Serbian - B1 in One Year

[Rob Tickner]

I've been wanting to say something about those monkeys for close to a week now. Thanks for breaking the silence Clarity! That picture is the greatest.

Great progress with your Serbian basica, if you want to get into reading but it's still a little daunting, it may be worth having a look at the Kindle range to see if a Serbian -> English dictionary is available, as that could make a whole range of books suddenly accessible to you. Just a thought.

Love the graphs, by the way.

[basica]

Okay, haven't updated in a while - I gotta be honest this week I just haven't really been feeling it and just been considering throwing in the towel for a while. Dunno why I'm feeling like that, but it's a slump that I am gonna just try and ride through. Anyways, with that said:

Great progress with your Serbian basica, if you want to get into reading but it's still a little daunting, it may be worth having a look at the Kindle range to see if a Serbian -> English dictionary is available, as that could make a whole range of books suddenly accessible to you. Just a thought.

Thanks for the compliment and suggestion. I had considered using Kindle for this purpose, but unfortunately there isn't really a bilingual dictionary going on for Serbian like there is with French and German, which is a bit annoying. Hopefully something turns up eventually, but I am not holding my breath for something to develop any time soon.

Love the graphs, by the way.

Cheers, I like including them as it helps not only me see where I am going and have been, but it helps others too. Speaking of which I suppose I should include one for this month:



As you can see this month (green) is a bit more crazier than the previous 2 months but yet my total word count is higher than the word counts for the same period last month. I am really starting to write fast when I am writing about familiar content. Today's story for example was 160 words and I did it in around 6/7 mins. My first story back in June was almost the same amount of words (166) and yet took me well over 20mins to compose. I really should record the times, but I am too lazy to do so to be honest (which is why I don't include times for my textbook or other types of study which aren't inherently timed).

In a couple days I will have been studying for 5months (150 days) and sometimes I wonder to myself if I really have much to show for it. The last couple days I'm feeling not so much to the point I have been thinking of giving it a rest for a while, but I doubt that will really be helpful as I no doubt will experience attrition if I am not actively using it. I just think I need to change things up a bit, I am just unsure how. Hmm. I really do need to think about that because right now it's just really feeling like a bit of a chore.

In any case, the main idea for now (unless I change things up) is to get up to date with my Anki deck. My memorisation of new cards is really not that great because I am not reviewing all cards that are there to be reviewed every day because I have a relatively low cap. I think if I spend a couple weeks catching up (not adding anymore new cards) I should get up to scratch and not be so shaky with my new vocabulary.

Likewise, I think I might try more on focusing to speak and I am still figuring out how to target the reading situation - not too happy with the Grisham novel to be honest and not sure where to start with an "easy" to read book. Anyways, that's it for now folks. Catch you again in a few days probably

[basica]

So had some exchanges on since I posted here last and had the chance to speak with someone I hadn't spoken to in a few weeks and she remarked on my progress in that short amount of time. The main differences she pointed out was that I was visibly struggling when we were talking before in that I was pausing frequently, searching for words and/or attempting to find ways to phrase things. Now in contrasts, I am speaking more smoothly, less searching of words and I seem to be able to express myself more easily and as a result the conversation flows nicely. Along with that, my grammatical errors have also reduced a noticeable amount.

It was really interesting for her to say those things because after our conversation when I had time to sorta ponder over her feedback, I realized she was right. It really wasn't that long ago when I would constantly stop to search for words and struggle to find ways to express something on my mind but I had all but forgotten that struggle because I am so caught up in the here and now.

With that said, today is day 150. 5 months have passed since I first started (a little bit over since I started roughly a week or so before I started to use anki which is what I am using to measure the time) and I realize in one way how much I have improved from the beginning but in other ways I still feel like I am no different than when I started. I know this is silly to think but it's a reoccurring view that I have of my progress. I have 7 months to go, and I am not really sure if I will get to B1 in that time or not. I hope so though.

Anyways, my spirits are up a bit today compared to the last few days. I have paused Glossika for now because to be honest I was really beginning to resent doing it. I feel much better doing my other regular tasks. I will try to find something else to do but still haven't settled on something that I really dig and feel that suits me. Catch y'all in a couple days.

[Rob Tickner]

150 days, great effort!

If you're starting to express yourself more easily, and conversations are starting to flow much nicer, then you may be closer to B1 than you think.

[basica]

Thanks

You could be right, I dunno though. I find that when people speak I understand very little enough to get the theme of what they are saying usually, and on some occasions understanding what they said perfectly but mostly just enough words here and there to pick up on what they're talking about. I feel like I am still far away from getting to the point where I have a very clear understanding of what's being said which is I guess what I am expecting at a B1ish level.

[basica]

So, I've just set up the new theme and I like it It will take a little getting used to though as the layout is a bit different - not in a bad way, just different. Nice selection I think.

Anyways, my studies are going about the same. I've finally decided to do 2 things:

• Study the BCS textbook 30mins a day.
• Do various one week trials of different learning methods.

This week's trial is listening to the same Glas Amerike "Otvoreni Studio" episode everyday for this week and see if my comprehension has improved at all. Depending on how much I enjoy it, I will either just move onto the next thing, extend it for another week or lastly add it as a permanent part of my routine (doubt it). I figure systematising my efforts of trying things out will help me actually do so

In other news, I've finally got confirmation from work that I can take my trip in November, so I'm pretty excited and looks like my mother is coming along with me This will be interesting as it's no longer a sink or swim opportunity - which is both good and bad. It just means I have to find situations to put myself in frequently that means other parties or myself don't use her as our translator. The plus side is that she can help foster comprehension when things get tough.

Going back to my learning routine, my problem is that I am a very lazy language learner, and I need to find things to do that don't seem too much like hard work A lot of this has to do with vocabulary at this point I think. I really need to push up this vocabulary by another 1000 or so words at the least I'm thinking, and I think I'd need about 3000 in total before I really got into the area where reading books wouldn't be as frustratingly challenging as they are now. So, to build up my vocabulary I will be grabbing it mostly from the BCS textbook and other places as need be.

I'm also hoping my time in Bosnia will help me acquire vocab, I'm not sure if I will pick up enough to have some sort of magical increase in ability, but at the very least it will give me tonnes of speaking practice. I plan on using a lot of "sink or swim" scenarios while I'm there (catching the bus by myself, going somewhere with one of my uncles or cousins without my mother around and the like) to really put the heat on me I will make sure I spread the love around though, because while I can handle not being able to express myself and understand others as best as I'd like - others may not necessarily appreciate it!

Anyways, I've rambled on a bit. That's an update as to where things are. I've been slacking off on the talking practice the last week or two as well, so that's something I am going to pump up soon to ensure I'm getting about 2 hrs a week because I'm gonna need as much preparation as I can get See you guys around!

[basica]

So far the experiments have been a total fail. I suck. I will try to keep them up from this weekend though, my heart just hasn't really been in it I suppose. In any case, it's been a while since my last chart so here we go:



Earlier this evening I had a chat with a Croatian tutor on italki that I had spoken to once before. Nice guy, spoke at my level and understood a lot of what he said. Realized after one instance that he had asked me a question that I had not picked up on it being a question however..got a bit paranoid that probably happened previously and didn't pick up on it

Anyways, it was a good experience but what I found amusing was at the end of our conversation I requested some feedback on what he thought and what he said was most amusing to me. He said if I was to rate your level, I'd give you a 3.5/10. Now, I think this is actually probably quite accurate but the funny thing about it is after our first conversation he was like "oh yeah, you're a 6, 6.5/10" and this was probably during my first month or 2 of study so I've plummeted 50% in my subsequent 3-4 months of study

What I think this is (and I have probably read this somewhere on HTLAL or something like that) that the better you speak the language the less slack you're given and the more you begin to be critiqued as if you're a native speaker. I'm hardly fluent, that's for sure but I do know how much more easily I express myself now and it's a massive difference. When I first spoke with him, it was painful and there was much searching for words or alternate ways of expressing myself. Now it is not painful and while I still pause to think and rephrase or search for words it's a massive difference. In some ways I wish I had these conversations recorded because yeah, mad difference that's why it's so funny to be critiqued worse than before

Anyways, that's it from me for now. See y'all again in a few days.

[basica]

Nothing to really update but here's something I was musing about for the last day or two.

I have been using Anki everyday for over 5 months, and before this I have used it on many other occasions. I am not one that does anything "complicated" with it. I simply have a double sided card and I have it set so I have to know how to not only translate it from my L1 to L2 but from L2 to L1. It seems to work well for me, and I sometimes have sentences or phrases, but almost all my cards are just single words, with declensions if they're not regular.

Anyways, the one thing I have learnt these past few months is let leech cards go. For ages I would try to hold onto them but it had a noticeable effect on me where it really made me frustrated whenever I'd see those words and just put me in a bad mindset. When I first started deleting them I was really worried, my perfectionism gets the better of me more often than not but after a little while I started feeling relieved when some sucky word became a leech and I knew I could get rid of it.

So, my advice is for those starting out - get rid of leech cards and feel better for it. Add them again later on if you must, and perhaps have them in a sentence if it helps. Anyways, I have been sorta thinking about it lately as I noticed I had a bunch of words the other day become leeches and I was so relieved to get rid of them, compared to my previous reaction of being worried about losing my "word count".

To je sve, ću pisati nešto u nekoliko dana

[basica]

Part of the reason I like coming onto HTLAL (or should I now say LL?) is reading the ups and downs of other people learning languages. I definitely have them from time to time, and it's reassuring to know that not everyone is just a machine who studies multiple hours a day everyday without falter. It's part of the reason why I include my ups and downs here, like I will be doing today

I don't know if it's just something in the air, but I too have been feeling a bit bummed out. I have my ups and downs, but more often than not I just been feeling like it sure'd be nice to be fluent by now I am just 2 weeks away from my 6 month mark and I find it hard to see how much I've really improved in that time if at all, I know in terms of fluidity I have improved - but I don't feel like my comprehension has improved very much. It almost seems like I have just gotten got at working with what I've got.

In saying that though, I realize that part of the solution is probably just working through a textbook and getting to the end of it but I am really too lazy for that right now. I haven't even bothered implementing my idea yet just because I guess when it comes to coming home after work I find it really hard to find the energy/motivation to do anything other than bludge. As such, I try to do as much as I can while I am at work and on a break.

I know where I need to go, but I am just being too lazy at the moment quite frankly. I will try to lure myself tomorrow into studying my textbook for "just a week" and see how that goes. I'll limit it to 20mins a day. Will let you guys know how this attempt works out in my next posting With all that said, I think it's 'bout time for another chart Until my next post, see y'all 'round!

[Radioclare]

I was going to say that I'm glad I'm not the only person who this language is depressing, but then I thought that might sound a bit wrong

I know what you mean about working through textbooks... I have so many and I so rarely manage to get to the end of one! I got to chapter 15 or 16 of the BCS textbook last year and then lost the will to continue with it, even though I know it's a really good book and I'm sure there's loads I could still learn by going back through the chapters I've already done, never mind completing the later ones.

If it's any consolation, I think it must have taken me 18 months to get to the level than you have after 6 months I was far less consistent with studying that you've been and kept picking up, then dropping it for weeks, then trying again... not very productive at all.

Hopefully as your big trip gets closer that is going to provide a huge motivation for study I am quite jealous!