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What to do while using audio courses. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| ALS Senior Member United States Joined 5796 days ago 104 posts - 131 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian, Finnish, Russian | Message 1 of 18 02 February 2011 at 4:50am | IP Logged | ||
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I've found that audio courses are my favorite methods to work with. Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, etc. However I get pretty bored just sitting there listening, so I've been trying different things to do while listening so I don't get bored so quickly. I have a few hobbies I already do that I've tried, like video games or knitting, and unless they're very simple I get distracted from the course too easily. I don't drive or go out all that much so I can't really listen while driving or on the bus or something. Reading also tends to get in the way of the course.
So what do you guys do while listening to audio courses aside from stare at a wall? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6134 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 2 of 18 02 February 2011 at 5:47am | IP Logged | ||
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I have exactly the same problem! I really like audio courses, but they can get very boring if I have nothing to
do while I listen. I generally do one of the following: - doodle - eat - vocabulary or kanji reviews - ride my bike - take a walk - ride on bus/in car/on airplane - listen attentively for new words/expressions and look them up (as well as related terms) and add them to my SRS - cook - clean, other boring tasks I like the idea of knitting. I might have to try that one because I like to knit, but haven't done it in ages. Edit: I added in a couple common activities that Matty's post reminded me of. Edited by ellasevia on 02 February 2011 at 8:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Matty Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5286 days ago 31 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 3 of 18 02 February 2011 at 5:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Do dishes, cook, clean, and do any other mindless chores. Another of my favorite options is to go for a run or otherwise exercise - be healthy and learn a language at the same time!
Or if I am on the computer, maybe chess, checkers, or minesweeper. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6349 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 18 02 February 2011 at 8:10am | IP Logged | ||
Pimsleur asks: "How would you say, 'Where is the train station?'?" ellasevia answers: "Wo [chomp, chomp] ist der [swallow] Bahnhof [smack, smack]" Pimsleur asks: "Now how would you ask, 'What time does the train arrive?'?" ellasevia answers: "Charlie, bring me the ketchup!!" I guess I can see doing mindless activies concurrently with it; I'm just being silly for a change. Are you guys relatively young, by any chance? Supposedly the latest generation are huge multi-taskers, e.g. texting friends while doing homework and playing Guitar Hero all at once. Edited by TerryW on 02 February 2011 at 8:37am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5758 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 5 of 18 02 February 2011 at 10:19am | IP Logged | ||
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I can do one language-related task at a time. That involves planning out my next steps in anything I am doing. That means when I'm doing routine activities while listening to an audio course, I will switch between thoughts about the course and about my activity. Which means I'm not paying full attention to the course. So, when I actually want to study with an audio course I go for long walks with my mp3 player. When I just want to have some entertainment while doing chores, I listen to audiobooks or podcasts.
TerryW, I can entertain a five year old child and an eight year old child in a weak foreign language while cooking for a family of six. (And make sure neither of them nor I get hurt. Au pair skills ftw.) And, you know - multitasking only works with routine tasks, when you try to multitask when acquiring new skills it's in most cases less effective than focussing on that task; in other cases it's outrightly dangerous not to do so. Edited by Bao on 02 February 2011 at 10:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mr_chinnery Senior Member England Joined 5749 days ago 202 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 6 of 18 02 February 2011 at 12:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I tend to end up browsing this very forum and ending up not listening. I have to give the
audio my full attention...So now I just sit/lie there with my eyes shut while I listen...Rock and roll eh... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6775 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 7 of 18 02 February 2011 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Walking works pretty well. At one point with one of these courses I realized that as long
as I was in the house I couldn't focus properly, a lot of things around the room would catch my eye and distract me. So I started taking some long walks into the woods, worked much better. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6003 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 8 of 18 02 February 2011 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Walking, on the bus/train, doing the dishes or relaxing in a nice hot bath.
But never cycling or driving, because multitasking degrades concentration, and that can be fatal. As Bao says "multitasking only works with routine tasks". More specifically, only tasks with a high degree of "automation" are suitable for multitasking. Walking and chewing gum, for instance. Driving a car is a motor skill, and as such is suitable for multitasking, hence why people can talk and drive simultaneously. But when unexpected things happen on the road, you can't rely on the same mindless automaticity, and you don't want a distraction. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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