Learning challenges

Ongoing language-learning challenges, and team challenge logs (but not individual logs)
User avatar
Chung
Blue Belt
Posts: 528
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2015 9:39 pm
Languages: SPEAKS: English*, French
STUDIES: Hungarian, Italian, Ukrainian
OTHER: Czech, German, Polish, Slovak
STUDIED: Azeri, BCMS/SC, Estonian, Finnish, Korean, Latin, Northern Saami, Russian, Slovenian, Turkish
DABBLED: Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Inari Saami, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Meadow Mari, Mongolian, Romanian, Tatar, Turkmen, Tuvan, Uzbek
x 2308

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Chung » Sun Jul 19, 2015 2:37 pm

Nieng Zhonghan wrote:
Chung wrote:Turkic challenge is still on. It's Uzbek until Sep. 30 and then Kazakh from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

I was about to put an entry in my log today about my first impression of Uzbek, but well...


How does the Turkic challenge work?

I am not specifically interested in reading the collaborative writings (the one you wrote about Turkic languages) of yours. Could you post here the resources and its reviews related to both Turkish and Azeri?

Depending on resources availability and their prices, I may add a Turkic language next month.


Here's an excerpt from the opening post in the Turkic challenge's thread. We're following Sequence A) that's mentioned below.

Yürükler - Call to the (fool)hardy ones in 2015 wrote:
The goal of the challenge is to gain as much structural knowledge of several Turkic languages other than Turkish as desired. Nevertheless, I will not discourage anyone from studying Turkish as part of the the challenge. Because of the high similarity between Azeri and Turkish and potential difficulties from cross-interference for beginners who study these two languages in the same period, I will allow participants to substitute Turkish for Azeri.

Studying to fluency is not a priority. Each language is to be studied for no more than the time allotted to maintain discipline and in acknowledgement of the paucity of learning material (be it free or for a fee) and low probability (for most of us) in being able to interact with native speakers.

I have drawn up two sequences, both of which extend into late 2016 if one chooses to study every language, at the least.

Sequence A) (progressively less mutual intelligibility with Turkish - sort of. This does not assume sufficient passive knowledge of German and/or Russian before starting)

2015*
Dec. 15, 2014 to Mar. 31, 2015: Azeri (Turkish)**
Mar. 15 to Jun. 30: Turkmen
Jun. 15 to Sep. 30: Uzbek
Sep. 15 to Dec. 31: Kazakh

2016*
Dec. 15, 2015 to Feb. 29, 2016: Kyrgyz
Feb. 15 to Mar. 31: Tuvan
Mar. 15 to Jun. 30: Tatar
Jun. 15 to Sep. 30: Bashkir
Sep. 15 to Oct. 31: Crimean Tatar
Oct. 15 to Nov. 30: Chuvash

Sequence B) (progressively more mutual intelligibility with Turkish - sort of. This assumes sufficient passive knowledge of German and/or Russian before starting)

2015*
Dec. 15, 2014 to Jan. 31, 2015: Chuvash
Jan. 15 to Feb. 28: Crimean Tatar
Feb. 15 to May 31: Bashkir
May. 15 to Aug. 31: Tatar
Aug. 15 to Sep. 30: Tuvan
Sep. 15 to Nov. 30: Kyrgyz

2016*
Nov. 15, 2015 to Feb. 29, 2016: Kazakh
Feb. 15 to May 31: Uzbek
May. 15 to Aug. 31: Turkmen
Aug. 15 to Nov. 30: Azeri (Turkish)**

* So far I believe that it's better to be a little flexible on the starting date for each language rather than the ending date. For example, in Sequence A, one could start learning Turkmen on Mar. 16, 2015 rather than wait until Apr. 1 but one must finish learning Azeri by Mar. 31, 2015. For up to two weeks, one could juggle Azeri and Turkmen although I'm not sure if that will be always that manageable.

** As noted previously, one may study/dabble in Turkish instead of Azeri despite my preference that participants take on the latter to gain awareness of lesser-known Turkic languages.

The different sequences also take into account one's background in other languages, if applicable. For those who already have a background in Turkish, sequence A may be a double-edged sword in that one will generally be able to maximize the "discount" at the beginning by starting with Azeri (which seems to diverge from Turkish roughly as much as Slovak does from Czech or Norwegian from Swedish) but he/she also faces the risk of substantial interference. For better or worse, sequence A does not have a requirement for someone to know at least some German or Russian since I've found several resources in English that shouldn't be exhausted in 3 months' worth of studying/dabbling. On the other hand, sequence B starts with Chuvash which diverges strongly from all of the other Turkic languages and so the risk of interference is low. For better or worse, this sequence does impose a requirement for someone to know at least some German or Russian at the start since almost all of the materials that I have found in Turkic languages used outside Central Asia aren't in English.

The languages chosen reflect the quality of resources that I've been able to find. See the resource list for more information and comments. Azeri, Kazakh, Turkmen and Uzbek have blocks lasting up to 3.5 months while the others have shorter blocks.

Regarding participation, I do not insist that one study every language on the list nor do I plan to draw up extra quarterly challenges for individual languages since each of us might not develop the same familiarity or grasp in every language. It's perfectly acceptable to study any language on the list as long as the timeline is respected to maintain at least some aspect of a team effort. For example, someone could study Azeri, but skip Turkmen, among others, but then "come back" by studying Chuvash when the time comes. Another person may be content to study just Kazakh with us and skip the rest. I expect to be the only one who'll delve into each language.


Here are the resources that I was able to scrounge for Azeri and Turkish. It's just a list without comments on the quality or suitability of the material.

Yürükler - Call to the (fool)hardy ones in 2015 wrote:
Azeri

Courses / Supplementary learning material (including literature)
- Brief Introduction to the Azerbaijani Language (with audio) (Peace Corps) [English]
- Essentials of Azerbaijani: An Introductory Course (Andrew H. Siegel) [English]
- Learn Azerbaijani, the easiest-to-learn Turkic dialect! (Neise.0rq.in) [English]
- Körpü - Köprü: Reading in Azerbaijani Using Turkish as a Bridge (Suzan Özel) [English]
- GLOSS Modules (80 lessons) (DLIFLC) [English]
- Language Survival Kit (DLIFLC) [English]
- Lessons of Azeri [Russian]
- 21 Online Lessons of Azeri [Russian]
- Playlist of 35 lessons of Azeri [Russian]
- DLIFLC - Legends and Folktales [English - scroll down to Azerbaijan to hear “The Dove and Peace” in either English or Azeri accompanied by subtitles]
- 22 Azerbaijani Tales for Children [Azeri, English]
- Scientific Tales for Children (Farid Alakbarov) [Azeri, English]
- Electronic Library of Azeri literature (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Azerbaijan) [Azeri]
- National Virtual Library (National Cultural Project) [Azeri]
- Speak Azerbaijani (blog about studying Azeri) (Colleen MacDonell) [English]
- Learn Azeri (blog about studying Azeri) (Azad Tərcümeçi) [English]
- Elementary Azerbaijani (Kurtuluş Öztopçu) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Teach Yourself Azeri (Telman Khudazarov) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Azerbaijani-English Dictionary (Patrick A. O'Sullivan, Mario Severino, Valeriy Volozov) COMMERCIAL
- Azerbaijani Texts with Parallel English Translations (Valeriy Volozov) COMMERCIAL
- Azerbaijani Newspaper Reader (John D. Murphy) COMMERCIAL
- Aserbaidschanisch Lehrbuch (Nemat Rahmati, Korkut Bugday) [German] COMMERCIAL

Dictionaries / Reference Material / Phrasebooks / Word-lists
- Azərbaycan Türkçəsinin Nəhvi (Grammar of (South) Azeri in modified Perso-Arabic script) (Mohammed-Taqi Zahtabi) [(South) Azeri]
- Azeri - English / English - Azeri Online Dictionary (azerdict)
- Azeri - Turkish / Turkish - Azeri Online Dictionary
- Azerbaijani - English / English - Azerbaijani Dictionary and Phrasebook (Nicholas Awde, Famil Ismailov) COMMERCIAL
- English - Azerbaijani / Azerbaijani - English Concise Dictionary (Seville Mamedov) COMMERCIAL
- Azerbaijani Vocabulary for English Speakers (Andrey Taranov) COMMERCIAL
- Aserbaidschanisch Kurzgrammatik (Angelika Landmann) [German] COMMERCIAL

Media / Culture
- Azerbaijan Television [Azeri, English, Russian]
- İdman Azerbaijan TV [Azeri]
- Public Television and Radio [Azeri]
- Azerbaijan News Service [Azeri]
- Space TV [Azeri]
- Lider TV [Azeri]
- ANS Radio [Azeri]
- TRT Azərbaycan (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation in Azeri) [Azeri]
- BBC Azərbaycanca (BBC in Azeri) [Azeri]
- Voice of America Azerbaijan (radio) [Azeri, English]
- Azadlıq Radiosu (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Azerbaijan) [Azeri, English, Russian]
- Tribute to composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov including some audio, and dual-language lyrics and libretti (Azerbaijan International) [Azeri, English]
- Danışan kitablar (BBC - Podcast Series) [Azeri]
- Azadlıq (newspaper) [Azeri]
- Azərbaycan (newspaper) [Azeri]
- Şərq Qapısı (newspaper [Azeri]
- LangMedia CultureTalk Azerbaijan (Five Colleges) [Azeri, English, Russian]
- Vikipediya (Azeri Wikipedia)

Turkish

Courses / Supplementary learning material (including literature)
- FSI Turkish Basic Course (Lloyd B. Swift & Selman Ağralı) [English]
- FSI Turkish Basic Course - Graded Reader (Selman Ağralı et al.) [English]
- GLOSS Modules (13 lessons) (DLIFLC) [English]
- Language Survival Kit (DLIFLC) [English]
- Headstart2 Turkish (DLIFLC - free registration required) [English]
- DLIFLC - Legends and Folktales [English - scroll down to Turkey to hear “The Legend of Troy” in either English or Turkish accompanied by subtitles]
- I'm learning Turkish [English, Turkish]
- Nasrettin Hoca Stories (texts with audio) [English]
- Elementary Turkish (Kurtuluş Öztopçu) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Get Started in Turkish (formerly “Teach Yourself Beginner's Turkish”) (Asuman Çelen Pollard) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Complete Turkish (formerly “Teach Yourself Turkish”) (Asuman Çelen Pollard) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Beginning Turkish (Critical Language Series) (András J. E. Bodrogligeti) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Intermediate Turkish (Critical Language Series) (Jessica Tiregol) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Advanced Turkish (Critical Language Series) (Jessica Tiregol) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Assimil Le Turc (Dominique Halbout) [French] COMMERCIAL
- Türkisch: Lehrbuch für Anfänger und Fortgescrhittene (4. überarbeitete Auflage) (Margarete I. Ersen-Rasch) [German] COMMERCIAL
- Türkisch: Übungsgrammatik A1-C1 (2. überarbeitete Auflage) (Margarete I. Ersen-Rasch) [German] COMMERCIAL

Dictionaries / Reference Material / Phrasebooks / Word-lists
- Manisa Turkish (John Guise) [English]
- Sesli sözlük [English, Turkish]
- Milet Comprehensive Dictionary (Birsen Çankaya and Gordon Jones) [English] COMMERCIAL
- The Larger Redhouse Portable Dictionary (Serap Bezmez and Richard Blakney) [English] COMMERCIAL
- Langenscheidt Standard Dictionary Turkish (Resuhi Akdikmen) [English, Turkish] COMMERCIAL
- Turkısh: An Essential Grammar (Aslı Göksel and Celia Kerslake) [English] COMMERCIAL

Media / Culture
- TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) [English, Turkish]
- BBC Turkish [Turkish]
- Amerika'nın Sesi (Voice of America) [Turkish]
- Deutsche Welle (Deutsche Welle) [Turkish]
- LangMedia Turkish in Turkey (Five Colleges) [English, Turkish]
- LangMedia CultureTalk Turkey (Five Colleges) [English, Turkish]

- Vikipedi (Turkish Wikipedia)
0 x

User avatar
Kazumi
White Belt
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:51 am
Location: Earth
Languages: 日本語(Heritage), Português(N)
English, Español
Русский, 한국어, 中文, 한국어, Deutsch
հայերէն, ქართული, eesti keel, suomen kieli, lietuvių, latviešu
Read-only: Galego, Asturllionés (Asturianu, llionés, Mirandés), Ænglisc
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?t=928
x 161

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Kazumi » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:46 pm

Thank you very much. I am going to take a look now. :)
0 x
If you've got any constructive criticism, you're always welcome.

Русский: 02 / 10
한국어: 64 / 100
中文: 2 / 6
Deutsch: 87 / 100

հայերէն: 01 / 100
ქართული: 01 / 100
suomen kieli: 01 / 100
eesti keel: 02 / 54
lietuvių: 01 / 100
latviešu: 01 / 100

Spoonary
Blue Belt
Posts: 876
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:45 pm
Location: England
Languages: English (N)
Español (Adv), Italiano (Int), Esperanto (I try)
x 1656

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Spoonary » Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:58 pm

I didn't even know the music challenge existed! I have to get on that!

I'm also looking forward to really getting my teeth into one of the challenges that starts this August. I need something to help me organise my language learning which is currently all over the place. :|
0 x

User avatar
Amerykanka
Yellow Belt
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:08 pm
Location: USA
Languages: Modern: English (N), Spanish (C1), Polish (C1-), Russian (B1+)

Ancient: Latin (advanced), Ancient Greek (advanced) (currently completing PhD in Classics); Akkadian (beginner)

Levels are based on assessment at university and/or summer programs
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=745
x 151

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Amerykanka » Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:36 pm

I am very tempted to sign up for the 6WC but all my current languages are too advanced and I really don't have time to add a new one at this point. *sigh*

Anyway, I am planning on signing up Spanish and Polish for the August Tadoku. I even created a Twitter account for that specific purpose.

Question: When does the next Super Challenge begin? I somehow missed out on the last one and I would love to participate.
0 x
Siempre agradezco las correcciones. ¡Envíame un PM si notas algo incorrecto!

User avatar
Serpent
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3657
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 10:54 am
Location: Moskova
Languages: heritage
Russian (native); Belarusian, Polish

fluent or close: Finnish (certified C1), English; Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian
learning: Croatian+, Ukrainian; Romanian, Galician; Danish, Swedish; Estonian
exploring: Latin, Karelian, Catalan, Dutch, Czech, Latvian
x 5178
Contact:

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Serpent » Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:17 pm

That's not official but so far it's always started in May. 2012 and 2014, until the end of 2013 and 2015 respectively. Personally I find that a bit too long but I don't think Cristina would be willing to change that. (Both times I found myself with a significantly diminished intuition by next July)
0 x
LyricsTraining now has Finnish and Polish :)
Corrections welcome

User avatar
CarlyD
Blue Belt
Posts: 607
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:44 pm
Location: California, USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish--A2, German--now studying, A2
x 1318

Re: Learning challenges

Postby CarlyD » Wed Jul 22, 2015 4:36 pm

The 6WC is nearly here.

Any plans on where it will be officially held--here or there?
0 x
2024 15,000 pages Reading Challenge--pages: 1131 / 15000

User avatar
kimchizzle
Orange Belt
Posts: 124
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:05 am
Languages: English (N), French
Studying Spanish, Dutch, Russian
On the radar, Estonian, Ukrainian, Cantonese, Korean, Swedish
Language Log: http://how-to-learn-any-language.org/vi ... f=15&t=779
x 149

Re: Learning challenges

Postby kimchizzle » Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:18 am

The music challenge is interesting, I may do it with one of my more advanced languages, Spanish or French so I can learn some new songs.

I may try the 6WC with Russian, I've never really tried a challenge before on the old forum.


By the way, are there any plans to add Russian as a language to the lyricstraining site in the future?
0 x

User avatar
CarlyD
Blue Belt
Posts: 607
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:44 pm
Location: California, USA
Languages: English (N), Spanish--A2, German--now studying, A2
x 1318

Re: Learning challenges

Postby CarlyD » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:24 am

The 6WC has been opened up on Twitter. There's no post on HTLAL about it--I asked on the previous thread and someone replied that it opened a few days ago.

I don't know if there's going to be a thread for it this time or not.

I signed up for Spanish.
0 x
2024 15,000 pages Reading Challenge--pages: 1131 / 15000

User avatar
Serpent
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3657
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 10:54 am
Location: Moskova
Languages: heritage
Russian (native); Belarusian, Polish

fluent or close: Finnish (certified C1), English; Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian
learning: Croatian+, Ukrainian; Romanian, Galician; Danish, Swedish; Estonian
exploring: Latin, Karelian, Catalan, Dutch, Czech, Latvian
x 5178
Contact:

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Serpent » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:04 am

Anyone can start a 6WC thread :)
0 x
LyricsTraining now has Finnish and Polish :)
Corrections welcome

Cavesa
Black Belt - 4th Dan
Posts: 4957
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:46 am
Languages: Czech (N), French (C2) English (C1), Italian (C1), Spanish, German (C1)
x 17549

Re: Learning challenges

Postby Cavesa » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:24 am

I was tempted to start a 6wc thread but hesitated. Fortunately, someone else did it and I thank you all for bringing it up and therefore pushing me in the right direction a bit :-)

It might be totally embarassing but I might register with German "for the last time" again.

And the TAC is still going on but we probably need to waters to calm down before all the new and old logs list can be put together. Or is someone much better oriented than I am? It is totally possible
0 x


Return to “Language Challenges”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests