Ani's 2018 Log

[aaleks]

Does anyone have like a mnemonic for remembering which its is it's?

You can switch into the non-native speaker mode We - non-native speakers of English - usually don't confuse "its" and "it's" because to an English learner they are two way too different things.
"It's" = "it is". So subconsciously I see it as two words.
"Its" - is a kind of article or the like. One word.

c) I think I might give up on Russian. I'll not doing very well with it anyway. I feel super torn because I really like it, and I enjoy studying it, but the time I can give it is low and the return over months is low.. can I "finish" French and then come back?

Why not? I have a similar problem with starting French. I want to learn it but I'd like to "finish" English first. Besides the fact that I want to learn at least one foreign language up to a high level, I really love English and don't want to put it aside. And I'm not so gifted to learn two (or more) languages simultaneously. So, all in all, I decided that I will keep studying English and when I have time dabbling in/toying with French. Actually that's what I'd been doing with English until I started to learn it "for real" 5 years ago, and I think that it's the reason, or on of the reasons, why learning English has been relatively easy for me - I started not from zero.

And I agree with what Xenops wrote in her post above.

[reineke]

Aaleks, you should start learning French. Like, today. I can say that with confidence just by looking at your posts. Time for a new пятилетка. Ani, I don't know. If you could somehow flip the map of Russia over and get closer to St Petersburg (Serpent would hate that), I'd advise you not to drop Russian.

[Ani]

If you can replace its with his or hers and it still make sense, then it is its. If you can replace it's with it is, then it is it's.

I think I've heard that before, now that you say it. Maybe this time I'll remember it.. his hers and its ....

Skin loss aside ( ), the kid in me thinks that's awesome. Reminds me of a Physics presentation for schoolkids where they poured mulled wine into liquid nitrogen to make a 'volcano'. Coolest experiment ever.

Oh that does sound like fun. I've never heard of that version of a volcano.

Does anyone have like a mnemonic for remembering which its is it's?

You can switch into the non-native speaker mode We - non-native speakers of English - usually don't confuse "its" and "it's" because to an English learner they are two way too different things.
"It's" = "it is". So subconsciously I see it as two words.
"Its" - is a kind of article or the like. One word.

c) I think I might give up on Russian. I'll not doing very well with it anyway. I feel super torn because I really like it, and I enjoy studying it, but the time I can give it is low and the return over months is low.. can I "finish" French and then come back?

Why not? I have a similar problem with starting French. I want to learn it but I'd like to "finish" English first. Besides the fact that I want to learn at least one foreign language up to a high level, I really love English and don't want to put it aside. And I'm not so gifted to learn two (or more) languages simultaneously. So, all in all, I decided that I will keep studying English and when I have time dabbling in/toying with French. Actually that's what I'd been doing with English until I started to learn it "for real" 5 years ago, and I think that it's the reason, or on of the reasons, why learning English has been relatively easy for me - I started not from zero.

And I agree with what Xenops wrote in her post above.

Ok this post did a lot for me in realizing the futility of "finishing" a language If my French were as good as your English, I'd declare it done and not look back

I do think you're right about the dabbling & starting "for real" with a leg up. That is what I was planning with Russian. I'll just getting a little overwhelmed at life and feeling like I'm failing at even dabbling.. a failed dabbler.. how pathetic is that lol..

Ani, I don't know. If you could somehow flip the map of Russia over and get closer to St Petersburg (Serpent would hate that), I'd advise you not to drop Russian.

As in making it practical to go to Russia from Alaska? Hmmm... It's (ha! Got it right) not impossible to go to Russia. Cheaper then going to Europe for sure.. and there are lots of Russians here, and even whole Russian speaking communities.
So if I did try and keep going on Russian what would that look like if I mostly did it by watching cartoons? I saw your recent post about German -- 12 years watching German TV ( not exclusively) followed by enrolling in a B2 class? How many hours is decent to make a dent in it when I can pick it up with more force?

[smallwhite]

If you can replace its with his or hers and it still make sense, then it is its.

I think you mean "his or her"?

*

The punctuation is consistent:

his foot
her foot
its foot

he is a boy, he's a boy
she is a girl, she's a girl
it is a dog, it's a dog
that is a dog, that's a dog

so nothing special to remember but I may be missing something.

[reineke]

So if I did try and keep going on Russian what would that look like if I mostly did it by watching cartoons? I saw your recent post about German -- 12 years watching German TV ( not exclusively) followed by enrolling in a B2 class? How many hours is decent to make a dent in it when I can pick it up with more force?

While I think there's very low likelihood of your attempting to learn a foreign language in this manner, let me try to answer your question anyway.

I occasionally watched German TV during a period that spanned 12 years. I cannot reliably estimate the number of hours since I neither kept track nor I did I care about learning German.

I watched regular TV, including some popular cartoons like Heidi and Georgie. After a 7-year break I enrolled in a B2 and two C1 classes. I had no trouble participating in these classes and I would say that my pronunciation was excellent compared to other participants - which, unfortunately, is not saying much. Long before I enrolled in these classes I had no trouble following advanced TV programming.

[Ani]

If you can replace its with his or hers and it still make sense, then it is its.

I think you mean "his or her"?

His and hers sound like they go together, and remembering with hers ties in that 's'. Otherwise there is nothing to associate..
That's Pete's dragon.
That's it's leash.
Feels right to me even though it isn't.

While I think there's very low likelihood of your attempting to learn a foreign language in this manner, let me try to answer your question anyway.

I occasionally watched German TV during a period that spanned 12 years. I cannot reliably estimate the number of hours since I neither kept track nor I did I care about learning German.

I watched regular TV, including some popular cartoons like Heidi and Georgie. After a 7-year break I enrolled in a B2 and two C1 classes. I had no trouble participating in these classes and I would say that my pronunciation was excellent compared to other participants - which, unfortunately, is not saying much. Long before I enrolled in these classes I had no trouble following advanced TV programming.

Well it's possible might. I really appreciate your answer. Your language learning methods still seem rather mystical. I'm not quite ready to chalk it up to language assimilation super powers but I might have to one day I'm really not doing well with desk learning right now but I think I could fit in 15-20 minutes of Russian cartoons when I first wake up in the morning. I got a lot of French learning done that way but lately I've been listening to audiobooks in that timeslots. It's not something I mind rearranging.

[smallwhite]

If you can replace its with his or hers and it still make sense, then it is its.

I think you mean "his or her"?

His and hers sound like they go together, and remembering with hers ties in that 's'. Otherwise there is nothing to associate..
That's Pete's dragon.
That's it's leash.
Feels right to me even though it isn't.

Won't the rule give wrong results, then?
Dilemma: "The dog found [its/it's] bone"
Cannot replace with "hers" because "*The dog found hers bone" does not make sense
So according to the rule it should be "*The dog found it's bone"? That's wrong.

[MamaPata]

If you can replace its with his or hers and it still make sense, then it is its.

I think you mean "his or her"?

His and hers sound like they go together, and remembering with hers ties in that 's'. Otherwise there is nothing to associate..
That's Pete's dragon.
That's it's leash.
Feels right to me even though it isn't.

Won't the rule give wrong results, then?
Dilemma: "The dog found [its/it's] bone"
Cannot replace with "hers" because "*The dog found hers bone" does not make sense
So according to the rule it should be "*The dog found it's bone"? That's wrong.

No, it doesn't fit that example. Its is equivalent to his and hers though, in the sense that hers is a form of possession. 'Whose is the pen? The pen is hers.' You're unlikely to say its that kind of situation, but it might make Ani associate it with possession rather than contraction, so it could help as a memory device.

(Boy, was it hard not to end up writing 'it's' in that sentence rather than 'the pen is'. Apostrophes everywhere!)

[smallwhite]

Won't the rule give wrong results, then?
Dilemma: "The dog found [its/it's] bone"
Cannot replace with "hers" because "*The dog found hers bone" does not make sense
So according to the rule it should be "*The dog found it's bone"? That's wrong.

No, it doesn't fit that example. Its is equivalent to his and hers though, in the sense that hers is a form of possession. 'Whose is the pen? The pen is hers.' You're unlikely to say its that kind of situation, but it might make Ani associate it with possession rather than contraction, so it could help as a memory device.

As a memory aid for Ani, of course it can be anything, whether it is correct not. But as a test... that requires you to test the example first before you apply the test itself or else it could give you wrong results...

"Her" is an attributive adjective, a 3rd person equivalent of the 1st person "my".
Her dog. My dog.

"Hers" is a predicate adjective, a 3rd person equivalent of the 1st person "mine".
"X is hers". "Y is mine".

"His" happens to be both an attributive adjective and a predicate adjective.
His dog is his.

"My/her/its" are not equivalent to "mine/hers/its" to me.
"Mon/ma/mes/son/sa/ses" are not equivalent to "le/la/les mien(e)(s)/sien(e)(s)" to me either (fortunately!)

Maybe Ani will finally remember which is which after reading all this discussion...

[IronMike]

If you can replace its with his or her and it still make sense, then it is its. If you can replace it's with it is, then it is it's.

There. Fixed.