The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5647 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 753 of 844 01 March 2014 at 5:48pm | IP Logged |
Warp3 wrote:
The Real CZ wrote:
So by taking Tarko's advice, I'll focus on writing for
now, writing as much as I can without worrying about being perfect. |
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Wasn't that supposed to be the point of the other blog we were using that you kept
abandoning? ㅋㅋㅋ |
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We were really only using that for Kpop discussion, whereas my blog will be about
everything and anything. I can resume posting on your blog again.
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Warp3 Senior Member United States forum_posts.asp?TID= Joined 5533 days ago 1419 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Korean, Japanese
| Message 754 of 844 01 March 2014 at 8:28pm | IP Logged |
I'm not really worried about whether we resume posting there again (and I haven't posted
there in the same amount of time really, so I can't say much), I just thought that was an
appropriate jab to throw given your post. ;)
I see Renate and I have already replied to your new blog post...hehe
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The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5647 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 755 of 844 08 March 2014 at 4:20am | IP Logged |
I've actually been busy for a change, unlike the previous two and a half months where I
was just sending up applications in vain, so I haven't done as much. I'm starting my
part-time job soon (I had orientation today) and I'm in the middle of scheduling
classes for the fall semester. On top of that, I'll have to start studying for the
GMAT. For those of you who don't know, the GMAT is similar to the GRE, but it is used
for applying to business school, as they don't accept the GRE for graduate admissions.
I'm not too worried about the GMAT in the sense that I know I can get the minimum score
to enter, but I want to get a great score to get a graduate assistantship (free tuition
plus a stipend).
When it comes to Korean, I need to take a short break from dramas (I think I'm watching
too many of them), so I'm watching some movies and listening to more podcasts in the
meantime. I started watching the movie Maundy Thursday (우리들의 행복한 시간)and I just so
happen to own the novel the movie is based on, so I'll probably reread that.
I enjoy re-reading novels because it's more practice, but it allows me to notice
progress that I have made. I still won't know every word as I've read all of these
books extensively, but it seems like the grammar sticks a lot better and some words
become a lot more clearer in meaning from context, so I figure if I see that word while
reading on the computer (and thus able to look it up), I'll probably remember it
better.
Watching Maundy Thursday (which reminds me that I need to resume watching the movie)
made me think of a good idea. I read Dramabeans a lot, and the thought of trying to
recap movies in Korean seems like a good idea. it would be easier and less intimidating
in trying to do a 2 hour movie as opposed to a 24 episode series. I think that will end
up pushing my writing skills to the limits. I also want to do some shorter, more
regular posts just to improve automaticy of the language, and have those posts be of
the i+1 level.
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The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5647 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 756 of 844 15 March 2014 at 4:13am | IP Logged |
Seeing as I'll be very busy soon, I started using Anki for vocab and grammar. For
vocabulary, I'm using the old sentence method, but I'm also putting the English
translation along with it and clozing each unknown word. I didn't like reading huge
chunks of text with MCDs. For grammar, I'm simply just doing the target language
sentence and English translation below, closing out each part of the grammar structure
I want to reproduce. For the Japanese and Chinese decks, I am only using kana and
pinyin respectively as it is a grammar/production deck, not a reading deck. Instead of
typing out the grammar explanations, I just put the page number where I can find the
explanation in my books to save me a lot of time (and so that I continue doing the
exercise).
For a media hook, I have to find one for Chinese aside from music. I tried watching
Taiwanese dramas, but they're long and drawn out and I don't like them for the most
part. I'll try to find some good podcasts (I have one so far that I like). I do like
wuxia movies from Mainland China, but I honestly don't watch very many of them because
they would get old really quick.
For Japanese, I have the same problem. I really don't like their dramas either, but I
have watched a few dozen because there are some actresses that I like, and there were a
few that I really liked. However, I started watching anime again, but after years of
not watching it regularly, I feel lost when watching certain anime. I'll also try to
find some podcasts to listen to, because I haven't found one that I like yet. Also, I
think I'm almost done listening to Japanese music entirely. I really can't find any new
artists that I like.
With Korean, everything is great, I probably just need to scale down on the number of
dramas I'm watching.
Probably within the next couple of weeks, I'll be reviewing a financial accounting
textbook before I start taking upper level accounting classes. I did take accounting
classes in my undergrad years...my freshman year. I really need a refresher so that I
don't jump into the higher levels without remembering the basics. I'm attempting to
apply for the Master's program in accounting (that'll take roughly 2 semesters), and
taking the undergrad accounting courses should only take me the summer and fall
semesters this year. I may take a short break between undergrad and grad programs to do
some internships. On top of that, I'll be studying hard for the GMAT exam to get into
business school. I'm not too worried about the math portion, as math is like my native
language (but I do need to brush up on it). However, I am terrible at the Verbal parts
of the test (grammar, reading comprehension, etc.). Ironic for a language enthusiast to
suck at English, but it was always my worst subject in high school and university, and
the class where I always had to put in the most effort to get an A. But on standardized
tests, I only test average on the English/verbal sections while doing much much better
in the math and science parts. So, I'll have to spend more time learning English
grammar this summer.
And that's why I want to use Anki, because even if it's just for a short time each day,
I can make decent progress in the three languages I'm studying. I'm hoping to build up
my passive skills to a higher level because I know for the next few years that I won't
really have the time to focus on really pushing my active skills.
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druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4866 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian
| Message 757 of 844 15 March 2014 at 7:30pm | IP Logged |
How much do you read in English? I find that all people who have very good skills in their native languages read a lot (but the inverse isn't necessarily true). Brushing up on grammar rules is also a good idea. It helped me a lot when I was tutoring kids who had to study German grammar - I had pretty much forgotten most punctuation rules. Writing a lot also helps, of course.
It's surprising how few people can actually handle their native language well. You'd expect that adults with a certain level of education have no language problems, but that's not the case. I've often proofread awkward, faulty and occasionally hardly understandable texts written by fellow university students. I once did an editing workshop where we were told that editors often have to change 90% of the text they get sent by their non-fiction authors. Sorry for the rant :D Your English seems fine.
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The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5647 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean
| Message 758 of 844 15 March 2014 at 8:37pm | IP Logged |
I'd say my writing skills are above average when compared to other students in my class,
but when it comes to myself, English is by far and away the weakest subject for me.
I rarely read in English growing up, spending most of my time either playing sports or
playing video games. I have read more books in Korean the past few years than English
books (not counting textbooks).
Most standardized tests really focus on grammar, and I am not that strong with English
grammar because it honestly doesn't make sense. I usually just go by ear, but I can't do
that on a test.
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Warp3 Senior Member United States forum_posts.asp?TID= Joined 5533 days ago 1419 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Korean, Japanese
| Message 759 of 844 15 March 2014 at 9:17pm | IP Logged |
It sounds to me like you need to load up a new Anki deck with some English grammar points.
:)
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mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5224 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese
| Message 760 of 844 16 March 2014 at 3:55pm | IP Logged |
druckfehler wrote:
[...] we were told that editors often have to change 90% of the text they get sent by their non-fiction authors. |
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What's different with fiction authors? The ones I've met didn't impress me deeply either.
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