Re: PM’s French Re-entry into the Matrix - Phase 1: 500 Hours Extensive Reading

[jeffers]

The last two podcasts were recommended to me by other forum members. If anyone else out there would like to make some suggestions, go ahead. I may or may not take an interest, but no harm in suggesting if you so please.

Have you tried Balades? http://www.podclub.ch/fr/emissions/balades-f It will be well below your level, but that might be an encouraging thing for 10 minutes. And the variety of topics might be helpful to expand your conversational repertoire.

they are just as into (for want of a better word) global conspiracies as I am.

That's what they want you to think.

[Mohave]

PM -

If you like to listen to French-language Podcasts, I highly recommend Monumental, particularly if you like to travel. Also, have you found any nutritional/health-related French-language podcasts?

Here's a link for Monumental below, and it's also available in iTunes.
https://www.rts.ch/la-1ere/programmes/m ... l/podcast/


Thanks!

[PeterMollenburg]

Thnaks guys for the recommendations, I will try both podcasts soon.

Horrible day today of migraine. I never used to get them and more and more it’s becoming a problem. When I have these migraines it’s like my brain shuts down, i can no longer properly comprehend French as I hear the words but all sense of meaning disappears (it’s like the language is very familiar yet comprehension almost vanishes) and even with English this occurs to a cerain degree depending on the severity. It’s like I’m experiencing a TIA (mini stroke), and I may well be, but I doubt it. Speech has even been affected.

Don’t stress, I’ve had medical input (including scans and neurologist), TIA was raised as a theory, but the conclusion (not 100% evidence related either) is sleep deprevation and stress from the sleep deprivation resulting in inexhaustion and migraines. Yet I’ve kept burning the candle at both ends. Such is my determination to learn French coupled with very poor sleep hygiene (basically stupidity). There’s no need for me to do this and it’s my own doing - forcing myself to remain awake when dog tired because I struggle to swith off mainly from digital media. I must learn to listen to my body much better...

Meanwhile struggling a lot to find time to study. Life has gotten busier, my wife working more, I have to really fight for time and its usually less than I want to do and doing something that’s not my first choice of study. I feel at times that I learn well for perhaps a week then lose it for two or three weeks on end. I’m now very very keen to introduce more languages, but time is a short, and I am far from convinced that my French is fantastic. I still feel that whatever happens in November my French learning approach will likely change significantly, as I need to assist my wife’s learning of French and adapt better to busy family life...

[iguanamon]

PM, your number one priority needs to be getting enough beneficial rest/sleep. Sacrifice your study time. It's pretty much useless to study if you are tired, exhausted, stressed out or otherwise not alert and receptive.

Say what? Is iguanamon telling me not to study? No. Just don't do it out of a sense of "I must put in three hours a day". Language-learning priorities change as we advance. Our plans of attack must change as well along with them. Yeah, we all tend to stick with what works well for us, but this can be a false friend. Life often gets in the way, being busier at times, more stress and health issues add to the challenges. This is where a learner has to prioritize and your first priority is:

1) Your health.
You can't learn if your body is screaming at you to let it rest.

2) Your health.
It's so important I thought I'd list it twice.

When you start getting enough sleep and the migraines go away, then try to take more advantage of hidden moments through out the day instead of dedicated study time. You are at the point where you are learning more through native materials now. This can be done throughout the day whenever you have the free time waiting for other things to happen. Expugnator is the master of hidden moments here on the forum. You might get some inspiration and tips from his log.

So, in other words, once you regain your health, you may want to think about changing your plan of attack to concentrate more on better utilizing your hidden moments throughout the day and less on finding the time for dedicated chunks of "desk study" as you call it. You may find that you don't need that as much now as you did in the earlier learning stages. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't study for an hour straight if you can, but don't beat yourself up because you may not be able to do so. At this stage of your learning you can refine your abilities even in a few minutes of concentrated activity at a time. That's because of all the hard work you've already put in that has given you this ability. Use it. Beginners often fail at language learning because they don't/won't put in enough time on a regular basis. You're beyond that stage now. You don't have to put in X hours of dedicated study time a day to advance now. Hope you'll feel better soon.

[jeffers]

Meanwhile struggling a lot to find time to study. Life has gotten busier, my wife working more, I have to really fight for time and its usually less than I want to do and doing something that’s not my first choice of study. I feel at times that I learn well for perhaps a week then lose it for two or three weeks on end. I’m now very very keen to introduce more languages, but time is a short, and I am far from convinced that my French is fantastic. I still feel that whatever happens in November my French learning approach will likely change significantly, as I need to assist my wife’s learning of French and adapt better to busy family life...

I totally agree with iguanamon: your health must come first.

I also agree with him that your health must come first.

I understand your cycle of learning well for a week or two, then losing it. Perhaps you should listen to your body, but also use this cycle to your advantage? Plan to do formal hard study for only two weeks in a row at most. Then plan to have three weeks off the textbooks (or reduced textbook time) and spend your French time doing things like reading and watching films.

We've had a few good posts about the fact that constant study has diminishing returns, and it's actually important to take breaks in order to let things sink in. Was it Leosmith who called it "bow wave"? And emk described it as "cheating and consolidating"? The point being, you work hard to take in a lot of new information, but you actually need to give your brain time to process what it's taken in. Reading and watching are great to do during that time, because hopefully you will come across things that will reinforce anything new you've learnt.

[rdearman]

Don't listen to those wimps! Study harder for longer! Study French until your brain explodes like a watermelon shot with a cannon. Who cares that that ‘higher cognitive functions’ are most affected by lack of sleep. That is just crazy talk. Don't worry about all that research saying lack of sleep causes highly irritable, cursing and insulting even your closest friends. Don't worry when you begin to hallucinate and exhibit paranoid behaviours from lack of rest! Rest is for wimps. You must drive yourself forward like a slave beating yourself constantly with whips and rods.

Never believe the studies which show when people are deprived of sleep for even one night, their ability to memorise new information drops significantly. Lies! Lies I tell you.

forcing myself to remain awake when dog tired because I struggle to swith off mainly from digital media. I must learn to listen to my body much better...

This is just weakness! Don't listen to your body, that traitor! If you're body is rebelling then you need to force it into submission.

===
Anyway, you do what you want. I'm off for a nap.

[BalancingAct]

...Rest is for wimps. You must drive yourself forward like a slave beating yourself constantly with whips and rods...

What are you talking about, you fool?!
He likes to rotate!!!
He uses a concrete rotating plan to propel him forward!
Save your freaking clown-school technique for yourself!

[PeterMollenburg]

Sorry for the sluggish reply... i’ve been up all night reworking my rotational desk study routine.

I now have 3 desks, one for each language on Monday, 6 different desks on Tuesday, this way if I want a break I can take one at another desk doing FSI drills - they’re playing on loop - so no matter when I take the break, i’ll very often be exposed to new segments of input. Wednesday is a combination of the all 9 desks. Thus, a lot of furniture moving overnight Tuesday and set up time, so no time for sleep. It’s never done me any harm to go without. Not to mention EVERY conspiracy book i’ve ever read has said that sleep is utter bullshit and we’ve been programmed to think we need it. So I’m just going to stop it altogether. I’m almost certain I’m going to reach the fabled Language Dimension, where I’ll learn all the languages I’ve been wanting to learn on Earth in under ten minutes.

Thing is, I need a spacecraft with enough desks for the rest of the week too. That’s where you guys come in. If you truly are my friends, you’ll build it for me. I’m busy, as you can see, doing important stuff. And none of your time matters, come one, we know that already. It’s always been about PM’s French mission, and never about anything else. We know that’s why the forum exists. It’s PM’s log pretending to be more, but that’s all it is, let’s be real, and that’s a heck of a lot.

If it helps, I’m going to delegate-

Iguanamon - elixir of youth (one should suffice) (how dare you say I ought to look after my health and suggest cutting back on study - it’s your job to solve this!)

rdearman - building boats the ship - plans must be in French, and comedy relief in multiple languages, but mainly French with some Setswana - if I don’t understand the jokes, look out!

jeffers - Building another house for my family as I’ve kicked them all out, there’s barely enough room for all my desks. Plus if you could teach me German, Hindi and Sanskrit while I’m sleeping i’d appreciate that. I’ll only be sleeping for that purpose.

BalancingAct - A blancing pole for if I might need to walk a tight rope and heaps of ball bearings (a good percentage of ceramic ones included) so I’ve got enough to keep my rotational system flowing nicely.

Disclaimer:
In case I get sued, I really appreciate people showing they care. If however the’s no risk of lawsuits or seeking financial compensation, then well, as rdearman has said, I need to toughen up. From here on, I’m adopting a polyphasic sleep pattern. 10 minutes of sleep every 2 hours. Look out Super Challenge!

Also, I’m going to skip every third letter of each word while reading initially, then move onto skipping two out of 3 letters and later two out of three sentences in the books I read. I’ll infer the meaning from what remains and effectively still be reading the same amount, but a lot faster!

Lastly, when there’s slow dialogue in films I’m going to ‘relisten’ to it in my head multiple times before the next person speaks, thereby massively increasing my input. I’m surely to reach C2 middle of next week.

Thanks very much for your support guys, seriously I’ve (genuinely) taken the tips on board.... uhh the space ship, the space ship I mean!

[Ani]

I like your new log title. The obvious problem you've been having is that your French *mission* was supposed to be done in outer space so you could have reached the worm hole by now.. you really messed that one up with all these stationary desks. Don't worry. There is still time to get there since you'll be going back in time when you accomplish it.. or something.

[PeterMollenburg]

On iguanamon's recommendation, I've been glancing through Expugnator's log (sustainable dabbling) and I see at least 15 languages. Such the opposite end of the spectrum compared to myself. I've often wondered how he does it, but he does, and as Expug has explained before, he's in it for the long journey.

So it has me wondering a few things. Can I adapt to some kind of study system like this and would it suit my lifestyle. Furthermore would I be able to take advantage of time I spend with the kids to read to them in various different languages. It's a concept I've recently aired, but now with my goals for French reaching a possible easing later in the year, is there room for me AND my family to sustainably dabble as well. Would it work for me/us?

Well I wouldn't choose 15 languages. At least that is how I feel now, I might feel that with Expug's nice example of how it's done that I can expand my current aspirations a little, however I need to be clear on how much time he has in his day and how much time is devoted to each language. Perhaps I wouldn't expand the limits (my idea has been French, Spanish, Dutch, German and maybe Arabic if required, but now I'm considering Norwegian).... can I do this? I've said in the past I was not good at dabbling, at juggling etc, but perhaps if I had limits and accepted it was a very long journey, I'd see it differently. I know iguanamon's idea of directing me towards Expug's activities, was to show how you can study in stolen moments, so I must be careful too, not to bite off more than I can chew, even with sustainable dabbling. Just some thoughts.

Now if I did choose 15 languages... wouldn't that be a nice long list....

1.French.
2. Dutch.
3. Spanish.
4. German.
5. Norwegian.
6. Arabic (MSA).
7. Frisian.
8. Portuguese.
9. Greek.
10. Russian
11. Swedish
12. Danish
13. Breton
14. Occitan
15. Luxembourgish

Perhaps it would vary, but ooooh that's a nice list....