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Homogenik Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4822 days ago 314 posts - 407 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Polish, Mandarin
| Message 113 of 115 20 December 2012 at 10:04pm | IP Logged |
Polish has been on the back seat for a little while as I've been busy with working on my thesis project and also
studying for my chinese final exam, and now I have a lot of work coming up. I did however keep on reading my
Anna Prucnal biography everyday and doing some Anki vocabulary exercises (which are desperately piling up as I
write this). I also chat with my mom in polish.
I successfully finished my first chinese university class and was ultra nervous for the final exam. I did very well
though, more than I would have expected, and got a 99% grade for the whole course. I take it as a sign that it's a
good idea to pursue this and so I'll continue on to class number 2 next semester.
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| Homogenik Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4822 days ago 314 posts - 407 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Polish, Mandarin
| Message 114 of 115 23 December 2012 at 6:47pm | IP Logged |
So the end of the year and of the 2012 TAC challenge has come, so I thought I would see if my objectives were
completed.
I wanted the following :
- to have completed my current book series (Hurra by Prolog) — I'm currently at book 2 (half) out of 3 books —
and thus be officially at level B1. I finished this, but I'm currently doing the exam, which is a practice exam for
level B1 including everything an actual certification exam has. It's a disaster. I haven't finished yet but as of now, I
think I'll have no more than a 55% rate, which is awful.
- to have completed two drill books my teacher bought me in Poland (they're for level B1-C1) I'm not even
close to having finished that.
- I plan on (maybe) going to Poland next summer to Krakow for a month of intensive study. If I follow my
planning, I could be able to reach level B1 there and take the certification exam. But things have considerably
slowed down this fall (on account of augmenting difficulty and of overload in work which will continue in the
winter so...). I went to Warsaw for a month of intense study, but the program was kind of a let down and I
didn't feel like I made any real progress, but I guess I did. The experience was a good way to break the ice with
strangers and I spoke no English during my trip, only Polish. It must have helped my listening comprehension
(although I still struggle to understand any kind of recorded voice, I don't know why).
- to be able watch films without subtitles and understand half of it. Half, yes.
- and most of all to be able to communicate verbally with some ease. I'd say that's been kind of accomplished.
- I also continued my private polish classes until I left for Poland on my trip. When I came back, I did not follow
the classes anymore. It's mostly a question of money.
So for the coming year and TAC 2013 polish challenge I would like :
- to finish the exercise books Iść czy jechać?, Przygoda z gramatyką and Liczebnik też się liczy.
Goals : drill my brain to death, interiorize the grammatical patterns, augment my vocabulary.
- to commence and finish the book Apprendre le polonais par les textes, which features text comprehension of
excerpts from various genres (articles, essays, novels, scripts, theater...).
Goals : to enrich my vocabulary with a high number of expressions and more specific words.
- to go through Assimil.
Goals : to keep an audio assistance through the year; to add basic vocabulary I could have missed up to now.
- to read at least two novels in polish from Polish authors.
Goal : gain vocabulary, ameliorate reading comprehension.
As for chinese (I don't have a TAC team for that yet), which I plan on continuing properly and not dabble in
anymore. I didn't have specific objectives before, but I did improve through the year and committed a lot of time
to chinese. I:
- finished Pimsleur I
- completed the first of a series of college mandarin classes (Elementary I) with great success
- learned a few hundred characters which I can use and write
- met almost weekly with a chinese girl for private lessons (in exchange for English lessons from me)
Putting in a good deal more time to it in the coming year, I want to :
- complete the second college course (Elementary II) in the winter and the third one (Intermediary I) in the fall.
Goals : learn around 300 to 350 new characters; improve oral comprehension and speaking.
- review Pimsleur I and complete Pimsleur II.
Goals : improve my oral comprehension and my speaking.
- complete my Basic Chinese books (both listening and writing).
Goals : same as above.
I'll open a new thread for that.
Edited by Homogenik on 23 December 2012 at 6:51pm
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| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6103 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish
| Message 115 of 115 23 December 2012 at 8:25pm | IP Logged |
Thanks Homogenik for your detailed review, I'll be posting mine later.
B1 sounds tough, I'm no-where near it. But you do seem to have made real progress, especially in conversation and listening. To live in Poland for a few weeks and only speak Polish is an achievement in itself.
Could you have done more? Of course - we all could.
But you clearly have the determination to do those drills (something I've been woefully slack about). So a massive "Well done"
Good luck for both your languages in 2013.
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