2021: A Spanish Odyssey

[reineke]

Try Reptilicus. Or you could call it a stroke of luck.

Reptilicus, or as I call him, "Dutch Godzilla." I have to agree with the Fox here: you're now being forced to really concentrate on native content until you recover from your John Connor moment.

The bad
The idea of learning Persian has been metastisising in my mind since Saturday.

This is why you will never get access to your course books in my basement. Consider yourself officially thrown out with the bathwater.

Wow... now... I was revisiting the log of Skynet colega², but ... I don't seem to grasp a single thing, speaking of the current Guest Post (that contains a quote as well), y'know. First off, the log was renamed. But since jokes aren't usually explained, maybe it wouldn't be clarified. Side-note: There also are Serious Jokes of course, and his title may belong to that category.
But as for your post, Melkor... I really don't seem to understand too many things. Maybe this is sort of an Inside But Still Public World Domination Attempt Speech where the Style Element of Hiding Something in Plain Sight is being brought up as well? And one more thing Skynet, I'd still like to know how "that machine" (as someone called you) is able to do these things, like advancing so and so much with languages. As I told ya (in this thread), that wasn't a rhetorical question even.

I had no idea who/what Reptilicus was before Melkor's seemingly self-explanatory response: a giant reptilian monster that has a penchant for devastating (Dutch?) cities. Traditionally, Godzilla was a purely Japanese problem, until Hollywood made him a trans-continental threat. I am not a comic book fan, so I am really out of my depth on this one.

I am a huge fan of science-fiction (think Asimov, Clarke, Zindell, Hamilton and to a lesser extent, Crichton) and have a predilection for cyberpunk (AI overruns humans). Melkor, on the other hand, prefers high fantasy (think Tolkien, Eddings, Gemmell, Cooper and to a lesser extent, Prachett). I have read every single book written by these authors except Prachett's 'The Shepherd's Crown' which was released posthumously. His humour is really impressive... similar to that of William (Bill) Bryson. If you ever want sci-fi and high fantasy recommendations, I can give you plenty.

Please do not be surprised for not 'getting it.' I would experience the exact same thing if two friends made references to characters from authors I had never read like Danielle Steel or Sue Grafton.

Read about SKYNET here.

You mixed up "Dutch" and "Danish".

[Skynet]

I just paid 55 Jordanian dinars (~ US$76) for my DELF B2 exam in Amman, Jordan on the 27th of February 2019. Today (27th Feb) was the first day of registration, and I was not willing to procrastinate this important moment in my language-learning development. If anyone would like to sit the exam in Jordan, here is the link.

[Melkor]

I think that we may have a winner for the "Best Titled Log" award!

Wow, just a month until the DELF B2. You can definitely do it.

[Skynet]

Confession:
I, as a research assistant, was not given a break during the winter recess despite having submitted my papers and proposals three weeks in advance of the deadline. My supervisors who had given me the aforementioned deadline, did not bother themselves in checking their e-mails as they were too busy holidaymaking. The upside to their blatant display of the exceptionally infuriating 'Mediterranean vibe' is that they left me with copious amounts of time to delve deeper into my FSI French Basic and DLI German Basic projects.

FSI French Basic:
This is, without contestation, the best English-based French course that I have ever come across! Those situational, pattern-drill and fill-in-the-blank exercises improved my automaticity tremendously. I did not struggle completing* a unit of FSI each day, but I will admit that the course was notoriously insipid. Having completed the DLI French Basic course, I can confirm that FSI French would take someone to the B2 level, and DLI French to the B1+ level. I am fulsome in my appreciation of FSI French, and would not hesitate to recommend it to students of French after they had gone through easier courses from Assimil, Linguaphone and Living Language Ultimate.

DLI German Basic:
DLI outdid itself again with its German course! It was an extremely well-designed and explained programme with comprehensive notes. I can also confirm that the Assimil trio that I was working through laid a solid foundation for me to progress quickly, and without too many impediments, through the DLI course. I intend to complete the Assimil trio and will resume GWOT tomorrow (lesson 78) and the remaining two courses upon my return from Jordan next week.

Countdown to the DELF B2:
My flight to Amman, Jordan is only 7 days away. I will be hosted by my Jordanian relatives (by marriage) and will go on a brief tour of the country with them which will include Petra (Al-Khazneh), Mount Nebo, the Wadi Rum and the Amman Citadel. I have a peace that transcends all human logic concerning this exam, and I cannot wait to sit the DELF. I will be using Didier's Réussir le DELF B2 over the next ten days to familiarise myself more with the examination format, and to improve my time management.

Life after the DELF B2:
After hopefully achieving my short-term French goal, I want to focus more on reading French books (looking at books by Luc Besson) in addition to maintaining my current pace with the B2/C1 graded courses by CLE/Hachette/Didier that I have been using. German study is going to logically eclipse French study, and coupled with the ebbing of winter (read: return to cycling, hiking, and mountaineering) and my decision to take several PhD-level courses this semester, will leave French firmly in the back seat.

Thinking aloud...
Knowing the vast chasm between DELF B2 and DALF C2, and not being the one to succumb to hubristic self-delusions, I am entertaining the idea of sitting the DALF C2 in Q4 2021.

[PeterMollenburg]

Once again, a pleasure to read your updates, recommendations and plans, Skynet.

FSI French, hey? I'll certainly keep your comments in the back of my mind, excellent feedback, thank you.

GOOD LUCK with your B2 DELF exam! Capital letters are for emphasis because I'm excited for you, not because you need any good luck to assist you, as you've done an incredible amount of efficient and diligent work. You are a source of inspiration to those of us who piss their time away at times when we most certainly shouldn't - life's too short!

[zenmonkey]

Love the log title.

[Skynet]

I am back from sitting the DELF B2 in Jordan! My middle name is Pollyanna, so I am hopeful that I did well!

My trip to Jordan - and the layover in Cairo - was exactly what I needed to clear my head and decide on which language would replace French. Sleeping in the Wadi Rum with the Jordanian Bedu was a memorable experience that enabled me to conclude that SPANISH is my next language learning endeavour.

French
I have not yet finished the courses that I was working on before my DELF, so I will do so before scaling down on courses drastically. Upon completing the courses, I will stick to French internet radio, podcasts and current affairs viewing. I also incurred a massive French debt after not working on French at all for the four days after my DELF.

German
I took my GWOT with me to Jordan and was even working through it the night before the DELF. German has really, really captured my interest. I shall continue my Assimil Cubed regimen from tomorrow. The goal is still to sit either TestDaF or B2 Zert. in Q4 2019.

Spanish
I want to dedicate 15 min a day to SPANISH WITHOUT TOIL.

I am not looking forward to the new week because I have to compensate for missing an entire week of of work and school. What is of a more pressing concern is my inability to tell whether the sand that keeps falling on my desk is the Sandman's or Jordan's.

[reineke]

---

[Melkor]

I am back..
TOIL...

Are you gonna crack?

As Enigma, the only thing that'll be cracking are languages. Replacing 'plugboard' with Steckerbrett would make his title a thousand times more German-y.

[Skynet]

Spanish:
SWOT: 7/112
Spanish Without Toil has 112 lessons that I intend*** to go through in the way that Assimil prescribes (ie, passive + active wave). Not only will this mark the first time that I have used an Assimil 'correctly' (or any course, for that matter), it will also mark the first time that I have decided to learn a new language at a leisurely pace and without a deadline.

German:
GWOT: 98/126, GWE: 84/100 and NGWE 84/100.
NGWE has made me realise just how odd I must sound to others in English and Shona as I typically avoid using contractions, slang and the like during speech. In all honesty, NGWE should really be called Assimil German Colloquialisms With Ease as I have learnt a great deal of contemporary German speech.

French:
Continuing: CLE Communication PdF (365 L, Int.), CLE Grammaire PdF (400 L, Ava.) and CLE Orthographe PdF (405 L, Ava.)
Finished: CLE Comprehension Orale 3 and CLE Grammaire en Dialogues. Yikes! CLE really dropped the ball with the latter course! The course is redundant if one has attempted the Grammaire and Vocab. courses. I shall not be replacing these two with another course: only native media is allowed from this point. I installed TuneIn Radio on my laptop, and have been streaming French internet radio stations this weekend as I studied for my three tests slated for the upcoming week. To show my commitment to non-course French immersion, I have ordered Dan Brown's Digital Fortress, Michael Lewis' The Big Short: Inside the Doom Machine and Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt in French.

DISCLAIMER:
I have been in my OCD-riddled body long enough to know that I am highly unlikely to use SWOT for both waves, and am more likely to use Spanish With Ease and New Spanish With Ease as the 'active wave' equivalents. That said, it never hurts to allow Pollyanna to dream.