Linkman226’s Language Log (Language Learning Log) Language Learning Forum

Linkman226’s Language Log
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Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log

linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 1 of 8 12 July 2012 at 2:42am \| IP Logged
	At the time I am writing this, I have a some command of Spanish- around level B1, maybe a weak B2. That was the product of five years of studying it in school combined with occasional bursts of rigorous self study. Naturally, the latter was far more productive than the former. This fall I will be entering my final year in high school, and will be taking a Mandarin course in school due to having exhausted all Spanish courses. As my Spanish isn't yet where I want it to be, I will be seeking to continue improving it, aiming for C1 or C2 by February, when I will be going on a class trip to Iberia (mostly Spain, a bit of Lisbon as well). However, when I start Mandarin this fall, I will be in a class with students three or four years younger than myself but who already have three years' Mandarin experience on me. I will obviously need to catch up, hence why I am starting studying now. I have the advantage of self-study, which is almost always better than the classroom environment as I have been told and personally discovered myself. The class uses simplified characters, which I will be using as well. As the years progress, I hope to keep this updated with other languages I begin to learn. Spanish Goals: C1 or C2 level by February Plan: Watching shows on RTVE.es, especially my two favorites: Cuéntame Cómo Pasó and Águila Roja Reading various books in Spanish, listening to podcasts and radio, and keeping a diary. Daily review of words, expressions, idioms, etc. I have acquired in Anki, as well as adding to that pile whenever I come across new words, etc. Also, I plan on completely and finally finishing FSI Spanish Basic by New Year's 2013, something I've been working on on and off for some months now, but with a two month gap recently. This is to cement my grammar, which is still somewhat shoddy sometimes. Mandarin Goals: 300 characters by September. I will be acquiring Remembering the Hanzi by James Heisig as well as learning whatever characters the school curriculum has deemed a ninth grader should know (the level I will be entering at). Finish the Resource Module and the first three modules of FSI Chinese by the end of July, then begin Pimsleur and Assimil Mandarin. Edited by linkman226 on 24 July 2012 at 12:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 2 of 8 12 July 2012 at 2:44am \| IP Logged
	[reserved] Edited by linkman226 on 12 July 2012 at 2:44am 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 3 of 8 15 July 2012 at 8:56pm \| IP Logged
	For the past few days I have been making my way through the FSI Chinese Resource module, moving on from one tape to another only when I felt I had sufficiently mastered the material covered. A knowledge of IPA and usage of the internet was useful in helping to reproduce the various unfamiliar sounds of Chinese. Nonetheless, the three different pronunciations of 'i' in Pinyin, depending on what the preceding consonant is, as well as the dental affricates (c and z) still are troublesome, but I am getting the hang of it. No work has begun on characters yet, and will not until I have finished the Resource module and feel I have sufficiently mastered the material covered. As far as Spanish goes, I have been watching Cuéntame and practicing my Anki flashcards. I have now gotten to the point where I can at least make out ~95% of the words that are uttered, if not necessarily know what those words mean. However, thanks to Spanish's highly phonetic alphabet, merely making out the word is usually enough to transcribe it and look it up, which then allow me to add it to Anki. I have picked up approximately where I left off in May with FSI Basic. I finished lesson 13 of Unit I today. 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 4 of 8 24 July 2012 at 2:48am \| IP Logged
	Ok, so for the past week I have been experimenting around with methods/ techniques to come up with a schedule. This is what I have decided on: Mandarin Pimsleur I-III (already obtained). Expect to finish by late September Work on Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters. Expect to finish by early to late September as well. Work on FSI Pronunciation & Roamnization module a few times a week to really solidify my Pinyin and pronunciation. That should give me an ~A1 speaking level and 800 characters. After that, besides doing whatever my teacher tells me to do in school, do lots of L-R- I was thinking 3 hours a day at least three days a week. And finish off the FSI course and use the New Practical Chinese Reader to build up vocab. That will continue until I am at the level that I can just consume native material. Spanish Voy a cambiar a Platiquemos en vez de FSI. Ya lo he obtenido. Espero poder terminarlo en Septimebre u Octubre. Pienso hacer una lección por día, o, cuándo llego a las lecciónes más avanzadas, cada dos o tres días. También planeo hacer <<escritorio>> (sciptorium) y <<shadowing>> unas veces por semana. Desde luego, continuaré con Anki y el consumo de material nuevo. Por suerte he encontrado una aplicación de Androide que me permite escuchar radio por internet de España en mi teléfono celular. Edited by linkman226 on 24 July 2012 at 12:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful
KayJane Newbie United States Joined 4510 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Persian	Message 5 of 8 24 July 2012 at 4:20am \| IP Logged
	That sounds like a really good plan. For FSI, I would recommend downloading the DLI modules, since they match the dialogues (mosty) and they actually give the characters. And if you ever find FSI getting a little boring, I would recommend the learning section on CCTV and the Confucius Institute. Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 6 of 8 29 July 2012 at 1:38am \| IP Logged
	KayJane- Thanks for the advice, although I already found a PDF transcript (at least of Pimsleur I here: http://files.meetup.com/33232/Pimsleur%20Chinese%20I%20- %20A%20Pronunciation%20And%20Character%20Guide.pdf. I'm not using it for the characters so much as for the pinyin and its convenient vocab lists. In any event, yesterday I had my first "conversation" with a native speaker, with a female bilingual friend of Chinese descent. It wasn't much, just a couple sentences, but in her words, my pronunciation was "not bad," especially when compared to others she had seen. It was incredibly exhilarating for me to actually speak the language for the first time with an actual person (other than my tutor). Which reminds me, I forgot to mention I have a tutor. He's a non-native (American) but has been studying/ speaking it for 20 years. We've met a couple times so far, and plan on meeting twice a week from now on. He's a teacher from my school district, and so far he's told me I'm progressing very well. Edited by linkman226 on 29 July 2012 at 1:40am 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 7 of 8 30 July 2012 at 12:04am \| IP Logged
	Forgot to mention this earlier: I signed up for the 6 Week Challenge in Mandarin. In Spanish, I had a breakthrough. It's tough to describe, but I'll try my best. I can think in the language with ease, without forcing myself too; in fact it happens naturally when I start exposing myself to Spanish. In addition, I can make out almost every single word even in really fast, really angry speech (as I discovered listening to several angry rants in Cuéntame), something that was always difficult for me. I have decided to modify goals a bit in Spanish. My eventual goal in Spanish is to have a command of the language at par or nearly at par with my command of English. I want to be able to speak about philosophy, science, math, etc. with the same adeptness as I do in English. I want to speak idiomatically and with the same richness as I would in English. I am adding to my diet at least three sessions of 2.5 hour L-R in Spanish every week. Also, I am going to start writing in Spanish every day to help with production, something I have a lack of. I hope to submit them to lang- 8.com for correction. 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 8 of 8 07 August 2012 at 2:26am \| IP Logged
	Phew. Thank god we're finally back up. Something has clicked with Mandarin. Can't quite explain it, but the characters are actually sticking in my memory and I no longer find myself needing to repeat Pimsleur lessons like I did with the first four or so; all of the past six lessons I have got on the first try. Spanish work has kinda slowed, mostly to some Anki and some TV/ music. WIll pick up in a few weeks. Edited by linkman226 on 07 August 2012 at 2:26am 1 person has voted this message useful

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linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 1 of 8 12 July 2012 at 2:42am \| IP Logged
	At the time I am writing this, I have a some command of Spanish- around level B1, maybe a weak B2. That was the product of five years of studying it in school combined with occasional bursts of rigorous self study. Naturally, the latter was far more productive than the former. This fall I will be entering my final year in high school, and will be taking a Mandarin course in school due to having exhausted all Spanish courses. As my Spanish isn't yet where I want it to be, I will be seeking to continue improving it, aiming for C1 or C2 by February, when I will be going on a class trip to Iberia (mostly Spain, a bit of Lisbon as well). However, when I start Mandarin this fall, I will be in a class with students three or four years younger than myself but who already have three years' Mandarin experience on me. I will obviously need to catch up, hence why I am starting studying now. I have the advantage of self-study, which is almost always better than the classroom environment as I have been told and personally discovered myself. The class uses simplified characters, which I will be using as well. As the years progress, I hope to keep this updated with other languages I begin to learn. Spanish Goals: C1 or C2 level by February Plan: Watching shows on RTVE.es, especially my two favorites: Cuéntame Cómo Pasó and Águila Roja Reading various books in Spanish, listening to podcasts and radio, and keeping a diary. Daily review of words, expressions, idioms, etc. I have acquired in Anki, as well as adding to that pile whenever I come across new words, etc. Also, I plan on completely and finally finishing FSI Spanish Basic by New Year's 2013, something I've been working on on and off for some months now, but with a two month gap recently. This is to cement my grammar, which is still somewhat shoddy sometimes. Mandarin Goals: 300 characters by September. I will be acquiring Remembering the Hanzi by James Heisig as well as learning whatever characters the school curriculum has deemed a ninth grader should know (the level I will be entering at). Finish the Resource Module and the first three modules of FSI Chinese by the end of July, then begin Pimsleur and Assimil Mandarin. Edited by linkman226 on 24 July 2012 at 12:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 2 of 8 12 July 2012 at 2:44am \| IP Logged
	[reserved] Edited by linkman226 on 12 July 2012 at 2:44am 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 3 of 8 15 July 2012 at 8:56pm \| IP Logged
	For the past few days I have been making my way through the FSI Chinese Resource module, moving on from one tape to another only when I felt I had sufficiently mastered the material covered. A knowledge of IPA and usage of the internet was useful in helping to reproduce the various unfamiliar sounds of Chinese. Nonetheless, the three different pronunciations of 'i' in Pinyin, depending on what the preceding consonant is, as well as the dental affricates (c and z) still are troublesome, but I am getting the hang of it. No work has begun on characters yet, and will not until I have finished the Resource module and feel I have sufficiently mastered the material covered. As far as Spanish goes, I have been watching Cuéntame and practicing my Anki flashcards. I have now gotten to the point where I can at least make out ~95% of the words that are uttered, if not necessarily know what those words mean. However, thanks to Spanish's highly phonetic alphabet, merely making out the word is usually enough to transcribe it and look it up, which then allow me to add it to Anki. I have picked up approximately where I left off in May with FSI Basic. I finished lesson 13 of Unit I today. 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 4 of 8 24 July 2012 at 2:48am \| IP Logged
	Ok, so for the past week I have been experimenting around with methods/ techniques to come up with a schedule. This is what I have decided on: Mandarin Pimsleur I-III (already obtained). Expect to finish by late September Work on Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters. Expect to finish by early to late September as well. Work on FSI Pronunciation & Roamnization module a few times a week to really solidify my Pinyin and pronunciation. That should give me an ~A1 speaking level and 800 characters. After that, besides doing whatever my teacher tells me to do in school, do lots of L-R- I was thinking 3 hours a day at least three days a week. And finish off the FSI course and use the New Practical Chinese Reader to build up vocab. That will continue until I am at the level that I can just consume native material. Spanish Voy a cambiar a Platiquemos en vez de FSI. Ya lo he obtenido. Espero poder terminarlo en Septimebre u Octubre. Pienso hacer una lección por día, o, cuándo llego a las lecciónes más avanzadas, cada dos o tres días. También planeo hacer <<escritorio>> (sciptorium) y <<shadowing>> unas veces por semana. Desde luego, continuaré con Anki y el consumo de material nuevo. Por suerte he encontrado una aplicación de Androide que me permite escuchar radio por internet de España en mi teléfono celular. Edited by linkman226 on 24 July 2012 at 12:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful
KayJane Newbie United States Joined 4510 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Persian	Message 5 of 8 24 July 2012 at 4:20am \| IP Logged
	That sounds like a really good plan. For FSI, I would recommend downloading the DLI modules, since they match the dialogues (mosty) and they actually give the characters. And if you ever find FSI getting a little boring, I would recommend the learning section on CCTV and the Confucius Institute. Good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 6 of 8 29 July 2012 at 1:38am \| IP Logged
	KayJane- Thanks for the advice, although I already found a PDF transcript (at least of Pimsleur I here: http://files.meetup.com/33232/Pimsleur%20Chinese%20I%20- %20A%20Pronunciation%20And%20Character%20Guide.pdf. I'm not using it for the characters so much as for the pinyin and its convenient vocab lists. In any event, yesterday I had my first "conversation" with a native speaker, with a female bilingual friend of Chinese descent. It wasn't much, just a couple sentences, but in her words, my pronunciation was "not bad," especially when compared to others she had seen. It was incredibly exhilarating for me to actually speak the language for the first time with an actual person (other than my tutor). Which reminds me, I forgot to mention I have a tutor. He's a non-native (American) but has been studying/ speaking it for 20 years. We've met a couple times so far, and plan on meeting twice a week from now on. He's a teacher from my school district, and so far he's told me I'm progressing very well. Edited by linkman226 on 29 July 2012 at 1:40am 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 7 of 8 30 July 2012 at 12:04am \| IP Logged
	Forgot to mention this earlier: I signed up for the 6 Week Challenge in Mandarin. In Spanish, I had a breakthrough. It's tough to describe, but I'll try my best. I can think in the language with ease, without forcing myself too; in fact it happens naturally when I start exposing myself to Spanish. In addition, I can make out almost every single word even in really fast, really angry speech (as I discovered listening to several angry rants in Cuéntame), something that was always difficult for me. I have decided to modify goals a bit in Spanish. My eventual goal in Spanish is to have a command of the language at par or nearly at par with my command of English. I want to be able to speak about philosophy, science, math, etc. with the same adeptness as I do in English. I want to speak idiomatically and with the same richness as I would in English. I am adding to my diet at least three sessions of 2.5 hour L-R in Spanish every week. Also, I am going to start writing in Spanish every day to help with production, something I have a lack of. I hope to submit them to lang- 8.com for correction. 1 person has voted this message useful
linkman226 Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5321 days ago 26 posts - 39 votes Speaks: English, Kannada, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, French	Message 8 of 8 07 August 2012 at 2:26am \| IP Logged
	Phew. Thank god we're finally back up. Something has clicked with Mandarin. Can't quite explain it, but the characters are actually sticking in my memory and I no longer find myself needing to repeat Pimsleur lessons like I did with the first four or so; all of the past six lessons I have got on the first try. Spanish work has kinda slowed, mostly to some Anki and some TV/ music. WIll pick up in a few weeks. Edited by linkman226 on 07 August 2012 at 2:26am 1 person has voted this message useful