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My method (A1->C1, 5 months)

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tmp011007
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 Message 17 of 29
20 March 2012 at 1:23am | IP Logged 
gwyner wrote:
I start with a frequency list and mark off any words I can portray with pictures alone (basic nouns and verbs). I put those in an Anki deck and learn them. Once I have some words to play with, I start putting them together. I use Google translate and a grammar book to start making sentences, then get everything doublechecked at lang-8.com. Turning them into fill-in-the-blank flashcards builds the initial grammar and connecting words. As vocab and grammar grow, I eventually move to monolingual dictionaries and writing my own definitions for more abstract words (again doublechecked at lang-8.com). This builds on itself; the more vocab and grammar you get, the more vocab and grammar concepts you can describe in the target language. Eventually you can cover all the words in a 2000 word frequency list and any specific vocab you need for your specific interests.

45 mins?.. well, just the making of those anki decks would take a lot of time; more than 45 mins I'm afraid (unfortunately, I've been doing that for quite a long time)
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gwyner
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 Message 18 of 29
20 March 2012 at 7:22am | IP Logged 
sillygoose: Just internet resources and a vocabulary book.

tmp: Yeah, the 45 minutes is daily reviews; I talk about the amount of time spent on making decks on page 2.
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Michel1020
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 Message 19 of 29
28 March 2012 at 5:21pm | IP Logged 
I do not know exactly what C1, A1, and so on mean. And when you would explane it to me - I am about sure I will not be able to tell you my level in any language.

About the method one thing I disagree with is your trust on the corrections you get from lang8 or any other sources on the internet.
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Lucky Charms
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lapacifica.net
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 Message 20 of 29
29 March 2012 at 5:48am | IP Logged 
Thank you for describing your study routine. This is actually pretty similar to what I
do, and you've motivated me to apply it more consistently so that I can hopefully see
the same kind of results.

Here is what I do differently:

1. I don't use a word list because I like to have all my words in context, even if
there is an image (which I also use on my Anki cards at every chance). So I find my
words using a program like Assimil or SpanishPod. (These are nice because I also have
the recordings so I can hear the content of my cards over and over on my iPod
throughout the day... this makes future Anki reviews a piece of cake). If I think of a
word I want to learn but haven't encountered it in one of my programs yet, I'll look it
up on Google for an easy-to-understand example sentence. So all my cards have cloze
deleted example sentences, monolingual definitions on the front, and images where
possible.

2. I've focused more on watching movies/TV shows and SRSing the scripts (and again,
listening to the audio on my iPod throughout the day), whereas you seem to focus more
on writing. I think this is a good change that I plan to incorporate into my studies,
because while cloze deleted cards offer some limited production practice, I've found
that getting corrections at lang-8 and cloze-deleting the corrected parts in Anki has
been a lot more helpful in terms of learning vocab and constructions that are important
to me. I guess that paradoxically, my perfectionism has gotten in the way of submitting
compositions more often, but I can see how writing practice would help with spoken
output.
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Mae
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 Message 21 of 29
02 April 2012 at 10:59am | IP Logged 
Michel1020 wrote:
I do not know exactly what C1, A1, and so on mean.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) classifies learners into different levels:
     A: Basic User (A1 = Breakthrough/beginner; A2 = Waystage/elementary)
     B: Independent User (B1 = Threshold/intermediate; B2 = Vantage/upper intermediate)
     C: Proficient User (C1 = Effective Operational Proficiency/advanced; C2 = Mastery/proficiency)
The CEFR also describes what you should be able to do at each level (in reading, listening, speaking, writing).
For more info have a look here: CEFR
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Michel1020
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 Message 22 of 29
02 April 2012 at 6:05pm | IP Logged 
Thank you for the link.
What level am I if I am able to read such a nonsense text ?

Following this classification - if I understand well - if you understand 100 % of what you hear and read but are not able to write or to speak you are at point zero. To understand 100% of audio or written inputs put you a lot far than half way I think.

Edited by Michel1020 on 02 April 2012 at 6:06pm

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Serpent
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 Message 23 of 29
02 April 2012 at 8:08pm | IP Logged 
Yeah, you won't pass a C2 exam if you understand everything but can't say anything. This doesn't mean you're at point zero though, it's always best to list the specific skills and levels. I think apart from those at A1 and C2, most language learners don't have an exactly the same level in all skills.
A reverse situation is also possible, if someone has a relatively small vocabulary for their level and uses it efficiently. This person might speak/write well but not understand everything that native speakers with a more sophisticated vocabulary say. However if anyone claims a difference of more than one level I wonder if they're overestimating the better skill. A2 active/A1 passive, C2 active/C1 passive and to a lesser extent (imo) B2 active/B1 passive are possible, but B2 active/A2 passive? Doubt it.
For similar reasons, I don't really think it's possible to literally be at C2 passive/below A1 active. Someone may think they understand everything but they may actually not.
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t1234
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 Message 24 of 29
06 August 2014 at 4:57pm | IP Logged 
His book has been published. A basic description of his method is in the 1st post and as an article on lifehacker.


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