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Tarvos - TAC 2015 Pushkin/Scan | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1497 of 1511 27 June 2015 at 4:22pm | IP Logged |
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The Language Marathon Part Two
Some of you may remember I did a language marathon some time back where I scheduled classes for five different languages on one and the same day. I also remember that I was completely exhausted at the end of that because it took up all of my energy (especially because I was at a low level in some of them and my levels weren't comparable to what they are now, except perhaps for French). I did the same, but with one language less (however I can add Mandarin because I speak it in real life), and the results were much better. I only tired during the very last Greek conversation. This time I did: German, Russian, Czech and Greek (interspersed with Chinese during the day). German had a built-in difficulty - part of the class was actually in Swiss German. I speak regular German like a boss but I don't understand much Swiss German (well I got there eventually with some context). Here's what I found: - My results were better because with the exception of Czech, my levels in all these languages are not that low (in Russian I am around C2!) and thus switching is easier. I am also extremely used to speaking Mandarin every day so that's not a problem either. - Results drop off a bit when we're speaking weaker languages, but that may just be because they are weaker. My Czech sounds noticeably better than last time I spoke it and I spoke it for longer. My Greek wasn't the best, but it was the last one and at a late hour. - As long as you speak languages in the high B range or above, you should be able to switch easily. I had German and Russian right after the other and after 2 minutes of changing mindsets I was going on in Russian and defending my stance on logic and atheism. - There was a big break between Russian and Czech of about three hours. This helped a lot. There also was a 10 minute break or so between Czech and Greek. - The biggest factor playing a role is exhaustion. The more you have to concentrate on what you are saying, the more you are exhausted. Putting the good languages up front helps because they don't require much oiling. Speaking Russian is nearly 100% automatic and in German I also speak quite fast (though here I make some small mistakes, even though my spoken German is pretty good). Once you physically tire your performance suffers. Speaking foreign languages is tiring, but you can minimize this by dosing your efforts. Maybe the results would have been different if I had added a fifth language where I would have had to concentrate (say, Finnish, or maybe Portuguese or Korean or something like that). - The more automatic your speech the better it goes. Automaticity is key in switching - you shouldn't have to search a long time for phrases in your TL. This is why speaking a lot is so important - it trains the muscle memory you use in order to actively recall and produce the correct sentence structures. This is not something you can get through pure input - activation requires this memory and recall process to be trained. I have been speaking a fair amount of Greek lately, so with Greek automatism isn't a problem. German is a language so close to my own that it doesn't really matter what I say there. It would be interesting to repeat this experiment with 4 or 5 languages where I am not over B1. But that will have to wait for another day. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1498 of 1511 29 June 2015 at 7:52am | IP Logged |
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Манифест про красоту жизни
О моем мировоззрении 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1499 of 1511 01 July 2015 at 3:43am | IP Logged |
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All right, so my time in Chengde is drawing to an end (meaning I'm close to finishing
my Mandarin project) We're halfway the year, so it's time to analyse where we've gone and what we need to be doing in more detail than I usually do. So, with no further ado, here's my analysis of how I feel I have improved: Dutch/English Not. I guess. Russian My Russian this year has been marked by an increase in the level of the material I'm using. 19th century literature isn't easy for anyone and handling Russian in the original certainly isn't. I've also been doing preparation material for a C2 exam to be sat at an as of yet undetermined date (depending on my schedule). Current levels indicate that I am likely to pass such a test which means my Russian is finally at an acceptable level. Ok, it was that a long time ago, but it means that I have opened the possibility to study Russian with me on iTalki for beginners! So if you don't know what to do about your Russian, and you're a beginner, come study with me! Level: ~C2 Goal: maintain and start teaching to develop further French Now this is a language that has suffered a bit in the active department (I can still read almost everything). Once I've finished getting that Russian diploma I will return to my French. It's a stable, C1-ish level. This is a fairly long-term goal. Level: C1 Goal: progress to C2 Swedish Has stayed the same. I don't need to improve it and it's not really dropping off. Level: C1 Goal: maintenance German I'm travelling to Germany in August and although I won't be continuously speaking German it's good to learn more about it. I specifically want to work on Swiss German, to give it a bit of a challenge. Level: C1 oral/reading, B2 written Goal: diversify my accent comprehension Romanian I don't have any plans to improve it, but I still speak it well, albeit at a slightly lower level than German. It's fine the way it is. Level: B2 Goal: some maintenance at some point Italian Now I am planning to move to Italy after Greece so Italian will be very important to me. I've been improving it over the past months and got to fluency in about 2-3 months. If Italy materializes after Greece, this is the language that I will have to do another spurt on. Level: low B2 Goal: become very competent so that I can live comfortably in Italy Norwegian I understand Norwegian and can Norwegify my Swedish a little, and I can read Norwegian Bokmal, but I need to improve my Nynorsk and dialect comprehension. Level: B2 Goal: diversify my dialect comprehension and start working with Nynorsk material Afrikaans No goals, but I do understand it in writing and a fair bit of spoken Afrikaans to. Level: almost everything written, B-level oral comprehension, no productive skills Goal: none Danish See Afrikaans, except my oral comprehension is lower, way lower. Mandarin Now it gets interesting. Mandarin is going to be the victim of me moving, and I will need to find a way to maintain it. I have promised myself a return to Sinophone regions later in my life (not in the coming few years, as I want to discover other parts of this planet), but China is big and I won't get to explore the south or the desert this time. This trip is focused on urban, (north)eastern China. I still struggle with the characters. Spoken Mandarin is all right (B-levels). I would be around B1 (HSK 3 level), probably a bit higher on speaking and lower on reading/writing. No concrete goals for now, except for maintenance. Level: B1 (conversational) Goal: maintenance. Later: improve written skills Modern Greek Modern Greek is one of my next projects, and I've been focusing on it lately. My Greek has improved leaps and bounds in the last month and I'm definitely at a conversational level of Greek, as well as a good B1 level in writing. I need to improve more concerning high-level vocabulary and listening skills, and I hope my sojourn in Crete won't get blasted by the stuff going on over there right now. I speak respectable basic Greek though. Level: B1 Goal: improve listening skills while travelling, widen my vocabulary and scope Modern Hebrew Has suffered too much under current circumstances. Once I get settled in one place, I think I might return to Hebrew to do a refresher and bring it back to a B1 conversational level. Level: A2 Goal: improve towards a conversational level Spanish I understand a lot and can produce sentences, but I sound a bit off and it's not very complex what I do, it's all based on my other romance languages. I have no urgent plans for improvement of my Spanish, but I can hold a good conversation. Level: A2-B1 Goal: maintenance Portuguese See Spanish, but with more emphasis on listening skills which are harder for me in Portuguese Esperanto I'm doing a short Esperanto improvement project in August. My level is A1-A2 and I want to reach B1 in order to participate in the Esperanto event taking place in Hungary in august. Level: A1-A2 Goal: improve towards B1 in August Korean I have forgotten nearly all of my Korean, but I'm spending a week there at the end of July. My goal is to get back to A1-A2 tourist Korean. I hope to spend some time living in South Korea later in my life, so I will return to Korean later. Level: A1 Goal: improve towards A2 tourist Korean for travel purposes. Czech Czech is my fun project for dabbling at the moment and I'm getting good at it so I may want to continue learning more Czech. My current level is A1 definitely, but I would like to keep dabbling and improving my listening and speaking skills (reading is fairly easy with my level of Russian). Level: A1 goal: continue to dabble Finnish I quit dabbling in Finnish but may return to it if a trip to Finland to see my brother materialises in the fall. Level: A1 goal: continue to dabble! Breton/Icelandic/Latin these are off the table for now, although I can still read the first two in a very elementary way and Latin a bit more in-depth. In some years, I plan to do a Classicist Revival Project where I return to my Latin and learn some Ancient Greek, but for that I would first like to speak acceptable B2 Modern Greek. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4282 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 1500 of 1511 01 July 2015 at 4:37am | IP Logged |
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Ik heb een livestreampje (misschien klinkt dat
een beetje raar) uit Griekenland. Alles is in het Grieks, dus begrijp ik bijna niets. Jawel, er is mij niets meer te verwatchen aangezien ik die taal (nog?) niet studeer. Naast de ATMs zijn er heel wat rijen om tot aan zijn zichtrekeningen 60€ te opnemen. Ik weet niet wat in Crete gebeurt, maar ik heb twee vrienden uit Athene, en ze zijn niet zo bang van de fimanciële crisis. Of misschien zijn ze al bang voor niets... Edited by 1e4e6 on 01 July 2015 at 4:38am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1501 of 1511 01 July 2015 at 9:36am | IP Logged |
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Zichtrekeningen? Wat zijn zichtrekeningen? Bedoel je bankrekeningen?
Livestreampje klinkt wel grappig en normaal. Ik ga er pas eind augustus heen. Ik wacht nog even met mijn vliegtuig boeken tot na het referendum, om te kijken of men toch nog tot een akkoord weet te komen. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4282 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 1502 of 1511 01 July 2015 at 10:14am | IP Logged |
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Ups, klopt, ja ik bedoelde bankrekeningen. De financiële crisis staat nog op alle
nieuws, die uit Spanje, Portugal, Duitsland, Noorwegen, Zweden, Frankrijk, Italië, enz., dus omdat ik het nieuws van RTVE, RTP, NOS, FRANCE24, DW, NRK, SVT, DK kijk, en de andere kan ik op de hoogte van de crisis ben. Daar ben ik nooit naartoe gereisd, maar de Grieksen schijnen veel talen te kennen, tenminste lijkt het erop, want op het nieuws van La Sexta heb ik pas gisteren twee Grieken gezien. Ze hebben een interview over de crisis met Antena3 gegeven. De eerste sprak een zeer uitstekend Spaans, ten minste C1 zou ik zeggen, en de tweede misschien ongeveer B2. Dus misschien is Griekenland een goed land om je talen te beoefenen. Ik heb het Griekse alfabet "geleerd", in wiskundelessen en wetenschaplessen sinds het basisschool tot aan de universiteit. Ik ken de letters en kan de meeste woorden uitspreken, maar misschien zou ik wat raar klinken, en bovendien zou ik geen woord kennen, tenzij ze "φιλοσοφία" of zoiets zijn. Of "κρίση"... Edited by 1e4e6 on 01 July 2015 at 10:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1503 of 1511 01 July 2015 at 10:41am | IP Logged |
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Er zijn een hoop van dat soort woorden hoor. Met de Griekse talenkennis valt het opzich
wel mee, maar veel Grieken zijn in het buitenland terecht gekomen en er was ooit een traditie om goed Frans te leren. De uitspraak van het Oudgriekse alfabet komt niet overeen met de moderne. Bèta wordt in het moderne Grieks als vita uitgesproken, bijvoorbeeld. Bèta geeft in Modern Grieks dan ook de v-klank weer. Ik vind het alleen zonde van zo'n mooi land dat ze altijd bezig zijn met rotzooi trappen daar. Het is alsof Griekenland weigert zich normaal te gedragen, al jarenlang. Wat is dat een groot turbulent gedoe daar. Edited by tarvos on 01 July 2015 at 10:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4699 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 1504 of 1511 04 July 2015 at 12:46am | IP Logged |
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Today, I leave for a month or so of travelling. If I post more scarcely, you'll know why
that is now. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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