|
 |
Linguistic flight | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes  Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 121 of 128 27 February 2011 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks to a post of the forum member Snowflake I now have the opportunity of listening to Chinese podcasts again! She gave a link to the ChineseLearnOnline podcast, so for the past week I've been listening to it! I took up level 2. Although there are few unknown words in the podcast, I have a difficulty of making out a conversation unless it is split up. So, it's a good training for my listening skills. All in all, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it, though now I have less time for Italian (alas :(). Edited by dragonfly on 27 February 2011 at 8:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 122 of 128 04 March 2011 at 12:10pm | IP Logged | ||
|
These days I'm attending the E-merging forum at the British Council, Moscow. It's a cpnference for English teachers. General information:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/russia 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5950 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 123 of 128 05 March 2011 at 5:38am | IP Logged | ||
I must admit that it warms my heart to find other Mandarin learners who, like me, do not feel that they must only use materials with the "ideal accent". Good luck with the Mandarin, though sorry to hear about the Italian. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 124 of 128 05 March 2011 at 8:26pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thank you, Snowflake. If we are speaking about an ideal accent, is there one for any language? What accent is ideal for English, then? And if you get used to only one accent, how can you understand other speakers of the language?
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5950 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 125 of 128 05 March 2011 at 9:23pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Well, generally the accent heard in nationwide broadcasting is considered to be standard, neutral or ideal for that country. Some mainland friends consider the ideal accent to be that of someone who grew up in Beijing but whose recent family roots are from somewhere else in China (NOT Beijing). I have one friend like that. She was told many times, while in China, that she was really lucky to have the "perfect accent". However I'm with you on needing to be exposed to various accents. I would add regional vocabulary here too (in general). Most native speakers do not have an "ideal accent" so it seems odd, to me, to insist on that in all our learning materials.
继续加油! (jìxù jiāyóu!) Edited by Snowflake on 05 March 2011 at 9:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 126 of 128 22 March 2011 at 1:41pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks, Snowflake, for your encouragement!
What I mainly do now about languages is listening. For Chinese it is CLO. I feel very comfortable with it and I find it very helpful that the course is progressive, the vocab is recycled and the difficulty iscreases gradually. It is what Chinesepod fails to provide. For Italian I used Pimsleur III (at Lesson 27) and videos on Youtube. I really understand them (the videos)! After watching youtube videos of some polyglots I tried to analyze what kind of learner I am. I am, for most part, an individual learner, I can work in a group, but I seldom come across people who are like me (I mean, rather quick and knowledgeable - what a shy girl I am!), so I tend to dominate others. That's why self-study is good for me. I am a so-called active introvert, that is, I don't like pointless socializing. Sometimes I am at some friend's drinking vine and chattering, at the same time thinking how many useful things I could be doing at that moment. Maybe, it's the reason why I don't see speaking as the main goal of my studying languages. I stick to Steve Kaufman's view that you have to have internalized a lot of input before you start speaking. I wouldn't bother a person to speak to me if I cannot express myself well in their language because it would be uninteresting for them to listen to a beginner's stumblings and "where are you from"s. I believe if you have a big store of passive vocabulary and structure it will take you a couple of weeks to get to a good conversational level, if need be. So, for all languages but for English for me the main goal now to listen and read a lot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 127 of 128 18 June 2011 at 8:04pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Long time no see (and write)!
In April I started work again after officially being on the maternal leave, so while I was getting used to it I did very little language study. I only listened to audios while commuting. I finished the second level of CLO and started the third. I also atarted Michel Thomas Italian Foundation and Vocabulary courses. Now I have more time as we have holidays at school (that is why I like being a teacher, you have so many holidays!) but I can't tune in into serious study. I have the feeling that I've forgotten all the hanzi. I hope after my brain has had some rest I'll take up my languages with double effort. Now I'm just reading a lot, mostly in English. One of my recent favourites is Dick Phillip. Now I'm reading the third book by this author and I would highly recommend him to anyone who is found of science fiction. Hope to write soon! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dragonfly Triglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 6470 days ago 204 posts - 233 votes Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin | Message 128 of 128 08 July 2011 at 3:12pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I started a blog dedicated to both language teaching and learning. Welcome!
http://langteacherandlearner.wordpress.com/ 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
