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Emme’s Small Steps - Team Sleipnir TAC’15 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5348 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes  Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 201 of 360 24 October 2013 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks Cristina and Expugnator!
-------- I haven’t updated my log in a fortnight. Maybe because I haven’t done much worth reporting here lately. And the result is that these days I’m rather frustrated with language learning in general. It’s not burnout: it would be easier if it were, at least I would know what to do in that case: Stop for a while. It’s just that this autumn I seem incapable of studying: I know it’s all down to managing my time better, but right now I feel quite helpless, facing down countless glitches and unforeseen little accidents that keep derailing my best efforts. I still do engage with at least one of my languages every day, but the kind of unchallenging activities I do while commuting or during some such breathing spells don’t give me any sense of achievement and that’s driving me up the wall. I’m looking forward to the upcoming November 6wc hoping that it will give me the push I need to find my pace again. All this turmoil also means that I’ve been rather absent from this forum. I’d like to apologize especially to my TAC teammates if I haven’t been very present: I’m still catching up with several threads. By the way: @Cristina, I’ve just read your post on this thread and I’d like to thank you for your kind words. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| fabriciocarraro Hexaglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Brazil russoparabrasileirosRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4716 days ago 989 posts - 1454 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, EnglishB2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French Studies: Dutch, German, Japanese | Message 202 of 360 24 October 2013 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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We miss you Emme! Get back on track as soon as you can =)
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 203 of 360 24 October 2013 at 11:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hej Emme!
It's good to hear from you. Let's fund a club of autumn haters. I've been ill for the last two weeks (and I'm still not healthy). So, we could make a good base to a larger movement. Our goal: everlasting summer! (And truth be told, now I hope you are a weather spoiled Italian complaining about an autumn like our summers. Italy is one of the countries where I'd love to live one day. And the climate is a very important factor. :-D ) No worries about a little break or slow down in your studies. You have been doing great so far and you will surely continue as soon as you can. :-) Btw which language are you going to pursuit in the 6wc? Isn't your Swedish too advanced? So perhaps French? :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5348 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 204 of 360 29 October 2013 at 2:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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@fabriciocarraro
Thanks! I’ll do my best! @Cavesa Actually, it’s not really the weather that bothers me (even though rainy days are a drag), but the diminishing sunlight we get in autumn. I could probably be diagnosed with some form of SAD (seasonal affective disorder), but I’ve never pursued the topic. I hope you’ve now fully recovered: if not I hope you can find solace in knowing that you’re not alone. Just yesterday the news reported that here in Italy there are thousands of people dealing with parainfluenza right now. As for the 6wc: I’m going with Swedish. As I wrote in a previous post I think this is my last chance to focus on Swedish during the 6wc. In February I think/hope my level will be high enough to disallow me from choosing Swedish as my TL. I know this is all very subjective, but I think Sprachprofi left the rules intentionally rather vague.
I know everyone has different opinions about levels of proficiency (as proven by the countless threads here on HTLAL about levels and what constitutes fluency), but personally I don’t consider myself intermediate yet in Swedish but elementary/pre-intermediate at most. Sprachprofi opted not to use CEFR levels but rather the more traditional terminology that divides levels from beginner to advance and that makes me judge myself on that kind of scale. To do so I usually have a look at the textbooks in a good series of English* teaching manuals (something from Oxford UP or Longman, for instance) where there are 5 or 6 or even more books in the series – usually with names like Starter/Beginner, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced – and I check where I’m at in terms of vocabulary and skills required by each textbook: could I do in Swedish what is demanded/expected? Do I know the same range of vocabulary in Swedish? Can I use the equivalents structures and linguistic devices in Swedish? If beginner’s textbooks are clearly too easy and elementary ones are probably alright, an honest appraisal with that method doesn’t put me higher than pre-intermediate. And I’m sure that a few aspects here and there of pre-intermediate materials are still beyond my grasp. But I’m working on reaching the Intermediate stage as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of this year. So, Cavesa, I’ll keep you company with Swedish in this November 6wc. I hope doing the 6wc together will help us both reach new levels of productivity: I really need some morale boost. I haven’t registered yet, because I hate logging in on Twitter and I’ll probably wait until Friday when I start to write my first updates. If no one else comes onboard, there may be just three of us focusing on Swedish. Let’s hope we can have fun! *I use English textbooks because they are much more easily available at any bookshop or library if you just want to thumb through them for a quick assessment. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 205 of 360 29 October 2013 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hurray! There is a Swedish 6wc team!
(And there is one more Swedish learner. And three signed up for Norwegian, one Finnish. Winter is coming!) I only wish we could just use the Swedish textbooks as a scale to compare our skills to :-D The offer is far too limited, unfortunately. By the way, where do you buy your Swedish resources? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6704 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 206 of 360 29 October 2013 at 4:29pm | IP Logged | ||
You just need a seriously bright lamp, then your SAD will evaporate 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 207 of 360 30 October 2013 at 9:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Iversen, how do you get seriously bright lamps now that the EU banned the normal
lightbulbs? Despite the "ecological" (mercury inside) alternatives being advertised to be just as bright or even brighter, I somehow find them lacking. In brightness but as well the shade of the light is different (too white and artificial usually). It is very hard to find a good one, these days. If you have any tips, I would welcome them as I find this issue quite important. My aunt has got a different method to deal with this. Solarium. Not too often as the goal is not getting tanned and it is still not too healthy for your skin. But you get a good dose of the vitamin D (which is one of the major factors behind these problems, ranging from worse moods and tiredness up to serious depressions and suicidal attempts). Or you can try to get vitamine D in your pharmacy. It will be less natural to your body but may still work more than well. (Now that I think of it, I should visit a pharmacy too :-) ) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4829 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 208 of 360 30 October 2013 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would have thought if you bought a specific light to combat SAD, they might be exempt
(on health grounds) from the EU regulations (but I'm not sure about that). They tend not to be cheap though. One can get (supposedly) "full spectrum" versions of fluorescent bulbs, but I don't know how well they deal with SAD. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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