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Vargas TAC 2010 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Vargas Newbie United States language-learning-ad Joined 6684 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Esperanto, Dutch | Message 1 of 6 13 December 2009 at 4:29pm | IP Logged |
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I'm in for the TAC2010. Some of my goals will be relatively easy to hit, others will be a little tougher. The hardest part for me will be actually logging my progress here. I have a million things to do (college, full-time job, home-based job, a life etc) and I am very bad about keeping up with everything. The priorities are taken care of, but too many other things I want to keep up with fall by the wayside. I know that logging my progress here will be very helpful for me to hit all of my goals. So, I will try. And encouragement from everyone else here will be helpful and appreciated! I'm going to explain what languages I'm working on and how in a few posts. I want to spread them out to get into the habit of posting on my log.
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| Vargas Newbie United States language-learning-ad Joined 6684 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Esperanto, Dutch | Message 2 of 6 15 December 2009 at 5:17pm | IP Logged |
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Here are the languages that I intend to work on for the TAC 2010 :
Spanish I am currently studying Spanish in school, so keeping up with Spanish everyday is a given. Setting some goals for the TAC is also easy. French I am also studying French in college. Easy fit for the TAC. German I have a long-term goal to get German to a fairly high level. It just so happens to work out well if I start it now as part of the TAC. Setting a goal for the TAC for German will actually be easy too, as I will explain in an upcoming Goals post. Dutch Why am I doing Dutch when I have other languages higher up on my priority list? The simple answer is that I have already started a few courses and I just want to finish them. Why did I start with Dutch? I have a coworker that is Dutch, and those few times we work side by side is a big opportunity to pick up a little Dutch, or use what I've already learned. Anytime I meet someone that speaks a language I feel that tickle in my head that says "ahhh, a reason to start another language!" 9 times out of 10 I move on to something else before very long. I've started and stopped learning more languages (by far) than I actually continue with. I want to 'finish' one for a change. Besides, I do like Dutch and want to have some conversational ability and reading ability with it, long-term. It also fits in with my goal to learn a few members of the Germanic family. Esperanto I have studied Esperanto before with Teach Yourself Esperanto. I liked it and read a little Esperanto everyday for a while. In the past 2 years I have strayed away from it due to life getting in the way. The TAC will be a good opportunity to get it back. Toki Pona I have an interest in constructed languages. Toki Pona is a good addition to the TAC for me because it has so few words and relatively few grammatical structures to learn that it should be easy to get a decent grasp of it. I have already gone through about half of the online course. Like so many others here I have a severe case of wanderlust. But, I think I've nailed down a select group of languages to work on that is difficult but doable. I suppose that is the purpose of the TAC. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Vargas Newbie United States language-learning-ad Joined 6684 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Esperanto, Dutch | Message 3 of 6 01 January 2010 at 5:19pm | IP Logged |
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My goals for Spanish and French are a little nebulous. I'm rehashing grammar and vocabulary that I know in my college courses, so outside of class I am mostly focusing on listening to audiobooks, music, reading etc. I need to engage in more speaking activities as well. I think as this TAC progresss I'll find ways to define specific goals and track my progress. My goals for German, Dutch and Esperanto are more specific and Toki Pona is purely for fun.
Spanish - I've been studying Spanish casually (mostly passively) for a long time but my skills are a little lopsided. I can read well but I am hesitant while speaking. I need to 'activate' my Spanish. It's all there, it just needs to come out. That's my goal for Spanish - speak more confidantly and fluently. French - My French is extremely rusty, but I still have a good foundation from 4 years of high school French (20 years ago!) If I work it harder than Spanish I feel I can get it to a reasonably comfortable level by the end of the year, roughly equal to my target level for Spanish. In addition to my textbook and schoolwork, I have been listening to Pimsleur French on my way to class in order to work on my pronunciation. I had it very good back in high school but it's taking a little time to get it where I want it. I'm about half way through level 2 with Pimsleur right now. I have a lot of other audio (courses like Michel Thomas, audiobooks etc) which I will use everyday in my 30 minute car ride to school. Dutch - I am about on lesson 35 of Assimil Dutch With Ease (passive mode), and about half way through Michel Thomas Foundation Dutch. I want to finish those two, along with Pimsleur Dutch Compehensive (only 1 level available) and Teach Yourself Dutch (the old version). After all that I have some audibooks, particularly Harry Potter. I just want to get Dutch out of the 'studying' phase and into absorbing real-life materials. Other than that, Dutch isn;t a high priority for me. German - I studied a smattering of German last year with Tell Me More Performance German. I really like this program, but I have a ton of other stuff as well like Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, Rosetta Stone, books, audio etc. I'll go through some of those courses as I can, but I don't want Dutch to interfere with German, so I need to be a little careful with it. I have a specific longer term goal for German. I will be transferring to another college next year to finish my undergraduate degree and I want to be able to take German literature classes without actually taking the German grammar courses. I can use my Spanish and French classes as a model for what they expect me to know, as those textbooks seem to parallel each other closely. So, I suppose this year my goal is to at least equal 2 semesters of German grammar courses. Given what I am doing now in French and Spanish, I don't think it will be too difficult. Esperanto - I've studied Esperanto before but I have lost track of it the last two or three years. I'm not really going to study any courses, I'm just going to get back to using it. I want to read a lot (short stories) but I also have The Hobbit (La Hobito). I'd like to finish it. A long time ago, I started a transcription of Incubus (the Esperanto cult classic horror thriller starring a pre-Star Trek William Shatner) and it would be a good project for me to actually finish that. I would also like to finish writing my first short story in Esperanto. I will probably need a lot of editing help with both the Incubus transcription and my short story. Toki Pona - Just for fun. I have an interest in conlangs and I think I just need to keep adding one here and there. I'll finish the online tutorial and keep adding words, phrases and sentences to Anki. Then I'll start reading more on the internet. For all of these languages I intend to read and listen to a lot of audio. I have lots of car time. I use Anki daily with Spanish and French, and I have growing Dutch and Toki Pona decks, but I haven't used them a few months. I need to make them daily too. I also use LingQ for Spanish and French. I like it as a way to track how much time I am spending on each language. I'll probably use if for German as well and Dutch when they add it. Those are my goals for this year. Today is January 1st so it's go time! Good Luck everybody! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Vargas Newbie United States language-learning-ad Joined 6684 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Esperanto, Dutch | Message 4 of 6 06 January 2010 at 2:04am | IP Logged |
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First few days of 2010 are on target for the most part. I've fulfilled my minimum daily requirements for my top priority languages.
French - I've done my daily bout of LingQ and Anki, including adding some vocab and phrases, for each day. I also started to pick up where I left off with Pimsleur, lesson 21 Level 2. Not exactly above and beyond, but adequate until school starts next week when I have a schedule better suited to studying. Spanish - same as French with LingQ and Anki, but I also read about 15 pages of Cometas en el Cielo (The Kite Runner is the English title). I read slowly in Spanish and I only do a few pages per day, something I hope to change this year. I've been reading about 2 complete books a year, but I want to increase that. 1 per month would be nice. German - I had to reinstall Tell Me More German, since I wiped my hard drive several months ago. Did that on the 1st and have been doing a half-hour per day. Dutch - refreshed my memory with a few lessons, somewhere around 30-32 of Assimil. Once school starts I'll have a slot for Dutch audio and I'll finish Pimsleur Dutch and Michel Thomas Dutch. And I have a ton of Anki reviews to catch up on! Esperanto - found my notes on my transcription of Incubus and dug up my copy of La Hobito but haven't done anything yet. Toki Pona - refreshed my memory by looking over the first few lessons of the tutorial but I need to review with Anki. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Vargas Newbie United States language-learning-ad Joined 6684 days ago 13 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Esperanto, Dutch | Message 5 of 6 17 January 2010 at 3:40pm | IP Logged |
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I started school again this week, so it's been a little hectic. Not only do I have my regular classes, but there have been a couple of extra orientation classes which have taken up too much time. But these were one time events, so I have been arranging my schedule and preparing my language study time.
I have kept up with Spanish easily. Besides class, Lingq and Anki, I have been listening to audio and reading regularly. I am currently reading Cometas en el Cielo (the Kite Runner) and I am on page 190. I have been getting 5 to 10 pages per day, mostly on my lunch break. I actually had an interesting conversation in Spanish with my Spanish professor talking about learning French. I said most of what I wanted to say without too much trouble, but lapsed into English for a few finer points. I have been giving a little more time and effort to French than Spanish, simply because it needs it. I've kept up with lingq and Anki (for the most part) and I am on lesson 27 of Pimsleur French Level 2. I also listen to some audio and I started reading Le Petit Prince. I read it a long time ago, but a lot of that vocabulary has been forgotten. I missed a few days of German, simply due to lack of time. But I can make it up today and tomorrow. Otherwise, moving along slowly but surely. I am on Pimsleur Dutch lesson 6. I decided to go through Pimsleur before I go into active mode in Assimil. I think it will be helpful to work on my pronunciation, and I think using Pimsleur after Assimil would be a step back, except for maybe the last 10 lessons or so. Esperanto and Toki Pona - nothing. Just too busy. Maybe if I catch up with everything today or tomorrow, I can do some. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Bobos Newbie Russian Federation Joined 5428 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes | Message 6 of 6 18 January 2010 at 9:27am | IP Logged |
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Perhaps, anyone has transcripts of Pimsleur German. Please, post a link here.
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