Neurotip 2020: Greek, Icelandic, things like that

[Neurotip]

Well, here we are facing the end of 2020. Have I achieved what I wanted to?

Achievements in 2020

Certainly I can say that I've kept up language-learning activities through the year. Listening to podcasts or radio programmes on my walk to work has been the single biggest activity in terms of time spent, and has allowed me to keep going with the 366-day challenge. I have missed a few days, but not many. I've done a bit of reading too, although not as much as I feel I ought to have.

This applies to both my main 2020 TLs, and I've also stuck to the plan of alternating one week Greek with one week Icelandic. On the whole I think this worked reasonably well. Starting with both languages at a broadly similar B1 level, I needed some system to keep them separate and make sure I was paying fair attention to each, and I didn't ever feel I was losing ground in a language during the week I wasn't studying it. On the other hand, in retrospect, trying to move forward with two languages when I wasn't yet confident in either of them was perhaps a bit ambitious.

Anyway, I did the full set of Dialang tests in each language last week...

In Icelandic, the last time I did this was December 2018 when it graded me at:
A2 in vocab, reading and listening, B1 in writing and 'structures' (i.e. grammar)
After this year's work (I didn't work on Icelandic during 2019) I've improved to B1 on all five tests.

In Greek, last December it gave me:
B1 in vocab, reading and structures, B2 in writing and listening
This time I got B2 in everything except structures.

The bottom line is that I've improved about half a CEFR level in each language. This isn't quite as good as I'd hoped for, but I'm not at all disappointed.

Incidentally, for anyone in a similar position thinking about learning one of these languages, it might be useful to mention how long I've spent learning them in total. The FSI class both languages as category IV, and estimate that they need 1100 hours of classroom time to get to their level 3, which I think is equivalent to C1. In my case:
Icelandic: around 280 hours over 3.5 years (with a year's break), achieved solid B1
Greek: around 360 hours over 2 years, achieved low B2

Oh, and traditionally I've posted recordings of myself reading unprepared texts in my TLs, so here we go...
Icelandic: audio, text
Greek: audio, text

What have I learned about language learning?

There are more effective and efficient methods that I could have used, but one thing that I have really learned this year is how important it is to find a method of learning that fits into your daily routine. It isn't enough for me to say to myself that I could do something or that I'd like to do it; if it's going to happen regularly, there has to be a time or a situation when that's what I do. And I'm quite pleased that my vocabulary has demonstrably improved in both languages despite the fact that most of my activity has been listening without looking words up. That said, vocab and grammar are clearly the areas where I need to put in a bit more work.

Looking back, I can see a couple of misconceptions that I could correct which might help with this. While I certainly think that using native materials from very early on is a good thing for several reasons, in Icelandic I've used little else from A2 onwards which has been disheartening when working intensively or inefficient when trying to get the gist of something I'm not really following. Indeed I've tended to see all my language exposure as either intensive (make absolutely sure I understand every word and every structure 100% before moving on) or extensive (as long as I'm picking up something, carry on and don't worry). The former is too exhausting to do for long; the latter is useful but encourages guessing without giving feedback on when you're right or wrong.

I'd make better use of my time by being less rigid, picking up on interesting words or phrases and feeling free to explore them, while not beating myself up if I skip over some details for the sake of keeping up my motivation. I suspect this is how I used to do it when I learned Italian years ago and I think it should be more fun and more efficient.

Plans for 2021

In spring 2020 I started learning Egyptian Arabic, through Language Transfer and learning the script; work commitments, my 366-day challenge commitment to Greek and Icelandic, and, well, things, put that on hold after two or three months. I'm determined to make this language a main TL for 2021, although the challenge is daunting. With Greek I already knew the alphabet and had a way into the vocabulary through technical English; with Icelandic I had basic Swedish as a starting point, and for all its baroque inflections the grammar is not that outlandish. With Arabic, on the other hand, I have no prior knowledge to help me with the script, the vocabulary or the grammar, and on top of that I want to learn a 'dialect' for which considerably less material is available to learners than for standard Arabic.

Nonetheless I think I can commit to it, firstly because I feel that deep-rooted attraction that I recognise from Italian, Greek and Icelandic, a feeling that somehow I've always been going to learn this language someday even if I've only just realised it, and secondly because - unlike certain other TLs (cough Icelandic cough) - I genuinely feel it's /worth/ learning as a skill which may actually be useful in my life in general. Also I'm exaggerating about the lack of materials, I already have plenty, and I plan to use them as follows:

1. Pimsleur (my first Pimsleur course! Should be interesting...) on my walk to work
2. Routledge alongside this, as and when, to consolidate vocab and grammar as well as for reading and writing practice in Arabic script
3. The Lingualism materials: Shuwayya 'An Nafsi (book and audio) for intensive exploration of how the language works in practice, and
4. The Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic Vocabulary for reference as necessary.

Greek and Icelandic have not lost their magic; the excitement that motivated me to start learning them has developed into a deeper connection, but the spark is still there and I won't abandon them. I've decided to put both in the 'maintaining' category, so that I can commit properly to Arabic. I will give myself the goal of trying to read or listen to something in one or other language every day though, and a specific 2021 goal for Icelandic is to finally finish Krabbaveislan, which has been on my shelf for three years now. Since I have yet to use either language in the field, so to speak, I'm also promising myself trips to Iceland and Greece as soon as it's feasible to do so. Fingers crossed.

Have a happy and healthy 2021 everyone and keep up the good work!

[crypticgalaxy]

Hey there, I'm new here. There are a lot of languages I know very little about, Icelandic and Greek being two of them, but they both sound very interesting. I'm pretty hyperfocused on Japanese right now, so I'm not looking to learn a new language just yet, but I'm wondering how much content there is in each language to consume? With languages that have fewer speakers, how difficult has it been to find interesting content to enjoy?

[Neurotip]

Hey there, I'm new here. There are a lot of languages I know very little about, Icelandic and Greek being two of them, but they both sound very interesting. I'm pretty hyperfocused on Japanese right now, so I'm not looking to learn a new language just yet, but I'm wondering how much content there is in each language to consume? With languages that have fewer speakers, how difficult has it been to find interesting content to enjoy?

Hi cryptic and welcome! I agree when you're considering taking on a new language, it makes a huge difference how much material there is available and whether it's the sort of thing you're interested in. It does vary a lot between languages. In both Greek and Icelandic there's a wide range of printed literature, both modern and going back decades, although you mostly have to import it which can get pricey. There is no difficulty finding free online newspapers, discussion forums and so on in either language. Icelandic TV is easily available online and there is a certain amount of Greek language content on YouTube.

You may already have found The Master List of Resources but if not, happy hunting!

[crypticgalaxy]

Hey there, I'm new here. There are a lot of languages I know very little about, Icelandic and Greek being two of them, but they both sound very interesting. I'm pretty hyperfocused on Japanese right now, so I'm not looking to learn a new language just yet, but I'm wondering how much content there is in each language to consume? With languages that have fewer speakers, how difficult has it been to find interesting content to enjoy?

Hi cryptic and welcome! I agree when you're considering taking on a new language, it makes a huge difference how much material there is available and whether it's the sort of thing you're interested in. It does vary a lot between languages. In both Greek and Icelandic there's a wide range of printed literature, both modern and going back decades, although you mostly have to import it which can get pricey. There is no difficulty finding free online newspapers, discussion forums and so on in either language. Icelandic TV is easily available online and there is a certain amount of Greek language content on YouTube.

You may already have found The Master List of Resources but if not, happy hunting!

Thank you for the helpful advice! Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite Icelandic tv show/movie? I know next to nothing about the country and language, I think it'd be interesting to get a small taste.

[Neurotip]

Thank you for the helpful advice! Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite Icelandic tv show/movie? I know next to nothing about the country and language, I think it'd be interesting to get a small taste.

Oh, I just turn on RÚV and see what's playing We did enjoy Trapped if you can get hold of it.

[Neurotip]

Up to now, my languages have been next to no use in my work as a hospital doctor - I just don't come across monolingual speakers of those languages in my part of the world. There is a fair-sized Egyptian and Sudanese community where I work though, and I did slightly have this in mind when I chose Arabic as my TL for this year.

Well, yesterday I had the opportunity to say a couple of words to an Egyptian patient with little English, and I can tell you the atmosphere in the room changed completely (in a good way). And this was day 7 of Pimsleur Egyptian Arabic. Thank you Pimsleur!