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Kuji’s Krazy Log II | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4837 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 473 of 706 17 March 2014 at 6:03am | IP Logged | ||
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OK, big confession here: I have done hardly any Japanese- or Portuguese-related activities since coming back from Malaysia eight days ago. The only activities I've done have been three Anki sessions - perhaps 20 cards in each language for each session, done while I wait for elevators, in lobbies, etc. - not much at all.
I've had time to work on my languages.... wait a minute... "work"... sounds so strict, like I'm doing research or something. What is a better word for that? "Enjoy my languages?" "Read in my languages?" Oops... off track. Anyway, the problem is not time. I think it is one of two things: (1) a lack of quality sleep (I go to bed quite early, and I give myself at least eight hours a night to sleep, but for the last two months or so I often end up laying awake in bed for stretches of time), or (2) a lack of drive. To be honest, it's probably a combination of both, but I've noticed before that once I leave my language-"participating" routine (trying not to say "learning" there; language shouldn't be a research subject but a hobby or lifestyle), it is really difficult to get back into it. No matter how "easy" I try to make it on myself, or what kind of activities I do, acquiring a language takes a lot of effort. And I notice that whatever I do that requires considerable effort - whether it's language-acquiring, or container gardening on the veranda, or doing a project at work - once I manage to start doing it, I can continue doing it, but if I pause, it is really difficult to restart it. I guess that is just the way my brain works. One of the most interesting parts of acquiring foreign languages is learning a bit about your own psychology. I think that after my trip, getting back into the swing of things right away is a bit stressful for me. Instead of picking up where I left off, I should have temporarily set my rotations aside and done some easier activities, like simply listening to music or radio, or watching TV, or doing something like Duolingo - less intensive activities. Do those for a few days with no pressure, then get back into my main rotation. I'll try doing that from today. I suppose a good analogy is the soccer player trying to get back into playing shape at the beginning of the new season. After weeks off, he is not going to be able to immediately step into a La Liga game and score a hat-trick. He needs to get his fitness back, train in the pre-season, maybe play a few friendlies, before he is ready for the first game of the season. I need to "get my fitness back" as well with some light "training". Moreover, I need to anticipate this sort of thing happening in the future. The next time I go on a vacation somewhere, I need to understand that it is going to be difficult to restart my language activities right away, and I need to have some other, more easygoing activities ready to do for a while. Edited by kujichagulia on 17 March 2014 at 6:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6587 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 474 of 706 17 March 2014 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hehe I like the comparison :-) Definitely don't be too harsh on yourself!
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| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5252 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 475 of 706 17 March 2014 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you were a beginner, I'd be somewhat concerned. You are an experienced learner. You'll get back in the groove before too long. :) Edited by iguanamon on 17 March 2014 at 5:15pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4837 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 476 of 706 18 March 2014 at 2:18am | IP Logged | ||
I knew you'd like that one, Serpent. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4837 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 477 of 706 18 March 2014 at 2:21am | IP Logged | ||
Well, this has been the longest lull for me in almost 2 years, so I am a bit concerned. But the fact that I am concerned means I'll get it straight sooner or later. Three, four, or five years ago, I might not have been concerned, and the lull would have gone on for months. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4837 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 478 of 706 26 March 2014 at 4:01am | IP Logged | ||
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I've been unexpectedly very busy in my life recently, so I haven't been at HTLAL that much. So here are some quick "news and notes" about my language-learning:
* * * * * After a few weeks of taking it easy, I've returned to pre-Malaysia study levels. But to get back there, I found that I had to get rid of the rotation system I used the past few months. I know that it will come as a shock to all of you, as I've been preaching the virtues of the rotation system here and there. The rotation system works when I am doing an activity that is a lot of fun, but when I get to an activity that is not as fun, but I know that I need to do to improve in my languages... well, I end up delaying it or skipping it. The thought of doing that activity over the next few days makes me not want to do it. It is better for me to take breaks from doing that activity and do something else before coming back to it. With that in mind, I've gone back to the pre-rotation system I used to have. I have certain activities scheduled on certain days. And I know that I spend a lot of time talking about my "system" instead of what I'm learning. But I firmly believe that if I can find the optimal conditions for my learning languages, and gear a system towards that, then I can put the system in place, not worry about it, and just enjoy learning languages. I think people that have learned at least one language to fluency have found their systems, and that is why the next languages are easier to learn. * * * * * I tried using RhinoSpike the past few days. If you are not familiar with the website, how it works is that a person submits some text in the language they are learning, and a native speaker will make a recording of it. I thought that I could use it to get recordings of the dialogs I've been writing, put the mp3s onto a playlist, and voila - comprehensible listening material. And RhinoSpike did it's job. I submitted one of the Japanese dialogs I wrote and had corrected at Lang-8. Within a day, I had a recording. But something felt odd. Perhaps because the recording was not of high quality. Or (and I really do appreciate the work the guy did for me) perhaps my dialog was not spoken with enough emotion or feeling. Maybe it is better for speeches instead of dialogs. Or perhaps because a dialog I wrote that has personal relevance to me became impersonal when somebody else recorded it. I'm really not sure why, but I felt disappointed. And I hate to feel disappointed after all that work. (It is community driven, and you are supposed to record for others as well. The more you record, the higher in the queue your own requests climb. But recording takes time, and it is not easy for me to go someplace alone, with no noise, and record.) Perhaps the benefits of RhinoSpike do not outweigh the costs, so I will probably not use it again. * * * * * Finally, an interesting story. My wife and I have been thinking about going to Portugal next December. There was a travel program on TV here the other day about Coimbra, Portugal, so we watched it. The host was walking around Coimbra and talking to the locals. My wife said, "You're learning Portuguese, right? What are they saying?" I had no freaking clue. I understood words here or there, but I could not understand right away what they were talking about - at least not without the Japanese subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Perhaps it was because it was the European accent, whereas I am usually listening to Brazilian Portuguese in my studies. Or (more likely) I just didn't know most of the vocabulary. In any case, my wife told me, "Wow, you suck. If we go to Portugal, we're gonna be in trouble." That was not good for my ego. "B-b-but..," I stammered, "I don't study Portuguese a lot, you know. Just an hour a day. And I'm a beginner!" Edited by kujichagulia on 26 March 2014 at 4:12am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6587 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 479 of 706 26 March 2014 at 3:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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I love how you speak about watching Portuguese with Japanese subtitles like it's no big deal :)
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| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4837 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 480 of 706 27 March 2014 at 1:16am | IP Logged | ||
Hehehe... You know, Serpent, it didn't really occur to me how amazing it was that I was watching Portuguese with Japanese subtitles until I read your reply. Wow. The TV's always on at home with Japanese subtitles or closed captioning, so sometimes it doesn't really feel like a big deal. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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