2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

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LunaMoonsilver
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2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:59 pm

Hi, all! I'm back (and a day late again, what a surprise :lol: ).

So, after a fairly auspicious (for me) start to 2018 (as documented fairly well in last year's log), everything kind of trickled off when it got to the summer. I don't know why, it's not as if that means anything now I'm not in education anymore, but that's just how it worked out. I got back into a bit of a Duolingo/Memrise streak in September, lost this around October, and then didn't really do anything relating to languages (aside from a bit of translation) for the rest of the year.

Time to change things!

My title for my 2019 log is 'learn harder' but that basically just means 'learn smarter.' It's also supposed to be a reminder to me to not get as distracted by other hobbies... if I don't keep at language learning consistently, then nothing sticks, and then I'm just going over the same things again and again and again... Boring!

I'm just gonna do a quick rundown of the languages I'll be focusing on this year (and I'm gonna try not to add any more. Really. I'm going to try :lol: ):

German: I've been learning German for years, I basically don't 'study' any more (though I do need to brush up on grammar) and it's the language I translate out of into English. I'm still trying to achieve a Super Challenge in this language and I do need to work on speaking more often than I do, but I generally just use German much as I do English.

Mandarin: Well, I wasn't going to sign up for any extra challenges this year (I definitely have an extreme case of challengitis, wherein I sign up for all available challenges and succeed at precisely none of them) but PeterMollenburg's 365-day challenge caught my eye and next thing I knew, I'd signed up with Mandarin. :oops: Anywho, I first started seriously studying Mandarin around nine years ago, did half my degree in it and have never been at that same level since. I get frustrated studying it but loveeee using it, so I've made Mandarin my main focus for this year.

Spanish: Just plugging away at this one. I've learnt Spanish off-and-on since I was 14, and I'd like to finish my Super Challenge in it. Or something. Anything.

Basque: I've got Assimil and I'm ready to use it! I don't know that I'd ever particularly use Basque but it's an interesting language, pretty, and I want to learn it. It's kind of on a backburner but I'm happy to have it there to turn to when things get tough with the other languages.

Polish I started Polish and Korean for iguanamon's Free and Legal Language Challenge last year (which I did not do particularly well at; I sort of stopped coming back to the forum about midway through) and I didn't learn a whole lot. Lack of motivation on my part more than anything, I think, which is a shame. Still, I do want to learn Polish, so I'm going to try again this year, though with a wider range of resources this time.

Korean: Basically the same as above, except I'm well excited at the prospect of one day being able to understand K-dramas without subtitles.

Last year, I found that weekly goals were really motivating at first—but then they did get a little repetitive. Still, I want to stick to this idea a little, so I'm going to try and update at least once a week, though I'll be detailing my time spent on Mandarin a little more closely. For this first week, my goals are basically to get back into a routine, work out where I am with each language, and set up resources/some semblence of a plan for the rest of the year.

Happy 2019 everyone!
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Wed Jan 02, 2019 9:00 pm

Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby Teango » Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:18 pm

Yay...Basque! :) Good luck with your superb (and as always, fun and colourful) line-up of languages for 2019, Luna!!
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:07 pm

Teango wrote:Yay...Basque! :) Good luck with your superb (and as always, fun and colourful) line-up of languages for 2019, Luna!!


Thanks, Teango! Hopefully I'll make it a little further through the year this time :lol:
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:58 pm

Weekly Goals: Week Two
08.01.2019-14.01.2019

Okay, so I've spent a week relaxing (aka working) and had a think about the things I want to achieve this year. All of the things, not just language learning.

Although I've not done much, I've managed to study Mandarin for at least thirty minutes every day so far. I'm very glad that the cut-off isn't rigidly midnight, because I've not always managed that, but that's a solid three and a half hours of Mandarin for 2019. Wooh! I've been using apps (Duolingo, Memrise, Clozemaster) and podcasts (ChinesePod) mostly so far, but I'm planning some actual working-from-a-textbook study sometime this week.

I'm trying not to jump the gun this year, too, so I'm only going to set one goal per language per week at the beginning. I'm still going to keep track of everything I do, and I'm sure I'll do more, but I don't want to pile on the pressure.

Not yet, anyway. ;)

German
  • Read to 75%+ of Stormbreaker (Anthony Horowitz; tr. Karlheinz Dürr). - I'm already at the halfway point of this book, and it's not a particularly challenging read; I just need to get back into it. It would be amazing if I could finish the book this week, but if not, I should manage this.

Mandarin
  • Maintain my 365-day challenge streak. - I'm hoping to review some more lessons from NPCR and watch some more TV, but this really is a free-for-all right now.

Spanish
  • Watch two TV episodes. - I was making my way through Brooklyn Nine-Nine—Netflix has the Spanish dub, or they did last time I checked—so getting two episodes watched should be easy enough. It's stopping that might be the problem. :lol:

Basque
  • Review one Assimil lesson. - I haven't studied Basque in aaaages so I've gotta review. I'm going to try harder at Assimil this time, since I like it more than the Colloquial series.

Polish
  • Do two Pimsleur lessons. - After I sort of fizzled out of the FLC, I didn't pick up Polish (or Korean) for the rest of the year. So I'm going to basically start from scratch and use Pimsleur for that. I've gotten into podcasts more in the last year or so, and Pimsleur is just like that, which means I can listen to it when I walk home from work or when I'm out on a run. And with the training I'm supposed to be doing, that means there's absolutely no excuse not to get this done!

Korean
  • Study Integrated Korean Beginning Level 1, Lesson 1. - Again, I'm kind of starting from scratch (I'm going to have to revise the alphabet, but I'm not making that my sole focus for this week because I know I'll be bored), so I will probably also add Pimsleur in at some stage. If I spend around half an hour on this lesson this week, I'll be happy with that.




Gonna go ahead and get started on those goals now (jk, I'm at work early so I'm going to bed :roll: ). I'll come back with updates in the week if I learn anything cool. :D
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 15, 2019 6:39 pm

Moin moin!

So I'm pretty torn already as to whether the year is flying by, or if it's plodding along. I mean, I know it's just time passing as usual, but it feels like a lot of time has passed and yet we're only two weeks into the year. Weird.

Anyhow, starting to get back into the gist of things here, which has meant some actual time to spend on language learning this week. Perhaps not as much as I'd like (or I've not been as focused as I'd like), but I got some bits and pieces done here and there.

Last Week's Goals

German
  • Read to 75% of Stormbreaker (Anthony Horowitz; tr. Karlheinz Dürr). - I didn't manage this. Read a little bit more, but then I got to a new chapter and just... put the book down. Oops. Will try again this week; I really want to finish this book before I move onto yet another.

Mandarin
  • Maintain my 365-day challenge streak. - Done! I'm 14 for 14 so far, though there's been some days where I've definitely left it later than I should. Studying this week has included refreshing a bunch of NPCR lessons, doing some SRS, and getting back into a TV show.

Spanish
  • Watch two TV episodes. - Done! Yeah, absolutely smashed this one. I've watched seven episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine this week, so I'm midway through season two. I might have a look around for something else on Netflix when I've finished watching that, but I think I'm still going to be somewhat reliant on subtitles for a while.

Basque
  • Review one Assimil lesson. - Didn't do this. I definitely remember thinking about doing it, but shockingly, that did not get it done. :lol:

Polish
  • Do two Pimsleur lessons. - Didn't do this, either, but I have a better plan for fitting it into my schedule this week.

Korean
  • Study Integrated Korean Beginning Level 1, Lesson 1. - Teeeeeeechnically done? I didn't complete the lesson, but I did study the first two dialogues and started learning the new words. It's not an awful lot, but I'd already looked through the textbook before I chose it, so I knew the lessons were going to take a while.

Takeaways from last week:

Where I seem to be struggling is in fitting in actual 'study', which is definitely affecting those languages where I'm restricted in the materials I can use (Basque) or I'm a proper beginner (Polish, Korean). I'm not as worried about the German goal because I did some other reading/watching last week, but the other three languages where I didn't reach my goals are ones I need to get a good foundation in before I can start playing around.

Other activities last week:

  • Studied Polish for 20 mins using the Living Language textbook.
  • Watched Wonder Woman (2017), The Good Place S01E01, and Ouran High School Host Club E01-03 in German.
  • Made a word frequency list from Feuer und Stein by Diana Gabaldon, inspired by Lianne's posts about doing the same thing with Tentation.

So far, not too bad! :)
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 15, 2019 6:40 pm

Weekly Goals: Week Three
15.01.2019-21.01.2019

Okay, so my goals for this coming week are as follows:

German
  • Read to 75% of Stormbreaker. - I'm at work more this week, so I should find moments here and there to read more of the book too.

Mandarin
  • Maintain my 365-day challenge streak. - A given.
  • Watch another episode of 他来了,请闭眼 (Love Me If You Dare). - I've kept up the streak for two weeks now, so I think introducing the odd new task should give me a little more structure than just resorting to Memrise or Duolingo.

Spanish
  • Watch two TV episodes.
  • Read 30 pages. - I managed a meagre 17 pages last week and I've not got a chance of reaching my Super Challenge goals at that pace! 30 shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Basque
  • Review one Assimil lesson.

Polish
  • Do two Pimsleur lessons.
  • Finish Living Language Polish Lesson One.

Korean
  • Study more of Integrated Korean Beginning Level 1, Lesson 1. - I'm not going to force myself to finish this lesson this week, but I am tracking the overall time I've spent on it. That'll give me more information about how much time I'll need in future.

That's it for this week! I might try and pop in more, especially to talk about what I've been learning through the 365-day challenge. I just remembered, too, that I started a Super Challenge log last May, when I was all excited about it, so I'll resurrect that at some point, too. :D
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby cjareck » Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:22 pm

LunaMoonsilver wrote:[
Polish
  • Do two Pimsleur lessons.
  • Finish Living Language Polish Lesson One.

Good luck with Polish! You will surely need it, but the language is, in my opinion, beautiful ;) If you need help, just ask!
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Listening: 1+ (83% content, 90% linguistic)
Reading: 1 (83% content, 90% linguistic)


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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:58 pm

cjareck wrote:Good luck with Polish! You will surely need it, but the language is, in my opinion, beautiful ;) If you need help, just ask!


Thanks, cjareck! Don’t worry, I’ll be throwing myself right into your DMs as soon as I hit a snag! :lol:
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Re: 2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:51 pm

Ugh, had such a busy week. I'm working like thirteen days straight so I'm already so tired, but I had a bunch of stuff to get done before that all started... and I forgot to post here Tuesday. :oops: Gonna do a short and sweet goals post today—it's actually going alright, that all being said. :lol:

Last Week's Goals

German
  • Read to 75% of Stormbreaker. - Did it! Getting into the final stretch of the story now, too!

Mandarin
  • Maintain my 365-day challenge streak. - Did it! Lots of TV watching and app using, some studying and some podcasts.
  • Watch another episode of 他来了,请闭眼 (Love Me If You Dare). - Did it! Not sure how many episodes I watched exactly, but I'm ready to watch episode 8 next.

Spanish
  • Watch two TV episodes. - Didn't manage this; I forgot to watch anything in Spanish (spent more time watching in Mandarin) and then when I remembered, my Netflix was already being used :( Spoiler: I've already made up for that this week.
  • Read 30 pages. - Did it! I started trying to read a children's/YA book but I really didn't understand tons of that. So, I switched to manga instead. Sure, the pages count for less, but since it's all dialogue I'm finding it a lot easier to follow.

Basque
  • Review one Assimil lesson. - Did it! Didn't take that long either; I just have to sit down and do these things.

Polish
  • Do two Pimsleur lessons.
  • Finish Living Language Polish Lesson One. - Didn't do either of these goals. I was hoping to do the Pimselur lessons when out on a run, but I've been listening to podcasts instead (running is already difficult enough for me :lol: ). I really want something to watch in Polish (with subtitles, ofc) but everything on Netflix is done with a voiceover rather than actual dubbing and I just... can't.

Korean
  • Study more of Integrated Korean Beginning Level 1, Lesson 1. - Nooooooooooope. We need a sighing emoji on here I think :lol:




Okay, so, a couple of things: I'm making my goals for this week a little easier in light of the fact that I'm working a whole bunch and I'm spending this weekend doing the 24 in 48 readathon (you try and read for 24 hours out of 48) because I'm still fundraising for my half marathon. Also I like reading a whole bunch, no one's surprised by that.

Buuuuuuuuuuut as part of the readathon, I am going to try and add in some non-English books. It's literally about time, after all, so how quickly or slowly I read doesn't matter. For German, I've downloaded a couple of books through Kindle Unlimited that I'm hoping won't be too difficult; for Spanish and Mandarin, I found some manga scans.

I've also already registered for February's 6WC (starting a week tomorrow, wooh!) with Korean—I need to come up with some kind of idea/plan for that. The most amazing thing about the 365 day language challenge is that consistency I've kept up with Mandarin. I'm hoping that will prove to me I can study Korean every day too, but if it comes to studying Korean or losing my Mandarin streak, I'm going to choose Mandarin. :lol:




Weekly Goals: Week Four
22.01.2019-28.01.2019

German
  • Read the equivalent of two Super Challenge 'books' (100 pages).

Mandarin
  • Maintain my 365 day language challenge streak.
  • Read the first volume of 钢之炼金术师 (Fullmetal Alchemist).

Spanish
  • Watch two TV episodes.
  • Read the equivalent of one Super Challenge 'book' (50 pages).

Basque
  • Review one Assimil lesson.

Polish
  • Do one Pimsleur lesson.

Korean
  • Review dialogues from Integrated Korean Beginning Level 1, Lesson 1.
  • Come up with a loose 'study plan' for the 6WC.

I'm focusing on reading goals this week because of the readathon, but I'm also hoping to get some watching done on the other days, too. I'm really trying to hit the Super Challenge a little harder than I did any of the other times—but at this point, it is going to take a lot of work.

I'll probably let you all know how the readathon went on Monday—hopefully I'll end up with loooooooooads of non-English pages read! ;) :lol:
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