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2010 TAC- Lux’s Language Log | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| LuxEtVeritas Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5712 days ago 50 posts - 65 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, German, Italian | Message 1 of 9 06 December 2009 at 7:57pm | IP Logged |
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Hello all!
First, I would really love to thank everyone here for being so enthusiastic and encouraging when it comes to the hard task of conquering a foreign language. Reading countless posts on the forum has really motivated me, and for that I am exceedingly thankful. I have set some goals for myself, and hopefully with my determination and a little pushing from fellow members, I will achieve them. My first and foremost goal is to be fluent in my father's native tongue, Italian, by the end of the TAC. My ancestry is very important to me, and when my grandparents moved to the United States they refused to speak Italian at home, hoping to assimilate my father and uncles. Consequently, my dad grew up speaking solely English with only little knowledge of Italian.(I did learn it as a child, but lost it when my parents moved my sister and me to the east coast). I would love nothing more to converse fluently with my grandparents next Christmas, and want to "reinstate" Italian as a second language in my family. Second, I would love to improve my German abilities. I took German in high school, but took Mandarin in college. I have been reviewing off and on for the past year and am at an intermediate level. By the end of the TAC I want to hold a 30 minute conversation with little pause with a native speaker. Lastly, I have a desire to learn either French or an eastern European language (Russian interests me a great deal). French seems more realistic, as it will be much easier, but I would rather learn Russian. If there's anyone here who has learned Russian solely by self study, I'd be very interested in noting how you accomplished it. I have decided to postpone my French studies until I am sure of my decision. My official start date will be December 7th, tomorrow. I plan to work 3 hours a day on my target languages, dividing my time equally between the three. Thanks to all who have taken the time to skim my log! -Lux 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6443 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 9 06 December 2009 at 8:10pm | IP Logged |
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Good luck with all your languages, especially German. :)
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| LuxEtVeritas Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5712 days ago 50 posts - 65 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, German, Italian | Message 3 of 9 06 December 2009 at 9:05pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you, Jiwon :) Many of my friends are native speakers, so I hope to get quite a bit
of practice with the language :) Languages are so fascinating- all of them- that on many occasion I have found myself wanting to learn Korean as well. My best fried from college lives in Jinju (is that the correct spelling?) and every few years I go to Korea to see him (and vice versa). Unfortunately I've never really had a need to speak Korean because so many people there are fluent in English, and if they weren't, my friend always translated. Maybe my TAC next year will focus on Korean :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Shadow1984 Groupie United States Joined 5496 days ago 53 posts - 57 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 4 of 9 07 December 2009 at 11:34am | IP Logged |
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Hey,
It looks like you started a log! I will make sure I check up on your progress. I am also beginning to learn Italian and German. I can't wait to see what you achieve by years end. Also, I think Russian would be fun to learn but I want to try Japanese first! Have fun! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5818 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 5 of 9 07 December 2009 at 1:03pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Lux, good luck with your studies. Does your handle refer to the motto of your alma mater, by any chance?
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| LuxEtVeritas Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5712 days ago 50 posts - 65 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, German, Italian | Message 6 of 9 08 December 2009 at 2:40am | IP Logged |
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Indeed it does, Woodpecker! And thanks everyone for the encouragement! I will be posting
my first official log later tonight :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| LuxEtVeritas Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5712 days ago 50 posts - 65 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, German, Italian | Message 7 of 9 11 December 2009 at 7:16am | IP Logged |
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Okay, so it isn't "later tonight", but things have been busy :P
Within the last two days I've been working mostly on Italian vocab, and increasing it as fast as possible. I would say about 4 hours of study these last two nights. In total, I've learned about 80 new words. Once I reach 2000, my goal is to start reading three Italian Wikipedia/news articles a night and then eventually move onto a book. As far as German goes, I bought a grammar book the other day and am going to start on the first page and work my way to the end. I also borrowed the first Harry Potter book from a German friend of mine and will read it once I have learned another 1000 words (starting tonight). French/Russian: I still have yet to decide which one to study! Any suggestions or input? I'd love to do Russian, but I think that it will be exceedingly difficult to allot enough time for it. I don't know, what do you guys think? So, total time per language so far: Italian: 4 hours German: 3 hours Other: 0 hours It looks like I'm making progress with my TAC, if only a little! -Lux 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| LuxEtVeritas Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5712 days ago 50 posts - 65 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, German, Italian | Message 8 of 9 23 December 2009 at 8:52am | IP Logged |
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It appears as if I must reform my study habits, since not only have I neglected to post
here in days, but more importantly I haven't been studying (ah!!). This is a good thing though, it allows me to work out all the kinks before the TAC actually starts :) My solution: Every night I will post a goal for myself to accomplish for the next day, and I will make sure I accomplish that goal by the time I go to bed (which is around 3am on most nights unfortunately). For example, "Monday, June 7th: two new levels of Qasana, review all Anki decks, do an hour of grammar study." Then when I finish or right before I go to bed (if I haven't done it), I will record either "completed" or "neglected" under my goal and make a new one for the next day. I have yet to really find a punishment if I neglect a goal, but perhaps I will think of one when the time comes to need it (hopefully never :) ). I am also going to allow myself three "get out of jail free cards" per month, just in case I have a really busy day or something. Alright then, thanks to all who are reading :) Night! Goal for Wednesday, December 23rd: -Italian: complete two levels of Italian Qasana; review Anki vocabulary; order Harry Potter e la Pietra Filosofale. -German: start German Qasana (two levels at least). -Russian (yes, I have finally settled on Russian): Review Cyrillic alphabet; find textbook; make 50 flashcards to work on today and tomorrow (Thursday). 1 person has voted this message useful |
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