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[Neurotip]

I would be very interested in hearing the details of your intensive listening practice, should you want to share them in your October update Your listening skills are obviously miles ahead of mine, or you have a transcript of Hrútar, or probably both. No matter which of the aforementioned are the case, you're definitely putting more effort into it than I am, and I should probably up my game a bit!

Tee hee, well number one I'm using subtitles - I really doubt I'd be able to transcribe more than half of the words otherwise, and half of those I'd get wrong* - and number two I'm not sure I have a method exactly, just a long-standing unhealthy obsession with phonetics. Nonetheless thank you and I'll bear your comments in mind when I'm writing this month's update

*might be a good exercise though, on reflection

[koolawant]

There is nothing better than the feeling of just enjoying a language! I can't wait until I'm 100% there myself. So close, but so far

[Elenia]

And speaking of Swedish: last night I found myself working out the meanings of words I didn't know during Bonusfamiljen, purely via listening. No pausing, no dictionary. I'll likely not remember them next time I hear them, but still it was kind of neat to be able to do that. I am probably going on too much about all these little developments, being able to read extensively, finishing my first book, etc. but for someone who felt so frustrated nearly all of the time through the beginner stage, who doubted she would even make it very far, who couldn't ever see that it would be less of a struggle one day... these are pretty huge for me. Sure, all you intermediate and advanced learners are probably like, "Big deal, that's nothing! I've done it in 10 languages!" and that's super cool, it really is, and I hope I'm there one day too. But this is my first L2 and it's just... I don't know, it's like now that I can enjoy it, I'm just savouring all these little moments that are new.

It is a big deal! It's thrilling and exciting and amazing! It will probably always be thrilling and exciting and amazing! Well done to you!

[Daniel N.]

I narrowed it down to Croatian and Ukrainian, so I’ll be playing around a bit seeing which one I like enough (if either) to continue with.

You can read a few chapters of a textbook or my web page to get some feeling about Croatian (i.e. Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian = BCMS). Ukrainian is not that different, though.

[StringerBell]

I recently started reading the Polish version of The Bullerby Children, which I've never read before and discovered that it was originally written in Swedish (which made me think of you and Elenia). I'm not a fan of children's or YA literature, so at first I was a little apprehensive about reading it, but it is actually quite fun/funny and I'm also enjoying the fact that I only look up a handful of words per page (and even those I could easily get by without looking up). Have you read anything like this in Swedish? I'm not sure what your level is - probably higher than this book - but I'm finding that reading something that's native material but a little simpler than what I'm used to is really refreshing.

[Izabela]

I need to keep an eye on your log here, especially if you keep pursuing Finnish. My ancestors were Finnish and so sometimes I feel like it calls to me. My favorite little coffee mug says Sisu - Tenacity of Purpose and I like to think that maybe I've got some of that sisu in my blood.

[Elenia]

You probably know more Finnish than I do now, congratulations!

I really should get back to Finnish...

[Izabela]

I need to keep an eye on your log here, especially if you keep pursuing Finnish. My ancestors were Finnish and so sometimes I feel like it calls to me. My favorite little coffee mug says Sisu - Tenacity of Purpose and I like to think that maybe I've got some of that sisu in my blood.

If indeed. It is such a fun language, but sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into. Anything is possible with the right attitude though, and I would hate for anyone to derail their current routines by dabbling, but if you can handle it, go for it.

You probably know more Finnish than I do now, congratulations!

I really should get back to Finnish...

Ughhhhhhh this forum is a disaster from trying to avoid wanderlust sometimes.

Not entirely related but I was watching a Danish series last night and found myself wanting to get back on that train I feel like my propensity to get sucked into other languages I've had the mildest interest in previously has increased since getting Swedish to a tolerable level. Like, somehow the logic isn't "remember how much you hated struggling for almost two years just to feel barely intermediate???" but is rather "LOOK HOW FUN IT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE ODD SENTENCE WITHOUT A DICTIONARY WHY NOT LEARN ALL THE LANGUAGES?!?!?!"

Wanderlust, wanderlust? What's that she asks as she tried to figure out how to delete all those nation flags for languages associated with her Duolingo profile.

Remember, sisu! Tenacity of purpose!

I do think my dream world might be me having enough time and brainpower to learn every single language in the world, living and historical.

But every now and then I remove gray cat from the desk and his partner in crime, Burmese cat. They have their own sort of sisu for sure.

[Elenia]

"LOOK HOW FUN IT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE ODD SENTENCE WITHOUT A DICTIONARY WHY NOT LEARN ALL THE LANGUAGES?!?!?!"

Yep! I also have a super high tolerance for ambiguity and I'm totally okay with OH MY GOSH I JUST UNDERSTOOD A WORD! A WHOLE WORD! ALL BY MYSELF! THAT WHOLE ENTIRE WORD! Really, it's amazing I don't give into my own wanderlust more often... Although, now that I think about it, it's probably because the 'I should be better than I am!' feeling frustrates me so much more, so I feel that I need to work on it...?

Really, who can say?

[Daniel N.]

Other: I picked Croatian.

Edit: And I'm a jerk and forgot to thank Daniel N. for recommending some sources for having a browse at Croatian

Yay! Congratulations! You have just ruin... I mean, enriched your life

Seriously, if you want some materials in PDF form for Croatian/Serbian I've accidentally found online, send me a PM. If you're going to use Easy Croatian, feel free to comment on the blog. If anything is unclear, just comment. If you prefer the PDF version of the blog (no sounds, but some people prefer it...) a new revision will be out next week.

Also: some chapters of Easy Croatian use Swedish sentences to illustrate grammar similarities, along Spanish, German, Italian and French and occasional Latin examples. But they are in later chapters, e.g. when one form of passive is explained.