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TAC ’15 French Spanish Celtic Adv Study | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5383 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 153 of 336 27 October 2013 at 11:21pm | IP Logged | ||
The pronunciation guide basically just references approximate sounds in French (no IPA) so it's about as imprecise as one that does the same in English. It's also based on Ulster Irish which is a bit particular. I wouldn't use it as a source for pronunciation anyway since there's no audio. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5383 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 154 of 336 30 October 2013 at 3:55am | IP Logged | ||
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So now that I have a "big person" job (where I'm not a student and I'm not paid just
for my presence) I'm feeling the time crunch. Between trying to eat right, start an exercise regime, get a decent amount of sleep, etc it's hard fitting in four languages plus English tutoring. The obvious way around this is to really focus on one language at a time, which I have been doing, but it's easy to get overwhelmed. I tend to get overwhelmed when facing a big, open-ended project anyway and sometimes I feel this way during language learning. I've been thinking of meta strategies and incorporating productivity concepts into my study. I could do marathon learning sessions on the weekends but I think it would be more productive to devote a decent amount of time preparing for the rest of the week so I can fall into language learning quickly and easily. Commute time is pretty easy - I have my apps, books, podcasts, etc. Before I had lots of free time on the job so I could do a lot of intensive study (and now I'm regretting not always taking advantage of it), but now I have to focus on work. I can listen to podcasts but since I can't devote a lot of attention to them so if I want to have any kind of comprehension I have to go with my strongest language, French (unless I'm filing or something). Though I've started posting Irish flashcards on my bulletin board. I can do more work during breaks though depending on the workload for the day, I sometimes need to use that time to get up and walk around. My biggest weakness is collapsing after getting home. This is where I need the most automated process to avoid vegging out. I often feel like I don't have the energy for intensive study after work but I feel bad because I feel like most of my study activity during the day is already passive (though I'm sure this is where eating properly, exercising, and sleeping well will work with rather than against my language goals). Beyond that, breaking down my study goals to specific topics helps with the feeling of being overwhelmed. I think applying the Pomodoro technique here also works (schedule in 15 minutes of going over counting in Irish, break, work on a dialogue for 15 minutes, break, etc). I guess the better I prepare the better this will all go. I feel like I should set up my week so I don't even have to think about what I'm going to do next or take more than a moment to gather and set up my materials and get started. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5383 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 155 of 336 06 November 2013 at 6:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Got a little busy as I've moved! Not far, but in a new location all the same.
I'm up to Unit 6 of Gaeilge gán Stró and I'm facing a cold, hard reality. I can keep up with the lessons and all, but it's going to be a good, long while before I'm able to speak with ease, even with the little bit I know. I took for granted how easy it was for me to produce fairly sophisticated output in Spanish early on due to its proximity to French and easy phonetic system. It's going to take me a lot longer to get what I've learned so far really down. I wish there were a course such as Michel Thomas or a longer Pimsleur one that would really pound the patterns into me, though I suppose it's up to me to do that for myself. My attempts at writing have been more difficult as well - I can't trust myself to know how anything is spelled and I can't go "off script" very much because the slightest change would require me to use a case I don't know yet or apply a lenition/eclipsis rule I haven't learned. I now respect that it just takes longer to learn a language such as this one than the "simple" ones. And I can sympathize more with my student who's learning a language completely unrelated to her own. I'm wondering if an iTalki tutoring session would do me any good at this point. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6901 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 156 of 336 06 November 2013 at 7:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Have you considered copying the texts by hand? When I've studied a lesson "enough", I write all the new words, sentence patterns, dialogues, exercises and so on.
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| Indíritheach Senior Member United States Joined 4037 days ago 108 posts - 146 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Irish, French | Message 157 of 336 06 November 2013 at 2:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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Dia duit, fellow Gaeilge learner!
I really wish I had better advice. I've really enjoyed using FSI Spanish (or Barron's Mastering Spanish..same thing) to drill grammatical patterns into my brain and to give my speech more automacity. I was at work yesterday and speaking Spanish with some co-workers and I noticed that the words just flew out of my mouth without having to think about it...I wish such a course existed for Irish. What I have done is adapt Learning Irish to suit my needs. After studying it in a more "conventional" way, I go back and listen to the audio of the texts as much as possible and repeat them as quickly as I can. Sort of like shadowing I guess, although I'm not walking around or anything. I also try to do this with Buntús Cainte, listening to the audio as much as possible. The exercises in Ó Siadhail's text are great for drilling grammar, but they're written exercises, not speaking practice. I don't know anything about Gaeilge gán Stró, does it include some audio you could use? As for the spelling, we're both in the same bád there. I am constantly frustrated when I'm doing the exercises in Learning Irish and I know the answer but for the life of me I can't remember the spelling. Irish orthography does apparently serve some purpose, but this language is quite exotic and I don't think you should be too hard on yourself. It'll probably take three times longer for me to learn Irish as it has for me to learn Spanish. But I think it's worth the effort! Good luck! I'm enjoying your log! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6901 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 158 of 336 06 November 2013 at 4:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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Sure, Gaeilge gan Stró comes with audio (4 CD per volume), the dialogues and the "Talking Heads" monologues are perfect for shadowing.
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| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5383 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 159 of 336 06 November 2013 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I may try writing them out. That certainly ought to help me with the fadas. The broad
with broad/slender with slender rule helps a bit too but mainly to cue me in that something is wrong, not to help me figure out the right answer yet. There is quite a bit of audio plus I have audio from other sources. I can spend a whole commute on one or two dialogues. The talking heads portions often include different vocabulary so they need a bit more work. By Unit 6 they introduce quite a few new verbs and adverbs of time (in addition to telling time). I suppose the best way to go is to swap different components of a sentence around and experiment until I have it down (essentially, do a set of school textbook-style exercises). I got Learning Irish back when I first started (and I'm thankful I did so while in Europe - looks like it's quite a bit more expensive here). It's intimidating to start fresh with but I'm wondering if I shouldn't start in on it as well. I like seeing the more sophisticated sentence structure towards the end. Other than that I guess there's nothing to do but to be patient and keep plugging away! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5383 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 160 of 336 07 November 2013 at 8:18am | IP Logged | ||
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So I gave Learning Irish another try and I quite like it, actually! While the the
texts aren't necessarily the most realistic, they get the grammar points across and the audio is great (at least now that it's not too overwhelming)! I'll be adding it to my routine. It would be nice to make an Anki deck out of it. Now, before I go spending hours extracting audio and making cards, does someone else already have one they'd like to share? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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