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Kanewai 2015: Team Caesar

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kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4892 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 209 of 331
31 December 2013 at 10:44am | IP Logged 
Random late-night thoughts ...

In the past I've probably put the same amount of time into Turkish and Italian.

Italian came fast and easy. I had background in Latin, Spanish, and French, so learning
Italian was pure joy. Turkish was work, and a lot of the concepts were initially hard.

After studying Turkish I spent three weeks in Turkey, and later went back for 2 weeks.
After Italian I spent one week in Rome.

And what a difference even that little amount of immersion made! Today Turkish is
coming back quickly. It's like visiting an old friend. I listen to my tapes, and I
think: oh yeah, I remember how that works!   Meanwhile, Italian is coming back slowly,
and even with Pimsleur I there are significant chunks that feel like I'm learning for
the first time.

At work we talk about the ideal amount of time for a vacation (it's one of the things
you really analyze when you're on a remote island!). Three days is fun, but there's
not much added benefit to four days ... it's not until you hit a week that the vacation
enters the next level.

I'm wondering if language immersion doesn't work the same way. My current theory:

Three days: Not enough time to settle into the language.
Ten days: You can immerse yourself into the language.
Three weeks: You can start to internalize the language
Two to three months: You become comfortable with the language.

One day I'll put this to the test. When I turn 50 (I still have a couple years) I hope
to be comfortable with five languages (Italian, Spanish, French, Turkish, Arabic) and
to take a year off and spend time perfecting them while on the road.

__________________________________________


I'm also seeing the benefit of using multiple sources. For Turkish, the FSI course has
had the best explanation of vowel harmony that I've seen yet. And then it had an
excellent section on the various sounds that 'ğ' has (Lesson 10). That alone made the
course worthwhile. But the next chapter contained a painfully academic, and confusing,
description of verbs in the -ir form. I understood nothing, and I'm hoping that Assimil
or Teach Yourself will come to the rescue.

__________________________________________

Pimsleur is great for one round, but repeating Pimsleur sucks. I want to reach a level
with Italian so that I never have to go back to this level. I think this might be
different at higher levels. Pimsleur IV for Spanish and French were fine, and I would
totally repeat them to re-activate my speaking skills.    At least, I think I would.
I'll find out soon enough.
2 persons have voted this message useful



kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4892 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 210 of 331
31 December 2013 at 10:48am | IP Logged 
renaissancemedi wrote:
If you need help with greek just ask.   


OK, brother, I will! Though I was attempting Homeric Greek. Does the offer still stand?
I'm hoping that I'll have time this summer to revisit it.
1 person has voted this message useful



renaissancemedi
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Greece
Joined 4361 days ago

941 posts - 1309 votes 
Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2
Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 211 of 331
31 December 2013 at 1:10pm | IP Logged 
The offer still stands, although I am no expert.

I have to say, I am a sister rather than a brother :) I have a homeric name, Penelope.
1 person has voted this message useful



agantik
Triglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 4638 days ago

217 posts - 335 votes 
Speaks: French*, English, Italian
Studies: German, Norwegian

 
 Message 212 of 331
31 December 2013 at 7:08pm | IP Logged 
We're fellow members of the Italian team and I am the Godmother for the French team, so good luck with
your studies ! Et meilleurs vœux pour le TAC 2014!
1 person has voted this message useful



Teango
Triglot
Winner TAC 2010 & 2012
Senior Member
United States
teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5559 days ago

2210 posts - 3734 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Russian
Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona

 
 Message 213 of 331
31 December 2013 at 9:32pm | IP Logged 
Good luck and pomaikaʻi in 2014, brah! These three-week sets sound like a great approach to studying multiple languages (and also remind me that I need to sort out my gym schedule for next year). It was interesting to read your comment about noticing the Japanese "sing-song" intonation during your recent visit to Tokyo. I've been studying various intonational systems over the past semester, and was similarly fascinated to learn how languages like Japanese and Korean use complex "sing-song" pitch-accents to mark prominence and grouping (and French is even more bizarre in this respect!).

Edited by Teango on 31 December 2013 at 9:34pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Cavesa
Triglot
Senior Member
Czech Republic
Joined 5012 days ago

3277 posts - 6779 votes 
Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1
Studies: Spanish, German, Italian

 
 Message 214 of 331
02 January 2014 at 12:03am | IP Logged 
Good luck in 2014, kanewai! It's great to read of your language adventures :-)
1 person has voted this message useful



kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4892 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 215 of 331
02 January 2014 at 9:40pm | IP Logged 
renaissancemedi wrote:
I have to say, I am a sister rather than a brother :) I have a
homeric name, Penelope.


My bad. ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος, Πηνελόπη!

I also just realized that your screen name is renaissancemedi, and not
renaissancemedici. I had pictured you (or your avatar) as some delightfully
evil / somewhat dangerous Florentine prince.

teango wrote:
These three-week sets sound like a great approach to studying multiple
languages (and also remind me that I need to sort out my gym schedule for next year).


I think I've gained about three pounds for every language I've studied this year. It
adds up. I'll see you at the gym.

Stelle wrote:
kanewai wrote:
I'm running out of patience with all the plot holes in
Águila Roja!

Hmmm…this is disappointing. I was planning on watching Águila Roja once we're finished
with Isabel season 2. Now I'm rethinking that!

I'd still give it a try - there are five seasons, so obviously a lot of people like it.
And I want to like it ... sometimes it's really good, and sometimes it's just stupid. I
keep hoping that, in some back room, the good writers will stage a coup and drive the
bad writers out of the studio. Other shows have gotten much better their second
season!

Kerrie wrote:



Did I accidentally delete this post? I swear I read a recommendation from her for
Schoenhof's Foreign Books this morning, and came back just now to thank her.

Anyway, I found Le Turc at Adler's Foreign Books for a great price, but noticed that
Schoenhof's has Assimil Italian for $28. That was a find!

Edited by kanewai on 02 January 2014 at 10:04pm

1 person has voted this message useful



renaissancemedi
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Greece
Joined 4361 days ago

941 posts - 1309 votes 
Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2
Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 216 of 331
02 January 2014 at 9:45pm | IP Logged 
It was supposed to be renaissancemedici (you got it right!), but that had more letters than I was allowed. Think Machiavelli rather than Cesare :)


1 person has voted this message useful



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