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Diminishing returns on single language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6911 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 13 20 February 2014 at 12:11am | IP Logged | ||
I agree totally. Five minutes here, ten minutes there may work for some activities, but for instance reading (of whatever kind) or focused grammar study - then I have to study for longer sessions to really feel that I gain something. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4535 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 10 of 13 20 February 2014 at 2:36am | IP Logged | ||
I wonder if it's particularly tiring when you are lower/intermediate in your L2? I've noticed as my German has improved I can watch/read for longer and longer periods. best, Patrick 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Melya68 Diglot Senior Member France Joined 4293 days ago 109 posts - 126 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 11 of 13 20 February 2014 at 3:09am | IP Logged | ||
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I completely misunderstood the title of your post. I thought you were referring to the fact that it takes a much longer time to go from B2 to C1 than it does to go from A2 to B1.
I've always studied for hours on end and I've never really had a problem. However, I think this won't work with Japanese. I learned the hiragana in three days, and I know I need a few more days to know it really well, but I just can't cram. It doesn't work for me in this case for some reason. It probably depends on the difficulty of the material. Spacing out your study sessions is better, but not so convenient. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6705 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 13 20 February 2014 at 10:56am | IP Logged | ||
It depends entirely on the activity you are doing. However there is a link back to your level because you typically will use different study techniques in a weak language than you would in a language where you feel really comfortable. The hardest exercise I ever have done successfully was listening closely to short snippets of speech and trying to write down exactly what I heard - whether or not it conformed with the expectations I had from my textbooks, grammars and other authoritative sources. After spending up to an hour on just 5-10 lines (Irish, I'm looking at you!) I would have to do something different. I also find that doing any kind of exercises without being able to write things down along the way is many times harder than doing the same exercises with some paper and a pen - just as it is easier to put 9 balls on a table and juggle with one than it is to juggle with all ten balls at they same time. And finally I would mention the difference between doing immediate retranslation* and just copying while translating mentally or on paper. Both activities assume that I look words up, check homemade green sheets/grammars and somehow end up with either a hyperliteral translation or at least a 'general meaning' rendering. The main differences are that 1) that it always is easier to translate into your own language (or an alternative like English), 2) that you have to write everything twice with the retranslation technique, 3) that retranslation almost feel like an active process because you do something in between you see the original text and you deliver an exact replica of it. The result is that retranslation feels so much harder than copying-while-translating that I often choose a compromise: I copy very easy sentences and very long and contrived sentences, and then I do retranslation of stuff that lies between the extremes. And with that amendment of the method I can continue for at least an hour without crashing or falling down from the chair. * Luca Lampariello also recommends retranslation, but he postpones the retranslation phase to maybe a day later or so. I do the retranslation soon after while I still have the original sentence ringing in my ears. Otherwise I could just as well have translated a completely new text from scratch. Edited by Iversen on 20 February 2014 at 11:07am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6599 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 13 of 13 21 February 2014 at 11:33am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, you need to find a balance between the flow and concentration/attention span. And that's definitely one of the most important reasons why I study many languages. For example, switching languages but not the activity keeps you in the flow and helps you get concentrated again.
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