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| poziomka Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6107 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Spanish, Hungarian | Message 1 of 10 14 March 2008 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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So... I've been lurking here for a month or so and decided it's high time I had my own language learning log as it might add to my motivation. Not that I'm running out of it, but there's never too much of motivators, right?
I am learning English, Spanish, Hungarian, German and French. It seems like a hell of a lot but all of these have different priorities for me. In a way, they are like people you know - each has a different, distinctive character. Some I've known for years, some I've been meeting once in a while, some of them are new. Some fascinate me, some happen to bore me ;) I've been studying English for over 10 years and I'm studying it at college. All I do about it these days is studying vocabulary. And, admittedly, I do it reluctantly. I read books in English and watch movies without subtitles, of course, but I take such things for granted at this level. The story with Spanish is a rather complicated one. I went through a basic Spanish correspondence course some 5 years ago. And I must confess that I was not a very keen student. I did like Spanish, I just did not necessarily liked studying it ;) I took up the correspondence course again some two years ago, this time the intermediate level. Again, my studying was irregular, slow and slapdash. Only a few months ago did I come to my senses and started studying it actively and with pleasure. I do not know why I was neglecting it for so many years. However, the outcome of my irregular and weird education is a very uneven knowledge of the language, e.g. I am learning some more advanced vocabulary only to realize that I forgot how you say "left" and "right" in Spanish, or I'm reading about the Presente de Subjunctivo but I forgot all about the Pretérito Imperfecto etc. So now I'm trying to, sort of, "catch up with myself" and fill the blanks of the basis while at the same time I'm working on more advanced issues. My materials include: - the aforementioned correspondence courses. The intermediate one is pretty extensive. - vocabulary flashcards - a grammar book ("Gramatyka z ćwiczeniami" by Langenscheidt publishing, if anyone's interested) - materials on the Internet, especially the Andersen's fairy tales - LaOtra TV & Telemadrid SAT Hungarian. This is "my pet language". I started studying it about a month ago and I adore it. It is very difficult and, at the same time, "exotic in a familiar way". I wonder if it is possible for me to ever reach at least some basic fluency in it... Studying materials: - Teach yourself Hungarian (to be exact, the Polish adaptation of it) - FSI Hungarian (awesome!) - some additional audio course that is more like "Repeat these phrases after me and you'll be fluent in a second!". It provides a good deal of basic vocabulary though - http://www.magyarora.com - MR1-KOSSUTH Rádió Frankly and openly, I am not too fond of German. The only reason why I'm studying it is that I have it at college as a second second language and I do not want to come across as an idiot during the classes ;P Especially that I'm in the "fake beginners" group. I am trying to overcome my dislike for it, I really am. But it's in vain, it seems :/ Materials: - some old handbooks - a "magical" learn-german-in-six-weeks audio course type of thing - some materials from dwelle.de French. It might seem silly but I took up French only to see what the Assimil method is about ;P There are not many Polish Assimils, and out of those that exist, the French one seemed the most interesting. So I'm not really sure what I'm checking out here: whether French or Assimil? ;) But who knows? Maybe I'll fall in love with French. I haven't started yet, by the way ;) That would be all I think. At least for now ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| poziomka Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6107 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Spanish, Hungarian | Message 2 of 10 17 March 2008 at 5:00am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Spanish: I began Lesson 16 of the correspondence course. Luckily for me, it consists of the revision of all the past tenses. I also started working on the exercices for some previous lessons and I just couldn't get through them. I had to go back to the Lesson 1 (and I will have to revise all the Lessons 1-10) in order to approach these exercises again. My head's a sieve.
Also, I went through the first few paragraphs of "El Patito Feo". I think it's high time I made some sort of vocabulary list for it and then transfer it onto flashcards to learn it. Hungarian: I think I am finally done with the 3rd chapter of "Teach Yourself". Now I only have to learn some more of the vocabulary contained in it in order to proceed to the next chapter. German: Not much. If anything at all :| French: Still nothing. I would've done much more if only my family hadn't been around all the time. I really don't like learning languages when someone's around :/ The situation should get better when Easter time's over. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| nicknamed Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6096 days ago 11 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishC1 Studies: German, Japanese, French | Message 3 of 10 17 March 2008 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Hey, German can be beautiful! And grammar is relatively easy, as everything can be explained quite simply (try it in English :o). It's just in the college where the language is boring.
I'd like to see your reaction when you start French. I bet it'll be something about "it's Spanish, pronounced differently (awkwardly/horribly/fantastically) !" At least, that was my case (vice versa). And good luck on finding time for learning 4 languages at a time. It's just impossible to give up on one of them, isn't it? :) Edited by nicknamed on 17 March 2008 at 2:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| poziomka Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6107 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Spanish, Hungarian | Message 4 of 10 24 March 2008 at 3:12pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I need such opinions, you know? Because in my college everyone's so "Duh, German!" :P And I would want to like it, really. It can be cute, I think. I like how native speakers speak it. My own German pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired I'm afraid. I have the biggest problems with German "r"-sound. I can't get it right. It's weird because I've always thought myself The Master of "R" :P
Oh my, I still haven't started French!
It is! And there are so many more I'd love to learn... I haven't done much because of this messy and chaotic Easter time. It's more or less over now and I'm planning to come back to systematic learning tomorrow. However, I've managed to do these: Spanish - revision of the Lesson 2. A little bit of vocabulary. I neglected Spanish the most I'm afraid. I began Spanish course on Livemocha.com from the 102 level. It is too easy for me but I'll go through it anyway. Hungarian - I began Lesson 4 of "Teach Yourself". I find this handbook really nice and I like it more and more with each lesson. In every chapter it introduces just as much grammar and vocabulary as I am prepared for ;) Also - some vocabulary. German - the course "German in a month (or three months or something)" consists of about 25 lessons and I've already completed 9 of them. I also began Lektion 3 of a "Tangram (1A level)" handbook. Plus some vocabulary. I began German (from 101 level) on Livemocha.com and I did two first lessons last night. Okay, that would be it for now. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| fcavalheiro Diglot Groupie Brazil Joined 6088 days ago 54 posts - 54 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 5 of 10 24 March 2008 at 3:28pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I also think livemocha is (at least until now) easy, but it somehow may help you with vocabulary (though some words are quite simple, I always learn something there).
And give French a try, if possible. It's a gorgeus language! Hope I can find the time to continue learning it next year, after about two years stuck (shame on me). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| nicknamed Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6096 days ago 11 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishC1 Studies: German, Japanese, French | Message 6 of 10 26 March 2008 at 5:27pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
congratulations on making such progress in German this week!
Maybe we should form a 'German enthusiasts' club to encourage ourselves ;D You like the sound of the language? Huh, German is strange. In some films they speak beautifully, but when I went to Germany (Heidelberg), women had so shrilling voices that it almost hurt to listen them. It depends on the district, I guess. Btw 1, do you know any good bands singing in nice German? Btw 2, from pure curiosity - what town of Poland are you from? It's so nice to meet someone from the same country! Edited by nicknamed on 26 March 2008 at 5:29pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| fcavalheiro Diglot Groupie Brazil Joined 6088 days ago 54 posts - 54 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 7 of 10 26 March 2008 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I want to take part of the club of the German enthusiasts! Count me in :D
And I also like the sound of the language! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| poziomka Diglot Newbie Poland Joined 6107 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: Spanish, Hungarian | Message 8 of 10 27 March 2008 at 5:13pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thank you for your comments nicknamed and fcavalheiro! I really appreciate them :)
My German teacher said about the same except he gave coarse customs officers as an example of unpleasantly sounding German ;)
No, I'm afraid I don't. I know a few good Spanish bands as well as at least one lady singing in French, but German, no. I listen to pretty specific music anyway (singer/songwriter, folk, dreampop, new wave etc.) so if anyone could recommend me any German artist (singing in German) that would be more or less of some of these genres, that would be nice :)
I'm afraid the name of my town won't tell you much :P I'm from Człuchów, a small town in southern Pomerania. I study extramurally in Poznań though and I'm planning to move there this autumn :) And now something about my progress: Spanish - I neglected it again! I only revised some vocabulary and listened to the audio (which is about 20 minutes long) of the lesson 15 of the correspondence course. German - I'm getting better and better at it. I don't want to say just yet that I like it very much, I wouldn't like to jinx it ;) Anyway, I've learned quite a lot of new words. I also bought myself a book with basic grammar explained neatly (and with plenty of exercises). It consists of 12 chapters and I've already done 3 :) Hungarian - I've completed Lesson 4! Yay! Now I know how to buy myself some fruit and vegetables in Hungarian :D I can't wait to start Lesson 5 and I will probably do so in a few minutes ;) I also listened to the Hungarian radio for about an hour. Oh, I almost forgot. I also went through FSI Hungarian Unit 2 once again but I haven't done the drill exercises yet. French - Finally, I got round to it :) So far I've only done the first lesson in the Assimil book. I listened to the audio of it at least 5 times and repeated the dialog aloud at least as many times. I am going to repeat it until I sound at least remotely like, according to the audio, I should :P Oh, and is it cute! I'm so ashamed that I did not take it up earlier. I also bought myelf some fairly cheap "French in a month" kind of thingy that should be a nice supplement to the Assimil course. Pheeew, that's it :) Edited by poziomka on 03 April 2008 at 3:26am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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