Aloyse's study log (ZH + some ARB, ARQ, KAB, EN, ES, JP)

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Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
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Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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weekly something

Postby Aloyse » Sat Mar 19, 2022 3:59 pm

Still reading fanfiction in Chinese. On my phone because Pleco.
I add new words to the flashcards, but I don't actually use the flashcard system (burnt out on Anki a few years ago).
However if I go to add a flashcard and I see that I already added this word, I often take some time to look at the definitions, characters, sample sentences in more detail.
Also I stopped reading ficlets and "down-graduated" to ordinary length fanfiction, which is usually "easier" since each author tends to reuse the same words, so built-in SRS of sorts.

Still watching videos in Spanish although lately I've been slacking a bit, need to be more consistent.
Still not really reading the news except during the Newspaper Reading Class.

I also updated my USB key tracks this week.

Exercise: not a lot.
I walked to work once and did 20'+10' of an exercise video, also 45' housework-as-exercise today.
I ate too many sweets this week.

Technical study: 8x20' this week so far.
I'm keeping the randomly selected textbook page 3x/week in the morning because fun.
Adding systematic study every night. (it will not be strictly in textbook order, I have established priorities among the various chapters).
I have some ideas for additional sessions on the weekends:
- doing the textbook exercises
- multilingual reading/watching
- looking up internet resources, syllabi, books
- creating flashcards (maybe)
- review/recite from my book's table of contents

I also have a rota of 30' training sessions at work but I seldom do it lately - not enough time.
It goes like this:
Monday, soft skills trainings review,
Tuesday: technical study,
Wednesday: job-specific skills,
Thursday: division-specific trainings review,
Friday: other trainings review.

I'm still assigned on way too many projects but things are a little calmer now, especially as my colleagues are also feeling the heat so everyone cuts everyone a lot of slack.
Also I've come to the conclusion that doing everything on time is impossible, so I'm learning to prioritize and I stopped doing so much "overtime".
5 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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Re: Aloyse's study log (ZH + some ARB, ARQ, KAB, EN, ES, JP)

Postby Aloyse » Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:16 pm

Rough week with a Covid scare and headaches.
Notes to self: Do not drink coffee. Do not schedule meetings on Fridays. Take some vacation days.
Also, I don't "love" any of my languages or hobbies. I "like" them. I can and have gotten rid of stuff. I'm a minimalist.

I started a new Chinese fanfiction and it's difficult but fun. Reading about the plane accident was hard and not fun.
I skipped the Saturday Chinese class as I was exhausted.
New week starting today.
9 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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Re: Aloyse's study log (ZH + some ARB, ARQ, KAB, EN, ES, JP)

Postby Aloyse » Tue Mar 29, 2022 7:31 pm

Yes, really. L'arabe sans peine introduces the subjunctive in lesson 12, which is supposed to be in the first month of study.
For comparison, Manuel d'arabe moderne introduces the subjunctive in lesson 13, i.e. in the middle of the second semester for students majoring in Arabic who started from scratch.
Anyway, still very happy with my slow but steady review of basic MSA.
3 x
Future me already did it.

bolaobo
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Location: Pennsylvania
Languages: English (N), Mandarin Chinese, German, French
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Re: Aloyse's study log (ZH + some ARB, ARQ, KAB, EN, ES, JP)

Postby bolaobo » Wed Mar 30, 2022 2:48 pm

Aloyse wrote:Yes, really. L'arabe sans peine introduces the subjunctive in lesson 12, which is supposed to be in the first month of study.
For comparison, Manuel d'arabe moderne introduces the subjunctive in lesson 13, i.e. in the middle of the second semester for students majoring in Arabic who started from scratch.
Anyway, still very happy with my slow but steady review of basic MSA.



Meanwhile, I'm in lesson 19 of the new L'Arabe and I don't even know present tense yet :lol:
1 x
Perfectionnement Arabe: 11 / 70 New Arabic Grammar: 30 / 51
Le Grec Ancien: 15 / 101
Hindi ohne Mühe: 44 / 54
Le Persan: 85 / 86
Le Turc: 19 / 71
Tobira: 3 / 15

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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Snow on April's fools day

Postby Aloyse » Sun Apr 03, 2022 9:50 am

Updated USB key tracks: NHK, L'arabe sans peine, IT口语.
Read fanfiction and watched videos in Chinese and Spanish.
I attended the Chinese Newspaper reading class, as usual. There were no other classes this week.

Also I studied a random page of a random Chinese textbook for 20' on Saturday.
This was my attempt to replicate my technical studies motivation method: random chapter to whet my interest + systematic study.
But I haven't made a decision yet about which textbook I will (attempt to) study systematically.
Perhaps a grammar book. Even though I can read (and possibly write, or at least type) fairly long sentences in Chinese, there are details which are fuzzy in my mind like the uses of 了 etc.
Or perhaps I should take the plunge and finally restart the 基础科技汉语 series. (3rd attempt :roll: )

To do today: edit Berber and Darja tracks and update the Darja track on the USB key.

Technical studies: 4x20' random, 5x20' chapter 1.
Yes, chapter 1 is fairly basic prerequisite stuff, the kind of stuff you learn in STEM-oriented high school and review more in detail in the first year of STEM post-secondary studies (yikes that was 25-30 years ago...). It's also stuff that I reviewed last year with the book I borrowed from the library. And yet, it didn't stick well enough so I still feel the need to go back over it.
The other chapters are somewhat more advanced and my random page study sessions do give me some extra motivation as well as a feeling of learning things (or at least becoming aware of things) that will inevitably be useful for my job (if only to understand what colleagues are saying, or at least asking relevant questions) or some nebulous future job. Or perhaps just in a job interview.
Other things that seem to improve motivation and possibly retention:
- a physical textbook,
- a textbook which mentions the practical uses of each notion,
- pacing with the textbook in hand,
- reading aloud, reciting aloud,
- doing demos on the whiteboard,
- joining an online study group forum (just looking at the zoom/google meets links for the day seems to be enough. I don't actually join the online rooms/video calls since my own study sessions are so short).
I also watched one related video in Chinese.

Physical exercice: very little.

The snow has stopped now, and what little had accumulated during the past 2 days seems to have melted away already.
4 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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Uneventful week

Postby Aloyse » Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:31 pm

Just for the record: I skipped the Saturday Chinese classes again. This time because I didn't sleep well due to a stomach ache.

Tried https://www.hsklevel.com/, it claims I know
8250 words (seems very high...)
2120 characters (unlikely but maybe, if we consider recognition in context)
HSK 2.0 level: HSK5 (probable)
HSK 3.0 level: HSK6
TOCFL level: Band B.2 (well, I do consider myself to be between B1 and B2.)

Tried the receptive vocabulary test at http://www.itt-leipzig.de/static/vltchi ... index.html
and passed the first 4 levels (=> vocabulary size might be between 4000 and 5000 words ?)
(since you have to match a Chinese word with a definition also in Chinese and there's a 30 minute limit, this vocabulary test is somewhat harder...)

The zhtoolkit vocabulary evaluation doesn't seem to work anymore.
last time I took it was July 2020 and it said: 7407 words plus or minus 1235.

And I don't have time to take the ODA tests right now so I'll just add my past records
Chinese reading test "level 2+" ~ B2 (2015...apparently I didn't try it since then? might be worth taking it again soon)
Chinese listening test "level 1+" ~ B1 (2019 but I've been stuck at this level since 2013).
(and Spanish reading level 3 ~ C1. But uhhhh I don't think my Spanish reading is at C1 level. There's something wrong with this particular test.)

Technical studies: 4x20' random, 4x20' systematic, not bad

I fulfilled my civic duty uneventfully today.
4 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
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Re: Uneventful week

Postby Aloyse » Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:37 pm

Aloyse wrote:Just for the record: I skipped the Saturday Chinese classes again.

Well. I had "technical difficulties" during the Newspaper reading class this week. Current political climate + unsettling small talk at work + unpalatable choice of topic from the teacher => I just couldn't stand it.
Let's see what happens next time...

Aloyse wrote:Chinese reading test "level 2+" ~ B2 (2015...apparently I didn't try it since then? might be worth taking it again soon)

Took it today, now it says level 3 ~ C1. lol.
I think the main difference is that the test started from level 2 so I was a little more "fresh" when I reached the harder passages. Also I tolerate ambiguity better now so I didn't throw the towel in this time.
I think I did progress a little on complex sentence structure and connectors.
But the hardest passage was about 60% unknown words. There was a lot of guesswork involved.

Still watching videos in Spanish, still "reading" fanfiction in Spanish and Chinese (honestly, how many chengyus can you cram in a single paragraph?)

Technical studies: 5x20' random, 6x20' systematic, 1x20' exercises, nice

Physical exercise: 30', 20', 20' (exercise video), nice

ETA: I just took the ODA Spanish listening test, it says level 2 (low B2).
ETA: I'll be studying the Linguissimo Méthode de chinois B1-B2 sequentially. It has 70 subchapters. Deals mainly with grammar. Looks nice.
: 0 / 70 Méthode de chinois B1-B2 (70 subchapters)
4 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
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A foul smelling, greasy haired, bleary eyed, pajama clad hermit

Postby Aloyse » Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:14 pm

That's who I was this week between the flu and a sleepless night due to stress symptoms: stomach ache and leg cramps.
Yeah, I was informed that the rental agency website was hacked and all my personal info may have been stolen. Like the elections and being assigned to 5 different projects were not enough stress.

As a result I skipped my usual "unskippables": USB key tracks and 20' walking on workdays.

I did attend the online Newspaper Reading class even though I was not 100% there.
Read one paragraph of a fanfiction in Chinese.
Studied 2x20' "Linguissimo Méthode de chinois B1-B2" (one of the two Chinese textbooks I still have in dead tree format).
Toyed with a new application on my phone: 成语群英传
Watched one or two videos in Spanish
(and countless rug cleaning, pressure washing and wood turning videos, mostly in English if they had any dialogue at all).

Technical studies: 3x20' random, 1x20' exercises, 1x20' application to my job. Better than nothing.

Physical exercise: NONE.
4 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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YAWL

Postby Aloyse » Sun May 01, 2022 6:25 pm

(yet another weekly log, I can't be bothered to look up the week number)

Aloyse wrote:As a result I skipped my usual "unskippables": USB key tracks and 20' walking on workdays.

Back on track with these.

No classes this week (school holidays).
Read some fanfiction in Chinese.
Studied 2x20' "Linguissimo Méthode de chinois B1-B2".
Watched bits of videos in Spanish and Chinese, and read a few posts on Reddit r/es.
Updated the Darja, MSA, English and Spanish USB key tracks.

Technical studies: 3x20' random, 6x20' systematic, 1x20' exercises, 1x20' application to my job.
Nice

Physical exercise: none. I also ate too much. I seriously need to get back on track with this because I think my recent hip pain is aggravated by being overweight. The joys of middle age.
2 x
Future me already did it.

Aloyse
Orange Belt
Posts: 244
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:00 am
Languages: Fr (N), EN (C1),
ES (B1?), ZH (B1),
JP (A1), ARB (A1?),
ARQ (A0), KAB (A0)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... php?t=9983
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Dilemma

Postby Aloyse » Thu May 05, 2022 6:13 pm

So I have the opportunity to take a Darja class.
It will conveniently start after the end of the Chinese Newspaper Reading class and lasts only 3 weeks.

However it's a bit expensive for a group class.
Also, it's semi-intensive (7.5h/week) which means I'll have to take a few half-days off work.
And this for a language which is not a priority for me - basically a "just in case" language.

On the other hand I can afford it, and since I'm unlikely to ever get a private teacher,
or attend a regular weekly class (too much on my plate already), it's a rather interesting opportunity.

What to do, what to do...
I have one week to make a decision...
3 x
Future me already did it.


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