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New Super Challenge Discussion thread2014 | ||
Tags: Super Challenge | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5260 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 249 of 766 16 May 2014 at 10:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The "winners" of this challenge are those who are motivated to start using native materials to improve a language. Christina's challenge has created a lot of winners already- whether they finish the challenge or not.
For a long time, HTLAL was heavily biased towards formal self-learning courses. Now, we see more and more people moving towards adding in native materials and that's a good thing for learning one language or fifty. Obviously, the nature of this particular challenge favors those who are concentrating on improving one language. It would be pretty difficult for someone to do this with more than one language and get very far. That's just the nature of it. That likely means that someone with multiple languages doesn't stand a realistic chance of winning a competition with those who are just concentrating on one language, but that's NOT the goal of this challenge. It's not really about "beating" other people. The challenge is with yourself. The challenge is for yourself. The prize isn't a "star" or a gold cup or whatever. The real prize is improving your language skills. Don't get so caught up in outside competition that you forget the inside competition which is your own. Keep your eyes on the (real) prize. Good luck everyone! :) Edited by iguanamon on 16 May 2014 at 10:35pm 10 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 5184 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 250 of 766 16 May 2014 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree that certain challenges suit certain learning styles. However, the reason I
prefer the super challenge doesn't have anything to do with the fact that it's better for focusing on one language(although I do do better with maximum 3 serious languages at a time, preferably 2.) I like the super challenge because of its focus on concrete goals. Rather than saying "do as much as you can in this time period," the super challenge says "I want to do this much in this time period." So you have a goal to work towards and even if you don't meet it you hopefully did more than you would have otherwise. I guess this also has to do with my non-competitive spirit, which is why I'm not super concerned about the bot rankings either. The super challenge also suits my preference for massive input over other study styles, which often end up feeling like too much of a chore for me to stick with. Just my thoughts on what this challenge means to me, not aimed towards anyone. So thanks for creating it Cristina. I know you never ever saw it getting so big, and you do super work managing it all. Edited by hjordis on 16 May 2014 at 10:53pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 251 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
I finished the equivalent of the current full challenge in two languages, and the current half challenge in one more. You're ignoring synergy and diminishing returns. I'm tired of hearing my challenge is "not super enough". True, I'm not really aiming for a "significant progress" in English. I just wanted to read in it without feeling guilty. For me this challenge is about balance, about setting specific goals (which is a half-challenge in most cases). I know better how much I need to read to make progress. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4887 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 252 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
What I've found works for me, through trial and error, is to focus on courses for the first three to six months ... sometimes six to nine months ... and then make the big push for native materials. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 253 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, yes, I'm exactly like that, apart from being competitive. I don't see why some goals are considered better than others. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 5184 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 254 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yeah that's exactly what I prefer to do these days. I'm still pretty picky about courses, though. I absolutely can't use one that spends ages teaching you set tourist phrases. I'm actually pretty fond of duolingo lately. Despite its flaws, something about it suits me and gives me a decent foundation to start using the language. I do think the verb lessons could be spread out more rather than having 1/2 or more grouped towards the end, though. And I need to make myself do more output. It's something I've been working on. With Spanish I've been having facebook conversations with my friend, and it's amazing how much I can do at my beginner's level. Edit: yes, as Kerrie said it doesn't necessarily have to be native either. Just something meant for native speakers to consume, even if it was originally in a different language. Although graded readers are pretty awesome too. Edited by hjordis on 16 May 2014 at 11:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5393 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 255 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
It doesn't even have to be native materials, though. I've used a lot of translated books and dubbed movies/TV, too. I think the important thing is to see the language in action and use it. Native materials are better in the long run, but I have found translated books very helpful. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 256 of 766 16 May 2014 at 11:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think by native materials we just mean non-textbooks :)
6 persons have voted this message useful |
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