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Super Challenge Update thread 2014-15 | ||
Tags: Super Challenge | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| RMM Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5227 days ago 91 posts - 215 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Swedish, Japanese | Message 73 of 198 31 May 2014 at 10:21pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Oh, OK. I see, you would actually prefer it to be a private challenge that everyone does on his or her own. That's fine. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that you didn't care about anyone else's results, while at the same time publishing your own results specifically for others to see. I would be surprised if most of us here didn't like the idea of a public challenge, though, because it provides more motivation (it's the same idea behind having personal blogs for others to read on the board too). It's kind of a way of helping people stay on track through the attention of their peers. I think it would be far less interesting if everyone tried to do their challenges privately. It's helpful to see what others are capable of doing (at least as an inspiration), as well as to see what specific books, movies, audio books, etc. they've used. By having a lot of tweets and posts, it probably helps keep interest and excitement up about the challenge too. Making our results public makes it feel a bit like a group project too, somehow, even though we're not really working together. I'm interested also in the idea of seeing how many people can actually accomplish a big, long challenge like this and how they do it. I found it encouraging last time to see others completing the challenge or at least parts of the challenge. So, I at any rate, find the fact that this is primarily a public challenge where we do see everyone's results to be a positive thing. But to each his own, and good luck on the challenge! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 74 of 198 31 May 2014 at 11:37pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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This is the update thread, gang.
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| sfuqua Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4765 days ago 581 posts - 977 votes Speaks: English*, Hawaiian, Tagalog Studies: Spanish | Message 75 of 198 01 June 2014 at 12:31am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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With my humble skills and limited time, I'm fairly pleased with how well I've been doing. I'm not satisfied
with my level of comprehension; I'm not sure if I should shift to something easier, or if I should just plow ahead with my 80-90% comprehension and hope for the best. If I l-r a passage a couple of times before I read it, I have pretty complete understanding, but it's going to take forever to finish a book at that rate. Any advice? Should I: 1 Keep reading NL materials fast with limited comprehension 2 Slow down, reread and relisten until I understand completely 3 Or drop back into graded graded readers Thanks :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6597 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 76 of 198 01 June 2014 at 12:42am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Try to find some easier native materials. Maybe fairy tales that are written with adults in mind as well as children, or for example Anne Frank's diary (translated into many languages). Consider non-fiction. Another option is to get an e-reader and switch to e-books, this way you can use a popup dictionary fast. If you haven't yet, see the page on reading strategies. Oh and absolutely try GLOSS. You may need to do some 10-15 lessons to count for one book, but that's totally worth it. Edited by Serpent on 01 June 2014 at 12:42am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Kerrie Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Kerrie2 Joined 5395 days ago 1232 posts - 1740 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 77 of 198 01 June 2014 at 1:01am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I think you're about the same level I am with French. I'm using Learning with Texts to read a section (chapter) first, then listening and reading together a few times. The system learns what words you know, gives you definitions for new words, and I think you can make flash cards from your lists, as well. I just keep reading, and if I need to know a word, it shows up enough that I will learn it. You will be surprised how much you can learn words from context that way. After listen/reading two or three times, I go back and read it again, then I can mine for words I don't remember at all. What this does is: it helps you read intensively through something new. This is the pain-in-the-ass stage. (I don't look up words I can figure out from context. Just the stuff I don't get.) However, LWT takes some of the pain out of it. Once you have read it, then you listen to it. Since you already read the text, you know what is going on, and you will recognize a lot more. The second audio run is when I see the most progress. It is amazing the jump in comprehension (for me). Sometimes I will listen a third time, or go back and read it. It depends on how patient I am, how much time I have, and how well I feel I "got" it. That's what's been effective for me, anyways. I don't have much time to focus on French right now, so I'm trying to do a chapter of Harry Potter every weekend, sometimes two. It is getting easier, though. I find that the audio repetition helps a lot (if you can concentrate 100% while you're listening). It obviously helps that I know the story (and I have easy access to the English version if I need it), and I am not aiming for 100% comprehension of every word. I just want massive exposure, and to learn the words I come in contact with the most. That being said, I think it is *really* beneficial at the early stages to be learning vocab as you go. Even if it's picking 10 words a day that you came across for the first couple months, it will make your reading *so* much easier by the end of the challenge. EDIT: Also, it is always better to pick something you are interested in. You don't want to get too far over your head of course, but you will do better reading something a little over your head if you are interested in it, than you will with something that is "just right" but you have zero interest in. Obviously, trying to find something close to your level, or a bit of a challenge, that you are interested in is the best bet. :) Edited by Kerrie on 01 June 2014 at 1:04am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5391 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 78 of 198 01 June 2014 at 4:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Very true! Just got done with a book that was pretty slow for me because it was really high-level literature. While I'm aiming to challenge myself as much as possible, I also know when to allow myself to have some balance so it doesn't become a chore. And for my weaker languages, I'll certainly be aiming for a much lower level out of sheer necessity (don't need a complicated narrative making things hard to understand when I already have the language acting as an obstacle). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5236 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 79 of 198 01 June 2014 at 9:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Well you'll have to decide for yourself in the end, but I've been having the same problem with French, I started with a difficult (although thankfully short) book and switched to more contemporary writing. At the moment I have two books on the go, one I look up every word I don't know, and the other I just underline what I don't know and keep going. What I have discovered is that with the second book a lot of times a word I underlined on a previous page pops up again, only this time in a slight different context I can work out what the word means. The example which springs to mind was "pire" in one sentence I didn't know what it was, but on the very next page it was used again in a sentence where I knew all the other words so it was easy to figure out, and meant I understood the sentence before as well. So what advice am I giving? I'm telling you to do all three things! Keep slogging on with limited comprehension on your main book, while trying to figure out words in context, but start a graded reader and re-read, lookup, and understand all of that one. Words which appear in one book will almost certainly make an appearance in the other. And there you have it, with my advice and $5 you can get yourself a cup of coffee. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| diffuse Newbie United Kingdom Joined 3867 days ago 12 posts - 21 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 80 of 198 01 June 2014 at 10:09am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Ahahahaha oh dear! Sorry for the misunderstanding -- I agree, that would be completely obnoxious! I really like the group aspect in terms of people sharing what they've been finding useful/interesting in terms of source material, especially because for both of my languages there's so much out there, it can be easy to get sucked into an internet vortex of just link-chasing. One thing I'm going to do a bit more of as I go through the challenge is watch political speeches/debates! A couple of weeks ago I watched one of the debates between European Commission candidates -- 3 of the candidates were speaking English, 1 Greek (which I don't speak/study), & 1 French. Before I found the livestream that had simultaneous translation, I was listening very hard to the French speaker... & I found it fairly easy. I've watched a couple of short political speeches/interviews (both with people whose views I support & those I don't!) since & politicians seem likely to speak slowly/clearly (& with standard grammar). & of course there's going to be a fairly standard set of buzzwords. So this seems like a good way for me to progress in the SC & keep up with current events. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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