Jeff's language log

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User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Wed Jul 06, 2016 6:05 pm

Montmorency wrote:How do your tri-lingual sessions work (when you are able to fit them in that is?).


Nothing fancy - I have the book in Spanish and French, and got the Russian translation from the library. I've done two rounds of L-R some years ago (Spanish audio - Swedish text, then Spanish audio - Spanish text) and also seen the movie, so I know the story fairly well.

Going from easy to difficult makes sense (I want to understand what I'm reading - at least know where I am), so:

I read a portion in Spanish - a paragraph, a page or a chapter (if it's a short one).
I now read it in French.
I then read it in Russian.
---
I then read a new portion in Spanish->French->Russian...

~45 minutes is what I can manage in one go (it's also the typical duration of an audio CD, for those of you who remember that medium), and then I've read for about the same time (~15 minutes) in three languages (which feels great). I'm starting to read chapters now. I don't look up words. I trust my memory and intuition and just keep reading. Spanish works, French is become more transparent/less opaque, and Russian... well... occasionally I can get the gist of a whole sentence. And that's enough. Going from Russian to Spanish is like running with weights in a backpack and then taking it off. But even Russian gets easier (less difficult).
3 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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User avatar
Montmorency
Brown Belt
Posts: 1035
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:01 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Languages: English (Native)
Maintaining: German (active skills lapsed somewhat).
Studying: Welsh (advanced beginner/intermediate);
Dabbling/Beginner: Czech

Back-burner: Spanish (intermediate) Norwegian (bit more than beginner) Danish (beginner).

Have studied: Latin, French, Italian, Dutch; OT Hebrew (briefly) NT Greek (briefly).
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1429
x 1184

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby Montmorency » Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:21 pm

Thanks Jeff. For those who are young enough not to remember, here is (one version of) the story of the maximum length of an audio CD (rather than the typical length):

http://gizmodo.com/5729864/why-the-cd-i ... nutes-long

I'm glad I'm not having to run with weights in my backpack; I guess I'm just not cut out to be in the linguistic special forces.
2 x

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:43 pm

Summary of week 27

Time for a late update.

Finally one half hour of Italian and another vocabulary lession from SSiW. And I got my Irish reading material which I unfortunately didn't have time to have a closer look at. I made a final decision not to go to Ireland this summer - maybe in early November, though, but for pure musical reasons. By the way, we had a great music session at a café here in town. To me, this is not very different from unrehearsed conversation in a foreign language (or for that matter, sparring in martial arts). The same kind of "expect the unxpected" feeling, and it requires that you know your stuff pretty well.

Other than this, daily sessions with Anki and Duolingo, but no MT Spanish, no Finnish L-R, and no Da Vinci Code.

I've been working for the past four days, but now I'm on vacation again (in theory: July 15-31).

As a friend suggested the other day: Why not learn a new language! 8-)

Yeah, why not. :ugeek:
4 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Jul 19, 2016 3:37 pm

Summary of week 28

My last work week before my short vacation. What did I do besides martial arts and music? Nothing much! But at least I manage to do my Anki reps. Currently between 150 and 250 reviews per day in Esperanto, Portuguese and Romanian - plus 50 new cards. I also get 50 new cards in Mandarin and whatever the number I add to my Cantonese deck. Those sessions are the ones I like the most. Last night I even dreamt I spoke both languages! (OK, a simple greeting in Cantonese and then the conversation went on in Mandarin.)

Duolingo gets better and better. I'm still on lvl 14 for my three languages, though. Most of the time I work on strengthening my old skills, and just do one or two new ones. It still adds up to ~50 XP per language and day.

Yes - one (!) trilingual Da Vinci Code session. It's funny how French, which is a language I have studied formally (for two semesters in high school...) but don't say that I speak, still is rather transparent if I'm fairly familiar with the content, and especially if I've read the same piece in Spanish first.

It's even more funny how I discover things in the French text which I can't remember I read in Spanish just a minute ago, and then the same happens with Russian (yes, really!).

Anyway, now I have two weeks off and plenty of time for languages. If I only could get rid of that thoracic back pain...
3 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

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galaxyrocker
Brown Belt
Posts: 1119
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:44 am
Languages: English (N), Irish (Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge B2), French, dabbling elsewhere sometimes
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=757
x 3327

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby galaxyrocker » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:32 am

Not about languages, but what martial arts do you practice?
0 x

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:55 am

Kuntao-flavoured Silat since February last year. Indonesian terminology.
0 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:57 pm

Summary of week 29

Finally a week when I could study a lot. I managed to do what I had planned nearly every day. This means:
  • Daily ~15 minute Duolingo sessions in three languages (de/sp/ga) - leading to a level up (=15) in all of them. (72 day streak)
  • Italian - lesson study vs. shadowing (on alternate days) - ~30 minutes per day. The language is starting to feel really transparent at this level (thanks to my Spanish, no doubt).
  • Daily trilingual Da Vinci Code sessions - yes, would you believe that!? At some point in the story I read Spanish very easily. Some paragraphs aren't included in the French translation (possibly because French readers already have basic knowledge about certain areas in Paris), and in Chapter 35, the train to Lille departs at 3.06 in Spanish/Russian(German)/(Polish)/(Czech) while it's headed for Caen at 5.08 in the French one. :?
  • I started and finished two comic books in Irish: Asterix Gliare and Asterix i dTír na Sasanach. :)
  • I added a little over 100 sentences to my Cantonese deck in Anki. 1595 cards in total (of which 88 are mature). ~160 reviews per day. The Mandarin cards are piling up. More than 300 reviews each day (plus 50 new). I still have AwesomeTTS turned on.
  • More reading in Swedish and English, including David Crystal's "The Gift of the Gab - How Eloquence Works".
4 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:14 am

  • Surprise #1 - during yesterday's Duolingo marathon, I finished the whole Spanish skill tree. :o I have nothing more to learn! ;)
  • Surprise #2 - when I should start next Italian lesson last night, I realised that I had finished the book. :o Maybe I'll start reading bilingual short stories in Italian/English. I got this book in Berlin: Short Stories in Italian: New Penguin Parallel Text.

Last thing I did before the midnight shift (=Anki) was to start reading An Leon, an Bandraoi agus an Prios Éadaigh (which is the Irish translation of The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis). I know the story inside out and decided not to do a parallel reading in Swedish. I slogged through over twenty pages in fifteen minutes.
2 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

User avatar
jeff_lindqvist
Black Belt - 3rd Dan
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:52 pm
Languages: sv, en
de, es
ga, eo
---
fi, yue, ro, tp, cy, kw, pt, sk
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2773
x 10462

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:39 am

Milestone

"You've conquered the Irish skill tree!

First of all, you're awesome! You've completed the Irish skill tree! Second of all, we'd like to take this time to thank you sincerely for your lengthy participation on Duolingo. So in honor of you, here is a very special trophy in which to show our gratitude.

But don't stop now, maintain your knowledge and keep your word strength full by continuing to practice."
3 x
Leabhair/Greannáin léite as Gaeilge: 9 / 18
Ar an seastán oíche: Oileán an Órchiste
Duolingo - finished trees: sp/ga/de/fr/pt/it
Finnish with extra pain : 100 / 100

Llorg Blog - Wiki - Discord

galaxyrocker
Brown Belt
Posts: 1119
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:44 am
Languages: English (N), Irish (Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge B2), French, dabbling elsewhere sometimes
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=757
x 3327

Re: Jeff's language log

Postby galaxyrocker » Thu Jul 28, 2016 6:21 pm

Maith thú a chara!
1 x


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