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What Expug is doing in 2015 (TAC n more) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 1 of 364 01 January 2015 at 4:34pm | IP Logged |
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Another year has arrived, time to renew our language learning promises. 2014 was a year of much effort to less result, and in 2015 I want to work on what I did wrong or deficitarily. You can see my summary at my log from 2014, but to make a long story short, I want to focus on production and practice/exercises this year because the input-only approach hasn't been enough for me to retain vocabulary, especially in non-transparent languages. I want to regain confidence in my ability to learn new languages successfully and finally reach basic fluency in some of them that I've been studying for the past 3 years.
I will be doing 8 languages for the TAC: English, Estonian, French, Georgian, German, Mandarin, Norwegian and Russian. English, French and German only in the advanced team(s) and with focus on production. I am still doing the Super Challenge for French and German, so I don't plan on adding any more significant input, and maybe reduce it if possible for opening up room for other languages. My main difficulty will be finding time and motivation for writing and speaking my languages. Even though I have several hours a day to study, my schedule is already tightened up with a lot of activities. At this stage I can hope I improve my reading speed in my weaker languages so that it takes me less time to read my usual daily amount. To make things even more complex, I will also be doing the Turkic Challenge started by Chung, which may lead to myself continuing with Turkish which was already in my hitlist. And I have (re)started Italian with Duolingo, and I hope to work agressively to reach basic fluency before I go to Italy in April. It is mostly about activating skills, because I may be an A2 active and B1 passive by now. And I want to start a new language from scratch which is probably Indonesian. But all this is apart from my official TAC plans. Now by language: English - Team English as an Advanced Second Language Current level: no idea...C1?! Desired level: C1 I have several fossilized mistakes and I want to have feedback on my texts so I can write better. If the team's activities include audio/video exposure to non-standard dialects of English, I will gladly do them. Estonian - Team *jäŋe/*ledús Current level: A2ish Desired level: B1 I want to start using native materials and I hope to practice writing at italki so i can consolidate what I have learned from textbooks. French - Team Advanced Current level: B2?! Desired level: C1 My main focus is writing. I want to get rid of mistakes that hinder my actual level. I am not promising anything to myself, but I may drop by Alliance Française to do a placement test in loco and check for my needs for an occasional DELF or DALF. I also need more listening on colloquial language, as I have been watching too many films with subtitles. Georgian - Team Rare Current level: B1- Desired level: basic fluency (B1 active, B2 passive) Georgian has been my main learning challenge. I can't seem to make significant progress for a long, consistent period. I have to reinvent my methods, as I am also limited in terms of materials. In 2015 I may ressurrect the texbooks I have used, especially those courses with audio. I am still confident, as I am close to being able to read and get the overall picture, but I lack videos with subtitles. My main source for L-R are still news items, and I have to work on them more consistenly this year, even if sometimes even Google Translator fails to give me a good idea of what is going on. To sum it up, I will have to attack Georgian in all fronts, review when needed, contact the native speakers I know again if I want to finally reap all the time invested and start doing enjoyable things in the language. German - Team Advanced Current level: B1 Desired level: B2 I keep comparing German and Norwegian because both developped in a similar way, but Norwegian is still stronger even if German is easier to listen to, given the slightly less complex phonology, the more regular spelling and the fact I'm mostly listening to a standardized form of the language. I am going to Germany in April and I already know enough to get by as a tourist, so no pressure here. I am more worried about reaching basic reading fluency, and I know I'm close to that, at least contemporary non-fiction. I still do have better and worse days, but I can't let this aspect put me down. I decided to join the Advanced Team only instead of the German Team because my demands and challenges mostly concern this stage from now on. Mandarin- Team 东亚/East Asian Current level: A2ish Desired level: B1+ I won't be too optimistic to reach for basic fluency in Mandarin, even if I've been studying it for over 3 years. It is a language to be respected. I am doing good things and I've noticed significant progress in my reading in the previous year, but I still need to keep the multitrack approach which includes using intermediate-level textbooks. As for production, I need to find opportunities to practice the language either live or through Skype. If I notice an improvement in my speaking skills I may finally consider contacting my former teacher for a placement level and some classes. What I know for sure is that this new year of learning Mandarin will be the most enjoyable so far, because in 2014 I finally reached a level at which I have a lot of fun with studying the language - not to mention that the materials available are indeed entertaining. I must confess I would be happier with a Mandarin-only team, but I'm sure there are other interesting logs to follow in Team East Asian apart from the ones I already follow. Norwegian - Team Scandinavian Current level - B1 Desired level - basic fluency (B1 active, B2 passive) Not only will I continue my Norwegian activities this year, I will also be the captain of the Scandinavian TAC Team. I was close to reaching basic fluency last year, and in order not to let it escape in 2015 I will work attentively on writing and on listening. I still don't have many opportunities to speak Norwegian, but I believe I can speak enough to get by and I only lack practice. Russian - Team Pushkin Current level: A2ish Desired level: B2 reading, A2 all other skills I am more motivated in Russian than I was before, even if I am still disappointed with the low progress observed this year. I need to keep doing intensive reading as the long sessions of extensive reading at my current stage proved ineffective. I have no speaking skills and it is still not a focus, but I believe the team activities this year will involve a lot of writing and voicechatting. Russian has the advantage of having better resources than Georgian, so I expect it to surpass Georgian alongside the year. Edited by Expugnator on 03 January 2015 at 5:49pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 2 of 364 01 January 2015 at 7:27pm | IP Logged |
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As usual, a wonderfully detailed post on your plans. I wish you to achieve all your goals in 2015.
And I’m looking forward to reading about your experiences when you come to Italy later this year. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 3 of 364 01 January 2015 at 8:34pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you Emme, I wish you all the same and i'm happy you decided to keep being with us at the team! (Just saw that and edited this post, that's good news). Edited by Expugnator on 01 January 2015 at 8:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 4 of 364 01 January 2015 at 8:37pm | IP Logged |
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But we still are! ;-)
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4142 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 5 of 364 01 January 2015 at 9:09pm | IP Logged |
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I look forward to following your progress in 2015!
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 6 of 364 01 January 2015 at 9:20pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you Stelle, all the same. Your log was very pleasant to read in 2014, and I hope you will keep sharing nice stories in 2015.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Anya Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 5791 days ago 636 posts - 708 votes Speaks: Russian*, FrenchC1, English, Italian, Spanish Studies: German, Japanese, Hungarian, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Turkish, Mandarin Studies: Ancient Greek, Hindi | Message 7 of 364 01 January 2015 at 9:34pm | IP Logged |
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Happy New Year and good luck!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| tristano Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4045 days ago 905 posts - 1262 votes Speaks: Italian*, Spanish, French, English Studies: Dutch | Message 8 of 364 01 January 2015 at 10:15pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck, I'll too follow your log.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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