Re: Because why not? (Russian)
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 7:47 pm
We stand now at the beginning of a new decade so it should be a good time to write an entry about what my long term goals are. I'll turn 30 in march so it really feels like the beginning of something new
Up until now
I started learning Swedish when I was 21 or 22. This kickstarted my language learning passion and since then I've studied German, Hindi, Croatian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian, re-started Japanese (first time studied when I was 16) and sort-of-restarted Italian (learned at school). A few years ago the list of languages I wanted to learn was much longer than it is now. It included German, Swedish, Icelandic, Belarusian, Polish, Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian, Greek, Hindi and at some point Nepali and Latin. Icelandic, Belarusian, Polish, Greek, Latin and Nepali I all dropped pretty quickly because there was simply no real incentive for me to learn those other than the fact that I liked how they sounded.
When I was close to 24-25 years old I decided that I should concentrate on fewer languages so that I could make significant progress and actually be able to use them. There were three languages that I decided to keep studying: German (very useful in Switzerland and the whole of Europe, love listening to it), Croatian and Hungarian (both languages I really like to listen to and find interesting because they're so different from my own language). It was only a year ago I added Russian to the list.
Languages I speak
French (native) and English (C1 speaking maybe, C2 for oral comprehension - I was only tested for the latter). I also read and understand Italian and can speak it a bit (though I never use it so I don't really know how well... what I do know is that my accent is quite terrible!).
Current and long term goals
When it comes to languages I go for depth rather than breadth; the languages I choose to devote time to I want to be able to use quite intensively. Meaning: I want to be able to easily read books, articles/newspapers, as well as understand close to everything I hear (tv series, movies, documentaries...). I'm definitely not as focused on production/output; ideally I'd like to get to a B2 level at least but seeing as I never practice any language with anyone it remains a rather nebulous objective.
My learning style is accordingly entirely input-based. I pretty much never study grammar, I start watching series/movies from the get go. This is the way I like to study languages: by consuming media. I also study the translation of songs that I love in my target languages, a simple way to build up vocabulary.
A quick and not so detailed timeline of what I'm expecting for the coming years:
2020: Concentrating my efforts on Russian and Hungarian with a side of German.
2025: I want to be able to read and understand pretty much anything in Russian, Croatian and Hungarian, the latter being probably the most challenging of the three. I have five years to reach this goal, it's definitely doable if I don't let myself get too sidetracked or burnt out.
I should also try and keep my Italian from fading too much in the background. It's one of my heritage languages as well as a national language of Switzerland and it would be a shame if I were to forget it.
As for English: keep maintaining a high level in it, both in writing and speaking.
2030: If everything goes according to my current plans I should have a high level of written and spoken comprehension in English, German, Croatian, Hungarian and Russian (maybe Italian too). I'll be fully satisfied if I also manage to reach a B2 level in speaking in at least two of those (English and Italian don't count though!)
"Maybe one day" languages:
10 years is a long time and I doubt I'll be able to fight off the wanderlust for so long - and I'm fine with that as long as my primary goals are still met.
I will probably study:
Would love to learn but probably won't happen
****
So that's it. This is what I'm planning to do for the coming years. I have no idea if I'll reach my goals, especially since I have other time consuming hobbies like writing; I'm not going to stress about it. Maybe I won't be fluent in the languages I listed above, maybe I won't be able to understand everything or read everything with ease. I'll still be learning a lot and enjoy myself along the way and that's what matters most
Up until now
I started learning Swedish when I was 21 or 22. This kickstarted my language learning passion and since then I've studied German, Hindi, Croatian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian, re-started Japanese (first time studied when I was 16) and sort-of-restarted Italian (learned at school). A few years ago the list of languages I wanted to learn was much longer than it is now. It included German, Swedish, Icelandic, Belarusian, Polish, Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian, Greek, Hindi and at some point Nepali and Latin. Icelandic, Belarusian, Polish, Greek, Latin and Nepali I all dropped pretty quickly because there was simply no real incentive for me to learn those other than the fact that I liked how they sounded.
When I was close to 24-25 years old I decided that I should concentrate on fewer languages so that I could make significant progress and actually be able to use them. There were three languages that I decided to keep studying: German (very useful in Switzerland and the whole of Europe, love listening to it), Croatian and Hungarian (both languages I really like to listen to and find interesting because they're so different from my own language). It was only a year ago I added Russian to the list.
Languages I speak
French (native) and English (C1 speaking maybe, C2 for oral comprehension - I was only tested for the latter). I also read and understand Italian and can speak it a bit (though I never use it so I don't really know how well... what I do know is that my accent is quite terrible!).
Current and long term goals
When it comes to languages I go for depth rather than breadth; the languages I choose to devote time to I want to be able to use quite intensively. Meaning: I want to be able to easily read books, articles/newspapers, as well as understand close to everything I hear (tv series, movies, documentaries...). I'm definitely not as focused on production/output; ideally I'd like to get to a B2 level at least but seeing as I never practice any language with anyone it remains a rather nebulous objective.
My learning style is accordingly entirely input-based. I pretty much never study grammar, I start watching series/movies from the get go. This is the way I like to study languages: by consuming media. I also study the translation of songs that I love in my target languages, a simple way to build up vocabulary.
A quick and not so detailed timeline of what I'm expecting for the coming years:
2020: Concentrating my efforts on Russian and Hungarian with a side of German.
- Russian: I can watch Disney movies and tv series for children. When I started in 2019 I understood only a few words here and there. Now when I'm watching The Lion Guard I usually understand close to 80% of what I'm hearing. I always practice active listening: when I hear words I don't recognize I immediately look them up. I dwelved on the russian internet for the first time last year; it was fun and exciting and I intend to do it more frequently from now on.
- Hungarian: I haven't yet started watching movies or tv series without subtitles but I remember some three years ago I used to understand very short sentences.
- German: Can read without too much trouble though my comprehension isn't 100%. Watching movies is usually not a problem.
2025: I want to be able to read and understand pretty much anything in Russian, Croatian and Hungarian, the latter being probably the most challenging of the three. I have five years to reach this goal, it's definitely doable if I don't let myself get too sidetracked or burnt out.
I should also try and keep my Italian from fading too much in the background. It's one of my heritage languages as well as a national language of Switzerland and it would be a shame if I were to forget it.
As for English: keep maintaining a high level in it, both in writing and speaking.
2030: If everything goes according to my current plans I should have a high level of written and spoken comprehension in English, German, Croatian, Hungarian and Russian (maybe Italian too). I'll be fully satisfied if I also manage to reach a B2 level in speaking in at least two of those (English and Italian don't count though!)
"Maybe one day" languages:
10 years is a long time and I doubt I'll be able to fight off the wanderlust for so long - and I'm fine with that as long as my primary goals are still met.
I will probably study:
- Japanese: I'm familiar with the language. I used to know hiragana and something like 40 kanji but forgot almost all of it. I can still remember quite a few words though and I feel like my knowledge of Hungarian might help me if I decide to learn it again. What is mostly keeping me from doing so right now is that I don't really have any use for Japanese currently... I don't really watch anime or play video games that much anymore. I hope to visit Japan next year maybe, so that might be an important source of motivation.
- Polish: there is a possibility that Polish will make it to the list of my main target languages. I always loved how it sounds and it shouldn't be too difficult to learn when I already have some knowledge of others slavic languages.
- Hindi: I love Devanagari and the way Hindi sounds (feeling like I'm starting to repeat myself here haha). Five years ago I learned close to a hundred words and I still remember some of them now. Nice movies, great food, very different culture and the language is Indo-European, so it seems familiar yet very strange at the same time. Fascinating!
- Swedish: come on, this one would be almost free with my knowledge of English and German! I haven't studied it in years yet I can still read and understand a bit. It's also the first language I started learning by myself and I feel some kind of nostalgic attachment to it.
- Faroese (and/or maybe Icelandic): this one feels so different yet not completely alien. I love to see the similarities with Swedish. My largely input based learning probably won't allow me to reach a high level in Faroese since there doesn't seem to be a wealth of dubbed movies or tv series to be found. Maybe I'll have more luck with books and songs.
Would love to learn but probably won't happen
- Kazakh: same problem than with Faroese, too little ressources. It looks like a fascinating language and country though.
- Lithuanian: I have the Teach Yourself Lithuanian book at home but haven't opened it in years. I simply haven't found the time or the motivation to do something susbtantial with it.
- Turkish: I toyed with the idea of learning it a few years ago but never really tried. Hungarian would help with this one too but right now I have no reason to dedicate time to it. It's simple daydreaming.
****
So that's it. This is what I'm planning to do for the coming years. I have no idea if I'll reach my goals, especially since I have other time consuming hobbies like writing; I'm not going to stress about it. Maybe I won't be fluent in the languages I listed above, maybe I won't be able to understand everything or read everything with ease. I'll still be learning a lot and enjoy myself along the way and that's what matters most