Japanese, Swedish, and Polyglotism Language Log

Continue or start your personal language log here, including logs for challenge participants
User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Mon Jan 09, 2017 2:33 am

I've been busy this week with my new classes, so I stopped updating everyday.
I maintained my Memrise score for a 10 day streak, but just couldn't bring myself to continue over the weekend. I've been a bit busy with my classes. But, I plan to keep doing Memrise, particularly in the mornings before class if I can fit it in. (I did this most days this week).

In Japanese, we had another lecture. We're going to have a vocabulary test on Monday (tomorrow).
Also, I joined a "tadoku" or extensive reading club. We meet every Friday. We read in Japanese independently in the library for 1 hour, not using a dictionary. I really enjoyed the last meeting!! It really boosted my confidence and taught me a few words (through context). I also couldn't help but look up the words I could remember after the session was done. (I think this is fine (lol), and taught me some new words).
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-0/3 Tobira chapters completed
-2/16 lecture homework pages completed
-0/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/3 kanji quizzes taken
-0/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

We did one "Swedish outside the classroom" assignment.
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-0/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-0/6 chapter quizzes taken
-0/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/2 verbal exams taken
-0/2 written exams taken
-1/10 Swedish outside the classroom, 3 of which must be 20 min Swedish conversations

I don't know if I can fit in much conversational stuff this quarter. But I will try to, we'll see where this goes. I've been pretty busy.
Time with Language Partners:
Korean: 5 1/2 hours
Japanese: 1 hour
Swedish: 0 hours
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:37 pm

I'm posting again because I've made some progress in my classes, and also want to talk about the other 3 languages I'm working on.

We've had 3 lectures so far, and 1 vocabulary quiz. We will be taking another vocabulary quiz tomorrow, so I'll be preparing for that. We'll be finishing chapter 4 in about one and a half weeks.
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-0/3 Tobira chapters completed
-3/16 lecture homework pages completed
-1/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/3 kanji quizzes taken
-0/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

We finished chapter 7 and just took the chapter quiz. We also had the vocabulary quiz yesterday. Moving along!
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-1/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-1/6 chapter quizzes taken
-1/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/2 verbal exams taken
-0/2 written exams taken
-1/10 Swedish outside the classroom, 3 of which must be 20 min Swedish conversations

As far as my other languages go, it seems that my motivation peaks for one of the 3 randomly each week. And so, I'm not really making a schedule, but I think that a reasonable idea would be to alternate the languages approximately each week. So, the first week was a bit of all 3, the second week was mostly Korean, and this week has been Spanish so far. That means that next week I'll be switching to Mandarin. However, this doesn't restrict me in any way because I can always choose to study more than one language a week, depending on my available time and such. For now I have dropped the Korean language partner, as I feel he has given me a lot of things to work on, and I think I need to improve first before speaking again. I also feel that it takes up too much time to call, or something like our connection gives out and then I learn nothing while trying to fix the issue..

So, I'd like to start a little section in my posts for "the other 3" languages. I'll bring the "time with language partners" back from time to time as well.
Progress report:
Spanish:
1/9/17 - http://studyspanish.com/ (grammar) Unit 1, Gender of Nouns 1 to Regular Verbs 1 (8 lessons).
Notes: Easy but important grammatical features covered here. Can't wait to keep going!! I can't access everything on the site since I'm not a member, but I find the lessons very informative even though I can't take some of the site's quizzes.

Anyway, that's all for now! See you soon~
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:12 pm

This week I was really unmotivated, had headaches, and was generally just dragging my feet.. I might be catching a cold or something. Or the weather is too cold to want to leave my room XD.. either way, I didn't do much "extra". But, I went to Tadoku Club again... I was so exhausted I only got through one and a half fairly easy books. Last time I got through three, but I did choose slightly more challenging books this time. I didn't ace the vocabulary quiz like I usually do, but like I said I'm not feeling so well aka, not able to do too much studying. I'll do better on the next one. At least we have a three day weekend, so I'm going to use it to study this chapter along with doing all of my other homework.
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-0/3 Tobira chapters completed
-4/16 lecture homework pages completed
-2/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/3 kanji quizzes taken
-0/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

For Swedish, I decided to watch "Lägsta Graden av Lycka" because it was available on Youtube. Why did I choose that one? I honestly didn't expect it to be that bad. It definitely gets you hooked on the characters, and then it starts to make you feel horrible, and then by the end, you might feel a little better, but only because it is so sad that the ending is just a minor relief. Anyway, don't watch if you're not into sad films about abusive relationships. I think I will use that film as my "Swedish outside the classroom" report this week, but I am hesitant to tell my teacher I even watched that, lol.. BUT.. Since I learned a couple words and was watching it with minimal help from the subtitles, I think it was a valid study experience.
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-1/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-1/6 chapter quizzes taken
-1/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/2 verbal exams taken
-0/2 written exams taken
-2/10 Swedish outside the classroom, 3 of which must be 20 min Swedish conversations

I don't recall doing things for my other languages this week, besides what I said in my last post for Spanish. Anyway, hoping next week will be more of a productive one. ~
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Mon Jan 23, 2017 4:31 am

I don't exactly have a lot of time to spare with my schedule, so things have been busy, but I'm making progress on Japanese and Swedish at least!!!
I took a kanji exam, and finished up to the lecture 6 homework. We have an exam for chapter 4 tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-1/3 Tobira chapters completed
-6/16 lecture homework pages completed
-2/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-1/3 kanji quizzes taken
-0/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

We took a vocabulary quiz, finished off the chapter, and took the chapter quiz.
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-2/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-2/6 chapter quizzes taken
-2/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/2 verbal exams taken
-0/2 written exams taken
-3/10 Swedish outside the classroom

There's a quick update. ^^
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:31 am

I took the chapter exam. Came out about what I usually get, though I thought I did better on it than any other test... We're having another Japanese quiz on Monday for the rest of the chapter 5 vocabulary...
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-1/3 Tobira chapters completed
-8/16 lecture homework pages completed
-3/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-1/3 kanji quizzes taken
-1/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

We're taking the 3rd chapter test (kapitel 9) on Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday we have the first written exam and the first verbal exam. Midterms!! Yeahhhh...
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-2/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-2/6 chapter quizzes taken
-3/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-0/2 verbal exams taken
-0/2 written exams taken
-4/10 Swedish outside the classroom

So, I've had a couple of what I call "polyglot bursts" in the past, and just recently I had said I was learning 5 languages at once. While I still am, I was only going full force for about 2 weeks. I am still really happy about this accomplishment, as my polyglot bursts usually stop around the first week. I am however still actively studying Japanese and Swedish.

As much as I want to incorporate Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish, it is getting increasingly difficult at this time. I will be studying those three at a more turtle pace. But for now my biggest focus is getting my Japanese to C1, or a lower advanced level. This is because I dream of becoming a translator/interpreter in this language. Though I'd love to do that in all of the languages I'm interested in, it is not realistic and so I have to choose one.

But I'm not stopping my rigorous studies.. I want to be doing something extra for Japanese, and I think that will be reading in Japanese for at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour) everyday. We'll see how that goes. On my spare time I'm watching Hikakin videos, so that really helps me learn some common and modern vocabulary, hahah.. But I think reading some news and books and such will give me some more important vocabulary.

Until next week!!
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:57 pm

Sorry for the last post!! It's almost the week after I was planning to post, but last weekend I had a gigantic recording transcription (it was in Japanese) and it took a lot of my time. When I finally got a break, it turned out that LLF wasn't up, I got an error when I tried to log on. So I forgot to do my update, but here it is now, and I'll be making another post for this week during the weekend.

Can't believe we are already on week 6!!!

So, we completed chapter 5 in Japanese and are having a test on Monday. We also took another kanji test and 2 vocabulary quizzes (this accounts for last week and this week). We also turned in the second draft of our project, and the final draft is due next week, so that'll be done soon...
We are having the oral exam tomorrow, wish me luck!!! I always have the hardest time with that assignment.
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-2/3 Tobira chapters completed
-11/16 lecture homework pages completed
-5/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-2/3 kanji quizzes taken
-1/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-0/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

Recently I've lost a lot of motivation for Swedish, but I was happy when my friend in Swedish class showed me this youtube video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRIeytEXGhQ
I learned the words "lika" and "mazarin". Pretty cool and funny song~~!
I took the Swedish verbal and a written exam. I got a good score on the verbal! It was literally just planning a fake trip to Sweden, and I knew what I was going to talk about. The written exam was actually kind of hard for me though, likely since I haven't been paying attention as much in class. I'm really struggling to keep my interest. But I think I'll get it back soon..
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-3/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-3/6 chapter quizzes taken
-3/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-1/2 verbal exams taken
-1/2 written exams taken
-5/10 Swedish outside the classroom

Other Languages:

-I've been looking for some pop songs to boost my motivation in Spanish.
-My friend is in Taiwan with her boyfriend and she sent me some notes of some basic Mandarin, which I took a look at and might study soon.
-I've nearly decided that Korean is the hardest language and I will never learn it, lol. (just kidding, I'll keep trying!!)

Yep! That's all for now. I'll write more this weekend!
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Mon Feb 13, 2017 5:35 am

I've been inconveniently feeling unmotivated in general this week. I feel like I did pretty okay on my oral exam though. I was totally calm until I got into the room to be interviewed by my teacher and felt very odd and like I wasn't making any sense. We'll see how my test results are! XD

Also, our chapter 5 exam is on Monday (tomorrow). I feel I am pretty well prepared, at least more prepared than usual, as I looked through http://imabi.net/ (super cool website I just found today, would recommend) and also did some Memrise on the grammar points for the chapter. The only thing I know is going to go somewhat badly is the reading part, as there is a specific answer I need to know to certain questions, and I doubt I can memorize it word for word within a few hours... I might try to look over the sentences at the least though. Overall I've done a lot more work with the materials than I usually would however. We'll see if it pays off, or if I get my typical average exam score again..

Chapter 6 looks like it's going to be my favorite chapter so far, as the topic includes Shintoism and Buddhism (more specifically Japan and religion in general). I really hope I do well!!
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-2/3 Tobira chapters completed
-11/16 lecture homework pages completed
-5/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-2/3 kanji quizzes taken
-1/2 chapter exams taken
-0/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-1/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

Swedish is alright, I'm kind of back into it after learning about some cool cultural things for my "Swedish outside the classroom", such as the expression "lagom", and how strange their pizza topping choices are... Haha.
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-3/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-3/6 chapter quizzes taken
-3/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-1/2 verbal exams taken
-1/2 written exams taken
-6/10 Swedish outside the classroom

Well, talk more next week.
0 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Elenia
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1888
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:22 am
Location: London
Languages: English (N), Swedish (C1), French (Massively Atrophied) German (lowly beginner, somehow learnt to read)


Finnish?!
Language Log: viewtopic.php?t=708
x 3280
Contact:

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Elenia » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:09 am

Swedish pizza toppings... some I can get behind but I can never approve pizza sallad - never!
1 x

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Thu Feb 23, 2017 7:48 pm

I'm a little late with my update, I've been totally exhausted!!

We turned in our final paper. One more vocabulary quiz left!! I didn't do as well as I wanted on the chapter exam, but I did really well on my oral exam somehow. Nice~ Almost done.
Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-2/3 Tobira chapters completed
-14/17 lecture homework pages completed
-6/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-2/3 kanji quizzes taken
-2/2 chapter exams taken
-1/1 project paper completed
-0/1 project speech completed
-1/1 oral interview taken
-0/1 final exam taken

I took the chapter 11 quiz this morning. I think it went well. I'm liking the Bröderna Lejonhjärta readings, it's pretty fun! I actually played Sofia in a short skit recently. That was fun.
Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-4/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-4/6 chapter quizzes taken
-4/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-1/2 verbal exams taken
-1/2 written exams taken
-7/10 Swedish outside the classroom
1 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read

User avatar
Xelian
Orange Belt
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:19 pm
Location: Seattle
Languages: English (N)

Studying actively:
日本語 (B2)

Studying off and on:
한국어 (A2)
svenska (B1)
中文 (A1)
Tiếng Việt
Deutsch (beginner)

On the back burner:
Español (A2)
ASL (A1)
العَرَبِيَّة

Maybe some other time:
Български (A1)

Interested in:
Arabic (Egyptian, Yemeni), Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Tibetan, Nepali, Bengali, Urdu, Russian, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish, Farsi
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17163
x 237

Re: East Asian x Swedish & Spanish Language Log

Postby Xelian » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:43 am

Long time no see,

I completed my quarter.

Progress report:
Japanese 312:
-3/3 Tobira chapters completed
-17/17 lecture homework pages completed
-7/7 vocabulary quizzes taken
-3/3 kanji quizzes taken
-2/2 chapter exams taken
-1/1 project paper completed
-1/1 project speech completed
-1/1 oral interview taken
-1/1 final exam taken

Progress report:
Swedish 102:
-6/6 Rivstart chapters completed
-6/6 chapter quizzes taken
-6/6 vocabulary quizzes taken
-2/2 verbal exams taken
-2/2 written exams taken
-10/10 Swedish outside the classroom

This was probably the most difficult quarter I've ever had academically. And that is saying a lot. It even topped the quarter I was very depressed. I'm sorry I didn't update for the past couple of weeks, it was seriously difficult to even complete all of this and take care of myself, haha. But I made it through!!! I think that I've learned quite a lot of Japanese, regardless of how "badly" I did in the class. I don't even think I did too bad anyway.

So, this next quarter is going to be about the same as the passed two. I'm completing 3rd year Japanese and 1st year Swedish this quarter. My final year remains kind of a mystery, though I'll definitely be doing Japanese, I can't say if I'll continue Swedish. I'd like to, but I don't know if I can. I also wanted to take Korean but my enchantment with the language left me ever since I had to drop the class last year, so I don't know what I want yet. My GPA isn't quite high enough to go for the departmental honors, so I have some new choices besides Korean.

Anyway, for spring break I'll be studying in advance for my next Japanese class (chapters 7, 8, and 9 in Tobira), and writing in my Japanese journal everyday. I wrote in it today already, it was nice to write in Japanese again!! (I've been relaxing for a couple days).

I notice a great difference when I study in advance for the class. Hopefully I'll have enough time to engrain some vocabulary before classes start. I'll be having a kind of busy week as I'm visiting family, but we've had some down time so far.

Here's an idea of what I want to do this spring break (daily):
-Writing in journal
-Read Japanese
-Listen to Japanese
-Quizlet Tobira ch 7, 8, 9 vocabulary
-Memrise Tobira grammar, other memrise sets

That's all. I'll update tomorrow if I kept my goals!!!
4 x
: 84 / 1000 Japanese Pages Read


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