Busy people who learn foreign languages

[Systematiker]

Not a software developer, but certainly a busy person.
My normal "workweek" can be between 60-80 hours, and I often have to travel, which can either be a situation where I have more time for languages or none at all, depending on why and where. I've also got two small children at home, so there's not much "downtime", plus I've actually got other hobbies as well.

Like some others, I dedicate a lot of time in the car to listening. A few of my languages I actually need vocationally, and I integrate my languages in what I do as much as possible; the vast majority of my personal relaxation is in a language other than English. What I can do work-related in another language, I do, and rotate it around as much as possible (note that some of what I do vocationally is not "work" in a traditional sense). Depending on the rhythms of my home life, I sometimes can stay up an extra 60-90 minutes for doing something.

I tend to not do much traditional study, except when necessary as a way to get to a point where I can do mostly input. And again this depends on rhythms and when I'm able to do things, and the demands on my time. I'm at a point right now where I don't have a lot of extra time, or extra energy (note that I'm answering this instead of using this time to study!), and not all of it was quite expected, so I won't make the most recent goals I've set, but that's ok, I'll just shift things and re-evaluate.

[Ogrim]

I am not a software developer but like IronMike a busy professional and family man who have to juggle with work, family life, time for languages and time for other hobbies and interests. In Norwegian we have a word for this: Tidsklemma. (The article is written by a French lady living in Norway. It is a fun read, although a little bit of a caricature.)

Anyway, I somehow manage to keep up with most of my languages every day and actively study new ones. The way I do it is to integrate my "good" languages into my daily life as much as possible. For me that is not so difficult, living in France with a Spanish wife using English and working in an international organisation. I am an avid follower of news and politics, so I read articles and listen to or watch news programmes in five or six different languages every day. I do not commute, as I live a short walk from the office, so I listen to BBC, NDR or France Info when I walk to work in the morning. Before starting work I skim the headlines of various newspapers on the web and download the e-paper versions of newspapers I subscribe to. At lunch I may focus on one of the languages I actively study, Arabic and Russian, revising vocabulary or reading up on a grammar point. On my way back home from work I will listen to the audio of one or two lessons of my Arabic course. At home in the evening I may or may not find the time and strength to do some exercises or start working on a new lesson, then I will listen to music in Russian, Arabic or any other language while cooking dinner (this is not really learning, but just a way to relax and enjoy a cultural expression in the language). Before bedtime I then watch the news in French, Spanish or German most of the time, and once in bed I will read one or two of my books (I usually have three or four in different languages which I read in parallel) before going to sleep.

So in short, I fit it in whenever I can but it is not always easy to keep a good routine when you are in tidsklemma .

[tommus]

Not a software developer, but certainly a busy person.

Your approach to language learning and maintenance, and your routine are quite impressive. Your list of languages with estimated levels is also impressive. I think it might be interesting for us if you could to expand on the 3-letter language codes in your signature. Some of them are not obvious to me and may not be obvious to others.

[Systematiker]

Not a software developer, but certainly a busy person.

Your approach to language learning and maintenance, and your routine are quite impressive. Your list of languages with estimated levels is also impressive. I think it might be interesting for us if you could to expand on the 3-letter language codes in your signature. Some of them are not obvious to me and may not be obvious to others.

Sure. I use ISO 639-3 because 639-2 doesn't have codes for all my languages. In the order I have them listed:
English, German, (double slash indicates unthinking comfort) Swabian, Bavarian, Spanish, French, Scots, Dutch, Latin, Ancient Greek, Catalan, Portuguese, Swedish, Biblical Hebrew, Danish, Russian, Korean, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Basque, and Finnish (which I should remove as I've given up on it).
A "~" indicates my estimation of level, its absence means I've tested at that level.
The "*", as noted, is my averaging system for some languages that I receive well and produce not as well.

You've reminded me to update that thing a bit, and probably I should change my intent-list as well. Well, when I have time

[jeff_lindqvist]

The three-letter codes can be entered into the search box on this page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-3_codes

These were unfamiliar to me:
SWG=Swabian German
BAR=Bavarian
HBO=Ancient Hebrew
GLA=Scottish Gaelic
SYC=Syriac
CLD=Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
GLG=Galician (my first guess was Irish Gaelic)
ANG=Old English (actually, I suspected this)
RON=Romanian