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Emme’s Small Steps - Team Sleipnir TAC’15 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 145 of 360 06 May 2013 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I wouldn't find it crazy at all, because I follow a similar approach specially for languages with less common vocabulary, like Russian. I'm about to finish my second Assimil and I still feel overwhelmed by the vocabulary. I'm getting words I don't feel I need right now while I still haven't mastered the most important ones.
In the case of German, I think I mastered many grammar rules and important words for conversation before I managed to learn these words that make you feel you are able to describe your world in that language. I think that's the case with any language for which you can't rely heavily on cognates. In Norwegian this plateau is being shorter, luckily, and in Papiamento I've already overcome this level. As for Russian, well, since my motivation is reading and I still can't read, I'll have to figure out what is best to do. If I learn textbook language just like I did for German, I'll feel motivated because my knowledge will already be useful, and I'll feel like coming back for filling in the blanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 146 of 360 06 May 2013 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hej Expugnator!
I wish for you that you’ll soon be over with Assimil Russian, because it’s clear that you haven’t been enjoying it in quite a while and that’s a real pity. I admire your stamina and perseverance, though, that will allow you to reach the end of not one but two Assimil textbooks in just a little over half a year. I’m sure all your efforts will be repaid in the future, when one day you’ll realize how much you’ve actually learnt from these painful months. I’ve resisted working with Assimil much much less than you, but in retrospect I think it was a good starting point for a totally new and “exotic” language. After dropping Assimil I’ve kept studying almost daily, and whereas I haven’t yet met much that I hadn’t previously covered with Assimil, now at last I’m finally feeling that I’m truly internalizing what I study. Yes, the progress is slow, actually it’s almost a standstill if compared to the breakneck pace of Assimil, but it’s so much more manageable and fun! I’m not sure what your next step in Russian should be, but I hope you find something you enjoy doing. Have you already had a look at the other available resources you might use in the future? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5007 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 147 of 360 06 May 2013 at 9:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Congratulations on finishing the textbook!
I have a similar resource hoarding trouble but i am perhaps more limited by money so i am trying to keep myself to the rule "no new books/courses until i finish this or that one". Going through more courses to meet more grammar exercises is a good thing, I wish you a lot of success. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 148 of 360 06 May 2013 at 9:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Just like the people who took the Assimil Experiment, I think Assimil is too breakneck for languages other than the commonly-learned Germanic and Romance ones. They pay attention on details like calling up previous words up to the first half of the book, but later then they assume the reader is already able to tackle litterature. I don't think I had enough training on conversation before moving on to litterature in either of the Assimils.
I think I'm going for Living Language! I like it, and the fact I own a physical copy of the Advanced one encourages me to try it. I don't want anything else on grammar, in fact I plan to skip any obvious grammar notes or the ones that wants me to learn by rote. There's also that book by Nina Potapova which seems to be useful. In fact, once I've been through the stage at which I've memorized the most essential words, I want to quickly go through beginner's textbooks in order to retain what I've learned. At this stage, it will be better to use textbooks with fewer lessons than Assimil and Linguaphone, for instance. (Now I ask your permission to copy this to my Russian log =)) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Emme Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5345 days ago 980 posts - 1594 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian, Swedish, French | Message 149 of 360 07 May 2013 at 9:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
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@Cavesa
Thanks!
I should really try to implement that rule myself too. Yes, I’ve spent rather a lot on books (for Swedish in particular), but luckily for my wallet I’ve also access to a couple of half decent libraries, which helps a lot, especially with big languages.
I’ve finally tracked down the Potapova book in a library in my area, but I too am waiting to have more solid bases before I borrow it. I wouldn’t want to be overwhelmed by its contents or its probably steep learning curve. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5007 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 150 of 360 07 May 2013 at 10:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The trouble with libraries are the fees for late returns. As I have less time for
reading/language studying, I tend to return books very late so the economical advantage fades away. And I cannot make notes in the coursebooks etc. So I like to buy things. Or download ;-) Have you found any online bookshop with Swedish books which would ship them to the rest of Europe? And Swedish DVDs. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5164 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 151 of 360 07 May 2013 at 10:40pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I like to download things ^^ And I have Nina Potapova's book in Spanish, Portuguese and French (not sure if I have the full one or only the abridged ones, though).
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mareike Senior Member Germany Joined 6222 days ago 267 posts - 323 votes Speaks: German* Studies: English, Swedish | Message 152 of 360 08 May 2013 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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"Have you found any online bookshop with Swedish books which would ship them to the rest
of Europe? And Swedish DVDs." Isn't there a shop in Czech that sells swedish books, dvds ...? For example "salta grodan" sends to other countries. The Shop is in Germany, but you can send them an email in English. http://www.saltagrodan.de Of course it's more expansive than a library. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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