2019: Learn Harder [DE, ZH, ES, EU, PL, KO]
Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:59 pm
Hi, all! I'm back (and a day late again, what a surprise ).
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 ):
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. 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!
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 ):
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. 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!