Output Challenge 2015/2016 Discussion

[rdearman]

Sorry if I'm butting in here; I'm not a part of the current challenge.

What if the Output Challenge were changed to something like this:

10 000 words written, 100 100 word essays (about the right size for lang-8)
5 000 minutes speaking, 100 50 minute output sessions.

Maybe this suggestions shows that I'm lazy or that I don't like writing. Please ignore my suggestion if it is unwelcome. I suspect some of you are much more hardcore than I am

Like the Super Challenge, the Output Challenge is a challenge I suspect very few people will manage to complete! In fact, I created the thing and I'm not going to manage it this year. However I'll explain the reasoning behind the challenge numbers. You can read the original post here: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40112&PN=1

The challenge entails:

• 100 pages, 500 words equals 1 page.
• 100 hours of recorded speech (only minutes you are speaking count)
• You can only sign-up for one language at a time.

The 50,000 word (500*100) goal was because this is basically the amount of words you have to do in the NanoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month, which is going on now. It happens every year in November, a lot of people write a lot of novels in November, so I don't think it is beyond the ability of most people to write 50,000 words in 12 months, when a lot of people manage to do 50,000 in one month.

One thing to remember is 500 words per page is only for the purposes of the challenge. What I mean is, if you write 4 emails to your friend, and they are only 125 words each then together they equal 1 page of the challenge. So you see you don't need to write in blocks of 500. One so called "page" can be made up of:

• 1 email of 250 words
• 1 poem of 50 words
• 1 handwritten letter to your uncle of 200 words.

500 words in a "page" is simply a cumulative collection of words which make up an arbitrary page. If you want to complete the entire challenge by writing only one small bit of text each day, using the italki 2500 character limit, then adding them all up at the end, go for it.

In reality the Output Challenge is to record 100 hours of speech and 50,000 words (the size of one nanowrimo book), but 100 hours and 100 pages sounds better.

You'll have to do a really good job to convince me to change the numbers, after all a challenge should be challenging!

[sfuqua]

Of course; I'm just lazy

[Elenia]

I think it's definitely doable over a 12 month period. 50,000 words becomes less than 200 words every day. The 'speaking' part is definitely less achievable, as it would be almost 17 minutes a day of solid speaking which must be recorded in order to count. This can make it difficult if you don't have easy access to a phone or a computer. It's hard to talk for that amount of time in one sitting, and hard to spread it out throughout the day - I do nothing all day long 5 days out of 7, but I understand other people have these weird commitment things which interfere with what they actually want to do. It's also frustrating that these sessions must be recorded (I know I would feel awkward asking to record an iTalki session, or a meet up), but I see why it's important for accountability and accuracy.

If changes are to be made, I would suggest making it 60 hours of speaking. That would average out to about ten minutes per day over a year, if my dodgy maths is to be trusted.* That's still quite a lot of speaking in one day - if anyone doesn't believe me, record yourself reading this post aloud at as normal a pace you can manage, and marvel over how little time my ramblings take up - but definitely more manageable.

That being said, I do like the symmetry of 100 pages, 100 hours. It looks so elegant!

*Seriously, please check me on this.

[Dani]

Would recording yourself reading, say a short story, aloud count as well? Not for the complete oral part of the challenge, but for some? That would also be a good way to work on your accent. (I'm learning Chinese, so reading aloud is very, very helpful.)

Otherwise I really don't see how the speaking part would be possible without living in a country speaking that language and recording most of your conversations...

[edit] Or how about keeping the speaking part like that, doubling the writing and extending the Challenge to 20 months?

[Spoonary]

Otherwise I really don't see how the speaking part would be possible without living in a country speaking that language and recording most of your conversations...

[edit] Or how about keeping the speaking part like that, doubling the writing and extending the Challenge to 20 months?

Well, most of the speaking I did when I attempted the challenge was self-talk. I would just blabber on into my voice recorder for 20 minutes a day. So you see, being in a target language country is not necessary.

20 months is a long time. If the current challenge is daunting, I don't think extending it (and doubling the written component ) will do anything to help. Besides, I think being able to speak a language well is a more sought-after skill than being able to write well by many language learners, so I wouldn't want to add more weight to the writing part of the challenge.

Now that I don't have the pressure of the challenge on my back and I can see the logic behind rdearman's choices, I think the only problems I had with the challenge were personal. Reaching 100 pages and 100 hours is challenging, sure, but it's definitely doable.

Just my two cents...

[rdearman]

OK everyone. I'm not going to issue a mini-challenge for December since I'm sure you're all busy people. From this point on, feel free to post your results for the 2015 Challenge. I'm going to start a signup thread for the 2016 Output Challenge which will run 1st January 2016 - 31st of Decemeber 2016.

[rdearman]

OK, as anyone who knows me will tell you I'm lazy. So I've just changed the title of the discussion thread to include 2016. It is useful because we don't lose all the previous discussion, mini-challenges, and posts into the back of the forum.

As of this writing, only two days to get ready to OUTPUT!!! Good luck to everyone who's already signed up, and anyone who wants to register can do so on the registration thread. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1650

The rules for the challenge are located there, so please refer there before asking questions (did I mention I'm lazy?)

[Elenia]

A new question: will HelloTalk audio count? Because there are voice recordings, and they tell you how long each one is, but I don't know how I would save one or retrieve one if need be.

[rdearman]

A new question: will HelloTalk audio count? Because there are voice recordings, and they tell you how long each one is, but I don't know how I would save one or retrieve one if need be.

I will give you that one. You can hold down on the audio and a dialogue box will popup, use the "more..." button which will take you to a page where you can upload the audio to the cloud or email or whatever.

[Spoonary]

Wellp, the Output Challenge started today and I have done my daily 10 minutes of recorded speech and about 180 words of written Spanish. Also, after simply writing a stream of consciousness today, I have thought of a more focussed topic for tomorrow's writing, so that's good.

Is anyone else a teensy bit scared, or is it just me?