Expug's 2018 Log - Sustainable Dabbling

[Expugnator]

Fairly new Norwegian series I saw on SVT last year include Valkyrien, Mammon, Nobel and Monster - I doubt they can be viewed from abroad. Grenseland is on SVT at the moment (but the identically named series on NRK is a documentary).

I might have a look at Presten - maybe it's something similar to the Swedish sitcom "Halvvägs till himlen" (which was also "smårolig"). I'll let you know if I find anything!

Thanks for the list, jeff! It doesn't have to be brand new, as I watch slowly and, now that I checked my notes, I still have some old series lined up. I prefer the newest ones because even those that might be available worldwide might be taken off anytime.

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Yesterday I totally forgot to do the Clozemaster round for Indonesian. I overlooked it among Finnish, Turkish and Czech, languages I'm not studying actively and so don't work on during my main schedule time. I did it first (second after Mandarin, actually) thing today, but I should remember to do the two remaining rounds later this afternon, once I've done my Assimil lesson.

Today I had a headstart for reading non-fiction early in the morning. Let's see how far it will get me. I do have to run some errands, so I might break even in the end.

The fog is lifting, and Russian is becoming transparent - well, I can get more than the gist on translated audiobooks and children's cartoons. I know, I'm concluding this judging only from one resource, but I'm finally optimistic. There is hope in humankind (or in myself).

I spent more time than planned running errands, so no Indonesian today. At least I could study an Assimil Hebrew lesson.

[Expugnator]

Today I had a class cancelled and so I managed to go to the gym in the morning, first time since Monday last week (I've been there a few days in the evening and on Saturday, but I'm far from being in shape, from having the usual energy level). Anyway, I had to commute three times in the morning - first to take the girls to work, second for working and third for returning to work after picking them up and driving them home. I got here later, but today is a rather calm day and I plan to leave on time, neither earlier nor overtime. As a result, I hope I can accomplish my full schedule today.

I had extra minutes on the Argentinian podcast thanks to the extra driving, but the same for the Italian one. I'm really looking forward to a change, but I don't have anything specific I'd like to listen to in Spanish - audiobooks still aren't as répandus as their French counterparts. If I notice there is some new slot for listening open - like an extra commute, running some errands during daytime - I might probably add German or Norwegian.

Today I finally returned to Clozemaster Greek, after so much time. I must say working on listening-reading native materials has reflected on Clozemaster and this, on its turn, will help consolidate the new vocabulary I've been learning. SO far I was following the strategy New words only, multiple choice, 100 most common-on for Greek. It's the same I use for opaque languages, but since I've already been studying Greek for several weeks it works more like learning and not just becoming acquainted with the language as was the case with Turkish and Indonesian (that is, before I started Indonesian - I already notice a difference now).

My email to Speakly.me remains unanswered after 20 days, and the desktop version remains with its issues. I could be using more of it if the desktop version was functional. Why ask for feedback at the first place.

[Expugnator]

I've noticed that my speed on Clozemaster Mandarin has increased significantly. It's almost close to some Latin-based languages. And it's not because I've memorized the answers, far from that, as the deck is rather huge. Previously I'd recognize a couple of characters per sentence, now it's a couple unknown at most. I'm working on random sentences, which means my vocabulary has improved in all HSK levels. It's really worth now finding a professional teacher and evaluating my current Mandarin level.

I finished another linguistic self-help book, Claude's The Polyglot Project. I learned to respect and appreciate the work of the author of the Goldlist Method, but oh well what a long testimonial. Now i'm going for even older books on my to-read pile, first of them being Walter Hermann's Open Learning Language System, as presented in the book "Domesticando o Dragão".

Today was a particularly productive day for Greek. The translated book is becoming transparent. I think I chose the right time to start native materials. Like I usually say, some times you notice more progress in some languages than in others. Right now I feel I'm totally stuck in German, but Russian is finally going somewhere. The others aren't in a great momentum but not bad either, with the exception of the new ones, Hebrew and Indonesian.

I wonder if anyone has tried the Hebrew TTS for Clozemaster. It doesn't work on Android, but it says it's supposed to work on iOs, I just don't know if it's on Safari as well or only the Android app. This can be a life-changer!

I'm not officially searching for translated audiobooks in Hebrew as of yet, I'm too much a beginner to manage a good search. At least I know there are enough translated novels - only that I won't know how words sound out when reading, which can lead to awful subvocalizations.

Tried the first lesson from the Routledge course. I don't have all the audios, there are no transcripts or translations. So I don't know how far I can get on it. If all goes wrong, I'll just read the grammar I've got.

So many paragraphs on Hebrew, that shows how much in a hurry I am for learning the language. And this for no particular reason. I'm just excited about having some working knowledge. My ultimate goal is to learn as many similar languages as possible, and I hope Hebrew can give me a good headstart in what concerns grammar and becoming used to abjads.

[Systematiker]

I wonder if anyone has tried the Hebrew TTS for Clozemaster. It doesn't work on Android, but it says it's supposed to work on iOs

Works on my iPhone. It’s clear enough that I can recognize words I know apart from the Texte, and I don’t find it disturbingly mechanical (or at least not more than any other TTS)

[Lawyer&Mom]

Works on my iPhone too. And Hebrew also has an enhanced voice you can download on the iPhone if you want to get fancy... (I have the enhanced voices for French, German and Russian. I liked the regular voices just fine, and I like the enhanced voices even better.)

[Expugnator]

The Hebrew TTS works great on my iPad! Thanks Systematiker and Mom&Languages for the support. THis is really a dealbreaker! Graded Hebrew sentences with audio! The TTS does have its flaws but still great (I've downloaded the enhanced voice but no time for testing yet). Pity that I only have the iPad with home, so I can't work on it during my usual hours.

I didn't do much the past weekend - I was very busy again, having to give classes on Sunday. I'll have some extra expenses on the apartment's renovation, so I'm not taking any italki classes for the time being, it's not wise to add up expenses now for I might have to touch my savings. So, giving classes that was.

The little I did, though, was essential. I began to read the great, wonderful Easing into Modern Hebrew Grammar, by Gila Freedman and Carmia Shoval. I don't know how this book isn't any more recommended, my only explanation being that it's rather new, from 2011. It's exactly what I need and I'm glad I managed to find it.

I had trouble downloading some huge pdfs even on my newer iPad: due to lack of memory, the browser wouldn't display the option to opemn the pdf file on iBooks, either on Safari (not at all) or Chrome (I'd touch the box "Open with" and nothing would happen). So I installed Google Drive on the iPad and it worked, as the software itself is lighter and there is enough memory for loading iBooks from it.

Apart from that, I managed to prepare material for some classes of Portuguese as second language, separated some more episodes of the series I watch dubbed in Georgian and downloaded some missing files from Routledge Hebrew. I was frustrated that some videos from lesson 01 weren't available and I couldn't play them on Friday, due to the videoblock, but now I've both downloaded the remaining ones for the week and learned how to track them directly from the server so I can download them as .zip and skip the block. They're small files after all. This became a non-issue.

I'm so happy at how things are falling into place for my Hebrew studies, with the difficulties being lifted. Hebrew is a language I'm so excited about learning, maybe because it took so long - over 13 years - since I first dabbled in it. I really enjoy stuyding Hebrew.

Just searched and found out that the newspapers from Curaçao I used to read really went bankrupt. Sad, but somehow unavoidable fact.

Today I read the fastest in Estonian ever. I was behind schedule and so I had to speed up, but since I have got better in the past days I could still follow the story while looking up fewer and fewer words.

A busy day again and I only made it to Language Transfer Greek. No Greek listening-reading, no Hebrew or Indonesian, no reading in Spanish. Almost no Clozemaster.

[Expugnator]

So, today is the day I went to Alliance Française. I took a placement test there. The teacher who applied the text is the same that applies DELF/DALF here in town. At first she wanted to place me in the B-range, but after a bit more talking and the written part she said I am definitely C1 in terms of competences for practical life. Since passing the test is another issue, she says I can pass it if I work hard until November. I have the underlying skills but I'd need a specific preparation for the test, which is no news at all. To think it is just the 4th or 5th time I write a text in French, and that I seldom speak French, I'm pretty happy with myself. If we also discount the prejudice people from an institution such as Alliance Française has with people who self-learned, I might not be that bad at all. Not sure if I'm doing C1 in November, though, as that involves a lot of money for the test itself plus the preparatory classes on iTalki - have to try some teachers PM recommended me and a couple more until I find the right one.

The teacher recommended this book:



I finished watching Auberge Espagnole. Now i'm free to finally proceed to film 2, Les poupées russes. I don't usually rewatch films, but with Auberge Espagnole I needed to remember the context.

The author of a book I'm reading claims you can learn 800 (eight hundred) words just by learning 30 (thirty) songs. How true do you guys think it is?

Language trivia: 'di luar' means outdoors in Indonesian; 'luar' means moonlight in Portuguese.

The day wasn't bad as I managed to study Indonesian in spite of all constraints. No Spanish reading, though. Not enough Hebrew either as I only stayed at Assimil.

[Expugnator]

I was expecting to read some pages from the Hebrew grammar - I even brought it to my bedside table but the phone was more appealing - actually the frustration of not having anything interesting to read on the phone - it was late for using apps with sound. Anyway, I want to turn this into a habit because I'm simply not having enough of Hebrew each day.

Listening to Italian audiobooks is a consolidated skill. I'm in the final files of the current one and now the story has narrowed down a bit and so is easier to follow. That got me thinking: I can take Italian even in busier contexts. I have been driving more often the past week. The time I drive back home in the evening, we have the government radio program in all stations, so I don't get to mine for new songs to listen to while running on the treadmill. So, I had better make Italian audiobook a non-structured activity, listening on the car, and use the noble lunch time, where I can use earphones most of it (I still drive at lunch), for the harder Germanic languages, the ones I'm struggling to become fluent at. I should try Herr der Diebe, but it's Cornelia Funke's main work, so I should start with something less serious, like a random audiobook in Norwegian.

I was about to check a subscription for Viki, but the Learn Mode seems to be available for free. Viki has gone more ad-based now. Which I don't mind so far, but time will tell. Anyway, I have a new series lined up for when I'm done with In the name of people.

All's well with Luntik. I even forgot to turn on the automatically-generated subtitles - pretty accurate as the audio is crystal clear - for a couple of minutes and it remained transparent. The translated novel is obviously harder but I look at the French original less and less often.

The day started rather calmly but went on busier. It's always better to have a headstart in the morning, as the afternoons are unpredictable and work just piles up. I didn't make it to Indonesian today.

[Expugnator]

I got redeemed yesterday. I had one class cancelled, so when I got home and put the girls to sleep I could do the daily Indonesian lesson. Unfortunately, already at lesson 10 the vocabulary is overwhelming again. Assimil Indonésien has the same issue as Assimil Norvégien - too much new vocabulary introduced at once, not enough repetition. I could get back to pod101, but that has the opposite problem - too much repetition, too little vocabulary on each lesson (not to mention the length of the English texts in each lesson).

I also got to read more pages from the Hebrew grammar. A wonderful work. How clear it makes everything sound like. I did some sentences on Speakly.me - found out you can see the translation of a word by pressing on it, that's great! I just don't seem to understand how its algorithm works. It seems it's Anki-like, which means since I don't study everyday I have hundreds of words to review - words I actually now already, basic language - before I can meet a new word. And yet the streak counts when you do a X number of new words, but you never get presented a new word because you're stuck on reviews and so you never keep your streak.

Finished another Estonian novel, my 4th ever (I only read 1 page a day!). This is one of the best by Agatha Christie - Why didn't they ask Evans. No boring almighty detectives, but rather a nice couple. So I had to buy a new one, this time following the same path as Georgian, with YA fiction.

Finally a calmer day with a good headstart in the morning. I managed to resume reading in Spanish. I was about to finish the book, but I hadn't read for a week, so still some 70 pages to go and over a week before finishing. I managed to work on the 2nd lesson from the Routledge Hebrew course. I'm finally becoming familiarized with the lesson's format. It's still annoying to go from book to website then to soundfiles several times in a row, and I'm still clueless about some instructions and the proper names introduced, but I'm enjoying the explanations so far.

[Expugnator]

Yesterday I went to the gym in the evening. I had come home earlier so I did some Speakly.me sessions for Estonian (btw, they have Finnish too apart from the FIGS. I recommend them). My point is, I read one page from the wonderful Hebrew course and almost fell asleep. It's important to build this habit. Then one of the girls got a fever and couldn't get to sleep, waking every half hour until midnight. At least I got some proper sleep, then gym again in the morning. It could have been harder. They didn't go to school today, so that means I have some more minutes during the day for studying, and I'll try to go home earlier as well.

At a Facebook group, I found this Norwegian blog about Brasil: Brasileira.no . I haven't figured out its political orientation yet.

I got home before lunch was ready, and so I took the chance and did two sessions of Clozemaster Hebrew with the TTS on. There's no better exercise at the moment.

Already a couple of weeks spent on the Intermediate level of Yabla Chinese. The videos are longer with more dialogues and at real speed. At first it was a shock, but now I'm used to that speed already. There's a synergy going on regarding the TV series as well - Yabla is meant as intensive reading/watching. There is also Clozemaster involved, so that means I'm working on my Mandarin in different levels from the sentence to the text. I'm not working on the hanzi level, on the word level, I'm not producing but I notice I'm on my way to fluency and there's no going back.

Thanks to Lemon Snicket's translation, I learned the Georgian for "speak of the devil...". In Portuguese it's a direct equivalent, "falando no diabo...", but in Georgian it's ძაღლი ახსენეო , which means something like "Remember the dog".

Russian is becoming so much easier now that I'm thinking about increasing my listening-reading daily quota, from 3 to 4 pages. This current book actually has shorter pages, but the risk is picking a new one with pages based on the A4 format. So far, I spend no longer than 8 minutes a day which is much less than I can take in Russian, but maybe it's not so wise to spoil the moment by forcing a longer session like the ones I used to have with much more boring novels.

Clozemaster was off for maintenance most of the afternoon, so I couldn't do the reps I was planning. Meanwhile, time to think about Duolingo. Indonesian and Hindi are on their way out, as well as Esperanto for Portuguese speakers. I'm thinking about resuming Spanish for Russian speakers, which is my idea of doing a reverse tree.

Third lesson over and I'm adapted to the format of Routledge's Course. It's mostly exercises. The dialogue and the grammar explanation altogether make less than half the lesson. Let's see how far I can go without vowel points. The videos themselves are very helpful because I'm having comprehensible input in small doses. Short lessons are a recipe for success in language learning, especially when combined: moving forward with Assimil and reviewing with the Routledge course, that also teaches grammar more gradedly and explicitly.

Now I feel guilty for going slowly with Indonesian, but I don't have similar resources for it. At least not half as fun. The only one I can think with short lessons is pod101, but I'm so fed up with the format of the lessons that I don't know if I'll be motivated to do something in Indonesian as yet another addition to my already busy schedule. What annoyes me the most are the random lessons that are inserted even at the Absolute Beginner lessons and that are usually way over the given level. They take a lot of time to decode when you don't know the grammar of the language yet (even with the translation - I mean decoding them syntactically so you can depict them as meaningful utterances and not just attempt to memorize them). I'll give it a second try after I'm some weeks into Assimil. I want to be at a point where it's easy to parse the sample sentences.
I could return to The Indonesian Way, but I find it even more boring at this stage. I could hope for Duolingo Indonesian to be released soon as well. Meanwhile, I should try Clozemaster but I went a bit too far during my dabbling stage, so now I've already seen all sentences in the first 2 lessons, and the sentences in the third one are still a bit over my current level.

All in all, a positive day in a positive week.