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

[PeterMollenburg]

....considering leaving the forum....

No one, or next to no-one could care less about my opinion (fair enough, they don't have to), I get myself into all kinds of trouble (not the place for it, apparently), if i'm going to write anything with a differing opinion of any kind I must write lengthy posts with numerous links to validated and so called credible research.... it's a microcosm of the world in which I feel like the mass of humanity is simply asleep and can't handle opinions that sway too far from the mainstream or aren't backed up by so-called science. I rant, my talk about my French studies is nothing new lately (i.e. little benefit to others) and nothing I can't do on my own - the log has really become a crutch at times and an ego stroke at other times. Perhaps I ought to just go quietly into the night and shut my mouth once and for all, I'm sure there'll be some applause to this....

[Xenops]

There's a quote that I love, and I don't remember where it's from:

Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you

I actually agree with many of your statements: I have just been quiet because, well, this is a language forum. I have been thinking recently, "no other time in history have humans constructed an environment so hostile to our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing". I think, simply put, that the end of the world is coming soon: dystopia fiction will soon become reality. I keep going because my hope is not of this world.

Please don't leave the forum: you do contribute to the forum. Just a day or two ago I was looking at your thread about how to reach C1 in French. I admire your study efforts, and I look up to you as a model for my own journey to French fluency.

Edit: This forum is far from perfect, but it provides something that we need as self-learning language learners: community and coaching. I think if we study our languages in a vacuum, we will quickly give up, because we have no one to cheer us and no one to give us advice. We need support for our language learning challenges.

[rdearman]

Have you considered creating a blog? Then you could just post something along the lines of, "I commented on that in my blog" and people can choose to read it or not, and they can comment there. Which means you don't have a problem here, and you can expand on your ideas to your hearts content there. It would be a pity to your ideas and experience as a language learner simply because you have ideas and opinions about non language related topics.

[Ingaræð]

.

[iguanamon]

....considering leaving the forum....
No one, or next to no-one could care less about my opinion (fair enough, they don't have to), I get myself into all kinds of trouble (not the place for it, apparently), if i'm going to write anything with a differing opinion of any kind I must write lengthy posts with numerous links to validated and so called credible research.... it's a microcosm of the world in which I feel like the mass of humanity is simply asleep and can't handle opinions that sway too far from the mainstream or aren't backed up by so-called science. I rant, my talk about my French studies is nothing new lately (i.e. little benefit to others) and nothing I can't do on my own - the log has really become a crutch at times and an ego stroke at other times. Perhaps I ought to just go quietly into the night and shut my mouth once and for all, I'm sure there'll be some applause to this....

PM, PM, PM... first of all, despite my disagreement with your world view, I respect that for you it is very important and that your respect for others' welfare impels you to share it. so...

Have you considered creating a blog? Then you could just post something along the lines of, "I commented on that in my blog" and people can choose to read it or not, and they can comment there. ...

So... why not create a blog? Link to it in your signature, and you can express yourself to your heart's content about everything and anything under the sun. I'll drop by to read it too. I'm sure others will as well. Of course, you could always write it in French! It's free and can be set up easily. Politics, conspiracy and other such matters just don't go over well here. It's part of what makes this a nice place to be. Here, we are all about languages and language-learning and it works fairly well for that.

Speaking of which, you just can't leave in the middle of your learning adventure. You are going to be taking the C1 test in November. That's just 10 months away. After that, I want to see how and what you do with your next language, . Well, yeah, of course you can leave, but I don't think you should. Also, you are the forum's foremost expert on French courses, you've done or at least used, a heck of a lot of them. That is something that is valuable to learners here. I'd like to see you write a guest post about the French courses you've used. You are one of the people who has taken and passed a B2 test. That experience is valuable to others as well and can be shared in a guest post or whenever anyone asks about it. I vehemently disagree that you will not be missed. You will indeed be missed and so will your contributions. You have your own unique insights to share.

I've not been one to mix in conspiracy/politics here on the forum but I have had some strong opinions about language-learning that I have learned, in the grand scheme of things, don't matter all that much. If some raw, monolingual beginner joins and wants to "study" several languages simultaneously (or try to learn them all without ever having learned the first one)... so what. If somebody thinks that all they need is Assimil and they can become the next great polyglot... go for it. The thing is, «on ne peut faire boire un cheval qui n'a pas soif». I have learned this over the years having been shot down in almost all my language-learning convictions. If you do leave anyway, despite my urging you not to do so, please send me a pm, PM, with your contact information. I'd like to stay in touch. Hope you'll stay.

[tomgosse]

Please don't leave the forum: you do contribute to the forum. Just a day or two ago I was looking at your thread about how to reach C1 in French. I admire your study efforts, and I look up to you as a model for my own journey to French fluency.

What she said!

[rlnv]

....considering leaving the forum....

No one, or next to no-one could care less about my opinion (fair enough, they don't have to), I get myself into all kinds of trouble (not the place for it, apparently), if i'm going to write anything with a differing opinion of any kind I must write lengthy posts with numerous links to validated and so called credible research.... it's a microcosm of the world in which I feel like the mass of humanity is simply asleep and can't handle opinions that sway too far from the mainstream or aren't backed up by so-called science. I rant, my talk about my French studies is nothing new lately (i.e. little benefit to others) and nothing I can't do on my own - the log has really become a crutch at times and an ego stroke at other times. Perhaps I ought to just go quietly into the night and shut my mouth once and for all, I'm sure there'll be some applause to this....

The world doesn't have enough people willing to question everything. People to stand in the face of majority thought at the risk of being countered with standard, accepted, opinion, time and again. There is a strength of character in those that don't accept official conclusions without scrutiny, yet often a burden to defend in a few thoughts or paragraphs, conclusions that have been drawn over many months or years of observation. Right, wrong, or somewhere in between, your views are a breath of fresh air in a sea of commercial breaks. Keep fighting the good fight, and don't go away. This forum (and world) needs people like you. Thank you for an interesting log. I continue to learn from your experience.

[Elenia]

Don't leave PM! I think your experience is valuable and, without having ever met you, I think you're a really great person. I try not to get into sensitive discussions anywhere because I get too het up and can't argue my point properly, and don't know what I don't know (and refuse to admit it most of the time!) Then I get upset when other people are wrong and refuse to accept that. And a lot of the time, I lose sight of the point I'm making. I have my own opinions, but have learnt that the best thing I can do is live them and wait for other people to ask, rather then telling them. I'm saying this, not because I think you should do as I do (not everything I just said could be applied to you, and I don't intend it to be so), but because that is what makes things easier for me.

A note about conspiracies vs. conventional information: I am equally wary of both. I tend to trust what my own common sense tells me, and I tend not to worry about things I can't apply in my own life or change directly. I think part of what compels you to share with others is that you believe that if other people see the world from the same perspective as you, they will feel compelled to act, but that sadly isn't true. I find such things paralysing and depressing, I can't do anything if I think too much about what might be happening under the surface and, more than that, I will never really know if my suspicions are right. We can have all the information and still get the wrong conclusion, or have all the wrong information but still get the right one. Or we can be somewhere in the middle all the time. My main issue with conspiracy theorising from any corner is actually that my dad is a huge conspiracy theorist and goes on long binges of watching videos and news from as many different channels as possible but it doesn't do anything for him. He doesn't try to change anything in the world or his own life. He spends days in a funk and gets bitter or ambivalent. It doesn't make him happy at all. I'm pretty sure I would get like that. His time would be better spent doing things he enjoys: cooking, making food from scratch, working in the garden. The same for me. When I worry about the world, I pour that energy into living as well as I can, making myself happy and helping my friends and family (where they are amenable).

This was longer than I meant it to be, but I value and appreciate your presence on the forum. I agree with you some of the time about both language and politics, and I disagree with you some of the time. That's the way these things are. If you decide to stay, or leave, or simply take a break, I wish you the best. (Whatever you decide, please let us know at the very least how your test goes. I am sure you will pass it, I think your French is truly excellent and you have worked hard for it!)

[Sarafina]

Honestly just make a blog or a podcast or a YouTube channel and then make your log solely language related. I don't know how you can both so humble and gracious yet so breathtakingly arrogant at the same time. Maybe arrogant is a harsh word but to be fair you did describe majority of the population "mass of humanity is simply asleep and can't handle opinions that sway too far from the mainstream or aren't backed up by so-called science".

I don't know if it's a bad thing that people aren't so easily swayed by other opinions/facts by 'questionable' sources and rightly demand for a thorough explanation. Then when you fail to give a convincing argument- you blame it on the fact that people are simply sheep and are afraid of the truth.

It's a shame though because I genuinely enjoy reading your logs and it would be loss if you were to leave.

I laughed when you attributed

look at the massive gap between life expectancy in Australian aboriginals today and the rest of the Australian population

to just their diet and access to sunlight.

Because obviously there isn't any Aboriginals who live in remote areas which don't have many accessible health services and obviously there isn't mainstream health services often lack the cultural sensitivity and remain unwelcoming places for many Indigenous peoples.

It would obviously be irrelevant to even consider how the "Indigenous health workforce remains disproportionately low when compared to the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders that make up the Australian population."

It would be ridiculous to even discuss how more than 200 years of dispossession, racism and discrimination have left Indigenous Australians with some of the lowest levels of education, highest levels of unemployment, poorest health and most appalling housing conditions.

Anyways I wish you well. What do I know? Maybe I'm just part of the masses of sheep who are too blind to see the truth

Sometimes I can't tell if you're putting on some kind of satire and I'm being too literal when taking your political statements at face-value.

[PeterMollenburg]

I couldn't resist...

I had every intention of staying away for much longer. I ought not to make threats or declarations, as it seems I cannot stick to them (sounds familiar - my study plans!).

I want to initially apologise to Cavesa. I don't know if she's following my log, but... I don't intend to apologise for my views, but leaving abruptly may have left you feeling like I felt it was your fault. I don't like blame culture or sensationalised victimisation. I was just frustrated, nothing to do with you, but if I did make you feel bad, I apologise.

I'm pleased with the support, there's much more of it than I expected, for both my French learning and my views on other things. Thank you. And thanks for those who PM'd me as well A special mention for iguanamon as well, you've almost singlehandedly drawn me back here without knowing it. Thanks always for your support. Elenia, I am like your father somewhat in that I do get overtaken at times by feeding frenzies - a desire for information, for clarity, which usually comes from conspiracy type sources. I've been angry, accepting, angry again, accepting again. Information is useful but, I agree, not if it's to the detriment of one's joy on earth. Which is why I wonder at times, whether it's even pointless. Like left vs right in politics, one side of a war vs another, one soccer team playing another, is it more 'the trap' to be engaged in the battle, no matter what side you choose than to see it all for the game that it is, a game designed to pull in all kinds from all walks of life. Give us all a sport to keep us distracted, give us all opposing views and sides to keep us engaged. This is where books like The Power of Now really have me wondering if I'm no different than anyone else with opposing views and equally strong convictions. However as rlnv touched on, we ought to be questioning much more, as it does seem that we're headed for a world in which populations are completely disengaged from the decision making as it will be left to leaders and experts to choose what's best for us.

And so, I'm equally if not more grateful for Sarafina's insights on my arrogance. It is extremely arrogant of me. Mind you I should've perhaps worded things better. I ought to know better than just label the vast majority of people as sheep. That in itself may be an illusion that's been sold to me and I've bought into (would it not be useful for leaders have individuals within a population believe that the majority is asleep, unwilling to question, lacking insight or truth, so we don't talk about it?). I ought to give humanity more credit, honestly. And arrogance is dangerous. It demonstrates a lack of desire to self reflect. That's something I ought not to do. After all, I've said for a long time I ought to always allow room for the fact that I may be 100% plain wrong.

On the subject of blogs... I have ironically been considering some more engaging posts - audio, video, reviews, within my log here. I don't wish to do a blog, and I agree with Sarafina, sharing that it ought to remain focused on language learning. I get myself into enough trouble here let alone having a whole blog with even more open expression. It's a recipe for disaster for someone who wants to spend time language learning and is already too selfish with his time (in other words I should be devoting more time to other important things too). Were I to land myself in political/conspiracy 'battles' from a blog, well, it wouldn't be good. I'm not good at defending myself either. And of course I'm not unique. I'm an amateur. My views like those with opposing views are regurgitated from experts, authors and other sources. They are not mine. I have adopted many of them, but I didn't come up with them.

And the subject of Aboriginals (Australian), yes I agree with all you stated Sarafina. I did an assignment on aboriginal health in my nursing studies many years ago. I have a LOT of sympathy for their past in terms of understanding their present state. I guess I simply neglected to mention it, again poorly constructed arguments perhaps? If so, I ought to just shut up and leave it to the experts. Mind you, be careful people, experts and science is being used more and more and more as a way to direct society and behaviour, to socially engineer

On moving abroad. Life has been very financially challenging of late, so i'm not sure what the future holds... yet. I shifted my focus from Belgium to Switzerland and back to Belgium (while hopping on over to contemplate Luxembourg quietly in the background, and I still am). France is ever more distasteful, and I expected as much with current ahem ****ment. My health beliefs had me seeking alternative (countries). In the end i'm back at fixating on Belgium as stated, and Lux. to a lesser degree. Switzerland is far too difficult to find work and to jump through resident permit hoops and nursing qualification hoops. It's hard enough for French citizens with recognised nursing qualifications, let alone monsieur le PM.

My language studies of late
In January I did 70 hours of French. It was really a continuation of 2017, not much had changed.... then...

In early February (or was it late Jan), I started to get serious. Unfortunately/Fortunately, I ditched French in Action. I calculated the hours needed to complete it and realised it was too much of a time sink for my current level (how many people have already hinted at this for a loooong time?). Thus I opted to smash Assimil Using French to bits with relentless study on all fronts to bash it into my brain. That continues: 2nd wave at home, shadowing in car, listening while kayaking etc.

I did lots of reading with regards to passing C1/C2 exams and planning and goals, an aspect I've always been too vague on, I think. I wrote up a plan month by month, in terms of which materials to tackle, and have gone a little French crazy. Every single moment I could steal to do some French, well, I have been doing so. 47 hours of French so far only 12 days into February. But it's been unhealthy and too selfish, but I made up my mind if something had to give in my routine it was going to be exercise, not study. So when my wife raised concerns, I offered to focus on my study and any other spare time will be family orientated. We'll see how that goes. I also rarely get headaches and in the last couple of days have been a bit concerned I've been pushing things a bit too much.

With regards to my activity on this forum and what I share, it's a bit like the idea of a blog. I'm reluctant to utilise technology nowadays but I do see the positives as well. It just depends on where i'm willing to draw the line and with regards to what tools. Having said all this, i'm a hypocrite, a paradox and a bit of a wanker. I do things I shouldn't, I don't do things I should, I don't practise what I preach and I preach what I don't practise. I reserve the right not to be perfect, to be fallible and all that, but at the end of the day i'm human... I think.

I feel like I'm a teenager who's broken up with girlfriend only to come back to her and wonder on the inside if it's really set to last. Sorry forum, but i'm not sure my activity on here is in my best interests. Are the traps of being human in today's world. Now those reflections on the forum are not anything to do with the awesome people here, topics, help etc, it's the fact that it's basically a distraction and a record of myself online which i'm not comfortable with, never have been, but continue to play (it's my version of FB).