32 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7189 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin
| Message 25 of 32 31 January 2008 at 4:55pm | IP Logged |
I too am amazed (still) at how much discipline you've shown in this past week. Good job! I hope you keep posting in this journal even if the week is over. I look forward to seeing how much you progress in Turkish in the weeks to come.
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| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto
| Message 26 of 32 31 January 2008 at 6:08pm | IP Logged |
TraineePolyglot wrote:
Great log, apparition! I loved the detail about your difficulties and how you overcame them.
And: WOW! Nine hours per day on average for seven days straight! You must have an amazing ability to concentrate. Was it just that you knew it was only for a week, or do you have some specific techniques that helped? |
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Thanks!
Oddly enough, I think a big part of being able to do what I did was having a very comfortable place to sit for so long. The first thing that helps is I have a wirelss laptop that I can use while sitting comfortably.
Just as important was where I was sitting: I didn't do any studying sitting at a desk (which is funny, because all the advice I've heard for students is to sit at a desk with good posture, etc.).
Instead, I sat in bed with my back cushioned up against the headboard. After awhile I got tired of that position, but instead of laying on my side or something, I just slumped down a bit, adjusted the pillows and rested my head on them. After awhile, that would get uncomfortable so I'd sit back up. I think it helps that I can't sleep facing up, so I didn't really feel tired. If I'd turned to one side or the other, I'd have been asleep in no time!
It's little things like that, along with being well-fed, getting quality sleep, etc., that kept me focused. Also, the challenge of getting through the two books kept me working.
And actually, if I had the time and the resources, I could probably study like that for 12 hours a day continually. It really flies by when you're pushing yourself and you have a worthwhile goal to reach.
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| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto
| Message 27 of 32 31 January 2008 at 6:14pm | IP Logged |
Darobat wrote:
I too am amazed (still) at how much discipline you've shown in this past week. Good job! I hope you keep posting in this journal even if the week is over. I look forward to seeing how much you progress in Turkish in the weeks to come. |
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Hah, thanks.
If only I could devote more time to studying it...
I'm going to try and get by with just internet sites for now. until I can afford to get a nice audiobook sent my way. I'm interested in trying the listening-reading method (at a smaller scale than 12 hours a day, naturally) to boost my skills, but I'm still searching for an appropriate book (or books) at this time.
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| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto
| Message 28 of 32 01 February 2008 at 8:45am | IP Logged |
It's always taken me so much longer (over weeks and months) to get to this level in a language, so I'm happy to have reached this level in a week.
I'm now 'Listen-Reading' to the Turkish version of the New Testament (I've found all sorts of Turkish e-books and audiobooks online, but this is the only one I could find where they matched each other and the English translations. The lack of materials is frustrating!)
I'm using the Unbound Bible Turkish and English bibles in parallel format and I got the audiobook from Faith Comes By Hearing.
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| epingchris Triglot Senior Member Taiwan shih-chuan.blog.ntu. Joined 7029 days ago 273 posts - 284 votes 5 sounds Studies: Taiwanese, Mandarin*, English, FrenchB2 Studies: Japanese, German, Turkish
| Message 29 of 32 02 February 2008 at 1:56am | IP Logged |
bushwick wrote:
that is actually a really good method and i do that also with general study (like for psychology, biology etc.) |
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Hmm, I just realized that I actually did that too! Strange that I never thought of applying it to language study......I'll give it a try for sure.
And, Apparititon, I'll echo the sentiment that you are really a tremendous learner here. All the time you devote in it, the concentration, and the determination make me jealous :). You seem to have achieved a lot, and with this rate, who knows how long it'll take before you can pass as a native all day long! Well, now that I'll free at last from school tests, I should stop making up excuses and really get started.
apparition wrote:
Just as important was where I was sitting: I didn't do any studying sitting at a desk (which is funny, because all the advice I've heard for students is to sit at a desk with good posture, etc.). |
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Definitely something to remember, hehe.
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| joanthemaid Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5471 days ago 483 posts - 559 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, German
| Message 30 of 32 29 December 2009 at 11:00pm | IP Logged |
Hey, apparition, I'd be curious to know how your Turkish is holding up after two years. Did you keep studying it? You haven't listed it in your languages... In any case, the material you went through is impressive in one week, even with all those hours of study. You basically learned all the basic grammar and 1000 passive words in a wekk! Wow!
I'm not even at that level of Russian and I've been at it for two months (and definitely more than 64 hours). Does having learned other languages before help a lot? Does it get easier the more you learn?
Edited by joanthemaid on 29 December 2009 at 11:00pm
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| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto
| Message 31 of 32 30 December 2009 at 1:40am | IP Logged |
Hi,
Nope, I haven't really looked at Turkish at all in these past few years and it shows! I just looked at one of the books I used during that one week and I can only vaguely remember ever having seen it before! The language is practically lost to me :) Perhaps if I could spend a couple of hours, it would jog something more, but as it is, it feels like I'd just be starting from scratch again.I think this goes to show that if you don't use it (or at least review over extended periods of time), you really do lose it!
As for your second question, it definitely is easier to learn a new language after already learning others. Related languages, obviously, help quite a bit. However, I think you also start to intuitively figure out what are the important parts of the language you need to communicate and can focus on those first.
This has been a rather humbling experience, joanthemaid, thanks! :)
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| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6651 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto
| Message 32 of 32 30 December 2009 at 1:44am | IP Logged |
apparition wrote:
I’m at the stage now that I can pull back on the time I give the language every day and still advance at a comfortable clip. All I need now is some good authentic material and I can go from there. I’ll be using the Internet and my online dictionary until I can swing some short novels from overseas. |
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Yeah, that didn't happen! Never got any authentic materials and turned my attention over to other languages. That's life!
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