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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes  5 sounds | Message 65 of 127 25 April 2009 at 9:16pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Satoshi,
Thanks for your support. I read that you learned English through exposition and that it took you 12 years. It seems about right if you watched some TV everyday and read something in English. Anyway, I'll take a hiatus from vocabulary because I'm exhausted - insomnias don't do me any good, and prevent me from studying actively. I inadvertantly listened to some motivational mp3s which made me even more pumped for English. I'm afraid I'm losing sleep because I want to do so much! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Satoshi Diglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5831 days ago 215 posts - 224 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: German, Japanese | Message 66 of 127 26 April 2009 at 2:05am | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I did learn it through exposition, but not a very systematic one like you.
Just normal everyday exposition, you know... I didn't look for English, it just found me wherever I was and I had to cope. In time I realized I could understand what was being said. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 67 of 127 26 April 2009 at 2:01pm | IP Logged |
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I get what you mean. I can sort of understand Spanish, Italian and German to a certain extent, because I've been immersed in these languages against my will - I was reading the subtitles in Spanish the other day to understand an American show, and it struck me later. Now, don't get me wrong, I can't "speak" these languages, but I guess I had 100 solid hours of immersion at least - that coupled with the fact that French is my native tongue equals good passive comprehension, I suppose. My challenge is not going particularly well right now - I'm very concerned about a German-related issue that I'm having. I just feel like putting an end to it, because I pretty much solved the main pronunciation problem I had. But it would be so sad to stop now. It'd be like self-inflicted stupidity, if you will. I have a tendency to voluntarily choose not to know, even when I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I could learn lots of things. My vocabulary issues stem from that. I'm also in dire straits podcast-wise. It really feels like I've found and listened to all the good shows already, and that I'm just listening to the "okayish" stuff now. I wanted to learn astrological signs to understand horoscopes better, and the only horoscope I found lasts 1:30 min, and only 30 sec if you count the real "horoscope" part.
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| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 68 of 127 26 April 2009 at 7:20pm | IP Logged |
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I decided I'd solve my horoscope problems by cutting the mp3 files. I looked for the perfect horoscope for more than 4 hours, and now that I've found it, I can't afford to complain about it. I mean, come on, it's a silly horoscope thingy. They are bound to play some Harry Potter-y jingle or whatever. I didn't cut all the crappy part, because I was in a rush and didn't want to waste too much time on that. I plan on downloading a lot more old horoscopes - the lady's voice is really soothing, and she uses a lot of cool English expressions that I hadn't paid attention to before. The fact that she keeps on repeating the same lines at the beginning and at the end of the podcast is a major problem, but I'll memorize that, at least. After all, repetition is the key. Sometimes, you have to make do with a so-so resource that provides you with what you need in a roundabout way. If I'm brave enough to cope with the daily horoscope for the 12 zodiac signs for a week or so, and if I download the horoscope for my sign after that hardcore immersion, I'll probably be good to go.
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| Lindley Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Ukraine Joined 6079 days ago 104 posts - 109 votes Speaks: Russian*, Ukrainian*, English Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 69 of 127 26 April 2009 at 10:10pm | IP Logged |
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Wow, your dedication is impressive :) I'm also trying to get as much of Spanish input as possible, and, hopefully, the results will be at least half as good as yours :) Keep up the good work!
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| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 70 of 127 26 April 2009 at 10:19pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Lindley,
Thanks for your support. I've read some of your posts, and it sounds like you're probably more dedicated than I am! So don't underestimate yourself like that :) My plan has a big fault - vocabulary. My listening comprehension and pronunciation are improving by the day, but vocabulary is crying out for attention. In one word or a thousand, I don't have it all figured out (yeah, I'm a human-being). I decided I'd learn only 10-14 words a day, but do it right. My sentence-picking thingy has been working quite well - most of the time, I just grab a pen and paper and scribble away what I just heard, because it helps me commit the cool sentences I encounter to memory. I've kind of hit the jackpot this afternoon - the new Californian news radio I have is excellent sentence-mining material! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 71 of 127 27 April 2009 at 1:58am | IP Logged |
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I got my tongue around a few more R-heavy words, and recorded myself - when I played the recording back, I was pretty satisfied with the results. My main concern is still that infamous consonant, that's considered to be a vowel by many linguists - I'll come up with more metaphors soon, because I'm tired of typing R. I got to write to an American French teacher tonight - hadn't talked to her for a long time. I told her my concerns about French. Alas, my French is now somewhat Anglicized. My mom fears that I'll wind up sounding a little bit American in French, and I was like "yeah, whatever, you're pulling my leg", but she might be onto something here. I sure know that speaking English and then switching back to French messes my French pronunciation up. I recorded a voice chat with a friend, and we switched languages a little - the French words I said didn't sound particularly Anglicized, but just plain weird.
Anyway, the teacher's two cents on the issue: "although people in France may say that you have an "accent" when you speak French (after speaking English). it will still be a true French accent, unlike the accent of an English-speaking person who speaks French. I have kids in my class who swear that have an accent. that I must not have been born here. So, of course, I start making mistakes when I speak English . . . that's always fun LOL" (Yes, she's a hoot). Some of my teachers do sound English in French to a certain extent, so I guess that the more sensitive ears could notice a hint of a foreign accent in the speech a bilingual person. I guess my French isn't at risk (at the moment), since I still speak it a little every day - no more than 1 hour or so, I grant you that, but more than English anyhow. However, I may go through a weird phase during my year abroad in the US. If acquiring a native-like accent in English were to cost me my "nativeness" in French,(which is technically impossible, unless one can be re-born or something) I'd do it anyway. I'd rather have two accents - albeit two slight ones - and be bilingual than speak flawless, Frenchy French and be a dull monolingual girl. I'm certainly not here yet, and I don't intend on testing out Khatz's new method either, it would freak me out too much. He suggested we languages learners emulate foreigners' accents in French. I did listen to Brits/Americans reading out loud in French - you can find that type of material on lots of websites who offer recording of readings - because I wanted to get a feel for their native tongue in a roundabout way. I even have a book that has a chapter in which the author lists the tell-tale pronunciation mistakes that Anglophones make. I certainly couldn't walk around pretending I'm American and struggling with French - I'm way too self-conscious to do that! That said, if I'm completely alone anytime soon, I'll prolly give it a whirl. It can't hurt, right? :-p What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as they say, and being coy is the most harmful trait to any language learner. I know our teacher made us lisp on purpose when we were in junior high, so that we would learn the "th" sound properly. I also know I wasn't too keen on lisping along with the class. Well, I did it anyway, and don't have any problem with the two "th" sounds, so it surely did me a lot of good. However, my teacher, who looks like she's in her early fifties, still admits to being sort of th-less. I think it's pretty sad, because she told us she had trouble with the sound, and apparently can't pronounce it properly all the time. I mean, sometimes she sorts of sounds native, and then she sounds plain French because of that stupid issue. So setting the whole "shyness" thingy aside is better. Edited by fairyfountain on 27 April 2009 at 1:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fairyfountain Senior Member Zimbabwe Joined 6136 days ago 254 posts - 248 votes 5 sounds | Message 72 of 127 27 April 2009 at 2:58am | IP Logged |
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Someone from Virginia just said "you sound neutral, not American or British". Okay, that's the last straw. I've been listening to more American English than ever, and I recorded my voice chat session and don't think I sounded the least bit British, so I may stop watching British stuff altogether. The R thingy is getting easier by the hour, I noticed it tonight. Most of my Rs sound good, even if I still drop some of them - that said, I listened to lots of New Yawkers and New Englanders, so it may be the root of the problem. Weirdly enough, more talking unleashes the power of all the input I had recently. Not sounding French is great, but not an achievement in itself. I think that the weakness of my R is what gives me away. I shouldn't fret about one stupid letter, but I pretty much sound native-like when I nail it. Okay, I do massacre some words, but this is not one of these recurrent problems. I still have problems to articulate correctly - I've gotten used to eating words, even in French, and sometimes it's just too hard to enunciate properly! I guess it's part of the learning process.
The guy also told me I was speaking fast, and I don't think I was, but he was from Virginia, so anything Northen-y to his ears sounds fast. I did listen to incredibly fast speakers who gave me a run for my money when I wanted to understand them, and I do imitate the people I listen to. I sort of changed the way I sound overall since I started that podcast challenge. That said, I still think that observing a lenghty period of silence before setting out on language journey, coupled to lots of input, is necessary. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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