Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 1 of 75 01 January 2014 at 4:04am | IP Logged |
"How did I come to be in this place at this time, engaged in this particular work?"
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 2 of 75 01 January 2014 at 4:09am | IP Logged |
The above quote is from Aleister Crowley’s Aleister Explains Everything (for
such is the pre-publication title of the draft version I obtained, through the exercise
of the dark arts, of Crowley’s Magick without Tears). Although he clearly was
a bit of a nutter, there is something to his definition of magic: “the science and
art of causing change to occur in conformity with will”. That is exactly what I
am hoping to do, and to chart, in this log.
The fuller quote, incidentally, is as follows: “It is absolutely essential to begin
a magical diary, and keep it up daily. … you must find an answer to the question:
‘How did I come to be in this place at this time, engaged in this particular
work?’”
Tired of the sleepwalking that characterized my life for much of 2013, I have decided
to devote this year to re-engaging in language learning in the following areas through
daily application of effort and will:
Spanish – I have already engaged in some preliminary efforts in learning
Spanish, perhaps 100 hours in total so far spread across the last six months, mostly
Michel Thomas beginners course, a few Duolingo units, a little BBC Mi vida loca,
a few Destinos episodes and accompanying my wife to a continuing education
course in beginners Spanish (one 2.5 hour class per week for 10 weeks). So, a slight
base only.
There is a chance (about 25%) of my travelling to Spain for vacation in the summer of
2014, so I would like to spend the first six months of this year reaching for a tourist
level understanding of Spanish. Goal is approximately two hours per day till the end
of June, or around 350 quality hours.
American Sign Language (ASL) – I have recently developed an interest in learning
American Sign Language and will explore having this represent one of the 20 languages I
hope to learn to an elementary beginner’s level as part of my larger “20 in 20”
project, likely taking the place of Swedish or Norwegian. I have a friend involved in
deaf community education issues. Also, since seeing Thamsanqa Jantjie in action,
reportedly just flapping his arms at random, I have learned that apparently you don’t
have to be that good to get hired on the biggest of world stages as an interpreter for
the deaf community, and it is nice to expand one’s career options:
Wow, just wow.
Perhaps 15-30 minutes per day for the year, just for fun.
Japanese kanji – Taking yet another hopeless stab at getting through the kanji,
per Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji. I got through a couple of hundred
previously. I would like to have solidly internalized 1000 of them by year’s end. I
figure 15 – 30 minutes per day should get me there, and I can pick up the back half of
the collection the following year.
Edited by Spanky on 01 January 2014 at 4:13am
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JennyMay244 Triglot Newbie Germany Joined 5575 days ago 5 posts - 6 votes Speaks: German*, English, Sign Language Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French
| Message 3 of 75 02 January 2014 at 4:04pm | IP Logged |
Hi Spanky, good luck with your goals for 2014!!
I am learning German Sign Language but tried some ASL in the past. I really liked ASL University from Lifeprint with many free lessons. Also I think Heisig is the best book for learning Kanji (although I only know the German translation). I also used flash cards.
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 4 of 75 04 January 2014 at 8:29pm | IP Logged |
Many thanks Jenny for the well-wishes and the link. I am in the early stages of figuring
out what visual resources for learning ALS are best and will post links to whatever I
may come across of value (including an awesome fingerspelling practice site which I have
stumbled across.
I agree about Heisig - although I have not been successful in the past in proceeding
very far, I attribute that entirely to a consistency problem on my part rather than with
the materials. And hence this log - I am keen to study every day, even just a little,
as I believe that will be key to my progress.
Good luck with your own endeavours!
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 5 of 75 04 January 2014 at 8:30pm | IP Logged |
Spanish links
spanish.about.com
Duolingo - remember to feed the owl daily
Edited by Spanky on 13 January 2014 at 6:45am
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 6 of 75 04 January 2014 at 8:31pm | IP Logged |
American Sign Language links
youtube: alphabet, numbers to 10, 3
letter words
lifeprint - collection of lessons and resources
fingerspelling recognition practice - variable letter count,
speed
signwithcourtney.wordpress- series of
classroom teaching videos set out in progressive fashion
Edited by Spanky on 13 January 2014 at 6:42am
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 7 of 75 04 January 2014 at 8:32pm | IP Logged |
Kanji links
Heisig,
Remembering the kanji I - first 294 kanji
Reviewing the kanji (koohii)
Edited by Spanky on 05 January 2014 at 12:01am
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Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5954 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French
| Message 8 of 75 04 January 2014 at 8:33pm | IP Logged |
General language learning links
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