Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 81 of 94 01 September 2013 at 8:19pm | IP Logged |
Mooby wrote:
Witaj w domu, Baku!
It's a great idea to combine language learning with food and massages - a lot more enjoyable!
Yes, I'm close to quitting Szklarsi as well. I like reading short news items, on-line reports and magazine articles which are interesting and easy to digest.
1000 hours on the horizon, excellent effort. |
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Thanks, Mooby :)
Yes, quit Szklarski. Life is too short to read stuff you're not interested in or which causes constipation. I'm keeping one or two Szklarskis for a later smarter me, but right now I need easier books in order to enjoy the learning process.
I'm looking forward to completing 1000 hours of Thai for this year, but it's just one of many 1000 hour blocks on my journey. Language learning is an enormous commitment, it's crazy that we manage to stick to it...
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Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 82 of 94 08 September 2013 at 2:29pm | IP Logged |
Time for another update.
Listening: 271
Reading: 355
Speaking: 120
Writing: 41
Other: 133
Total: 920
Listening:
Lots of podcasts (I had a backlog) and some radio shows.
Reading:
I didn't manage to get much reading done… my reading time is limited and I've got books in a few languages open...
Speaking:
I went for dinner with a Thai friend and got some solid speaking time. I also made a few phone calls.
Writing:
Chatting on whatsapp.
Other:
I'm still building up an Anki deck to assist me with spelling; it's coming along fine. I can see the value of spaced repetition since I'm writing too little to get spelling for free. I'm still working with Thai schoolbooks as well. I've recently started with 'technology and professions' and 'Thai basics and use of language', both primary grade 2. I'm not sure how useful the Thai language book will be, but 'technology and professions' is good. This morning, I copied a section on sweeping the floor, introducing the tools (e.g., dustpan) needed for treating various types of floors (e.g, polished concrete). There's always something new, and it's good to see the words 'in action'.
Polish:
I finished a detective story and am about to start a new book, but I want to finish some other book in French first. I also logged down quite some listening time.
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druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4866 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian
| Message 83 of 94 08 September 2013 at 11:46pm | IP Logged |
You managed to catch up with your podcast backlog? Wow. If I would pay attention to mine I think I'd lose my mind... Not sure if you've mentioned it before, what kind of podcasts are you listening to?
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Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 84 of 94 09 September 2013 at 4:28am | IP Logged |
druckfehler wrote:
You managed to catch up with your podcast backlog? Wow. If I would pay attention to mine I think I'd lose my mind... Not sure if you've mentioned it before, what kind of podcasts are you listening to? |
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Good to see you back, druckfehler! :)
There are only a few regular podcasts in Thai. I listen to Voice of America's daily news roundup, it's a 30 min podcasts with politics, health, science, sports and entertainment news. It's quite good and I haven't tired listening to it yet. Then there's NHK's daily news podcast, 14 minutes long and focusing mainly on Japan. I find it rather boring to listen to and tend to skip it every so often. SBS (Australia) publishes short clips on various topics on a regular (but not daily) basis; since I've lived in Australia before I enjoy listening to what's going on down under.
I know of one more podcast series, it's on technology and related topics, but I didn't like the format when I listened in a few months ago. They're extremely long and are often published as videos (which doesn't go well with how I use podcasts... on the go).
I don't know about Korean but my guess would be that there are much more interesting podcasts on offer. In French, for example, there are podcasts on just about everything. But we all have to make do with what we've got :)
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Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 85 of 94 15 September 2013 at 10:56am | IP Logged |
This is about the most boring update ever...
Listening: 284
Reading: 358
Speaking: 121
Writing: 41
Other: 136
Total: 940
Listening:
Lots of podcasts and radio shows.
Reading:
Again, I didn't manage to get much reading done.
Speaking:
An hour or so on the phone.
Writing:
Some chatting on whatsapp.
Other:
Mostly typing and spelling exercises (Anki).
Polish:
I listen on a regular basis but that's about it.
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Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 86 of 94 25 September 2013 at 6:20pm | IP Logged |
Another update… getting close to 1000 hours! I'm still going at a slower pace than before which means that I don't do much more than listening, working with school books, and keeping in touch with friends. Reading, in particular, has fallen by the wayside. It's unfortunate, but what shall I do…
Listening: 297
Reading: 360
Speaking: 122
Writing: 41
Other: 140
Total: 960
Listening:
Lots of podcasts and radio shows.
Reading:
Not much reading, unfortunately...
Speaking:
A few phone calls.
Writing:
Some chatting on whatsapp.
Other:
Still working on the two subjects 'technology and professions' and 'Thai'. The first one is great with detailed explanations of how to do the dishes etc., but the Thai book is a bit dry. Lots of lecturing about how to behave well, I've really seen it now. It also eludes me what that has to do with the Thai language. The stuff about spelling etc. is good, though, and full of interesting vocabulary.
Edited by Bakunin on 25 September 2013 at 6:21pm
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Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6103 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish
| Message 87 of 94 25 September 2013 at 6:54pm | IP Logged |
I'm the opposite; lots of reading and not much listening.
When I listened to podcasts consistently, the speed of comprehension really improved. Now it takes about 20 minutes before my listening skills warm-up.
You'll smash the 1000 hour boundary soon - I hope you have planned a celebration!
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Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer
| Message 88 of 94 25 September 2013 at 9:04pm | IP Logged |
Celebration? Uh, oh, I was thinking of quitting HTLAL instead… :/
Honestly, I'm not too happy with the current state of affairs. I spend a lot of hours on language related activities… and I was wondering - what if I freed this time up to do other things? There are so many things I could (and would like to) do, and currently so little time to pursue them. I know from experience that these kinds of thoughts won't lead anywhere, I've been 'doing languages' since my late teenage years and have never been able to quit. But still, these thoughts keep coming up in recent weeks…
Another thing that annoys me is keeping stats. It's cool to see how many hours I spend, and I still remember how it motivated me to do even more last winter and spring, but why is more better? And do I really need to balance my language activities? What's wrong with neglecting this or that skill for a few months (or years, or forever)? All this note taking and book keeping is really tiring...
And then HTLAL… I used to find lots of discussions captivating and inspiring, but this has definitively changed. Maybe I've seen most ideas and tools by now and there's not much new stuff to be found and get excited about. Or maybe it has to do with who's active and who's disappeared. Reading this I realize it's too harsh a judgement; there are still lots of good media recommendations and the occasional new idea around. But still …
Another thing is that my 'social network' in Thailand received a major blow this summer and I'm still coming to terms with the impact. My motivation to get really good at Thai clearly has suffered… and while there is enough interest in Thai and enough Thai friends to keep me going, it is less clear to me why I should invest so heavily in this language.
So, lots of awkward thoughts and feelings. Fortunately it's still about three weeks until I smash the 1000 hour boundary. Maybe things look different then…
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