I thought this was supposed to be fun (Language Learning Log) Language Learning Forum

I thought this was supposed to be fun
Tags: Michel Thomas \| Pimsleur \| Italian
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Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log

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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 177 of 182 03 February 2010 at 10:16am \| IP Logged
	You know it ;) 1 person has voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 178 of 182 17 February 2010 at 9:53pm \| IP Logged
	6 months today. I'm supposed to do a summary post, but I just don't feel up to it. I started a new job recently and I'm drowning in work. My Italian is on schedule, but I don't have the mental capacity whatsoever to make reflections on what I'm doing or write a summary. Not at the moment. I hate letting myself down like this, but I don't need another thing to feel guilty about and worry about right now. My apologies to anyone feeling misled. I'll be back when I can get my head back in the language game. 2 persons have voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 179 of 182 18 February 2010 at 10:04pm \| IP Logged
	6 MONTHS, CONCLUSION: PROCESS In poche parole: It has been an unmitigated success. I have achieved more than I ever imagined I could in 6 months. It has been the single best, quickest, most efficient, most effective, most satisfying and least frustrating language learning experience of my life. My mindset on language learning is forever warped into a new breed. It hasn't given me an appetite for all the languages of the world, but it has given me the knowledge that I can achieve my language learning goals, goals that I've had for years and never been able to avviciniarmene [come close to] (you see, that happens all the time now :D). 6 months ago feels like a really, really long time ago now, and I won't try to take a dive into the past to reflect on what this used to feel like. In any case that is documented here in this log for anyone curious of it. Instead, I will say this. Learning a language is far easier than I thought it was. And I'm talking process here, not the subject matter itself. From the perspective of someone who would rarely apply himself to anything for more than 2 weeks, 6 months seems like forever. But there are ways to get past that. In my case the single biggest success factor has been tracking my hours. It give me a real sense of "the bigger picture", a way to remember that what I'm doing today, even if it doesn't feel like it's anything particularly significant, belongs to a greater whole. NUMBERS When I started with Italian, I covered a little over 100 hours the first month, without that being any kind of goal. But in noticing that I was able to do 100h/month, I decided to shoot for that. Here is a breakdown of the 600: I reached 600h even before the finish line. The final count after 6 months is 733h. All in all it was not hard to keep up. Here are days I missed: No Italian: 8 days (4%) 1.5h or less: 27 days (15%) Here are the materials I've used (and it's not even everything, I've read two more books since the picture was taken): Full size When I started I couldn't read one sentence of Italian, and now I'm trying to do all my reading in my new language. Here is my reading list so far: 1. Robert Ludlum: Trevayne 2. Robert Ludlum: The Sigma Protocol 3. Salvatore Napolitano: Il pallone nel burrone 4. Philip Zimbardo: The Time Paradox (current) I've read 1550 pages so far and now with my long commute to work I milk a nice daily 2h of reading on public transport. What will I do going forward? I haven't had a chance to think much about it yet. I want to keep reading, that much is clear. Edited by numerodix on 19 February 2010 at 9:24pm 12 persons have voted this message useful
staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5699 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written)	Message 180 of 182 18 February 2010 at 10:15pm \| IP Logged
	Bravo Martin, I hope you will be an example for other students. It's amazing and I'm proud of you, Staf 2 persons have voted this message useful
Old Chemist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5175 days ago 227 posts - 285 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German	Message 181 of 182 15 October 2010 at 8:59pm \| IP Logged
	Thanks very much for that! I noticed right at the beginning you mention you had passive exposure to Italian for about 10 years. Some of my language experience has been similar. Thank you for the breakdown and saying how many hours it has taken and telling us what materials you have used. This is very helpful. Thanks once again. You have given me encouragement! Best wishes. 1 person has voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 182 of 182 15 October 2010 at 10:49pm \| IP Logged
	Thanks for the kind words, Old Chemist. For anyone wondering what happened to me and my Italian, my continuation of sorts is here. 2 persons have voted this message useful

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numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 177 of 182 03 February 2010 at 10:16am \| IP Logged
	You know it ;) 1 person has voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 178 of 182 17 February 2010 at 9:53pm \| IP Logged
	6 months today. I'm supposed to do a summary post, but I just don't feel up to it. I started a new job recently and I'm drowning in work. My Italian is on schedule, but I don't have the mental capacity whatsoever to make reflections on what I'm doing or write a summary. Not at the moment. I hate letting myself down like this, but I don't need another thing to feel guilty about and worry about right now. My apologies to anyone feeling misled. I'll be back when I can get my head back in the language game. 2 persons have voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 179 of 182 18 February 2010 at 10:04pm \| IP Logged
	6 MONTHS, CONCLUSION: PROCESS In poche parole: It has been an unmitigated success. I have achieved more than I ever imagined I could in 6 months. It has been the single best, quickest, most efficient, most effective, most satisfying and least frustrating language learning experience of my life. My mindset on language learning is forever warped into a new breed. It hasn't given me an appetite for all the languages of the world, but it has given me the knowledge that I can achieve my language learning goals, goals that I've had for years and never been able to avviciniarmene [come close to] (you see, that happens all the time now :D). 6 months ago feels like a really, really long time ago now, and I won't try to take a dive into the past to reflect on what this used to feel like. In any case that is documented here in this log for anyone curious of it. Instead, I will say this. Learning a language is far easier than I thought it was. And I'm talking process here, not the subject matter itself. From the perspective of someone who would rarely apply himself to anything for more than 2 weeks, 6 months seems like forever. But there are ways to get past that. In my case the single biggest success factor has been tracking my hours. It give me a real sense of "the bigger picture", a way to remember that what I'm doing today, even if it doesn't feel like it's anything particularly significant, belongs to a greater whole. NUMBERS When I started with Italian, I covered a little over 100 hours the first month, without that being any kind of goal. But in noticing that I was able to do 100h/month, I decided to shoot for that. Here is a breakdown of the 600: I reached 600h even before the finish line. The final count after 6 months is 733h. All in all it was not hard to keep up. Here are days I missed: No Italian: 8 days (4%) 1.5h or less: 27 days (15%) Here are the materials I've used (and it's not even everything, I've read two more books since the picture was taken): Full size When I started I couldn't read one sentence of Italian, and now I'm trying to do all my reading in my new language. Here is my reading list so far: 1. Robert Ludlum: Trevayne 2. Robert Ludlum: The Sigma Protocol 3. Salvatore Napolitano: Il pallone nel burrone 4. Philip Zimbardo: The Time Paradox (current) I've read 1550 pages so far and now with my long commute to work I milk a nice daily 2h of reading on public transport. What will I do going forward? I haven't had a chance to think much about it yet. I want to keep reading, that much is clear. Edited by numerodix on 19 February 2010 at 9:24pm 12 persons have voted this message useful
staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5699 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written)	Message 180 of 182 18 February 2010 at 10:15pm \| IP Logged
	Bravo Martin, I hope you will be an example for other students. It's amazing and I'm proud of you, Staf 2 persons have voted this message useful
Old Chemist Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5175 days ago 227 posts - 285 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German	Message 181 of 182 15 October 2010 at 8:59pm \| IP Logged
	Thanks very much for that! I noticed right at the beginning you mention you had passive exposure to Italian for about 10 years. Some of my language experience has been similar. Thank you for the breakdown and saying how many hours it has taken and telling us what materials you have used. This is very helpful. Thanks once again. You have given me encouragement! Best wishes. 1 person has voted this message useful
numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6785 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: English^C2, Norwegian, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin	Message 182 of 182 15 October 2010 at 10:49pm \| IP Logged
	Thanks for the kind words, Old Chemist. For anyone wondering what happened to me and my Italian, my continuation of sorts is here. 2 persons have voted this message useful