2021: A Spanish Odyssey

[Melkor]

Bete für deine schnelle Genesung von dieser schwächenden Migräne.

[Skynet]

Bete für deine schnelle Genesung von dieser schwächenden Migräne.

Thank-you very much for your concern Melkor, and for checking up on me in hospital and at home. I am delighted to see that you caved into peer pressure and joined the forum! I see that you have already become acquainted with the forum's helpful and pleasant denizens.

After a debilitating fortnight-long severe migraine, I am not-so-proudly reporting that I have made zero progress on German and French, and am currently struggling with slurred speech, short-term memory loss, dizziness, lethargy and lack of balance and coordination. The good thing is that lights, sounds and smells no longer trigger insufferable pain...the unfortunate thing is that I will be progressing with French and German at a glacial pace (if at all) henceforth. In any case, projects "DELF B2 Pro (Q1 2019)" and "Goethe B1 (H1 2019)" are suspended until further notice!

I discussed language learning with my neurologist and we both concluded that language learning may have triggered my first episode in 12 years, which also happens to be the number of years that have lapsed since I last used French.

Now to catch up on two weeks' worth of lectures...

[PeterMollenburg]

Whatever got a hold of you SKYNET, certainly got a strong hold of you. Please do your best to heal and get past this sinister attack on your health. Nasty stuff indeed. We need you back as you’re one hell of a motivator with one hell of a work ethic. But if you were doing too much, I hope this huge episode grants you the power to know your limits. Nevertheless, the SKY is the limit with you, you cannot be accused of doing things in halves. Je te souhaite un prompt rétablissement !

[Elenia]

Take care of yourself!

[zjones]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, and I hope everything gets better soon. Take care of your body and don't feel guilty for needing extra rest. Breaks can be a really great time to consolidate your knowledge even if you aren't actively working on your languages. Anyway, I'm glad you got the help you needed and that you are okay. hugs!

[Melkor]

Welcome back to the land of the living! Now, stay there! See you in class!

[Skynet]

Welcome back to the land of the living! Now, stay there! See you in class!

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, and I hope everything gets better soon. Take care of your body and don't feel guilty for needing extra rest. Breaks can be a really great time to consolidate your knowledge even if you aren't actively working on your languages. Anyway, I'm glad you got the help you needed and that you are okay. hugs!

Take care of yourself!

Whatever got a hold of you SKYNET, certainly got a strong hold of you. Please do your best to heal and get past this sinister attack on your health. Nasty stuff indeed. We need you back as you’re one hell of a motivator with one hell of a work ethic. But if you were doing too much, I hope this huge episode grants you the power to know your limits. Nevertheless, the SKY is the limit with you, you cannot be accused of doing things in halves. Je te souhaite un prompt rétablissement !

Thank-you for your extremely caring messages. I really appreciate them all!

After an entire week of relaxing, I have made a stunning recovery! The migraine aura is completely gone and I no longer feel like I am experiencing a protracted astral projection. I have comfortably caught up with all of my school work and research and even had time left over to continue with cycling, sailing school and French (sadly, I did not manage to invest time in German).

[SGP]

After an entire week of relaxing, I have made a stunning recovery! The migraine aura is completely gone and I no longer feel like I am experiencing a protracted astral projection. I have comfortably caught up with all of my school work and research and even had time left over to continue with cycling, sailing school and French (sadly, I did not manage to invest time in German).

Glad to hear about the recovery.

[Skynet]

OK, I admit that I have been fannying about for a while now (with regards to German) and am convinced that I have lost all the progress that I had made. Sailing season is officially over, and cycling and hiking season will be ending soon too. The only illness that winter brings (I have never gotten colds and flu during the winter) is cabin fever. Fortunately, this winter will be very different as I have German and French to keep me occupied.

GERMAN
After a 3.5 week hiatus, my German is undoubtedly falling apart. Remember this update?

GERMAN:
After reading Igunamon's Multi Track Approach, I have made serious concessions with my German list and have updated it to look like this:

GERMAN (2 hrs a day): Grand Total = 294 hours = A2+???

Assimil: German Without Toil (1965)
Assimil: German With Ease (2001)
Linguaphone (1960)
Linguaphone (1990)
Living Language Ultimate: Beginner - Intermediate (2000)
Cortina (1954)
+ DW's Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten

It's not as short as is recommended by the MTA, but it's half of what it was just seconds ago. Halving the number of courses is a massive feat, in my opinion.

Well, I am pleased to report that the peer pressure good advice did not end there. A certain member who's currently learning Swedish and intends to learn German, French and Dutch soon, suggested that I trim my list further. After much soul searching, I have agreed*** to reduce the number of non-native courses to just (gulp!!!) three:

Assimil: German Without Toil (1965): 126 lessons by A. Cherel
Assimil: German With Ease (2001): 100 lessons by H. Schneider
Assimil: German With Ease (2014): 100 lessons by M. Roemer

I have also deflated my expected German competency level to A2 from A2+/B1 as I will be giving German only one hour a day henceforth. The strategy is to complete one lesson of each Assimil per day for the next four months, which is an absolutely achievable target.

(*** The agreement is that I should add more B1/B2 courses instead of titivating my German at the A0-A2 level repeatedly.)

FRENCH
CLE Vocabulaire PdF ( Int.), CLE Grammaire PdF (Int.) and CLE Communication PdF (Int.) are going very well indeed. At the rate that I am going through them, I should be starting the Advance levels in a fortnight. Last Sunday in church, I sat beside a Moroccan student whose English was not very good. Suffice it to say, I was more than willing to be his translator, but realised that I have a surprisingly secular knowledge of French for a Christian. I was going to delve into "Le Seigneur Des Anneaux," but it looks like I will be reading more about "Le Roi des rois et le Seigneur des seigneurs" in le Nouveau Testament de la Bible (édition révisée de Louis Segond) instead. Speaking of Christianity and French, could anyone kindly recommend good podcasts?

[SGP]

After much soul searching, I have agreed to reduce the number of non-native courses to just (gulp!!!) three:

Assimil: German Without Toil (1965): 126 lessons by A. Cherel
Assimil: German With Ease (2001): 100 lessons by H. Schneider
Assimil: German With Ease (2014): 100 lessons by M. Roemer

In case you already read another Assimil book before (any language), or even if you didn't:
do you intend to do the book's courses one time only without repetition, the "what sticks that sticks and what doesn't that doesn't" way, or do you intend to repeat?