out of the 7 :(

This made me question if I should change my method but I decided I would continued until I found an alternative. A few days further along I am finding the memorising easier and I think the problem may be with me and not the method....I don't know how to memorise words :shock:

I have started to associate the sound of the Spanish word with it's English equivalent. Using this method when I went back to review a week later, I only had 1 word I couldn't remember.

I am currently reviewing at 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month intervals.

With this in mind I will continue with Iverson's wordlist method until I can review words over a month old and then I will make the decision on whether to continue or not.
4 x
Kwiziq
A0: 100 / 100
A1: 100 / 100
A2: 100 / 100
B1: 91 / 100
B2: 53 / 100

User avatar
Bex
Blue Belt
Posts: 562
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:10 am
Languages: English (N), Spanish (A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 77#p157977
x 1538

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Bex » Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:32 pm

I have been ill. Fever and migraines from hell.

It's ruined all my plans.

:(
0 x
Kwiziq
A0: 100 / 100
A1: 100 / 100
A2: 100 / 100
B1: 91 / 100
B2: 53 / 100

Izabela
White Belt
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 11:48 pm
Languages: English (N), Esperanto (A language I often think in).
Spanish, Portuguese, French (Some ability to read in)
Italian and Dutch (rather beginner-ish)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9014
x 56

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby Izabela » Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:13 pm

Bex wrote:I have been ill. Fever and migraines from hell.

It's ruined all my plans.

:(


Oh being ill always tends to put a damper some on me. I definitely find that learning goes better when I'm feeling healthy and happy.

Hope you get better quick.
4 x

AndyMeg
Blue Belt
Posts: 633
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:44 pm
Languages: Spanish (N), English (B2-C1), Japanese (A2-B1), Korean (Lower Intermediate?)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 02#p201902
x 1302

Re: Bex's Spanish log 2018. Chapter 2: Improbable ambitions

Postby AndyMeg » Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:41 pm

Bex wrote:I have been ill. Fever and migraines from hell.

It's ruined all my plans.

:(

I've been having migraines too. I can't do anything when I have migraine.

I hope you get better soon!

¡Ánimo y que te mejores pronto! ;)
2 x
Beyond The Story 10 Year Record of BTS Korean version: 36 / 522


Return to “Language logs”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Henkkles and 2 guests