Stelle wrote:Although not exactly the same, I did something similar during a week-long intensive Spanish class in Guatemala. I was working one-on-one with a teacher for four hours a day, and I was interested in both improving my Spanish and learning more about Guatemalan culture. Every day I chose a local newspaper article and read it intensively, pulling out new vocabulary and noticing grammar points that I needed to work on. From there, I wrote an opinion piece and a list of 8-10 questions based on (or inspired by) the article.
A good chunk of my class time the following day focused on the article. We edited my writing together, my teacher gave me tips to improve, and then we spent upwards of an hour discussing the questions that I had prepared. The time passed quickly and it was both challenging and enjoyable. I saw a definite improvement in my writing over the course of only a week.
I've thought about doing something similar once a week with my current tutor, an italki tutor from Spain. Right now I'm focusing on Italian for the six-week challenge, but once July comes, I'll have a lot more time for languages.
I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this! I may even join you come July.
Thanks, Stelle. Today, I had a look at your log and saw where you laid out what a 'typical day' looked like during your intensive classes. I drew a lot of inspiration from that post. Also, it would be great to write with you!
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I ended up commiting to much more time than I had originally envisioned, and the plan isn't perfect, but I'm ready to get started. Changes can always be made along the way. I considered turning this into a log, but that would have meant potentially updating in two places at once. I've decided to stick to my current log for progress updates on this 'challenge'.
Thanks again to everyone who lended their input. It was very helpful. Wish me luck!