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TAC 2011 - Team Ì - canada38 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 17 of 27 13 March 2011 at 6:58pm | IP Logged |
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A short update today about Italian. I took the test at www.italian-test.com and
didn't do nearly as well as I had expected. On the A1 test, I got 77%, which in my opinion isn't very good. Then on the A2 test, I failed with a 60%. While my vocabulary has been increasing, this is an unfortunate reminder that I really need to focus on grammar! Also, I forgot to add (edit), one of my friends recently started studying Italian, so hopefully he sticks with it and I'll have someone to practice with. Edited by canada38 on 13 March 2011 at 7:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 18 of 27 25 March 2011 at 12:09am | IP Logged |
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Spanish
My study of Spanish has still been coming along nicely. For the past two weeks in my grammar class we have covered the past perfect indicative and subjective, and the uses of se (i.e. Se alquilan apartamentos). The tenses were pretty straightforward for me, and I did fairly well on the exercises for them. In my literature class, I received a 90% on my second oral presentation. Both courses are more or less finished, except for the final exams. For the grammar class, there is an oral exam and a written one. For the literature class, I have to write another huge essay. I'm tempted to say that I am now a Spanish speaker, but I'm going to wait until after I pass the DELE B2 exam. :P Italian I've finally stopped being lazy with Italian. Over the last few days I've completed lessons 8 to 13 of Pimsleur II. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the series within three weeks, which shouldn't be too hard. The only potential problem is that I have final exams coming up, which may slow me down a bit. Icelandic My Icelandic study materials arrived a few days ago. I don't have time to study it right now, but I took a glance at the book and it looks interesting. I can't wait for the summer break to begin! Edited by canada38 on 25 March 2011 at 12:11am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 19 of 27 07 April 2011 at 4:44pm | IP Logged |
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Short update today, mainly because I'm busy studying.
Spanish For my Spanish grammar class, I did well on the oral exam (90%). The final written exam is tomorrow, so I'm studying for that right now. For my literature class, I'm also currently in the process of writing another one of those huge essays! Italian Right now I'm on lesson 18 of Pimsleur II. As soon as exams are over, hardcore study of Italian plus Icelandic for fun will begin! I should also note that I've been feeling guilty lately about not continuing with German. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 20 of 27 25 April 2011 at 6:08pm | IP Logged |
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Spanish
I've decided to list myself as Spanish speaker. To support this decision, I have passed three criteria that I think have pushed me over the threshold. They are as follows: 1)Intermediate & Advanced Level Courses Completed - I've finished both Spanish courses that I took this semester. Certainly one does not attain the status of speaking a language merely by having completed a course; however I feel that I have benefited greatly from the two. I finished the grammar class with an A, and the literature class with an A-. I likely would have received an A+ in the grammar class, had I better understood the subjunctive (and studied harder!) at the time of the midterm. Since this time, I have attained a good grasp of the subjunctive. As for the literature class, most of the points I lost were from poor literary analysis instead of grammatical errors in my papers (After all, I am a science student plucked into a third year literature course!). 2)Writing Ability - Since January, my writing skills have improved significantly. My grammar class gave my a nearly complete understanding of verbs tenses and moods and some other things. In the literature class, having to write two 16 page papers really forced me to improved whether I liked it or not. By the end I was relying much less on my dictionary and grammar books. 3)Speaking Ability - Formerly one of my weak areas, my ability to speak Spanish has improved a lot too. Both classes gave my ample speaking opportunities. I think that now my best bet for Spanish is to focus on speaking/listening and building my vocabulary. I've decided not to write the B2 DELE this year, nor go to Miami because... Italian ...instead I'm going to Italy! I found a ticket at a really low price, so I took it! I'll be going in June, and it will be an excellent chance to test my Italian. Until then, Spanish in on pause, I won't start Icelandic, and I'll be doing intense Italian everyday. I'll be sure to keep you updated on my progress. Right now I'm on Pimsleur II lesson 23. My progress has been slow, but now that classes have finished, you all know what I'll be doing with my time! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5388 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 21 of 27 26 April 2011 at 7:00am | IP Logged |
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That's great! I think that you will see your Italian grow by leaps and bounds when you are there, especially if you try to only speak Italian as much as possible. As we say in the performing world: In bocca al lupo! Congrats on the Spanish accomplishments as well!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 22 of 27 26 April 2011 at 1:19pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks JPike1028. I'll be travelling with a friend and our girlfriends. The girls have no
interest in languages, but the friend is the same one I mentioned previously who started studying Italian in March. He and I both plan to speak as much Italian as possible while we're there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5486 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 23 of 27 12 May 2011 at 3:42am | IP Logged |
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Okay time for an update.
I've been focusing solely on Italian for these past few weeks. I started taking the bus to school and work, which gives me about an hour and a half each to day for Italian. It's good because being in the lab all day, and in class at night, leaves me little other time to study. The only downside is that I can't pronounce the lessons out loud; however on the other hand I can really focus by saying the words in my head. As of today, I'm on lesson 7 of Pimsleur Italian III. I've also started Living Language's Drive Time Italian. The main reason I chose it was for something to listen to on shorter bus rides (or waiting in general) when I don't have enough time for a Pimsleur lesson. So far I'm on lesson 14. It's been pretty basic so far, but some reviews on amazon.ca suggest the difficulty will increase on the second CD, which I begin tomorrow. Since I've almost completed the Pimsleur series, I'm undecided about what to do next. Should I get Pimsleur IV and V, or should I instead move on to another programme? Any advice would be much appreciated! I leave for Italy in less than a month, so I can tell you that my motivation to study has increase quite a lot! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5388 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 24 of 27 12 May 2011 at 11:44am | IP Logged |
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I've not done the later Pimsleur programs in any languages, but if it is working well for you then don't try and fix
something that's not broken. As you know I am using Assimil currently for French and find it to be very intuitive and helpful. It seems that you are lacking the time needed for the book work though. Perhaps you could find the audio and upload it as something to listen to in those fleeting moments and then you can check the book when you have time. Truthfully each lesson's audio is only a couple of minutes long and the book is small enough that you could bring it with you on the bus. Also, if you have a smart phone you could download an international radio app and listen to some Italian radio to get your ear wrapped around real-time Italian. Just a couple of ideas off the top of my head. Buona fortuna ed io aspetto per le tue notizie del progesso! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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