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Mick’s Log Teams Viking&jäŋe&Nebun | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5932 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 1 of 66 18 December 2012 at 11:13am | IP Logged |
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Welcome to my new log! I usually start my TAC logs on New Year's Eve or after the New Year, but I feel like I'm ready to start the 2013 log now. I am in three TAC teams this year:Team Viking, Team *jäŋe / *ledús and Team Nebun.
The languages I know I will be learning this year, along with comments about each one, are listed below: Afrikaans: I need to revive this one somewhat, I've neglected it a lot since 2010, My level in mid-2010 may have been A2 but I doubt it's that high now. My pronunciation could use a little more work, but I'm not sure how much I will need to work on it yet. I want to get to a solid C1 level by the end of the year. I've been learning this language since 2007; I should be much, much better at using it. Spanish: My erratic "studying" has helped me reach a frustrating level where written and spoken Spanish no longer seem even slightly foreign or exotic, but I can't read well nor can I actually converse with anyone; spouting random phrases does not count as speaking! My pronunciation is okay but I can't get lazy. I hope to get to at least C1 by 31 December, 2013. I've been learning Spanish since 2009, and even took college courses, so C1 should be achievable for this one too. Swedish: Same frustrating level as Spanish, but my pronunciation is not good at all, sometimes I mangle words pretty badly. I want to have a solid B2 level or better by 2014. Finnish: Everything except spelling needs improvement, I've focused too much on grammar at times and can't say much at all. My pronunciation is very inconsistent, sometimes I don't sound too bad but other times I sound completely confused. I believe I can get to a solid B1, maybe even B2, level by 2014 if I am more consistent. Hindi: Just added this one in September or October, so everything needs more work. I will continue learning the Devanagari script so I can read and write. A good goal to aim for is B1. Italian: I'm only been learning it since mid 2011, but it's starting to seem more normal and less foreign, I need to pay special attention to the places where Italan and Spanish pronunciation differ. B1/B2 by 31 December 2013. Polish: Started Polish in 2011 then dropped it, but then Polish replaced Thai this year. I'm think I am still at a very low false beginner level. Reaching B1 by the end of the year seems doable. It's getting very late and I'm tired so more specific details (such as 6WC plans, books used etc.;) will be part of a later post. Anyone who has read my other logs knows I give in to wanderlust frequently and that I don't consider it bad thing to dabble with other languages a bit. I can never predict which other languages I might be interested in but my tentative list of other languages I could see myself learning include: Thai: This one "seems" most likely now, I had to drop it last year because I couldn't get the books I wanted to buy, but I do like the language. Will I learn it this year? Maybe. Hungarian: Whether I start Hungarian depends on how well I do with Finnish and Polish this year. If I get to at least B1 in both of them then I am much more likely to seriously learn Hungarian this year. Danish: I reallly like how Danish sounds, but I am still more interested in Swedish. I'll see what happens. I hope for a great year in 2013, and wish everyone the best of luck! Buenas noches Mick Edited by mick33 on 04 January 2013 at 9:59pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hribecek Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5357 days ago 1243 posts - 1458 votes Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian | Message 2 of 66 18 December 2012 at 1:01pm | IP Logged |
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Wow, you have big ambitions for this year! Good luck, it will be an interesting one to
follow and I'm interested to hear how you're planning to get to all of those levels. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| a3 Triglot Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 5264 days ago 273 posts - 370 votes Speaks: Bulgarian*, English, Russian Studies: Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish | Message 3 of 66 18 December 2012 at 6:44pm | IP Logged |
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Where have you been learning Afrikaans from? I'm having difficulty in finding any resources.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Anya Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 5801 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 4 of 66 18 December 2012 at 9:55pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5932 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 5 of 66 19 December 2012 at 12:39am | IP Logged |
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I haven't been getting emails from this forum since Saturday, so I've been trying to check on discussion threads on my own.
@hribecek: Yes, maybe I'm being too ambitious, but I'm tired of making very slow progress. I honestly don't know if I'll reach any of the goals by the end of 2013, but I want a way to assess the progress I will make in a year. @a3: The best resource I know of for learning Afrikaans is the Open languages site which is the only website that actually teaches the language. I have also used Teach Yourself Afrikaans and Colloquial Afrikaans. When I was able to read Afrikaans I began using Die Bybel and Nuus24 which hosts the sites for South African newspapers such as Die Burger and Beeld. I've listed more resources in other threads but I can't find them now. I hope the above links are helpful. @Anya: Thanks, I'm looking forward to a great year! Edited by mick33 on 04 January 2013 at 9:02am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5932 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 6 of 66 20 December 2012 at 10:26am | IP Logged |
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This post is the beginning of my pre-TAC 2013 experimenting phase. What I mean by experimenting is that I know I will need to make some adjustments to my approach to language learning if I want to have any chance of reaching the goals I've set for myself. The major adjustment I will need to make is to plan time for reading threads on this forum, which takes up a lot of the free time I could use to learn languages; yet I know I'm not going to stop reading discussions here. I figure I can probably set aside an hour a day. I also need to consider how much time I want to spend typing messages here... hmmm, I may need another 30 to 45 minutes a day.
Oh no! I haven't actually thought about my tentative (or maybe not-so-tentative) study schedule. I know that somewhere in the forum threads I've written briefly about breaking my spare time during the day into 1 hour or 2 hour blocks and using some of these blocks for study time. I now think blocks of 15 to 30 minutes would be better for me. I don't have a short attention span, but I notice that after about 30 minutes on one language my mind sometimes starts to wander. When this has happened before I often forced myself to continue with that one language, but now after about a half hour I will switch languages. This experiment still needs more planning, but that can wait until morning. Right now I'll listen to Finnish and then Italian before I go to bed. Hyviä öitä ja kauniita unia Mick Edited by mick33 on 04 January 2013 at 9:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5355 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 7 of 66 21 December 2012 at 1:05am | IP Logged |
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What an impressive list of languages you have there!
As for time management, it’s always one of the most challenging aspects of language learning, especially when dealing with more than one language at a time. Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique? I actually found out about it on this forum, and I must say that when I’ve tried it I’ve seen my productivity increase exponentially. If only I were disciplined enough to be consistent with it! Good luck with TAC 2013! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5932 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 8 of 66 21 December 2012 at 2:06am | IP Logged |
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I hadn't heard of the Pomodoro technique before, but I'll definitely have a look at it after I eat dinner. Thanks.
1 person has voted this message useful |
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