aloysius Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6240 days ago 226 posts - 291 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German Studies: French, Greek, Italian, Russian
| Message 1 of 3 16 January 2011 at 11:02pm | IP Logged |
Somewhat belatedly I exclaim:
New Year! New TAC! New language! New team! Hello team!
I’ve actually deliberately stalled this initial post, while pondering back and forth what languages to include, what goals to set, what methods to use etc etc. I began making a very ambitious curriculum with set hours for various activities and an intricate spreadsheet for logging, but after some reflection I decided to scrap the whole thing and instead keep it as simple as possible.
I didn’t do very well at all in last year’s TAC. Yes, ironically enough I’ve been awarded the title of TAC winner 2010 (I gather through some kind act of Buttons), but the whole credit for that goes to my former team mates Teango and M. Medialis. They proved that it was possible to meet the challenge and I will make them my role models in what lies before me.
So why bother returning? What good will it do me? Actually, the (poor) results show very clearly that something must be done, that those bad study habits truly must be annihilated. And I’ve learnt that studying must be fun and uncomplicated, otherwise it cannot be turned into that daily routine it must become, if any real progress is to be expected. And I have a feeling I’m on the right track. Possibly excepting Christmas Eve, I’ve dedicated at least an hour every day since December 1. Being me, that’s exceptionally good, although I have the ambition to increase that daily dose.
Well, long introduction. On to the goals for 2011:
My major language for this year will be Russian. No, I'm certainly not giving it up. I intend to put in enough hours to take me from A1-A2 to at least B2 for production (speaking, writing) and C1 for recognition (listening, reading). I have a lot of resources for Russian, but the most important ones will be Assimil and native material (mostly L-R novels).
I estimate my average level in French around B1 (comprehension probably better, production definitely worse). My goal is the same as for Russian. I will continue with Assimil, listening, reading and L-R but what's most important is to start speaking and writing.
My new language this year is modern Greek. I’m almost a beginner, although I did the first 14 lessons in Assimil more than a year ago. I’ve also dabbled a bit in ancient and NT Greek and my desire to learn the classic languages is one important motivator for learning its modern variant. Another reason is my holiday plans for this summer. I intend to go to Greece and it’s always nice to have a clue to what’s going on around you and to be able to have some elementary conversations. Last summer I was in Italy and my spoken Italian is a disgrace, but at least I was able to get by. My goal is to get wherever Assimil takes me (B1-B2?).
I know my English and German are in need of maintenance. I use them as a base when studying but I must at least read a few novels in each language. Let us say five.
And I expect I will succumb to wanderlust now and then. I will accept that and duly record it here.
I will try to make weekly progress reports. No counting of hours. Just relating what I’ve been up to.
Enough said. Let’s roll.
//aloysius
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aloysius Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6240 days ago 226 posts - 291 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German Studies: French, Greek, Italian, Russian
| Message 2 of 3 01 February 2011 at 9:40pm | IP Logged |
February is here, so I had better say something about what went on in January…
I‘ve definitely adopted a radically new attitude towards language learning in the last couple of months, a much more relaxed one. Less pressure, less intensity, less passion. But easier to maintain in the long run.
My TAC time is very restricted, but I have made a habit of devoting my morning commuting hour to this noble goal, and I’ve so far been successful in doing that consistently. So, finally I’ve been able to establish a routine. I look forward to this hour, I’m enjoying it, and it’s not a strain.
Every workday I walk to the bus stop with a Vysotskij song in my ear (I found several of his records on Spotify). I don’t understand much yet, I just listen to the voice and the words. It’s just like when I listened to English pop songs when I was a kid. I first learnt the lyrics by heart. Eventually the meaning became clear.
After that it’s Assimil time. In order not to get bored, I do my Russisch ohne Mühe in a number of ways according to what I’m in the mood for this particular day. Sometimes just listening, sometimes learning grammar, sometimes shadowing (silently, in order not to embarrass myself or my fellow passengers), sometimes L-R etc. etc. And I do all this on random chapters. Could be the last few, could be some I’m already quite familiar with. I’m not claiming this is the most efficient way of doing Assimil, but it has made me stick to one book and I know that if I internalize the whole course I’ve come a long way towards my TAC goal. And I have still plenty of time.
To be continued …
//aloysius
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M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6357 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French
| Message 3 of 3 02 February 2011 at 12:31am | IP Logged |
aloysius wrote:
I‘ve definitely adopted a radically new attitude towards language learning in the last couple of months, a much more relaxed one. Less pressure, less intensity, less passion. But easier to maintain in the long run.
My TAC time is very restricted, but I have made a habit of devoting my morning commuting hour to this noble goal, and I’ve so far been successful in doing that consistently. So, finally I’ve been able to establish a routine. I look forward to this hour, I’m enjoying it, and it’s not a strain. |
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Hey Aloysius- This sounds great!
I often picture myself as that tortoise that Khatzumoto talks about. You know the little fellow who happily moves forward slowly all the time and still beats the rabbit. :)
Keep up the sweet relaxed work, and I believe that the intensive passion will come without effort. :D
Edited by M. Medialis on 02 February 2011 at 12:31am
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