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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| fortheo Senior Member United States Joined 4980 days ago 187 posts - 222 votes  Studies: French | Message 17 of 28 16 January 2015 at 4:09pm | IP Logged |
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It's interesting that I too have had a lack of motivation with Assimil around the same lessons that you're at. I
wonder if it's because these lessons are dry or of it's something more personal. For me, I listen, read, then listen and read (same time) to three lessons a day. I only add a new lesson everyother day. I believe it is called lucas method and it takes me around 30-40 minutes a day. I could easily spend more time on it but since each lesson is in my reviews for another four days or so I don't Fret so much. Also, you seem to be doing other forms of studying so I think it would be okay to relax on the assimil front, maybe not stop but just find a pace that fits in with the rest of your routine-even just 15 minutes a day consistently. Good luck Edited by fortheo on 16 January 2015 at 4:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 3951 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 18 of 28 16 January 2015 at 7:20pm | IP Logged |
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I think it is quite normal to have good and bad language learning days. Sometimes we all lack motivation with
Assimil, Anki, etc. However, what I do think is important is to do "something" in French everyday. Find something "fun" to do such as: 1. Listen to French Music. There are several of us learning French who pare participating in Serpent's music challenge so you can see what we are listening to there, or here is a good thread on French Pop Music. Find a favorite song and Google for the paroles/lyrics. 2. Find a movie or TV series to watch in French with English subtitles. Watch Extr@ French or FIA series on-line. 3. Read. Find an article on-line on something that interests in you, and puzzle it out. What you can't, use Google Translate, or read an easy or graded reader. When the fun stops and it starts being difficult or a chore, people give up. But remember to have fun on this journey and to do something French daily. You'll be surprised how quickly you progress! Edited by Mohave on 16 January 2015 at 7:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ending Newbie United States Joined 5264 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 19 of 28 20 January 2015 at 6:30am | IP Logged |
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I've been pretty good about keeping up on things the last few days.
Duolingo: not a whole lot of progress overall. I have completed a few new skills and kept my tree golden. I plan on spending some extra time on a few of the lessons I've been struggling with in the coming days. 22 day streak so far. Lingvist: 908 words total, 25 learned today. Average time is still around 15-18 minutes. I should probably start paying more attention to the notes at the bottom...Otherwise no issues this time! Assimil: Completed lesson 64 of the passive wave, 15 of the active wave today. I've been pretty good on actually doing my Assimil lesson for the last few days--here's to hoping I keep it up! Other/Overall: I'm still working through this simple reader, and rather enjoying it. It's short, so I'll probably go through it a few times, then move on. I've also started translating songs again, which has been going pretty well--once again I'm surprised by how much I actually understand when I read the lyrics (listening is still a whole different matter). So overall, I'm pretty happy with the last few days. Japanese: I'm still only spending maybe 10 minutes reviewing Kanji for Japanese. It's definitely helping me recall vocabulary though, so I'm happy with this. I don't want to spend too much on it at this time, because I don't want to become distracted from French. To Mohave and fortheo: Thank you for the advice and encouragement! it's definitely appreciated. Music is what originally got me interested in French, and I listen to some every day, so I'll definitely be spending some time on that thread to find some new artists. And honestly, I'm somewhat surprised I haven't burnt out yet--normally I get bored/fed up with a language and give up after a few months like so many people. Thankfully, French seems to be different this time for some reason! I know that point will hit eventually, but for the moment at least I'm happy to still be having fun with it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ending Newbie United States Joined 5264 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 20 of 28 26 January 2015 at 3:47am | IP Logged |
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I started using Toggl to keep track of my study time, as I like how it can break things
down so I can see what I'm spending most of my time on. It's also much more accurate than the (hopefully not too) inaccurate guesses I was taking before! Anyway: Duolingo: I've spent about an hour and a half total on duolingo in the last few days. I've started actively working on new skills, as well as at least one review a day. I'm currently on Adjectives 3 and have a 28 day streak. Lingvist: About 1 hours, 20 minutes total the last few days. Most Linvist sessions still take me between 15 and 18 minutes to complete. I'm at 1,020 words. Assimil: I completed lesson 69 of the passive wave, 20 of the active wave today. I've been pretty good with keeping up with Assimil in the last week: I've only missed one day. Other: I've started more actively working through my grammar book. I think I'm at a good point for it right now, because I already have a lot of semi-passive experience with the current grammar points from lingvist/duolingo/translating, etc. So the exercises are really helping to clarify a few points and reinforce the material. I've still been translating songs, which is going pretty well. I also starting FSI today: I plan to take this one slow though, and I'll be happy to just get a little bit in each day. Japanese: Still just doing some really basic kanji/vocab review. The past week has felt pretty productive, and I'm still in love with French! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fortheo Senior Member United States Joined 4980 days ago 187 posts - 222 votes Studies: French | Message 21 of 28 26 January 2015 at 8:09am | IP Logged |
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I just did lesson 69 in Assimil too. Seems like you're making good progress!
What's the name of the simple reader you're using? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ending Newbie United States Joined 5264 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 22 of 28 30 January 2015 at 9:17pm | IP Logged |
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@fortheo: While I have "Easy French Reader" by R. de Roussy, I must admit to not having
used it much lately. Speaking of which, can I ask where you found the audio for it? Anyway, I've been going through a couple of cheap kindle readers: I'm currently going through 'voyage en France' by sylvie Lainé. I am, however, finding this one extremely easy, but it's a good confidence boost! Anyway, as for the actual progress this week: Duolingo: I've been pushing through some skills on duolingo, trying to average a new one each day. I'm now up to the 'directions-feelings-numbers'row, which I'm guessing won't be terribly difficult. While I enjoy duolingo, I'm definitely looking forward to getting farther down in the tree and actually encountering some new grammar. It feels like the last 10 lessons or so have basically been vocabulary. Lingvist: I am up to 1,142 words by their count. The 'unknown grammar'issue I previously had (or thought I had) with Lingvist is pretty much gone now. I actually enjoy seeing new grammar points on there and slowly absorbing them, since my active grammar study is still pretty far behind. I'm also finding that when I do get around to studying those points more actively, they're generally extremely easy which is a plus! Assimil: I finished lesson 73 of the passive, 24 of the active wave today. Honestly, I'm having a few issues with Assimil--and they're entirely *my* issues. I feel as if I'm not studying the lessons thoroughly enough. I feel like I should spend more time on them, internalize things better, etc, etc. However, at this point through the course I also feel like I should just finish up the passive wave and do a third, more intense wave. Or maybe take a break from progressing, and go back through the previous lessons and study them more intensively? Any advice? Grammar: I've started working through "Easy french step-by-step" for basic grammar. I'm trying to do a lesson every other day or so, and so far it's been working out okay. Granted, I'm only on lesson five, so that could easily change! I've found it useful for clearing up some points that have come up in other resources (lingvist, duoling, pod101, etc.) and the exercises have proven to be quite helpful. After I finish that book I'll probably work through some of the "practice makes perfect"series for some extra reinforcement. Overall: According to Toggl, I've logged about 11 hours of study time this week. Although I would like a little more (I do still have the weekend!) I'm also pretty happy with that number. I know that once I find another job my study time is going to be drastically reduced, so I should try to get in as much as I can for now. Also, wanderlust is hitting me pretty hard right now for some reason: any suggestions on how to contain it? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| s.mann Groupie United States lang-8.com/973514/jo Joined 3582 days ago 55 posts - 76 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 23 of 28 31 January 2015 at 12:29am | IP Logged |
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Hey, turns out it was your log that I found Toggl through! I really like it too. Simple and
everywhere I need it, with awesome graphs for the data nerd in me. Between Duo, Lingvist, Assimil and Practice Makes Perfect... it's like we're resource twins. I've even pre- ordered the new version of the Easy French Reader. Spooky. When I get wanderlust I remind myself that I'd much rather be really good at one thing than to be mediocre at many (at least in languages). Also I've been reading on these forums that getting a high (B2/C1) level in one Romance language before switching to another is best in order to mitigate interference, if you're wanting to switch to one of those. (Personally I keep adding to the list of resources I'll use for Spanish or Portuguese... in a year or two.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ending Newbie United States Joined 5264 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 24 of 28 31 January 2015 at 5:05am | IP Logged |
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Toggl is pretty awesome! I'm slowly finding all the right apps to keep my learning on track,
though there is a lot of trial and error involved. I went through somewhere around 7-10 to-do list/goal trackers before I found the right one for me, thankfully Toggle didn't take quite as long. It's also a little odd that we have a lot of the same resources, not bad though! It's definitely helpful knowing someone who is going through the same things as I am, somewhere around the same time. As for wanderlust: I actually have pretty much no interest in other Romance languages at the moment. Currently, it's (mostly) Swedish, (a little bit of) Dutch, and Mandarin that are tempting me. If I were to start another one, I would be very minimal--but I'm trying really hard not to give into any of them yet. I do *really* want to get to a decent level in French, but new things are just so shiny... 1 person has voted this message useful |
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