A language learners’ forum

hedgehog.chess wrote:Sorry if it's not the right place to ask this question, but I haven't found a better one. Does the time spend on listening to an audiobook while commuting counts or it has to be a more focused effort?

That should count, unless you're doing another activity at the time (for example, the crossword or wondering what that person opposite you is reading/knitting/watching). If you're doing two activities at the same time, I believe the rule is that you halve the time you actually spent listening. You should find more information in the rules and discussion thread.

I moved the question here.

@Elenia by two activities do you mean reading&listening? You have to pick one but you can split your session in any way as long as the audio is over 10 min. (at least as far as I remember - or was it only for video? anyway it's all somewhere in this thread)

Elenia wrote:

hedgehog.chess wrote:Sorry if it's not the right place to ask this question, but I haven't found a better one. Does the time spend on listening to an audiobook while commuting counts or it has to be a more focused effort?

That should count, unless you're doing another activity at the time (for example, the crossword or wondering what that person opposite you is reading/knitting/watching). If you're doing two activities at the same time, I believe the rule is that you halve the time you actually spent listening. You should find more information in the rules and discussion thread.

Thanks for the answer, it makes perfect sense. I meant listening as focused as one can get in a bus full of people (following the plot, listening and being aware of unknown words). The rules in the discussion thread just tells, that while doing listening-reading simultaneously, one can pick just one activity of the two that will count.

EDIT: After a moment of thought I decided that it should count as half anyway. The wandering of thoughts is sometimes impossible to control, despite my best efforts, especially at 5am.

Serpent wrote:I moved the question here.

@Elenia by two activities do you mean reading&listening? You have to pick one but you can split your session in any way as long as the audio is over 10 min. (at least as far as I remember - or was it only for video? anyway it's all somewhere in this thread)

Thanks Serpent and actually, I recall reading somewhere that anything you did while listening meant it should be counted as half - although maybe I'm thinking of another challenge? I never particularly liked that rule, I remember someone asking about listening while doing the dishes or gardening and the answer seemed to be to half your time. If I'm wrong, I'm glad: dish doing really doesn't take up that much mental space!

EDIT:

hedgehog.chess wrote:

I don't think you need to be quite so fastidious. Attention wonders naturally. It's a challenge about using native materials extensively, not an intensive challenge. If you feel like you're not being quite honest, maybe simply subtract the time during which your mind was wondering, or maybe log 75%. Logging only half seems like you're punishing yourself for having to commute early in the morning!

This sounds more like the 6WC to me. Originally it was required even to subtract some time from watching movies because presumably you also think of the plot when you watch
Let me know if you can find the quote you're thinking of I'll look for it as well.

Agreed, 50% is too low unless you actually fell asleep while listening

I'm pretty sure the rules about counting something you listen to while doing other things as half (or another percentage depending how much you are paying attention) come from the 6 Week Challenge, not the Super Challenge. I don't remember it ever being specified for the Super Challenge.

Yeah I think Cristina said when you just have a radio (or even an audiobook) playing as background noise you count nothing, and when you're generally focusing but occasionally get distracted you just subtract a few minutes. Paraphrasing though.

Thank you both for clearing that up! I've never been so happy to be wrong

So in conclusion I should use my common sense and honestly judge how much attention I was paying, right?

Serpent wrote:Agreed, 50% is too low unless you actually fell asleep while listening

Falling asleep on a bus was happening before I started listening to audiobooks To prevent this I'm listening and standing...

Does anyone know if we are going to have a SC for 2018-19?