2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU / FLC: PL, KO]

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LunaMoonsilver
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2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU / FLC: PL, KO]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:21 pm

Happy 2018 everybody!

I'd been hoping to start my new log on the first but life got in the way (as it does) and besides, it's kind of nice to start off the year a little late--takes the pressure off. ;)

Anyway, I'm Charlotte. I lurk a lot more than I post, though I've been on this forum and the old HTLAL for years. I have a long and chequered history with languages, which in 2017 included improving my German a lot to finish my MA, without focusing much time on any other languages.

I'm starting 2018 then as a recent graduate slowly sliding into her mid-20s and with an awful lot of free time. Both my degrees are language-related (German & Mandarin; translation) so I have interconnected career goals with my language goals, though my key word for this year is definitely consistency.

Onto the languages!

German | Deutsch

My oldest friend; I've been learning German since I was in school and I'm almost in a place where I'd say I'm fluent. (Only to non-German speakers though! :lol: ) German was my L2 for my translation degree (i.e., I translate German to English) and so, despite not speaking the language much in 2017, I still noticed a marked improvement from all the reading I was doing. However, I also went back to Vienna for a week in December and my listening skills are absolutely not where they should be (soooo rusty), so there's still a fair bit I've got to work on.

Focus Areas:
  • Listening: podcasts, TV/film, conversation
  • Vocabulary: target specific areas related to translation interests, nail down common words with multiple meanings
  • Output: output challenge

Spanish | Español

I started learning Spanish the year after I first began German, but I've never given it the same amount of focus. Part of this is because I always think Spanish should be easier than it is and so I get frustrated when I have to try (ridiculous, I know), but I've been to Spain three or four times in the last few years and I love it. My wildly fluctuating level of Spanish is enough to deal with most situations (probably A2/B1 but with some massive gaps), but I want to improve this. I need to stop trying to go back to the beginning with Spanish and just deal with it the way I did with German: start reading, though I don't feel ready; watch things (with subtitles); and fill in the gaps as they arise.

Focus Areas:
  • Input: read and listen (esp. podcasts), take part in the Super Challenge from May (presumably?), don't worry about understanding everything
  • Output: output challenge
  • Grammar: targeted grammar practice, especially for tenses

Mandarin | 中文

Mandarin was the other half of my bachelor's degree and in the four years I studied, I got to a fairly good level. This was significantly helped by the fact that I had some previous exposure (some classes at school) and got the chance to visit China on multiple occasions. Since finishing that first degree, I've let my Mandarin slide--and there's really no good excuse. Speaking is still kind of okay, but I've never been able to read well and I've definitely forgotten a tonne of characters.

Focus Areas:
  • Duolingo: finish tree for revision
  • Characters: practise reading and writing; I find it makes characters easier to remember
  • Input: SC, reading and listening, have to remember not to give up when it's slow-going

Basque | Euskara

Basque is my semi-new 2018 language. I say semi-new because I tried to learn some Basque in 2017 but never carved out enough time--but I also never went past the first couple of units in Colloquial Basque. I've wanted to learn Basque for years just because it looks so interesting, as does the Basque Country and culture, but a lack of resources has meant I'd need more time to dedicate to it. I have collected a bunch of things together now (including the Assimil course, which uses Spanish as a base) and there's the added bonus that if I did learn it to a high standard, I could translate into English, which would be a lot of fun.

Focus Areas:
  • Use Colloquial Basque / Assimil to get a good base
  • Input: watch TV (cartoons/kid's shows); read (probably Harry Potter?)
  • Output: from the get-go, though not enough to complete the output challenge in this language




I'd like to say they're the only languages I'll focus on this year, but moving back home last September means I'm suddenly exposed to a lot more Polish (ahh, the British Midlands), which means I'm getting the urge to try that out too. I'm also fighting the desire to start learning Japanese and/or Korean (not helped by the fact I recently found out about the TTMIK app), but they definitely aren't on the table for at least the first few months.

And, as usual, I might be being ambitious, but considering all I do right now is work part-time, this seems like the best year for it. Plus, it's fun to start a new year being uncontrollably optimistic! ;)

Here's to everyone's best year, no matter your goals! :D
Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:21 pm

Media Watched/Read

Deutsch
  • Dark (Netflix, 2017; Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese) - 10/10 - "A family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town, where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families."
  • Die Farben der Magie (Terry Pratchett; tr. Andreas Brandhorst) - 7/10 - "A cowardly wizard is roped into a life of adventure."

Español
  • Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (J.K. Rowling; tr. Alicia Dellepiane Rawson) - 8/10 - "Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

中文

Euskara
Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Mon Apr 09, 2018 10:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:22 pm

Progress Bars

Deutsch
: 832 / 10000 10,000 SRS
: 677 / 50000 50,000 words (Output Challenge)
: 0 / 3000 50 hours (Output Challenge)
: 21 / 100 Reading: Das Licht der Phantasie

Español
: 799 / 10000 10,000 SRS
: 1 / 312 Glossika GSR
: 0 / 50000 50,000 words (Output Challenge)
: 22 / 3000 50 hours (Output Challenge)
: 20 / 100 LR: Los Juegos del Hambre (L2/R2)

中文
: 1629 / 10000 10,000 SRS
: 0 / 312 Glossika GSR
: 22 / 88 Duolingo
: 0 / 10 DLI Chinese Flamric Reader Vol. 4

Euskara
: 2 / 12 Colloquial Basque
: 7 / 50 Assimil - Iniciación al Euskara
: 1 / 20 Watching: Avatar 1go - Liburua Ura
Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Mon Apr 09, 2018 10:31 pm, edited 9 times in total.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 02, 2018 4:46 pm

Weekly Goals
Week One: 01/01/2018-07/01/2018


So, having been inspired by Yuurei (who was apparently inspired by Elenia), I've decided to go about making some weekly goals. This might help with that whole consistency thing--a week is a nice length of time; long enough to go some way towards making some progress, but short enough that I know I have to keep working to ensure I meet my targets.

Without further ado, then:

Deutsch
  • Read 50 pages (currently reading: 17: Das zweite Buch der Erinnerung)
  • Watch the first episode of Dark on Netflix
  • Do 100 new SRS cards
  • Write 500 words

Español
  • Read two chapters of Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal
  • Watch two episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix
  • Do 100 new SRS cards
  • Write 500 words

中文
  • Learn 50 new characters (East Asian Study Group's January Challenge - my overall goal is 150 for Jan)
  • Complete three units of Duolingo
  • Do 50 new SRS cards

Euskara
  • Complete Colloquial Basque Unit 1
  • Complete three Assimil Units
  • Watch one episode of Avatar

Potentially far too ambitious, but I'm ready to go! :D (Also, I'm trying to use Habitica to track all of this now I've kind of got a handle on it--but we'll see how well that works out.)
Last edited by LunaMoonsilver on Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby rdearman » Tue Jan 02, 2018 4:49 pm

Sounds good! Wish you all the best in your endeavours.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby Zomxilla » Tue Jan 02, 2018 8:10 pm

Wow your log is so pleasingly structured! I only have one TL right now but the Korean course on Duolingo is calling to me. I'm also very interested in how they structure the Mandarin course - I'm guessing it's just pinyin? I might have to go and find out...
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:35 pm

rdearman wrote:Sounds good! Wish you all the best in your endeavours.


Thank you! :D

Zomxilla wrote:Wow your log is so pleasingly structured! I only have one TL right now but the Korean course on Duolingo is calling to me. I'm also very interested in how they structure the Mandarin course - I'm guessing it's just pinyin? I might have to go and find out...


Aw, thanks! And oh my god yes, I mean I may have already started the Korean one too, but who's gonna know, right? There's definitely characters in the Mandarin course but I don't really know how it starts out (like if they just throw characters at you straight away or what) because I did the placement test so I skipped the first batch of levels. I quite like the course, though they're sometimes a little rigid about correct answers--but that tends to be a Duolingo-wide issue afaik.
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby Zomxilla » Tue Jan 02, 2018 9:50 pm

LunaMoonsilver wrote:Aw, thanks! And oh my god yes, I mean I may have already started the Korean one too, but who's gonna know, right? There's definitely characters in the Mandarin course but I don't really know how it starts out (like if they just throw characters at you straight away or what) because I did the placement test so I skipped the first batch of levels. I quite like the course, though they're sometimes a little rigid about correct answers--but that tends to be a Duolingo-wide issue afaik.


I think with the roman alphabets they have a little leeway. I remember to German one would forgive you for typos and such. I'm doing a Memrise course right now which penalises you for missing a space or semicolon, so it could be worse! :lol:
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:26 am

Zomxilla wrote:I think with the roman alphabets they have a little leeway. I remember to German one would forgive you for typos and such. I'm doing a Memrise course right now which penalises you for missing a space or semicolon, so it could be worse! :lol:


Oh man haha, I've mostly been having word order issues (which tbh is almost 100% me rather than Duo; I still struggle with that in German too!) but I've definitely been on the receiving end of a pants/trousers hiccup that annoyed me for days. Hate when that's the problem on Memrise though... I've been doing a basic Mandarin course to help refresh and sometimes it gets annoyed when I just write 好 as meaning 'good' because the answer is written as 'well, good' :roll: On the plus side, I definitely remember it in that order now! :lol:
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Re: 2018: Learn Hard [DE, ES, ZH, EU]

Postby Zomxilla » Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:40 pm

LunaMoonsilver wrote:
Zomxilla wrote:I think with the roman alphabets they have a little leeway. I remember to German one would forgive you for typos and such. I'm doing a Memrise course right now which penalises you for missing a space or semicolon, so it could be worse! :lol:


Oh man haha, I've mostly been having word order issues (which tbh is almost 100% me rather than Duo; I still struggle with that in German too!) but I've definitely been on the receiving end of a pants/trousers hiccup that annoyed me for days. Hate when that's the problem on Memrise though... I've been doing a basic Mandarin course to help refresh and sometimes it gets annoyed when I just write 好 as meaning 'good' because the answer is written as 'well, good' :roll: On the plus side, I definitely remember it in that order now! :lol:

It's so pedantic! There's one in a Cantonese course, 幾, and the english translation has to be precisely "how many; how much; quite; a few". :lol: :lol:
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