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What language to choose? Good material? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| djc463 Heptaglot Groupie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5802 days ago 51 posts - 74 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian Studies: Mandarin | Message 17 of 20 28 May 2015 at 9:23pm | IP Logged |
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Good choice with Italian. It sounds like from your first post that it's what you really wanted to learn!
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| Lucie Tellier Diglot Newbie France Joined 3471 days ago 21 posts - 27 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 18 of 20 29 May 2015 at 3:17am | IP Logged |
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Well, a lot of things have happened since I last posted, and I'm lost. I haven't actively studied English for a long time (over a year) and I feel really guilty. I'm pretty sure I have forgotten thousand of words already, and I'd like to plug my "vocabulary leaks" before they get worse.
It seems like my passive vocabulary is even more dormant than before, and my active vocabulary used to be much better. I just took the Dialang vocabulary test. The Placement test (verbs) put me at bordeline C1 (879). That's almost C2, but I used to have a better score at that test. I did get a perfect score on the "real" vocabulary test, which means that my overall level is still C2. Yes, I know, I didn't take the other tests, but I got C2 almost 5 years ago in grammar, and I don't think that score has changed. As for listening comprehension, I think I'll be forever stuck in C1/C2 limbo, and at that point I don't really care anymore. I'm more concerned about broadening my vocabulary, to be honest. I took the vocabulary test which is based on self-assessment. I think I was rather cruel with myself when I scored my comprehension of the words. My English vocabulary was estimated at 23,500 words. So, apparently I have the vocabulary of a 21-year-old native English speaker. Sadly, I still struggle with some basic books, so the words I know are either useless or too specialized. I plateaued at 20k words for years, so I guess I should be happy, but maybe I just got easy words. Also, I've forgotten too much basic vocabulary, so I'm really worried. I should read Harry Potter, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it. I still think it's a really difficult book to understand, no matter the language. So, Italian has fallen by the wayside. Maybe 10 minutes a day of Italian would do? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 19 of 20 29 May 2015 at 4:11am | IP Logged |
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I'd say it's better to put in half an hour several times a week than 10 min every day. 10 min, that is really short time to get focused and switch brain into the "Italian learning mode". Some activities are better practiced like that but I wouldn't say it applies to overall learning.
Harry Potter tends to be among the easiest books to start with, unless you count in graded readers, BDs and books for really small children. You shouldn't have trouble with it if you are in the C levels. Truth be told, someone at the C1/C2 level should be able to read anything they want, it just requires some practice. I'd say the problem may lie elsewhere. Do you want to read Harry Potter, do YOU find it interesting and fun? If not (which would be a totally valid reason for postponing it further and further or giving up on it), try something different. What do you like to read in French? Try your faourite book in English no matter the genre. In general, books for teenagers, crime novels, fantasy, sci-fi and such things tend to be a good starting point. Or you may just happen to be a non-fiction lover and, in that case, there are awesome alternatives as well. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5237 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 20 of 20 29 May 2015 at 1:05pm | IP Logged |
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I agree with Cavesa, you need more than ten minutes to learn Italian, although if you only have 10 minutes it is better than nothing. If you have C1/C2 in English the only way you're going to improve is to read more. Or you can simply take down a dictionary and try to learn one or two new words per day. It sounds like your English is the language which only needs ten minutes per day. Use flashcards for English words, that is how natives improve their vocabulary too.
Personally I hate Harry Potter, I've read that series in 2 languages, my children dragged me to the movies, and I've come to despise it. There is a hell of a lot of great literature in English, so forget HP and find something you are interested in reading. The Guardian Newspapers 1000 books to read before you die, would be an excellent starting point to look for books to read. Personally I like Steinbeck, so try: "Of mice and men", or "The Grapes of Wrath". Or Ernest Hemingway, "The Old Man and the Sea", "A Farewell to Arms", etc, etc. And don't forget all the out of copyright stuff available on Gutenberg You'll learn a lot more vocabulary from Steinbeck or Hemingway than Harry Potter. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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