|
 |
TAC 2010: Ponderings and Pokings | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Tontonis Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6299 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 1 of 2 23 December 2009 at 11:33pm | IP Logged |
|
Righty ho, this is my diary of my first total annihilation challenge. My current languages of choice are only two; French and Japanese. I'm doing each of these for two different reasons, which will be explained below. I hope to keep updating this every 3/4 days, atleast once a week. I want to try posting each update in atleast two languages (one may be English), hopefully towards the end of the year I might be able to manage three.
Why keep a learning log? Having some form of responsibility helps me keep working at something over long periods. As annoying as it is, my self-discipline isn't the best in the world (the only things to keep my attention for long periods have been science and martial arts) so having something to be updated regularly will help focus my mind. Why learn French? Come February I will be moving to Geneva, Switzerland to work at CERN. Although the organisation may have English as a working language, the people nearby are French speakers. The shop keepers, cafe owners, rock climbers and everything else; all speak French. Obviously to get into any form a social life speaking French would help, especially getting caught up in the local music scene which is quite innovative if nothing else. There's also a sense of proving my secondary school French teacher wrong, at that age I was stupid and thought languages other than English were useless, so didn't get on too well with her. I'd like to be able to show her I got over that line of thought. Why learn Japanese? I have a love of martial arts and oriental philosophy. Japanese has both in spades, and a very active particle physics community helps also. I also want to try a non-European language also, and I've tried Japanese twice before but had to give up both times due to my Masters' degree eating all my time. Hopefully my PhD will offer a little more spare time to indulge myself. Where am I right now? French - Low-intermediate: I'm currently capable of reading a newspaper with the occassional dictionary assistance, so reading is generally fine. My major problem is developing verbal confidence, as I often find myself struggling to remember words when trying to speak. I think this involves moving more vocabulary into active rather than passive use. Japanese - Beginner: I know some conjugation and basic phrases, but nothing of substance. trong>The plan French - Listen to French radio online religiously. I have a number of dual-text English/French short story compilations which I'm currently reading. I hope to get more, mostly as the stories are generally quite good (French surrealism is quite something), but they also help a lot of current French colloquial language. Continue reading French newspapers. When in Switzerland, I plan to find a language exchange partner/teacher to practice my French with. I will also be working in a group composed mostly of French natives, so this should help massively! Japanese - I current possess Assimil Japanese without pain Pimsleur Japanese 1-3 Japanese for Everyone TYS Beginner's Japanese Heisig's Remembering the Kanji Vol. 1 I'm currently working through Japanese without pain, which I found helpful for giving me an ear for French, and hope will do the same with Japanese. Concurrently with this, I plan to use Japanese for Everyone to develop a good grammar base. Pimsleur will be brought out to practice speaking when Assimil is well under way (lesson 21 or so, currently at 7.) My current method of using assimil is to study 7 lessons over the course of a week, as I find working with the revision notes helps guide learning. I want to get speaking and listening on a more conrete grounding before starting the kanji. I will look at Heisig's book to develop a strategy closer to the time. Any advice/ideas are more than welcome :). Goals French - I'd like to be able to hold conversations with a native speaker in French with only the occasional correction of usage. Having an accent isn't too important to me, however correct pronunciation is. Similarly, listening to French radio without getting occasionally lost is another goal. If I can enter the local Genevois night life that would a fantastic result. Japanese - At some point this year (probably September) I will be going to a conference in Japan. I basically want to be able to get by then without resorting to English. In the long run, I may up spending time in Japan working or studying martial arts there, so it would further be useful. Japanese - So, here it goes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tontonis Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6299 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 2 of 2 27 December 2009 at 9:06pm | IP Logged |
|
Bonsoir tout le monde! Donc, pour mon première entrée, je veux écrit en français. Parce que il est le temps de Noël, je n'étudiais pas très dur malheureusement. J'ai continué à lu l'actualité en français chaque jour, et parler avec mes amis en français alors possible. Je met vingt phrases en Anki par jour aussi, obtenu à des nombreuses sources, particulièrement le journaux internet "France-24". Je le trouve très utile pour vocabulaire nouveaux.
Avec l'étudie français, j'étudiais japonais aussi. J'ai complété leçons 1-7 en Japonais sans peine (japonais-anglais). Ma méthode d'études est très confortable pour moi, particulièrement mon horaire irrégulière. Aussi, peut-me commencé entrée le phrase à Assimil en Anki au début de semaine, et apprendrais pour la plupart de semaine. Souvenez le mot japonais est bien pour le moment, mais le kanji est plus difficile. Une méthode plus effectif est nécessaire probablement. Donc... comment? 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. |
