"SGP's" gradually learning some languages log

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SGP
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Languages: DE (native), EN (C2), ES (B2), FR (B2); some more at various levels
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"SGP's" gradually learning some languages log

Postby SGP » Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:53 pm

This is my multi-language learning log.
You could be also interested in the others (included in the signature).


Hi everyone,
this is SGP (SomewhatGeekyPolyglot).

The multi-language log you are reading right now is about those being learned in rotation:
JP ES FR SWA toki pona NL SV IT PT RO NO DA AF EO.

It is also about micro-learning some others, for example:
FI PL TR RU KO

In my profile's language list, there are many slashes. Whatever comes before the slash is the minimum speaking ability. Whatever comes after it is the maximum reading ability.

Writing is as high as reading at most.
Listening is as high as speaking at least.

(This is one of the posts that used to be longer before. But I shortened it to make this log as content-dense as possible. Also there were some changes because of new languages being added.)

Best regards,
SomewhatGeekyPolyglot
Last edited by SGP on Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:23 am, edited 34 times in total.
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Previously known as SGP. But my mental username now is langmon.

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SGP
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Posts: 927
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:33 pm
Languages: DE (native), EN (C2), ES (B2), FR (B2); some more at various levels
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 30#p120230
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby SGP » Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:31 pm

Now there is already a first small update.
I sensed a small language boost after simply posting the introduction above.
Feels like the brain being prepared for a little more language input than usual.
And in case there is something beginning right now, I possibly would even post another update any time soon. Yes, I spoke about logging significant process. But I didn't really exclude the possibility of talking about the small one, too. So let's see...
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SGP
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby SGP » Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:06 am

Some more thoughts:

- The language exchange offer mentioned above is possible in more than one way. People are welcome to contact me for the purpose of maybe having a conversation that could last weeks, months or even longer. On the other hand, they are welcome too to contact me for a few messages only. Even if somebody told me "this may or may not be a single one-time message only", I still would want to reply, yes, that's the way it is.

- And I really do want to know: is there even one person who is kinda scared :roll: by my nickname (SomewhatGeekyPolyglot)? I kid you... not!! This is something I'd really like to know. Possibly you already noticed I didn't choose it without purpose. It's sort of... preparing others for something. For what exactly? For my way of writing that, while it is the same as the way of others in many aspects, can still be different in some cases. And I'm telling you nothing by mentioning that any form of communication can be misunderstood at times. We couldn't be certain that it won't happen. But we still can at least do our very best.
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Melkor
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby Melkor » Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:27 am

Welcome to the forum!

You have a long list of languages there! Please may you explain how you "got there" (ie, in what order you learnt them and for how long before picking up the next language) and how much time you spend per day on each language. Thanks in advance.
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SGP
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby SGP » Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:50 am

Hi there Melkor,

Melkor wrote:Welcome to the forum!

You have a long list of languages there! Please may you explain how you "got there" (ie, in what order you learnt them and for how long before picking up the next language) and how much time you spend per day on each language. Thanks in advance.


Now that is a question I really am happy to answer. But before directly doing so, there should be an introduction (not as in: "introducing myself" this time, but as in: "clarifiying something") that hopefully makes the actual answer even more understandable.

My first foreign language was English. Getting started is generally not considered too difficult when someone is a native of another Germanic language. Like Dutch, one of three specific Scandinavian tongues, or, as in my case, German. As we know, they all share the same heritage related to both words and grammar.

As for Dutch and German, I somehow consider them distinct languages, but only somehow. From another perspective, they are like two ways of telling the very same story to me. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility. And this makes understanding the remaining parts (like words only used in Dutch without a German counterpart) easier, because there is less work that still needs to be done.

And it's the same thing about Swedish/Danish/Norwegian. In a certain way, they are three distinct ways of expression. But people of those three countries can talk to each other rather easily. Also, when someone isn't a native speaker of them, but already knows English and another related language, there is some ground to build on. These three seem more familiar to me than most others. But still, writing would be more difficult than reading. There is both grammar I need to look up, and words that I sometimes would recognize passively, while not being able to recall them actively yet.

Then there are the Romance languages (ES,FR,IT,PT,RO). As it is no secret, both English and German contain a vast amount of Latin loanwords. As for your native language, there are even much more of those. Because of something historical you probably already know. More specifically, the previous rulership of the French over England. So for reasons like this one (i.e. a very high amount of Romance loanwords in those two languages), it is also easier to have a certain understanding of those five.

But as I mentioned in the inital post, the progress that already has been achieved isn't all the same. Nowhere near, not even close. This is related to several reasons. Among them are: the time already spent with them, the presence or absence of silent letters, the degree of not-even-intented exposure, and some others.

Now what exactly does "not-even-intented exposure" mean? This one could become more clear by providing a practical example. It goes without saying that Italian food is very popular in many countries. So even by not having done anything else but visiting a pizzeria sometimes, there already was some exposure. Like reading the menu, or possibly also by talking to the waiter who sometimes drops some Italian words.

If you compare that to the presence or absence of, for example and for that matter, exposure to Portuguese, you could come to the conclusion that the degrees of familiarity to this and that may vary. I am very sure that Portugal's cuisine, just like Spain's, has its own unique merits. (Also I want to let its native speakers reading my post know that I do not consider your country Spain's little brother at all, like some others possibly do when they would talk to you en Español without asking first. The example I provided serves the sole purpose of explaining the reasons why the degree of progress with some similar languages can vary.)

And finally, there are languages like Japanese. Some people possibly wouldn't be really genuinely interested in every single aspect of the culture of some countries, including, but certainly not limited to, Nippon. However, they still can be very interested in some of these aspects, and often, they also actually do so, as in my case. In addition, someone extremely likes the sound of it, and the sound of a few other languages he didn't mention by name in this post. So in case I have some real passion for them, there is hope that this fact also facilitates accumulating at least a bit of knowledge related to them.

Now, after this introduction-y explanation, it is time for a direct answer to your question. You asked about what order I learnt them, and for how long before starting a new language. And you also asked about the amount of time spent with each one daily.

As for the order, English was the first foreign language. But it isn't that easy to fully and entirely recall the exact remaining order. Now why is it like this? In order to tell you the reason, I'd like to do something I usually wouldn't, namely, asking sort of a counterquestion.

In the initial post, I didn't mention that I am looking for language exchange partners. Instead, it was and still is about offering an exchange.

Now if you wanted to do so, you could ponder a bit upon that one before continuing to read. Why exactly did I choose exactly those words, and not others ("looking for")?

.

.

.

Simply because I am not really actively searching for language exchange partners, but maybe my offer will be found by someone instead. ;) And the way of learning languages, in my case, wasn't entirely different, speaking of "searching" vs "being found".

(But before I go on, I'd like to double-check or even triple-check that whatever I wrote isn't perceived by anyone like ... you know, boasting and stuff.

The reason why I am here is related to languages and using them. If I theoretically was someone who was striving for some spotlight instead, there would be other means that are more "efficient" (sort of a misnomer) than what I am actually doing, like uploading one's photo for example.)


So... the reason why I cannot recall the exact order after English is that it wasn't a stricly linear process. Not like one single quest and then another one. It was more like working on several side-quests from time to time, partially finishing this, then later that, and later returning to the first one once again.

I hope that what I tried to say right now makes at least some sense to others. Either way, I like include some additional clarification in order to show how it was like. For example, at a certain point in one's life a person could decide to familiarize himself a bit with one of these languages. It could be Italian, or Dutch, or another one. He or she could learn ten or twenty words, or something very basic about the grammar. Then, months later, there could be a similar contact to another language. With or without actively trying to learn, and with or without a textbook. Then again, after some additional time has passed, he or she could decide to return to the first one in order to go on, however small or big the next step may be.

This part of the answer also tells you something about "and for how long have you [SGP] been learning one before continuing with another one". Because it wasn't really like finishing one thing and then turning to another one. There is no doubt at all that I didn't start learning all of them the same time. But as soon as one of them, so to say, found me, it had the possibility of being here to stay. The possibility of being returned to after some time of not being learned. And this is the way I still do it today.

I couldn't possibly give all of those languages the same attention (how?). Sometimes I was more interested in Swedish, then French, for example, then Portuguese because it also has those nasal sounds, and so on. The largest amount of progress concerning them that has been made possible for me was related to Dutch and Spanish.

But even speaking of those two, there certainly are some gaps, and there are some blanks in my understanding that haven't been filled yet. And this isn't only about not knowing them at a really advanced or even native level. It is also about not having reached the level of relative mastery that would be possible within the limits of upper intermediate. It neither has been reached when it comes to speaking/listening, nor when it comes to reading/writing.

Finally, about the time being spent each day with each one: it possibly already become clear, somehow at least, by all of these (verbosity-dense :lol: ) paragraphs above. In short, I try to proceed with whatever is possible easily, without forcing myself to allocate a certain amount of time for one specific language.

Best regards,
SGP / SomewhatGeekyPolyglot
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SGP
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby SGP » Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:13 am

Some news:

- Recently I have been contacting a few members through PM. Sometimes the topic has been related to languages, sometimes not. But whatever way of speech we have been using, it was something different than English. As it is obvious, this involves some practice opportunity from both sides. And I am glad to say that once again, Romance (in this case: Spanish and French) verbs start making a bit more sense to me.

- Also, I am still curious about one thing. It is about the question that has been asked in this post within this thread:
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9263#p120265

Whatever your answers are, I am genuinely interested in knowing them. And I really do mean it.
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Melkor
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby Melkor » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:03 am

Dear SGP,

Thanks for the exceptionally detailed response! You answered everything and then some! ;)

After being motivated by many on this forum, I will study French after my German DaF. which I intend to sit in 2020.
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SGP
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing ability) log & language exchange offer for any of them

Postby SGP » Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:32 am

@Melkor, but possibly relevant to others as well: After yourself having begun with French and fully reached beginner's level, I definitely could imagine ourselves conversing in French, too. In case you would be curious why I emphasize "fully reaching beginner's level", I'd surely like to tell you the reason.

When practicing a language with someone in the way that, for example, I have chosen, it possibly wouldn't fully work out if... the two were on approximately 100% different levels of knowledge.

By that I mean that it wouldn't be entirely easy to converse using plain and raw "Tarzan speak" (as mentioned in a previous post) only. Although even this one isn't impossible...

But on the other hand, if somebody already can make full sentences, I really don't mind if this person occassionally uses some of that speak.

Also, I am very open to the idea of each of the two using a different lingua (i.e. one of those on my learning list, whatever has been mentioned before English). Like someone writing to me in ... let's say ... Esperanto, but preferring myself replying in Portuguese. Or not even preferring that I reply in one particular language, but in any of those that this person understands. There already is a bit of it going on right now.
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SGP
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Posts: 927
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Taking language suggestions for now

Postby SGP » Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:07 pm

Some news... That SGP :lol: is taking language suggestions, at least for now.
If there is a certain one that you'd recommend to me, I'd like to know what it is, and a few of your reasons, too. This would be about myself starting with it, in order to reach beginner's level only for now (reading/writing).

The suggestions are possible by PM, too.

Another small update:

I am now waving goodbye to the idea of restricting myself to Japanese with Romaji.
Last edited by SGP on Fri Dec 07, 2018 5:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Skynet
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Re: Introduction & 13 languages (reading/writing) log & language exchange offer [PT IT RO FR ES SV NO DA SWA JP EO NL AF

Postby Skynet » Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:27 pm

Welcome to the forum, SGP! 8-)

You have quite the busy list there! I am extremely envious! :mrgreen: I was actually about to ask why you did not have German listed, until I saw that it was your native language. :lol: I really am at a loss of words: this is an outstanding feat!

SGP wrote:That SGP :lol: is taking language suggestions, at least for now. If there is a certain one that you'd recommend to me, I'd like to know what it is, and a few of your reasons, too. This would be about myself starting with it, in order to reach beginner's level only for now (reading/writing).


You would learn a language based on someone else's suggestion on top of the 13 languages you're already studying? Where do you find the time for all of this!?
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