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Splog at University | ||
Tags: Czech | College/University | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 1 of 72 15 September 2010 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have been quiet on the Forum for a couple of weeks since my free time is much reduced. Having been retired for a few years, I decided to go back to University.
The course lasts a full year and is full time. It is advanced conversational Czech. There are only three students in the class, and we have two professors - which is a pretty good student-teacher ratio. The assumption is that we know Czech quite well already, so there is little time spent on grammar and the like. Rather, most of the time involves debating in Czech on topics that stretch our abilities. A few highlights from the debates last week: "Are all relationships founded on power stuggles?" "If God is everywhere, then is everything God?" "Is the children's song 'little kitten' actually an anti-communist protest song?" These are not the kind of things I would dwell on at home alone, and are not the kind of discussions that I have with friends in the pub etc. So, it seems that the university environment is proving something new. In this log I intend to write about my experiences on the course, and in particular how it shapes my view on language learning. I already have one major realisation, which is that my vocabulary is very weak in certain areas. Although I have a pretty good vocabulary in general, there are glaring holes that I never realised were there. For example, when discussing Romeo and Juliet last week, it hit me that my vocabulary about romance and human relationships is lacking. Presumably this is because romantic novels and the like are of no interest to me. Therefore, university may help to round me out. Edited by Splog on 15 September 2010 at 6:32pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ReneeMona Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5336 days ago 864 posts - 1274 votes Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2 Studies: French | Message 2 of 72 15 September 2010 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Splog, your course sounds really cool! I study a language at university as well but I can only dream of having two class mates and two professors all to myself; English is a popular language so I have to share every professor with at least 15 other students. And we never just sit down and discuss God or children's songs either, which sounds like an awesome way to gain vocabulary.
Good luck with your studies and I look forward to reading your log! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5557 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 3 of 72 15 September 2010 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is a great idea, Splog, and I wish you hodně štěstí in your new journeys in Czech at uni. And don't forget to flash your student id every once in a while and capitalise on all those wonderful student discounts too. ;) Edited by Teango on 15 September 2010 at 7:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 72 18 September 2010 at 12:39am | IP Logged | ||
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I now know what it feels like to be the class dunce. It is a humbling experience. The two other students are far better than am I at speaking Czech. One of the students is Czech, so it is no surprise he is better. The other is an Italian priest who has devoted several years of "hot-housing" with a private tutor to reach admirable heights.
Despite being humbled by their mighty abilities, I must say the course is having noticeable effects on me. Since it is nothing but Czech all day, five days a week, my head is now constantly buzzing with the language. In fact, I realised I haven't spoken a single word of English for close to three weeks now. The side effect is that I find I am thinking in Czech most of the time, and dreaming in Czech most nights. To be honest I would actually say my brain is overflowing with Czech, and it is a little overwhelming. Hopefully, if it is a case of "sink or swim" my brain will get used to the intensity over the coming months and I will be swimming rather than drowning. One curious side effect is that it seems my brain no longer sees English as a welcome retreat for necessary relaxation. Instead, I have a strange, unsettled, feeling in my tummy whenever I hear spoken English, hence I have been shielding myself from the language. I do find that out of practical necessity, though, that I still have to use English occasionally for typing emails and instant messages with friends and family from overseas. This makes me wonder if it is possible to escape totally from English without becoming a total recluse. Interestingly, my typing speed in English seems to have slowed right down: I stumble much more and make quite a lot of mistakes. Quite often, I find I am lost for words and have to translate thoughts from Czech back to English. This was unexpected. Again, it is probably just a period of adjustment while I learn to cope with the intensity of the immersion I am undergoing. Overall, it is much more draining that I ever expected, but something is definitely happening inside me. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 72 18 September 2010 at 1:31am | IP Logged | ||
When I received my student ID card it did come with a list of various discount I was sure to receive for the cinema, public transport, and the like. I was overjoyed, until I saw the small-print "For students up to 26 years old only". I am almost 20 years too old for discounts - mind you, in a few years I suppose I will receive various discounts aimed at pensioners. For now, I am stuck in the "middle age trap" of having to pay full price for everything. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 6 of 72 18 September 2010 at 1:36am | IP Logged | ||
It is certainly resulting in very long lists of new words for me. Unfortunately, my brain is not very good at remembering them all! One problem is that many of the words that come up are subtle variations of words that I already know. When I look up the definitions in the dictionary, I often still cannot tell the difference between some of their meanings. Even in English I am not quite sure of the difference between "single-minded" and "focused", or "confusing" and "puzzling", for example. Perhaps the differences are so subtle it doesn't matter, but the professors don't seem very impressed at inability to immediately grasp the distinctions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 72 28 September 2010 at 9:22am | IP Logged | ||
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After three weeks at the university I can look back and feel ashamed at how slow my
progress was when studying on my own. It does seem that having a little external pressure (from the professors) and healthy competition (from the other two students) is helping me move at quite a fast pace. As an example, previously I hated studying wordlists - and would rely instead on words being repeated many times in authentic materials and then slowly sinking in. I still value this "natural" approach, but it is simply too slow for the rate at which new words are being thrown at me in class. In addition to my usual routine, then, I am now feeding around 50 news words per day into ANKI, and spend 45 minutes a day reviewing them (spread over 3x15 minute sessions). Rather than finding this boring (as before) I now seem to be hungry for it and quite enjoy it - again, I put this down to having a need to learn these words, rather than relying on willpower as before. One thing I am finding quite unpleasant is that the professors seem shocked whenever we forget something. Maybe some people remember everything the first time, but I rarely do. More often, it is a case of "in one ear and out the other". With constant review things do sink into my brain, but certainly the first time I come across something is it often with a glazed look in my eyes and a bruised brain. I will have to toughen up and get used to glares from the professors as my memory fails me yet again, fully realising that in the course of time it will all sink in. Next week will be a little unnerving: we have the first exam. Czech universities seem obsessed with exams: we have one each month, plus a larger exam, spanning two days, every three months. Apparently, much of the exam will be on grammar - and since I am in the "fluent already" class it will be on obscure stuff, such as "present and past transgressive verb conjugation", which is the kind of thing I have always ignored since almost nobody uses it in real life. I suppose that, as much as I want to ignore such things, it is useful from time to time to be forced to learn them. My overall impression so far is that the course itself (being highly conversational) is wonderful, but the examination system seems firmly rooted in a history of regurgitating facts (irrespective of your understanding of them and of their practicality). Hopefully I will somehow fumble though the exam, and be able to refocus on the conversational immersion for another month. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7104 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 8 of 72 28 September 2010 at 12:54pm | IP Logged | ||
What happens if you "fail" the exam? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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