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TAC 2011 Individual - kmart’s Italian Job | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 1 of 12 03 January 2011 at 2:13am | IP Logged |
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Background
I commenced studying Italian in January 2005 in preparation for my long-awaited trip to Italy in September 2005. I used Pimsleur levels 1-3 and learned enough to dare to enter restaurants without English menus, to ask for directions, to chat to locals, etc. It was a wondeful holiday and I fell completely in love with the language, the country and the people. Although circumstances have prevented my returning so far, I certainly intend to visit Italy often in the future. However, I am a terribly lazy person, and although I have continuously studied Italian since that time, I have proceeded very slowly and erratically and at this time would be only at B1 level. I need to motivate myself, and undertake a systematic and regular course of study to make significant improvement - 2011 is the year ! Goal To reach C1 level by the end of the year, but I'll actually be happy if I reach B2 - this seems such an un-ambitious goal compared to the amazing dedication shown by other forum members, that I am embarrassed to confess it, but might as well be honest about my limitations! Tools 1. Sprachprofi's time-tracking spreadsheet, modified a bit to suit my plans 2. Myngle online tutoring 3. Anki Plan 1. One month intensive tutoring - 30-minute lessons daily - with my Myngle tutor, the gorgeous and brilliant Serena, followed by 2 three-quarter hour lessons per week. Serena types new words and phrases into Skype during the lessons, I copy them into Anki afterwards. 2. Anki - do at least 15 minutes revision every day using Anki - I have nearly 3,000 cards in there now, mostly single-sided (ie the program displays phrases in Italian that I translate into English), although I have some double-sided ones for basic words (mostly prepositions and adverbs) that I struggle to remember. 3. Grammar - I have 2 university-level textbooks, that I've hardly touched, despite their exorbitant cost. I plan to study one chapter/per week, and should have completed them by the end of July. 4. Reading - I am currently reading my first adult Italian book - "Il Barone Rampante", and intend to do at least 4 pages/week. This is a slow process because I check every word I don't absolutely know in the dictionary, and enter into Anki. I am only about 20 pages into the book at the moment and looking up 10-15 words per page. At this rate it will take about 2 years to finish the book, but I hope that the vocabulary issues will improve as I go. 5. Assimil - I listen to Assimil in the car on my drive to work - 15 minutes each day, so I expect to achieve 2.5 hours of Assimil each week. I practice shadowing each lesson repeatedly, and review each 7-lesson block regularly. I am currently at lesson 36 and expect to complete the passive wave of the "With Ease" course by September. I'm not sure if I'll do the active wave, as this can't be done in the car, obviously! I will then continue with "Practice and Improve" or "Immersion Plus". 6. Listening - I have some simple audiobooks from Alma Edizione - they are only half to three-quarter hour long, I will listen to them from-time-to-time, probably during longer car trips. I have a large collection of Italian movies, I plan to watch at least one per fortnight, initially with English subtitles, but after I'm familiar with the story, I'll switch to Italian subtitles and then hopefully, no subtitles. 7. Conversation - I meet with another Italian student every Saturday for coffee and 2 hours of Italian conversation. Probably not terribly productive, but while we are at a similar level, we have different strengths and weaknesses and I don't think we reinforce any bad habits, but complement each other. Whew, to me that looks like a lot of work, probably more than I've done in the past 6 years all together, but I'm excited to think that I could have made very real progress by the end of the year. Reward Plan a trip to Italy in 2012. And if I achieve C1 level, I'll start on French next year! Edited by kmart on 06 May 2011 at 12:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 12 08 January 2011 at 10:09pm | IP Logged |
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Week 1
Tutoring - 4 half-hour lessons discussing topics ranging from serial killers to skin cancer to Jane Austen! I can see the value in practicing conversation with a qualified language instructor, rather than just a target-language speaker. Serena manoeuvres the conversation to make me explore new vocabulary areas, and practice difficult verb tenses. Anki - 1.5 hours - I should be doing 15 minutes/day, some days I do more, but I've skipped a few. More discipline needed here! Grammar - completed Chapter 4 of my textbook "Prego" Reading - 4 pages of Il Barone Rampante Assimil - I spent the week reviewing lessons 29-35 as I hadn't done any Assimil for a while, and shadowed each lesson until I was word-perfect. Listening - I watched the movie "Prima dammi un bacio" with English subtitles. Conversation - Had lunch with a fellow Italian student, where we spoke Italian almost the whole time. Get some funny looks from the waiters occasionally, although most of them are interested and intrigued that we should continue to practice a language for the opportunity of visiting the country of its origin once every few years. Total study time = 14.5 hours - a good start I think. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 3 of 12 16 January 2011 at 9:44am | IP Logged |
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Week 2
Tutoring - 5 half-hour lessons, and I'm learning all sorts of things, including the dreadful "passato remoto". My Saturday language buddy says he can hear a difference in my conversation - I'm more confident and using tenses other than the present more often - hope he's not just being nice! Anki - 1.5 hours Grammar - chapter 5 completed. Reading - only 2 pages. Doing the tutoring every night, and accompanying homework, takes away a bit of time from other study areas. Sometimes I really enjoy the challenge of the book, and sometimes, I dread it... Assimil - lessons 36-42 shadowed - the pace is picking up and some of the expressions can be a struggle to get my tongue around quickly! I found some old dictation exercises I did a couple of years ago and re-did them. I was really pleased to see that I made no errors this time around, and looking at the previous attempts I was amazed at the words I had found difficult to understand - proof that my listening skills have improved, even though I felt that I was at a standstill! Total study time = 13 hours 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 4 of 12 23 January 2011 at 10:19am | IP Logged |
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Week 3
Tutoring - 4 half-hour lessons, plus homework. My language practice buddy wants to start online tutoring too - he must be impressed with my progress, haha. Anki - 2 hours, plus lots of new phrases entered. I've put in more double-sided words and idiomatic phrases - it's time to up the ante and start producing, instead of just absorbing vocabulary. There's so many times when I'm speaking I'm looking for a word that I know I can recognize, but i can't produce it. Grammar - chapter 6 half completed, I need some more incentive here, I really don't get much fun out of textbooks. Having a look at Alma Edizioni, there seems to be a lot of good material there... Reading - nothing read of the poor Barone, but I have read a couple of pages of Orgoglio e pregiudizio (Pride and Prejudice)- it's so much easier because I know the story so well, having read it in English at least 30 times. Assimil - halfway! I can start on the 2nd wave, but not sure I have time at the moment. Total study time = 10.5 hours. Oops, showing signes of faltering already... :-( 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 5 of 12 05 February 2011 at 10:55pm | IP Logged |
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Week 4 - Last week of intensive tutoring - the passato remoto tense this week, very hard, it seems that this tense has more irregular verbs than than the others, but being Italian, at least there is order and method to the irregularity! Read more of Orgoglio e Pregiudizio. Listened to a short (1 hour) audiobook.
Total study time to date: 54 hours Week 5 - Well, I have started on my reward already - planning my 2012 Europe trip, and have decided to add 2 weeks in Germany to the 3 weeks in Italy I was intending to do. I already have Germany booked for early July (1 week near Lake Constance and the other in the Eifel region), will be planning Italy for the 3 weeks beforehand, working my way north as the weather gets hotter. Looks like I'll be studying German next year, not French! Back on my regular twice-weekly tutoring sessions, the intensive study was great, but can't afford it non-stop. Myngle's prices have gone up (apparently they are slogging the teachers a lot more for commission), but it is still good value, compared to the price I'd pay for a one-to-one teacher here - if it were even possible to find one out here in the bush! Continuing with Assimil - it's getting harder to shadow as the pace of speaking has gone up considerably. I can still understand reasonably well, but my tongue gets tied up trying to get around so many vowels in a row, not to mention that tricky "r". Total study time to date - 62 hours 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 6 of 12 22 February 2011 at 12:00pm | IP Logged |
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Week 6
Completed chapter 7 of text book - reflexive and reciprocal verbs - ugh! Lessons 64-70 of Assimil. I've given up shadowing, I can't keep up, and I'm getting bored with the repeated efforts with no success. If I can understand and repeat the exercises, and follow every word of the dialog, then I move to the next one. I've stopped reading the transcripts first, and now spend 10-15 minutes listening to the dialogues before I turn to the transcript for help. It can take 3 repeats before I get a clear understanding of what's said, but there's definite progress in comprehension. Read more of "Orgoglio e pregiudizio". Total time to date - 79 hours Week 7 A bit of a lazy week, I don't know where the time went. I sat down to study every evening, but was seriously distracted. I ordered more audio books and some exercise books from Alma Edizioni - I don't deserve any rewards, but they were on special. I won't permit myself to touch them though, until I've reached the 100 hour mark. No work on grammar, lots of Anki though, and lessons 71-77 of Assimil. And another episode of Il Commissario Montalbano. ;-) Total time to date - 87.5 hours 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 7 of 12 06 May 2011 at 1:11pm | IP Logged |
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Week 17 - Oh dear, I haven't posted an entry for so long ! Do I get disqualified?
Well, to try and catch up... The past weeks have been rather hectic work-wise and I've been plagued by a few inconvenient illnesses. I've managed to keep on studying but some weeks have been abysmal. This is where I'm up to: Tutoring - continuing work with my Skype tutor, although have dropped back to once a week. Unfortunately other budgetary constraints have come into play, which is a pity, because I feel the twice-weekly lessons were extremely valuable, and kept my conversational skills on an upward curve. Anki - continue to work most days with Anki, I have about 3,500 cards now, and have done over 12,000 reps this year. Grammar - I'm up to Chapter 11 of my texbook. I had planned on having completed this textbook by now, but only just over halfway. No excuses, just slackness. Reading - I read about half of "Orgoglio e pregiudizio" but it seems to have slipped by the wayside. I've subscribed to Think Italian audio magazine, really enjoying it, I read a couple of articles in my lunch breaks at work, and then listen to the audio later. It's sufficiently challenging without being overwhelming. Assimil - I've completed the "Italian with ease" course, and started on "Perfectionnement Italien". I didn't do the second wave, I use the recordings in my car to practice listening skills, and read the transcripts only after listening to the dialogue about 5-6 times and getting all the understanding I can get from them before getting help from the transcripts. For this purpose "Perfectionnement Italien" works fine, but as the translation and grammar explanations are in French (I do have 6 years of high-school French but that's rusted up a good deal over the past 30-odd years), I've discovered that I really miss that part of the couse. I have bought the Cortina Master Linguist course as it sounds like an Assimil-type course, and will go on to it after Assimil. The good thing about playing Italian audio in the car is that I am guaranteed a minimum half hour of study each day, no matter how lazy I am ! Listening - Currently using the Alma Edizione "Ci vuole orecchio!" course for "sviluppare la comprensione orale" - improving audio comprehension - 3 little workbooks with accompanying CDs. They are proving to be very enjoyable, each lesson takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. Conversation - still continuing my conversation practice with my fellow Italophile every Saturday, there's usually a grammar item that comes up, that gives me something to investigate for the next week's session. I'm not sure why I am always the one to do the "homework" - could it be possible that my friend is an even lazier student than myself ??? Well, now that I have caught up to date, I'll try to be more consistent from now on. I doubt very much that my vapid musings are of any use to anyone else, but it will be interesting to look back at my learning journey for the year. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6115 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 8 of 12 22 May 2011 at 8:34am | IP Logged |
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Week 20
Grammar - chapter 11 completed, 7 more to go, more discipline needed here. I have a really fun and interesting textbook waiting for me to finish this one, you'd think it would be sufficient inspiration to get this one out of the way, but no... Anki - have been keeping up with my flash cards a bit more consistently lately, although I still have about 500 to catch up on, from previous slackness. I have 15 new cards each day, first up, so that at least I am continuing to grow my passive vocabulary. Starting to put in more 2-way vocabulary cards, for words and expressions I really want to be able to use, not just recognise. Reading - nothing really, apart from the Assimil transcripts. I am writing out the English translation of the "Perfectionnement" lessons. It's making me focus on the vocabulary and meanings more precisely, and the side-effect is it's brushing up my French a little bit too. Conversation - I've rescheduled my tutoring back to 2 sessions a week - a bit more than I can afford, but I do think I get better value for the increased exposure. I think maybe better to have 2 sessions/week for 6 months than 1 per week for a year. Assimil - up to lesson 22. The conversations are increasingly faster and more complex. I cannot shadow them completely, but I try as much as I can, and I won't keep at a lesson until I'm bored to death with it, I prefer to move on, and come back and review later. My major effort is in making sure I can identify and understand every word in the lesson. I always listen at least 5 times before reading the transcript, it seems what I don't pick up in 5 or 6 repeats, just isn't going to happen, no matter how much more I repeat it. Also using "Ci Vuole Orecchio" from Alma Edizione, my new best textbook friend. These are natural language recordings, at full speed, with all the irregularities of conversation. Some of them are quite challenging, but the accompanying exercises help to focus on the audio and to make sense of it. There are 3 volumes, and my only concern is that the complexity is probably increasing faster than my abilities. I don't function well if I'm stretched too far - "pian piano" is my motto! Looking for more resources like these. Total time to date = 190 hours. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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