What are the nuts and bolts of what you actually do?

[StringerBell]

I searched for this topic, but didn't find anything relevant. Hopefully I'm not re-inventing the wheel here. If a thread like this exists somewhere else, please let me know!

Would you be willing to share specific foreign language learning activities? I'm looking for the nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts here. I keep looking for new strategies to try so I'm curious to see what others do that may be different from what I do. I know that activities naturally change as a person's level in the language advances, so these activities can be anything from beginner-advanced. Here are a few of the things I do:

In no particular order:

1) Watch short (2-5 minutes) youtube video in target language with subtitles. Pause the video frequently to understand meaning of sentences. Repeatedly rewatch the same video multiple times until I get to the point where I can watch the whole thing (or section) without having to pause it.

2) Do the same thing as #1 but without subtitles.

3) Practice reading in my target language to improve my pronunciation. I choose short texts (such as articles, I especially like the website EfficaceMente for Italian articles). I read it first silently for comprehension, then I reread once or twice subvocalizing, then I read it out loud the final time. I have my husband (who is a native Italian speaker) listen to my final reading so that he can correct anything I'm mispronouncing and to tweek my cadence. I could also do this with my language exchange partner if he weren't around.

4) Dictation. I've tried a few variations of this. First I tried listening to a 5 minute "story" podcast in Polish that I was familiar with but hadn't listened to in a few weeks. I listened to it, paused, wrote down what I heard, then repeat. Afterward, I relistened to the podcast while reading my dictation to catch any obvious mistakes. Then I compared my version to the official text. I make corrections on my text with a different colored pen to make them stand out, reread my version with the corrections a few times, then redo the dictation a second time.

Doing this every day for a few weeks, I've noticed that my spelling and noticing of case endings has improved significantly. However, a 5 minute story is really too arduous and it's been much less grueling to work with shorter (1 minute) stories or sections of a story.

I've since changed my strategy to listening to the podcast while reading the text before doing the dictation. I've found this makes the process much less stressful and plan to do it like this from now on.

[zenmonkey]

At times it seems we talk a lot about this:

Here is the strategies in less than 50 words thread ... https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =14&t=5572

Then read any log and see how people change their activities and strategies.

[StringerBell]

At times it seems we talk a lot about this:

Here is the strategies in less than 50 words thread ... https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =14&t=5572

Then read any log and see how people change their activities and strategies.

Thank you for linking that thread! I read through it, and while there was a little bit of what I'm looking for, overall most of what people describe was very general stuff, which makes sense given the title of the thread. I'm looking for a little more detail.

For example, rather than saying, "I use Anki" I'm looking for exactly how you use Anki:

-where you you get the source material to put on your cards?
-how frequently do you review them?
-do you mainly put on your cards single words, phrases, or whole sentences?
-do you use audio or video on your cards or just text?
-how frequently do you add words to your Anki list?
-how do you avoid having 12,000 cards pile up?
-do you use it for grammar or just vocabulary?
-do you actually think that using Anki has made a big difference? Did you notice any difference in your speaking ability after you started using it?

Or, if you watch videos in your target language:

-how do you find and choose your videos?
-do you use subtitles? in your native language or in L2 or in both?
-do you rewatch videos? If so, how many times?
-how much time per day (or as a general percentage of your language learning time) is spent watching videos?
-do you pause the video frequently to give yourself time to process what's being said, or just let it wash over you?

[zenmonkey]

Well, I can tell you that you’re asking the right questions but they aren’t about strategy but rather functional guidelines. They are still excellent questions.

I’d hate to send you off to search but that is probably one of the best resources. I’ll see if I can go through your questions tomorrow.

[eido]

My daily routine is different each day as my schedule is different each day. This year I have been focusing on listening. I have watched Gravity Falls, about half of Danny Phantom, and one season of Supernatural so far this year. I try to practice every day when I set my mind to it. Because I want to get every bit of what's being said, I often rewind - multiple times. This can extend the average 23 minute episode to a 35 minute or longer ordeal. The first series I watched, GF, was a real struggle because I didn't want to not understand, and didn't want to put the effort in. I still haven't streamlined the process of learning vocabulary from all this listening I've done, which has also included the sporadic podcast or YouTube daily vlog or the like. If you read my log, you'll find vocabulary words from every source I've used, and I mention there that I don't know what to do with the over 200 words and phrases I've collected in my practice. But I still faithfully write down as much as I remember. Sometimes it takes me multiple days to finish an episode, and in that interruption good words get lost.

I also at the beginning of the year worked on just simple vocabulary acquisition. So I would read news pieces, which were appropriate for my level. They used commonly used structures and specialized terms, which was the right mix for what I needed to accomplish. But at the same time, it didn't benefit me because sometimes the terms were too specialized - unless I followed a specific story over weeks, I wouldn't get exposed to that same subset of vocabulary and thus would forget them. I tried to follow the development of Kim Jong Un and Trump's relationship since I liked Korea, but politics is for me a dry subject so it proved difficult. So then I tried Percy Jackson, the second book. I was learning terms I probably didn't need to use but still felt uncomfortable not knowing, so the process of going through the book was slow and probably more laborious than necessary. Because of this I put it down. To this day I don't know what reading material would be right. I think I had the genre right, but maybe not anything else.

I've also tried translating articles from Spanish to English, but because I try to juggle a lot of things, this too was dropped. I love translating - it's an art. But it takes time to do it in Google Docs' processor, scrolling up and down between the translation and the source material, and again looking up words and collocations. The most fun I had with it was translating a fanfiction about a k-pop boy group, because I was actually invested in the story. There aren't many stories to be had in Spanish for this genre, so I had to take what I could get, but the language the author used was applicable for me as a hobby writer so I immediately felt at ease and interest piqued. The story wasn't that compelling, though, so that could be another reason I stopped.

That's how we're here, with me watching Jensen Ackles and his onscreen brother in a tacky series about brotherly love and strife, and surprising moral questions concerning monstrosity. As you can see, I try to keep with what I'm interested in from both a simple 'like' standpoint and linguistically. Supernatural fills this role because it's not too hard to understand, on multiple levels. We have a basic story from this genre, we have hot guys, and those hot guys speak a certain way because of the genre and the fact they're hot guys in the genre... You get the idea. I switch between the English original and Spanish dub throughout my whole watching of the episode to clear up misunderstandings or downright skewed comprehension, and I'm able to do this using Netflix. I used to use more unsavory sites. Now I'm forking over the dough for this handy feature. For a 45 minute episode, it maybe takes me an hour to finish with all the repeats. I repeat as many times as necessary, or as many times as I am willing after a certain point, in order to get the meaning. I usually watch one episode per day, time permitting. I sometimes pause - others I just let it go straight through to practice real life listening, or simply because I'm comfortable. I have never used subtitles in my six months (maybe more like four with the breaks) of doing this, though I've occasionally looked at transcripts.

When it comes to YT videos, I pick what I like as well. I have watched k-pop rant videos, animated movie reviews, top 10s, and slice-of-life stuff like "Tour of My New Apartment". @Jaleel10 recommended some great stuff in my log that I would recommend you search for any language you're learning.

I need to incorporate more output to my routine since my primary goal has always been to use Spanish, and be good at it. Maybe I will devote a whole year to writing, possibly in 2019? Or maybe I'll keep with the passive learning path until my skills cap.

If you have any questions about my process, feel free to PM me.

[zenmonkey]

For example, rather than saying, "I use Anki" I'm looking for exactly how you use Anki:

-where you you get the source material to put on your cards?
-how frequently do you review them?
-do you mainly put on your cards single words, phrases, or whole sentences?
-do you use audio or video on your cards or just text?
-how frequently do you add words to your Anki list?
-how do you avoid having 12,000 cards pile up?
-do you use it for grammar or just vocabulary?
-do you actually think that using Anki has made a big difference? Did you notice any difference in your speaking ability after you started using it?

How I use the following tools.

Anki
- source material can be songs, recordings, courses - it varies greatly - i've worked with bought cards, cards I built from subs2srs or enter manually from frequency lists or italki sessions I record and chop using audacity, cards build from assimil sentences.
- some I review daily for a period, others not so much. I'm inconsistent.
- what I put depends on the language and place I find myself in learning it can be a word, a drill, pronucaition, a phrase. I do tend to do "word", "part of phrase", "full phrase" cards - so a single sentence from assimil may become 4-5 cards.
- I add every week.
- I avoid pile ups because I delete cards. Cards I really can't learn aren't worth my time. Language is vast. I focus on what can stick.
- Does Anki help? Yes.

italki teachers
- I do weekly lessons and we either follow a lesson book or material or just have a conversation
- My Hebrew teacher types everything down (everything!), My Tibetan teacher types a phrase when I ask.
- I record the sessions and take notes.
- I build cards from these recordings, usually.
- I sometimes get homework. I try to do it. I don't always have time.
- I do 1 session per week.

Assimil
- I do 2-3 lessons a week
- I do a passive wave (listen, read, listen-read times x) and read the notes. Do the exercises orally.
- I do the active wave (I try, really) - where I should be able to learn to produce the short dialogue. May ankify the lesson here. Some never stick, I drop those.
- Sometimes, while driving I'll listen to 3-10 lessons I've learned in the past.

video, shadowing, intensive, extensive, podcasts, wordlists, memrise, fsi, lesson review, read, write, uptalk, pod101, etc... each deserve their own section ...but each method has its own instructions that are probably posted on the wiki or in logs or in specific threads. I think I'll be more specific in my log, to address these questions.

Maybe what you might look at is the skills you want to work on - what methods address those skills and how are they effectively used?

[iguanamon]

...For example, rather than saying, "I use Anki" I'm looking for exactly how you use Anki...

I've already learned most of my languages to a high level and the language I am learning now is closely related to three of them. I don't use Anki, I never have. Anki is a useful tool for many learners. Several of us here don't use it at all and it doesn't hurt us.

Or, if you watch videos in your target language: how do you find and choose your videos?
-do you use subtitles? in your native language or in L2 or in both?
-do you rewatch videos? If so, how many times?
-how much time per day (or as a general percentage of your language learning time) is spent watching videos?
-do you pause the video frequently to give yourself time to process what's being said, or just let it wash over you?

I'm an experienced learner so my answers may not be what you are looking for, but I am studying Catalan now. I stumbled across the videos I found in Catalan. The set is learner intended and accurate Catalan subs and a transcript. The videos are at a low intermediate level. Probably the majority of Catalan learners already speak Spanish or French. Catalan may not be a good example, but it's what I have. The series I watch is animated (Wild Kratts) and there are no subs available in Catalan. At this point, I just watch and listen, but I already speak three similar Romance languages to a high level, so, I can gain a lot from doing this. I don't need the typical youtube beginner videos since I started Catalan already being able to read it and listen to it with a lot of transparency due to my language background.

To really work on listening, I devote a period of time to the task working with a transcript until I get to the point where I can wean myself off of it. During this time, I may listen to the same audio listening first, reading first, reading and listening, transcribing, listening without reading and maybe even listening and reading again afterwards using the transcript as a check to what I have transcribed and my comprehension. Training listening takes time and course audio isn't sufficient for the task. None of this will work without a good base in the language. When I achieve this in Catalan, I'll start really working on listening. I'm not in a hurry. I'm taking it slowly.

One of the trends I've noticed over the past few years with the explosion of videos in TL being available on youtube and netflix is seeing some monolingual beginners trying to run before they can walk. Comprehensible input is very important in learning a language. Novice learners would do well to build a good foundation in a language and explore native content in a limited way before going full bore into trying to watch series, films and read novels.

When I was learning Haitian Creole, that's what I did. I read and listened to a learner intended condensed "book", I tried to parse tweets, I concentrated on my courses. I followed the multi-track approach which is the "nuts and bolts" of what I do.

[zenmonkey]

...For example, rather than saying, "I use Anki" I'm looking for exactly how you use Anki...

I've already learned most of my languages to a high level and the language I am learning now is closely related to three of them. I don't use Anki, I never have. Anki is a useful tool for many learners. Several of us here don't use it at all and it doesn't hurt us.

Or, if you watch videos in your target language: how do you find and choose your videos?
-do you use subtitles? in your native language or in L2 or in both?
-do you rewatch videos? If so, how many times?
-how much time per day (or as a general percentage of your language learning time) is spent watching videos?
-do you pause the video frequently to give yourself time to process what's being said, or just let it wash over you?

To really work on listening, I devote a period of time to the task working with a transcript until I get to the point where I can wean myself off of it. During this time, I may listen to the same audio listening first, reading first, reading and listening, transcribing, listening without reading and maybe even listening and reading again afterwards using the transcript as a check to what I have transcribed and my comprehension. Training listening takes time and course audio isn't sufficient for the task. None of this will work without a good base in the language. When I achieve this in Catalan, I'll start really working on listening. I'm not in a hurry. I'm taking it slowly.

One of the trends I've noticed over the past few years with the explosion of videos in TL being available on youtube and netflix is seeing some monolingual beginners trying to run before they can walk. Comprehensible input is very important in learning a language. Novice learners would do well to build a good foundation in a language and explore native content in a limited way before going full bore into trying to watch series, films and read novels.

When I was learning Haitian Creole, that's what I did. I read and listened to a learner intended condensed "book", I tried to parse tweets, I concentrated on my courses. I followed the multi-track approach which is the "nuts and bolts" of what I do.

Hah, I'm glad you posted this.

For some complex reasons (a film was mentioned by my teacher) I ended up looking for some native material in Hebrew. I'm still a lowly A1- learner, I found a series and I know that my level is too low to use the series effectively to learn if I only watch it with L1 subtitles. With L2 subtitles I'd be lost. So I'll probably do the following:

- watch a fifteen minute section to get the story line.
- watch with subtitles L2/L1 to get transcript
- take notes of L2 to look up on translator
- maybe anki some 'island' phrases.
- same audio listening, reading l2, reading and listening, listening without reading.

Move to the next 15 minutes when I have understanding of a section. (well, if the subtitles are rightly done, otherwise this is just a mess.)

You're absolutely right that level and method of learning affect how effective a material and style will be in learning.

[Jaleel10]

This is the first language that I am studying on my own (or at least trying to lol). So it's really all trial and error, picking up stuff from other learners and trusting the process.

My first ~4 months. Each day I had the same routine.

Pre-work/Early Morning:
- Assimil (started the 2nd wave in month 2)
- Paul Noble Audio Course (Finished)

Lunch Time:
- Babbel Beginners Course (Finished)

Afternoon/After work:
- Michel Thomas Audio Course (Finished)

Evenings:
- Assimil (1st Wave)

---

Nowadays

Pre-work/Early Morning:
- Assimil
- Learner podcast, just reading the transcript

Lunch Time:
- Clozemaster (Dropped it after 2 months)
- Reading an article or a wikia entry on one of the cartoons I am watching.
- Learner podcast, actively listening to the podcast

Afternoon/After work:
- Watch a short video with a transcript. Nothing longer than 5 minutes.

Evening:
- Reading a chapter from one of my graded readers
- Assimil

---

So yeah, take that for what it is worth lol. Ask me again in 5 years, I am sure I will have it figured out

I don't include speaking in my schedule because, even though I live in a country with no Hispanohablantes around, I do have Discord and Whatsapp. I try to speak or chat with natives everyday/other day for at least 5 minutes.

I do a ton of crap for fun in Spanish, even with my severely limited understanding lol:

I am playing an old detective video game called Ace Attorney. Which has been brilliantly adapted to Spanish . I tried and failed by playing Pokémon before I was ready but I am sure it will go better this time around, will try it again in a month or so. It's fun going back to stuff that you struggled to understand in the past.

I watch Spanish-speaking youtubers each day, lots of interesting content I'd have never known about were it not for Spanish.I am also labouring through two Spanish series: Gran Hotel and La que se avecina (two fairly popular shows from Spain, the former being a drama and the latter a comedy sereis), both of which I watch for entertainment as well. With Spanish subtitles of course. After Assimil, I will be looking to intensively work with La que se avecina and Cuéntame cómo pasó (a family drama from Spain) and labouring my way through the FSI basic course. I also watch dubbed cartoons, currently rotating between 4. 2 dubbed in Spain Spanish,2 in Mexican Spanish. I have watched all 4 previously in English.

So yeah, that is me and Spanish.

[Bex]

Great question...I am forever pondering this!

People are always saying things on here like... "start using native material" and "work with transcripts"...even after reading many logs and asking many questions, I still have no idea what these phrases ACTUALLY mean.

Maybe someone can shed some light?