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TAC 2013 Asian Team 鶴 (crane) TEAM THREAD | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| iawia Bilingual Pentaglot Newbie Taiwan Joined 4581 days ago 35 posts - 55 votes  Speaks: EnglishC2, Mandarin*, Taiwanese*, Cantonese, Spanish Studies: Thai, Japanese | Message 305 of 457 27 March 2013 at 1:49am | IP Logged | ||
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I also did 2 level-1 lessons in Thai.
One was a phone call to a travel agency, and the other a talk between colleagues about sports. The difficulty: moderate, I had to listen a few times before understanding the whole conversation. The lessons presented some useful vocabulary and notes, and the material was pretty authentic. Excellent for supplementing textbooks or whatever approach a language learner might take. However, after doing these two lessons, a few days later I couldn't get access to the website. Is there anybody here who has the same problem? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4351 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 306 of 457 27 March 2013 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | ||
I have had some trouble accessing the GLOSS site for the March challenge but I did manage to get on it eventually. I did a level 1 chinese lesson on booking a hotel room and I've started to look at another one as well (one on asking directions). I'm not sure that I like the layout/format of the lessons but it was still a good experience and I learnt some new vocab from it as well. I think that, as iawia said, the lessons would work well as a supplement alongside other materials. Edited by Hidden Linguist on 27 March 2013 at 9:58pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| js6426 Diglot Senior Member Cambodia Joined 4512 days ago 277 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English*, Khmer Studies: Mandarin | Message 307 of 457 28 March 2013 at 5:44am | IP Logged | ||
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I also did a level 1 Chinese lesson on GLOSS, actually probably the same one as Hidden Linguist, the one on asking
directions. I quite enjoyed it, and I didn't actually find that lesson too challenging. When I have time I am definitely going to use that site again (I hadn't heard of it before doing the challenge) and try another level 1 lesson to see how I get on, and if that isn't too challenging then i'll try a 1+ to push myself. I wanted to be challenged by the lesson, but it's quite difficult without knowing in advance how tough each number is going to be. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Haksaeng Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6190 days ago 166 posts - 250 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Arabic (Levantine) | Message 308 of 457 28 March 2013 at 8:04am | IP Logged | ||
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I did three GLOSS lessons in Korean.
Two of the lessons were based on actual Korean newscasts and I found them very challenging. I didn't notice any difference in difficulty, even though one was labelled 2 and the other was 2+. They were both hard to understand because of all the unknown vocabulary. Level 2 "A Survey of Family Culture" was about the changing expectations in Korean society about the role of retired and elderly people and the family's obligation to their aged family members. Level 2+ "A Chicken Sales Controversy" was about a grocery store chain under fire from local fried chicken restaurants furious that the grocery store was selling fried chicken at rock-bottom prices. Hey, that's capitalism, right? But the grocery chain folded under pressure and raised the price of their chicken. This lesson included several news reports on the controversy, including man-on-the-street interviews with consumers, chicken restaurant owners, and a grocery chain executive. It was hard to understand everything, but the lesson walked me through it a step at a time and by the end of the lesson, I could listen to the news report and understand it. There was a lot of good vocabulary having to do with consumers, marketing, and retail. I thought this was a great lesson. Level 2+ "Ajumma Network" did not include a listening component, so it was pretty easy. It was just a news report/human interest story about how Korean mothers were networking online and in person to cope with pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, and how these groups are helping mothers navigate a competitive system for accessing private, after-school education as the children get older. This lesson included unfamiliar vocab but was pretty easy to understand thanks to context and the very limited scope of the topic. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| maurelio1234 Triglot Groupie BrazilRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6072 days ago 61 posts - 92 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishC2, French Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 309 of 457 29 March 2013 at 6:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did the 1+ listening lesson on the cuisine. The lesson is pretty hard by the way, I
just could "survive" until its end by guessing here and there :-( . Maybe that means that I need to improve my cooking vocabulary. ;-) This month it was very hard to me to keep up with the challenge. Until the middle of the month i was taking part on the 6 weeks challenge on twitter and I spent the rest of the month between holidays and moving. I just just have one suggestion: next time choose a "non-flash computer" friendly website. Most of the time I was using computers in which the GLOSS website simply didn't work :-( . 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4860 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 310 of 457 31 March 2013 at 11:53am | IP Logged | ||
Well done, everyone! :)
Suggestion taken :) I had no idea you needed flash for the website... I suppose I'm lucky never to have tried to access it from a computer without flash. But I don't think there will by website-specific challenges in the future. Because I've already done a few GLOSS lessons in Korean, I thought I'd venture into new territory and try a North Korean lesson. I'm one of those who are morbidly fascinated with North Korea, so I watched a South Korean news program about everyday life in North Korea before and I remember that I found it quite difficult to understand the Pyeongyang dialect. I chose a level 2 lesson that introduced the differences between the two accents, called Daedongmun Theater, which is a propagandistic TV news report about a newly renovated movie theater. The topic itself was boring, but it was interesting to compare the different vocabulary and writing conventions. I understood the actual report about the cinema's facilities and interviews with visitors, but was totally lost with more formal, convoluted and propagandistic sentences. What I like about GLOSS is that they walk you through a report step by step until you understand a lot more in the end than in the beginning. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Silbermond Diglot Groupie United Kingdom xuexisprachen.wordprRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4348 days ago 64 posts - 79 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Mandarin, Italian, Spanish | Message 311 of 457 31 March 2013 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just finished mine! I did a level 2 lesson for Chinese about emergency aid needed in Ethiopia... and it was really hard. Still, I think the GLOSS lessons are very effective; I just needed more vocabulary to handle all the reading (as ever seems to be the problem).
I might add GLOSS lessons to my study plans though, especially if I want specific-topic vocabulary. :) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| yuhakko Tetraglot Senior Member FranceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4624 days ago 414 posts - 582 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishB2, EnglishC2, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin | Message 312 of 457 01 April 2013 at 12:33am | IP Logged | ||
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I personally did one Japanese lesson level 3 (highest level for Japanese on the website)
about an election in Japan. I actually had not much trouble but getting to understand details was quite tricky. The main ideas used known vocabulary and Kanjis but the details.. well were too detailed. I also did one Chinese lesson level 1+ about "A chinese favourite traditional food" (包 子). It was an audio-based lesson and got me lost with the cooking terms but pretty much easy apart from that. I will try a level 2 later on, just to check how it is. In the end, like everybody seems to think, I believe this is a good extra resource, but definitely not enough alone. Anyway, that was good a good challenge considering I had always been lazy to do a lesson until the end! 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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