Mastering the 4 Languages: A Language Log

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Hi Bilingual_monoglot, we've the same goal! Anyway, I just want to bring to your attention that someone has curated few scripts for P Ramlee movies, and publish it for his PhD. This is the one I found for Seniman Bujang Lapok.
https://www.academia.edu/16526466/Skrip ... jang_Lapok

Hope you find it helpful for your Malay studies. Anyway, good luck!

Terimah Kasih samothin. I think those scripts will be useful for helping with my Malay. Indeed, we do have similar goals. Maybe I might join your KL language meetup someday and we can practice our languages together. All the best to you too!

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Ok, a friend of mine has roped me into using Anki for my revision. Hence, I have also started to use it for my Malay vocabulary, to good results. For Mandarin, I have just bought the Paul Noble course using my allowance. I plan on jumping straight into it later today. Apparently it is based on Chinese vocabulary from English. Moreover, my Tamil article reading has been going strong. Also, I think I want to regularly show you guys my level in these languages. I'm thinking either target language posts on this log or linking to videos on YouTube. I am leaning more towards the latter because
1) Tamil keyboard is a pain to use
2) I find it easier to articulate when speaking than writing
3) I am functionally illiterate in Chinese

So, that's about it for my learning activities.

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Since my H1 A levels will soon be over, I have been thinking about what languages I should work on in the future. I think I probably should continue to work on my Tamil so that I can be at a level that would allow me to pass it on to the next generation. However, I would like to take a brake from actively studying it for a while as I have been working on it for 10 years, and I would also like to make room for other languages.
Spanish appeals to me for a couple of reasons. First, my Filipino friend has been learning it for a while to get in touch with that part of his country's heritage and I would like join him for the ride. Also, the Spanish only forum exists, and I feel like I am missing out on some potentially cool discussions because I don't really speak Spanish. Not to mention, it's the second most widely spoken native language on the planet.
This same friend and I also joke about learning Greek as English has so many Greek words, and we can kind of read the alphabet because of maths. But, what if I take it to its logical conclusion... and actually learn Greek?
Then, there is also the fact that I have to join the army in a couple of years, and I want to see if i can get a vocation where I can use my languages. To position myself well, I am thinking of other South East Asian languages like Vietnamese, Thai and Tagalog, as well as maybe Arabic.
Maybe, after my exams, I can do a sereies of 6WCs to help me decide on my linguistic future.

[Bilingual_monoglot]

So, I have been trying out Paul Noble's Chinese course and so far, I have been enjoying it. I have also bit the bullet and bought myself a premium subscription for Lingq. As such, this is what I have been doing the past week and my plan going forward

Tamil
The plan is to read at least 1 article or 1 page of literary text a day. I am doing this little because
1. I also have to go for class and do homework for Tamil as well
2. I want to set this up as a habit
3. I am planning on increasing the amount of exposure once I focus exclusively on my H1s for A levels.

Malay
I am mostly just using Lingq and looking for Malay conversations for now.
Once I finish "Who is she?", the only lesson for Malay on Lingq at the moment, I am planning on importing interesting native content (Bujang Lapok, more modern films on Netflix, music etc.). I am also going to continue reviewing vocabulary using Anki.

Chinese
I am planning to just continue to go through Paul Noble for now. However, once I get the time, I am going to start going through the hanzi. This is so that I can use Lingq for Chinese

Since I have a premium Lingq subscription anyway, I think I might also use it to help maintain my French and Esperanto although I am currently not actively working on either of them.

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Ok, so I have a few updates. First, I am now 20% through the Paul Noble course. I am also slowly making my way through Lingq for Malay. Also, I had a Tamil exam a few days ago. I don't think I did too well though
The realisation that my Tamil A levels are just 2 months away really hit home with that exam. So, my plan for Tamil from now until the day of the exam (at least) is full immersion. To that end, I have stockpiled on Rajinikanth films, changed my phones OS to Tamil (I don't know how to do it on my laptop), created a Tamil only music playlist, and have decided to read Wikipedia, literature, and the news only in Tamil as far as possible. This will hopefully push me up to a B2 level, at which point I will consider myself fluent enough to declare my journey with the language done (for now).
So now is the final lap, when I put in all my effort. See you

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Alright, so a month has passed since my last update. A few things have happened. 1st, I finished my end of year exams and the results are out. There is a marked improvement from my previous results, including in Tamil of course (from barely 45% to 51%). Although, whether I get promoted to the next year or not is still up in the air. I have also decided to keep Chinese and, to a lesser extent, Malay, on standby until at least my Tamil exams are over. Also, I have been keeping up with my daily reading and have also started listening to get more vocabulary as well. If you look at all of my past papers, my main problem is a lack of vocabulary.

[Xenops]

I didn’t know Tamil was widely used in Singapore—I have friends from Singapore and Malaysia, and they more often talk about Mandarin or Malay (and speaking in the former, of course).

[Bilingual_monoglot]

I didn’t know Tamil was widely used in Singapore—I have friends from Singapore and Malaysia, and they more often talk about Mandarin or Malay (and speaking in the former, of course).

It kind of is and kind of is not. Tamil is the main language used by the Indian community in both countries due to historical factors dealing with migration. In fact, In Malaysia, it's one of the 3 languages used as media of instruction at the primary level. But, at the same time, it's only really learned by South Indians, and only 40% of Indians in Singapore speak it as a native language (Indians themselves make up only 7%).
The reason why I am taking Tamil though, is that in Singapore, all schools use English as the medium of instruction, with a second language requirement that supposedly makes our education system "bilingual". The language used to fulfill the language requirement is, however, based on your CMIO race and what language your parents took if they were educated in Singapore.

[Koneho]

https://www.reddit.com/r/bahasamelayu/

The Bahasa Melayu sub has tons of info. I recommend it.

[Bilingual_monoglot]

Hello again everybody. Now, I have perhaps the most significant update to ever appear on my log. Because tomorrow is my Tamil A levels. Not some random school paper, but rather the actual A levels. I'm rather nervous, but I am still confident of at least passing. Also, I just received my full promotional results, and Tamil was yet again my best subject. Anyway, feel free to wish me luck for my A levels, or not. It is your account after all. However, it would be a huge moral support if the good people of this honourable forum gave me their blessings as this will be my last ever Tamil paper.
Thanks to everyone who has ever read and commented on this log for your support. This may not be the end, but it is still a very important milestone for me.