BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4687 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian
| Message 17 of 30 06 March 2014 at 2:20am | IP Logged |
albysky wrote:
I let my thoughts free by talking to myself when i drive if noone else is in
the car. |
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Guilty. I usually turn of the radio and just belt out full volume conversations with myself in whatever language I'm the most excited about at that moment.
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sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5389 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish
| Message 18 of 30 06 March 2014 at 5:25am | IP Logged |
In many ways it's more important to use free time (or part of it, at least) to prep your materials for taking advantage of these hidden moments than for just straight studying since these short bursts of review help "stoke" the forgetting curve that's so important to language learning. My hidden moment time truly ends up being some of my most productive time - especially commuting. When I was writing a thesis I always joked that the best thing I could do would be to just ride the train all day seeing how much work I got done just to avoid being bored.
I do have to say, though, that after discovering mindfulness meditation I've appreciated the importance for breaks. In this day and age, we don't get many waking moments where we're *not* being bombarded with information and stimuli in addition to our own constant thoughts. A moment of quietness can be quite powerful and it's supposed to do wonders for your concentration.
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garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5205 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish
| Message 19 of 30 06 March 2014 at 11:10am | IP Logged |
I normally cycle to work, but sometimes I take the bus for whatever reason. While the bus is slower, more expensive, less convenient and less fun than the bike, it is a great opportunity to get some reading or listening or Anki done.
I've found myself walking down the street talking to myself in a foreign language on more than a few occasions, and from what I remember from another thread on here a wee while ago, I'm not the only one.
I agree with sctroyenne though. I already try to do too many things and make all my time productive and I don't take enough time to take a break and relax a bit. Mindfulness is great and I don't practise it enough.
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drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4466 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish
| Message 20 of 30 07 March 2014 at 4:27pm | IP Logged |
Having been in Germany for the past two weeks, I have spent the time on the bus listening to one of the public radios or looking up words - on a paper dictionary - that come to mind or which I see on banners.
In addition, in a few occasions I asked clerks at different shops to explain me something or correcting me, and they were in each case quite cordial.
Edited by drygramul on 07 March 2014 at 4:29pm
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montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4826 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh
| Message 21 of 30 07 March 2014 at 9:21pm | IP Logged |
drygramul wrote:
Having been in Germany for the past two weeks, I have spent the time
on the bus listening to one of the public radios or looking up words - on a paper
dictionary - that come to mind or which I see on banners.
In addition, in a few occasions I asked clerks at different shops to explain me something
or correcting me, and they were in each case quite cordial. |
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I've had similar experiences. It's always good to treat people as individuals, and banish
any preconceptions.
I hope you enjoy your time in Germany. I slightly envy you, but I really hope you have a
great time.
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Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6595 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 22 of 30 26 December 2014 at 3:03am | IP Logged |
Does anyone read/listen in the shower? Any tips? Waterproof gadgets are too expensive (at least given that I didn't think of that when getting them), so I've been looking at various transparent folders... but I'm scared of damaging my books :P
I've also thought of leaving my phone somewhere in a safe area, with music on.
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luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French
| Message 23 of 30 26 December 2014 at 3:28am | IP Logged |
One hidden moment is saying the numbers you see in your target language.
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Arthaey Groupie United States arthaey.com Joined 5044 days ago 97 posts - 155 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 24 of 30 26 December 2014 at 9:52am | IP Logged |
Serpent wrote:
Waterproof gadgets are too expensive (at least given that I didn't think of that when getting
them) |
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I've been really happy with my $20? $30? "Splash Shower Tunes" Bluetooth player that I bought off Amazon
a while. It looks like the product may have changed names and/or may be sold by multiple vendors under
their own names, but search for that name and let the current reviews guide you. :)
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