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Bakunin TAC 2013 Asian 鶴 / Żubr | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| viedums Hexaglot Senior Member Thailand Joined 4664 days ago 327 posts - 528 votes  Speaks: Latvian, English*, German, Mandarin, Thai, French Studies: Vietnamese | Message 25 of 94 11 January 2013 at 3:14am | IP Logged | ||
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It's quite possible that Chula Books has a branch at Jamjuri Square, but that isn't the one I have in mind. For the one on Siam Square, exit Maboonkhrong shopping mall via the second floor footbridge (not the one to the Skytrain, the other one) and walk directly east, it's on the right. They have another branch on the Chula campus, in the basement of the student union, which is also huge and worth visiting. I love just strolling around that campus, with all the exotic trees.
Actually I think the jatakas are kind of an acquired taste. I would read anything that works for you, it doesn't matter if it's a translation or not. In fact, I'm now wondering if Sherlock Holmes has been translated - that might be a fun read... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 26 of 94 11 January 2013 at 5:29pm | IP Logged | ||
I see. I'll check out the one at Siam Square for sure. Regarding reading: I read lots of stuff, on the internet as well as books. The Jatakas are only for my TAC side project of getting familiar with basic royal and Buddhist vocabulary. Most of my reading is much more mundane and contemporary. I'm currently reading through a stack of Enid Blyton adventure stories for young readers. I'll hunt again for romans policiers (can't think of the English word right now) when I'm in Bangkok next time, but so far I haven't been able to find a series of romans policiers I wanted to read. Edited by Bakunin on 13 January 2013 at 7:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 27 of 94 12 January 2013 at 10:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Time for another update. I've managed to put in a lot of hours in the first few days of the year, and hope I can keep up some of the momentum. I spent most of last year on a plateau (despite getting lots of Thai done), but now I've started to notice progress again. I like to believe that it's because I've been mixing in a lot of new activities since about October, including scriptorum, shadowing, extensive listening, typing, intensive reading and a new conversation tutor on italki. Slowly but surely I'm adapting to living my life more and more in Thai, replacing stuff I used to do in other languages with Thai.
Listening: 31 (+9.0) Reading: 33 (+8.7) Speaking: 6 (+0.5) Writing: 3 (+0.5) Other: 7 (+1.3) Total: 80 Listening: VoA, NHK, SBS, and a lot of radio. Today was Children's Day in Thailand. I listened to a few radio stations during the day, and apart from the usual Children's Day stuff, what seems to be on everybody's mind now - even the children's - is the forthcoming integration of South East Asian nations (ASEAN), the so-called ASEAN Economic Community. I can't help thinking of the European integration process which has had so many benefits in terms of developing friendly relations between nations previously at war with each other for centuries. I hope it will be equally beneficial for South East Asia. Reading: Continued with my book and read lots of stuff on the internet. I'm almost finished with the first of the 10 stories in พระเจ้าสิบชาติ, พระเตมีย์ใบ้. It took me a while to get through the first few paragraphs, but now I'm getting more familiar with basic royal vocabulary and am making good progress. Speaking: Half an hour phone call with friends. Writing: Chatting on whatsapp. Other: Typing; I finished the chapter on work and the environment. Next up is distance and orientation. I love working with schoolbooks, have I mentioned this already? :) Edited by Bakunin on 20 January 2013 at 8:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4866 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 28 of 94 13 January 2013 at 1:58am | IP Logged | ||
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Nice to see the new colour scheme implemented ;) For different colours I recommendthis site.
I don't have much else to say, but anyway, progress sounds very good! :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 29 of 94 17 January 2013 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Time for another update.
Listening: 38 (+7.1) Reading: 41 (+8.0) Speaking: 8 (+1.4) Writing: 3 (+0.3) Other: 10 (+3.3) Total: 100 Listening: The usual stuff. I've recorded a few radio programs which is convenient when I don't have fast internet around me, but usually I prefer to listen in live. Reading: Finished หาสหายผจญภัย ตอน ทลายแผนค้าของเถื่อน and started on the next in the series, ห้าสหายผจญภัย ตอน ละครสัตว์มหาภัย. Lots of stuff on the internet, including articles in preparation for my conversation sessions through italki; we usually talk about three articles during that hour. I finished พระเตมีย์ใบ้ and read another, shorter version of it as well. I started with the next of the ten พระเจ้าสิบชาติ stories, มหาชนก. Royal vocabulary is getting easier, I have the basic family member terminology down plus a few major activities and body parts. Speaking: Conversation session through italki on the (dire) state of English language competence in Thailand, which is an issue given that English is the lingua franca in ASEAN, on a rhino horn smuggling case and on the death of toddler who inhaled chili, causing respiratory problems. Random topics, but I like the fact that I can be given any topic now and have a (so-so) conversation about it. Writing: Chatting on whatsapp. Not in the mood for anything like lang-8, waiting for the next writing challenge :) Other: Finished distance and orientation, environment and introduction to geography, and that's it for สังคมศึกษา ศาสนา และวัฒนธรรม. Next subject in my primary grade 1 studies is 'Art'. Really looking forward, there's lots of exciting stuff in there, including an introduction to Thai ritual dance gestures, the national anthem, and musical instruments. First chapter is on 'What is art?' and basic geometric shapes. Going through elementary school books is the best and most comprehensive source of vocabulary for me. Edited by Bakunin on 20 January 2013 at 8:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 30 of 94 20 January 2013 at 8:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Listening: 48 (+9.9)
Reading: 47 (+5.5) Speaking: 9 (+1.8) Writing: 5 (+1.4) Other: 11 (+1.4) Total: 120 Listening: I listened through a lot of recorded radio programs. Usually, I don't select which station I record or listen to, I just take the first station that streams reliably. Often, this is only one, but which one varies from day to day. Topics this period included investment tips, the real estate market in Greater Bangkok, upcoming elections in Bangkok and two chats on technology and gadgets. Reading: Less reading than usual this period, and just the usual stuff: novel, articles on the internet, and more work on มหาชนก to practice royal (and some Buddhist) vocabulary. While the stories are certainly an acquired taste, as viedums pointed out earlier, I like them and agree with him that they're quite useful cultural background. Speaking: Conversation session through italki on the discussion to lift the restrictions on high school students' hairdos, smoking at young age, and a case of burglary. Skype and phone calls as well. Writing: Lots of chatting on whatsapp. The typing exercises I've started a while ago have a huge positive impact on my spelling. Other: I started working on the 'Arts' book. Exciting stuff. I finished the introduction, the chapter on basic shapes (points, all kinds of lines, and 2d-shapes) and the chapter on feelings and how to express them in pictures. Next up are crayon and water color techniques. There's many things I like about working with schoolbooks, but this week it's the variety of topics I'm presented with. Every day brings something new, and often something unexpected. Edited by Bakunin on 20 January 2013 at 8:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| billyshears66 Groupie United States Joined 4512 days ago 69 posts - 78 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 31 of 94 21 January 2013 at 3:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi teammate! I'm intrigued with the listen only for 22 months. How'd that work? Did you
truly only listen for that time? Or did you try to understand any? Subtitles? Anything? Do you find now that the 22 months are up that you pick up the rest of the learning fast? I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has tried this approach and tried a speak from day one approach and get their opinion. I really like your breaking down of the time you spend, I might steal that for myself. Good luck to you on this TAC. I'm happy to be working on the team with you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 32 of 94 21 January 2013 at 5:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I basically listened for about 22 months, as far as I can remember; no speaking, no reading, no writing. All listening I did was comprehensible input, though, and I actually believe that incomprehensible input is pretty useless (at least for me, because I tend to lose interest very quickly). I started out watching educational DVDs for kids and had a tutor with whom I looked for many, many hours at picture books for kids while he explained what there was to see. Later I moved on to documentaries on TV, for instance travel, cooking or lifestyle shows. I also had people in Thailand record a 4-volume encyclopedia for kids with many pictures. I just looked at the pictures and listened to the recording; these books were ideal because they were picture based: picture + explanation, next picture + next explanation. At the end those 22 months, I was able to understand a good deal on TV and when addressed by people, and I started to be able to respond in a meaningful manner. Learning to read was very easy as well, because I knew most of the words already.
This approach is fundamentally different from the usual 'speak from day one' proposed elsewhere. The idea is to internalize the sounds and prosody of the other language in a stress-free manner in order to build up a correct internal model. It doesn't mean that my first utterance was perfect, but rather that I was able to self-correct once I started speaking. Another basic principle of this approach is to completely avoid translation, which I still apply and will keep applying going forward. I've studied other languages making heavy use of translation (Anki, word glossaries, dictionaries), so I can compare the two methods, and for me it works much better to avoid translation: I seem to connect words and expressions to experiences, events and mental pictures, but not to words from my other languages. However, I don't want to convince anyone, and I don't want to have a discussion on 'silent period vs. speak from day one' here. Everybody shall choose the approach he is comfortable with and which is in line with his general objectives. My objectives are full proficiency in Thai in all four language skills, and I don't mind to spend 5 or 10 or 15 years to reach that level; other people will have different objectives, I also thoroughly enjoy the process of learning Thai the way I do (something I can't say about Anki reps and grammar exercises). Anyway, thanks for stopping by, that's appreciated! I like the way you approach Mandarin, and I'm looking forward to following your progress this year! 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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