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Help with tackling 3-5 tongues at once

 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
antitrustfund
Diglot
Newbie
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5575 days ago

17 posts - 16 votes
Speaks: English*, Russian
Studies: Japanese, German, French, Polish

 
 Message 1 of 4
27 August 2009 at 8:33am | IP Logged 
Hello Language Learning community,

I feel like I have a conundrum here. I love languages, I love them so much that I can;t just study a single one. Basically, I would like to any tips or tricks that others have in simultaneously studying multiple languages with burning yourself out (timewise). (in my case: Japanese, Russian, German and possibly Polish and French). Right now, I am doing the folowing for each respective language:

Japanese: Since I have decided that I will be going to uni in Tokyo next fall, I really want to brush up and imporve (I started learning 3 years ago on my own + 2 classes) me Japanese before arriving so I don't look like an idiot. So far now, I'm using Japanese Pod 101, resouce videos on YT, random Japanese language vids on YT (like news programms and tv shows for the process of listening and gauging), Smart FM's SRS programm (mainly kanji at the moment), listening to music *listening to GAGLE right now* (listening purposes), and a particle reference book. When I return to the states from Poland, I plan to purchase some books and get my hands on other sources, namely "Japanese for Busy People". Is JFBP a good source for someone (int level) gaining back lost knowledge and gaining some new knowledge?

Russian: I was just in Ukraine for 5 months, but prior to arriving I had self-studied for about a year. Now, my Russian is pretty good. I can understand 70-100% of the articles I read on Meta.ua, I understand songs much better now, and my thoughts flow easier in this language. This is a good feeling and I don't want to lose it. So when I get back home, I plan to hang out with Ukrainian friend (speaking Russian of course) when I can, read at least one article a day on META.ua (I check my e-mail on that site often enough), read and re-read the Russian language comics I bought, extracting useful vocabulary and expressions, and of course listening to music. Are there any useful books for int-adv grammar that one can recommend or study habits or something?

German: Studying for 2.5 years, but on occassion I make syntactic errors that I feel I shouldn't be making. Speaking-wise, I'm not that bad, but it takes me longer to deliver something verbally as opposed to when I chatting via keyboard. German idioms kill me, any tips? For now, I'm studying Deutsch by: Fav German Hip Hop tunes in conjuntion with Smart FM's SRS (picking out new words and expressions), www.pukkagerman.com, Deutsch Perfekt magazine, chatting with my German friend online, and a couple workbooks (one being a German in one month Berlizt book).

Are there relatively short (15-20 min) effective things I can do to progress moderately in these languages.

Will post more later.


1 person has voted this message useful



JennyMay244
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 5583 days ago

5 posts - 6 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Sign Language
Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French

 
 Message 2 of 4
28 August 2009 at 2:01pm | IP Logged 
Hey,

I can totally understand what you mean. For me, learning languages is my biggest hobby and I cannot just stick to one language. Because of this I have started to learn many languages and have a problem paying attention to all those languages and not forget what I have learned in the past. I am German and currently learn Japanese and brush up my Spanish. I also need to brush up my French which I learned back in school.

As I take the train to work I like using podcasts a lot. For Japanese I like "Learning Japanese with Beb and Alex". Also I like Radio Lingua Network but this is more for beginners or intermediate levels. However, both have a podcast set up like a radio show and bring the language to you in a fun way. I like the multiple track attack as described by Barry Faber and tend to use many different materials, also real-life newspapers and so forth so that it never gets boring.

Unfortunately I do not have any good ideas on how to keep up with all those languages but I am eager to hear the thoughts of the other members. I am more of a newbie here and hope to improve my language learning with tips from experienced learners.
1 person has voted this message useful



antitrustfund
Diglot
Newbie
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5575 days ago

17 posts - 16 votes
Speaks: English*, Russian
Studies: Japanese, German, French, Polish

 
 Message 3 of 4
29 August 2009 at 8:58am | IP Logged 
2nd part of my post.

I've decided that I'd still like to study French. But since I won't be continuing tis language in a college class, I need to devise a new, effective means of studying. What are the best self-study books/methods that you could advise to me?

Since, I've just been in Poland for two months, I've decided to pick this up too. I find it to be very similar to Russian, so it wasn't quite as hard for me to learn the grammar and some words. I'm just asking for good book to study from...do you know any?
1 person has voted this message useful



maaku
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5580 days ago

359 posts - 562 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 4 of 4
29 August 2009 at 10:18am | IP Logged 
Assimil, FSI, and FrenchPod.com are what I'm using.


1 person has voted this message useful



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