Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6906 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French
| Message 1 of 6 21 July 2012 at 1:40am | IP Logged |
While updating my language profile, I realized I'm not really sure how I should
understand "studying on and off" (as opposed to "not studying). To be more precise, for
how long can I be off? :) Obviously, it's not a clear-cut term but I jus keep wondering.
Do you use the "not studying" status only for the languages you've learned to a high (or
satisfying) level and don't "study" any more (in the narrow meaning of the word), or also
for the languages you haven't been studying for, let's say, a year or two?
Not that it's that relevant... I'm probably just nitpicking.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6600 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish
| Message 2 of 6 21 July 2012 at 2:17am | IP Logged |
For me the minimum is about an hour per month. I generally switch to not studying in advance though, if I know that in the following 2-3 months I won't have time/opportunities for this language.
I count all the fun I have as studying, except in English. Well that's assuming I at least every now and then look up/google something and especially if my understanding is improving steadily on its own.
For example I can theoretically imagine myself living in Finland and having a native-like level and no longer "studying" Finnish... though I don't think I'll ever stop, no matter how good I get. It hurt even to switch it from "studying full-time" (self-immersion) to "studying actively"...
Basically, to me "not studying" equals "no improvement, no contact".
1 person has voted this message useful
|
druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4871 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian
| Message 3 of 6 21 July 2012 at 3:28am | IP Logged |
If I don't work on a language at least once a week, I'm not going to make any improvements. When I don't make improvements I don't call it studying. I watched a movie in Portguese yesterday and sometimes translate song lyrics or read something on the net, but I don't count any of that as studying. It's only maintenance at best, because I'm sure nothing new I learn is going to stick with so little overall exposure.
To me, studying on and off means I might be taking a month or two off from the language, but I have plans to resume regular study in the not so distant future. That's why I've marked all languages apart from Korean as "not studying" at the moment. I do plan to get back to Portuguese (probably for the next TAC), but until then it stays off the list.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6600 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish
| Message 4 of 6 21 July 2012 at 3:44am | IP Logged |
when you study once a week that's already "studying actively" :)
1 person has voted this message useful
|
druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4871 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian
| Message 5 of 6 21 July 2012 at 2:27pm | IP Logged |
umm... did you read the second paragraph? :)
I forgot to add that my limit for "studying on and off" is three or four months without studying. After that I switch to "not studying".
Edited by druckfehler on 21 July 2012 at 2:31pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6906 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French
| Message 6 of 6 21 July 2012 at 9:55pm | IP Logged |
Thanks for your input!
1 person has voted this message useful
|