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99% Hindi, 1% Arabic | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 17 of 43 26 October 2010 at 8:16am | IP Logged | ||
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So it's been two weeks since my last post and I'd say I've been doing pretty well with
my studies (though more so in the first week). Reading has been my primary study method. Of course working on other skills too is best, but I feel good about my current method. As I mentioned, I've been going through a magazine I have and reading articles of interest. I first read through one (regardless of my comprehension level) until I can read it without pausing/stumbling. It's a great feeling to be able to read a text in a flowing manner, and when I can do this, I'm very motivated to read it frequently and whenever I have time. I then look up words I don't know in hopes of eventually better understanding the material. Not until today have I been able to use a working pair of headphones, so I'll be getting more listening in than I have these past couple of weeks. Most of the listening practice I've gotten lately has been from native speakers. I'd say I'm doing okay with comprehension; I usually understand what is said to me in a conversation (with the exception of one student who's speech is hard for me to understand). I need to work on not getting thrown off when I hear a word I'm not familar with. I also think it's important to stay relaxed when listening and not worry too much about not understanding. I've spoken some Hindi to people lately which is more than I can normally say! Let's just say that on certain weekend occasions, I don't care too much about what people think of my Hindi (whether I'm speaking it or singing it...). But I need to speak regularly, because only when I do that will I feel comfortable as opposed to nervous. You know how there are some language learning methods or programs that you just can't get into? Well I think Anki falls into this category for me. It's a complete and utter bore! Sometimes I do well with keeping my reviewing consistent, but there are other times when I completely ignore it. But I know it can be a very useful tool to reinforce learned vocabulary. Arabic is going... okay? It hasn't been too difficult, though I guess I'm missing some grammatical things here and there because I don't study the language in my free time. I won't complain or get too much into it, but we had our third test recently. What a disaster... Normally we have a written exam, but this time our professor decided to send us to the computer lab and use an arabic keyboard online for the test. Avoiding details, this resulted in a great amount of frustration and I thought the whole thing was poorly planned and lacking in common sense! Today's class was a similar fiasco... My school offers an Arabic minor (the others being Spanish or French) and when I found out, I seriously considered it ('cause hey, why not?) But now I doubt I'll be doing that. If I take more advanced Arabic courses, I'll have to actually study and really pay attention. But I'll still be focusing on Hindi then and I will never warm up to the idea of doing more than dabbling in more than one language. Plus, I think more classes of this would just demotivate me. I most certainly don't regret choosing Hindi as my first language to learn, but sometimes I wish I was learning Japanese or another language from East Asia! I say this only because the majority of the international students at my school is from China, Korea, or Japan. Some of my favorite people there happen to be from Japan, so it would be nice if I knew a thing or two! Today my work consisted of reading through articles. It took quite a long time, especially because I made sure to pronounce every word correctly instead of simply skimming the words for meaning. I think my grammar and vocabulary need more work than my pronunciation, but pronunciation is extremely important to me, so I'm very serious about getting it to a high level. The languages I'm interested in seem to vary from day to day. One day I'll have a sudden liking toward Swedish, the next day Thai, etc. But I think Cantonese will take precedence over others (probably even Arabic) after Hindi, but who knows?! Oh, and Punjabi has tones? That really blew my mind... I had no idea! Sorry, this update had some pretty unimportant info in it. I'll see what the next one brings - hopefully something interesting! Edited by Tenebrarum on 26 October 2010 at 8:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 18 of 43 09 November 2010 at 7:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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So the past week or so has been a bit rough due to drama and having an unusually large
amount of work to do. And in fact I have a paper due tomorrow, but a little procrastination never hurt anyone, right? So studies haven't really been happening, but starting tomorrow they should resume slowly but surely. The only practice I've been getting lately is from the speech of natives. I love it and could listen to these real conversations for hours on end, but play me a dialogue from a course and it's torturous after too much. I'd say my comprehension is pretty okay when it comes to understanding conversations. Here and there I'll come across a word I don't know, but usually I know what they're saying and recognize the bulk of the vocabulary. So yeah... I guess I don't have much else to say about my Hindi studies... I still listen to music often of course, which also helps take my attention away from doing work. I'm reading a book called A Fine Balance and as it takes place in India, there are some Hindi terms scattered throughout the book. It's very nice to be able to understand the words which, before ever studying Hindi, would have been completely foreign to me. It's also the first time that my knowledge of bad or dirty Hindi words has been helpful. I dread Arabic class everyday I have it. Last class took place in the computer lab and our professor didn't show up, something which I think occurs with a bit too much frequency. But we had to do an online assignment anyway. We've been learning some endings which I think are pretty easy, though I still need to get more aquainted with my pronouns. I'll probably just wait 'till break to pick up some things from the library, but I'm considering dabbling with Cantonese. And all I'm talking about is maybe putting on some audio and listening to it when I feel like it. Maybe get a rough idea of what the tones are like... I just feel like I have to do something with the language, even if it's not much! I wish I could just dive right into it though! Edited by Tenebrarum on 09 November 2010 at 7:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 19 of 43 12 December 2010 at 6:00am | IP Logged | ||
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Wow well it's been roughly a month since my last update! My Thanksgiving break wasn't
exactly great, so this kinda stopped me from studying... But fortunately my motivation level has been extremely high over the past few days. I have finals monday to wednesday so I need to focus on them, especially math; I have to pass that class!!! But I've still been studying Hindi for a large part of today. Some listening and a lot of reading. So lately my friend has been teaching me some more words in Hindi and explaining their meaning more in depth. She also has me say everything so I pronounce it correctly and stuff. And I've gotten a better idea of what her Hindi is like. It's amazing...! So rich and idiomatic; plenty of Sanskrit loan words I've never even seen before! She even wrote a poem and explained some conventions concerning more formal, creative writing. Seeing all of this really motivated me to become very good at this language. I wish I would've had her as my tutor last year! She also gave me a topic to write some things about. I've heard how free-writing can be beneficial, so I'll be sure to try more of that, but I often have no idea what to write about! So being assigned a topic was kinda nice. My output is at a pretty horrendous level, so I would like to change that (in addition to improving my listening and reading ability). I should have a lot of free time over this winter break and I plan on making use of it. I want to increase my listening input so I'll definitely watch as much Bollywood as I can. I'll also take the Living Language course out of the library because I really enjoyed working with it the last time I used it. Shadowing will be on my agenda as well... Oh yeah, I've been considering the idea of recording my voice over break so I can improve my pronunciation. I'm deathly afraid, but I think it will be a good idea too. For Arabic class, we will have a cumulative written exam and a speaking exam. I think the latter will be okay so long as I know the small amount of phrases we've learned... but I'm a little worried about the written test. I was doing pretty well earlier in the semester, but lately (ever since we've started doing tests in the computer lab) I've been getting some poor grades. But this time she's giving us the option to write it or type it, so in doing the former, I'll feel more comfortable. I'm most definitely not gonna be taking Arabic 102 next semester! This is primarily because I want to continue focusing on Hindi, but also because of the teacher. I wrote a three page letter explaining my problems with our professor, and others have complained as well, but as expected these sorts of things don't seem to affect the opinions of the department heads - oh well! Upon my first trip to the library back home, I'll probably take out some of the Cantonese resources available. Today I listened to some tips on tones and pronunciation, saying it to myself in my head. Reading about the various aspects of Cantonese, I can see why it will be a difficult language to learn! But over break I'll just listen to some things and find out more; just to fulfill my interest. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 20 of 43 07 June 2011 at 11:10am | IP Logged | ||
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Hmm... it seems I'm a little late with updating...! I guess I was waiting for
something special to happen before making a new post, but I guess it's been long enough. My summer started some time ago - as soon as my semester ended, and I know that this is a good time be studying! I guess not being able to get a summer job has its benefits XD. If anything will improve I guess it will be my listening skills. I'd say I've been watching at least one Hindi film every night. Even if I've done no studying I throw in a movie and watch it without subs. I like it because it gives me an example of more natural, colloquial speech - it also doesn't feel like work! Sometimes I resist the urge to watch Italian horror or Hong Kong action and instead turn to Bollywood for listening practice. I was doing some intensive reading of an article of interest, but then I realized that it may be too far above my level... though I think the process of looking up words and eventually reading more and more extensively will be a rewarding one - even though it's frustrating at first. I guess I have to change the title of this log once I think of something... obviously my Arabic class is over and currently I'm working on only Hindi. Wanderlust is just ridiculous! I guess Tamil is my latest love. Really wonderful sounding language - I think it'd be a lot of fun to speak. But of course I'll continue concentrating on Hindi first. Time and time again I'm reminded of why I chose this language in the first place. Nothing will stop me from loving it and learning it. My friend, who also speaks Marathi, says my accent when speaking Marathi is far better than that of my Hindi, but oh well - I would never stop studying Hindi at this point! Strange though, seeing as how I've had far more exposure to Hindi, and of course have actually studied it. I used to think grammar is my biggest problem, and perhaps it is, but currently I think improving my vocabulary is what will help me progress more. Got seven Bollywood DVDs today so now I'll have some more variety when it comes to my listening resources. Well, guess that's all. Nothing special but I figured I'd update to show that I'm still alive. Now back to Khalnayak! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ChiaBrain Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5601 days ago 402 posts - 512 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: Portuguese, Italian, French Studies: German | Message 21 of 43 07 June 2011 at 3:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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Keep up the good work!
I'm looking forward to reading your log in more detail when I have time later.. Edited by ChiaBrain on 11 June 2011 at 3:24pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ChiaBrain Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5601 days ago 402 posts - 512 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish* Studies: Portuguese, Italian, French Studies: German | Message 22 of 43 11 June 2011 at 5:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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I enjoyed reading your log! I'm jealous that you have a nice friend to tutor you.
If I have one piece of advice for you it would be less hard on yourself. How do you find the Living Language Hindi program compared to the Teach Yourself one? I've been wanting to get the Living Language program because of how much audio (6 CDs!) it comes with. The night I found your log I found a brand new copy on Amazon's marketplace for just $15!!! Serendipity? Regardless, it arrives next week. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 23 of 43 20 June 2011 at 1:51am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks a lot for reading, ChiaBrain! Haha well perhaps it seems like I'm hard on myself here, but really I'm a procrastinator of the worst (or best?) kind - so it might do me some good :) I like the Living Language course. If I recall correctly, it covers much of the same grammar as the TY course, but it's always nice to have something new to look at. I personally like the grammar explanations/examples from Living Language more. The other benefit for me is the way the dialogue is spoken. I'm not able to shadow TY much because of the pauses and whatnot heard in parts of dialogues. I definitely find the content of TY's dialogues more enjoyable, but for shadowing, LL worked better for me. And glad you found it for a better price! I should try some new Hindi books when I get the money/time. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------- Last studying I did was looking at some things from this blog: http://www.transparent.com/hindi/ . It has a lot of cultural info, as well as some grammar and vocabulary lessons. I was studying some stuff about common prefixes/suffixes in words and was reading idiomatic expressions. Also tried a little bit of the Gold List method because I need to learn at least a few words every now and then! But I got a job and started working last week so I won't have as much time as I used to. It turns out that most of my co-workers are monolingual Spanish speakers, and even the Americans have a passable knowledge of Spanish. Because I'm new (and the youngest there), I am working closely with one worker in particular - he's from El Salvador. So I really feel like learning at least some basic Spanish. Took out a bunch of books from the library yesterday; I don't know if I'll stick with it much, but I'll come back with updates! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tenebrarum Groupie United States Joined 5199 days ago 84 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi | Message 24 of 43 03 October 2011 at 11:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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Time to update? I think so... I took a fairly long break from studying near the
end of summer - was on a roadtrip and just didn't get to it. I still study Hindi, but I think I have to do more active studying. I always try to read something or listen, but I don't work intensively enough with materials for it to have the effect I want. I would like to change the title of this log seeing as how Arabic is no longer in the picture, but I'm not sure how to and I don't have time to figure it out right now. Recently, my friend and I were trying to figure out why my American accent comes through so strongly when I speak. She's the only one who gives me an honest opinion on my Hindi, including my accent. I've looked into each sound of Hindi, making sure I am doing things correctly when pronouncing them; and actually, I'm told I pronounce each of the sounds perfectly, but when I start speaking everything goes down hill... I guess there is a variety of factors that can affect my Hindi accent, and we spoke about many of them. Reading through some recent threads on HTLAL, it seems all I need is for someone to tickle me XD. But for now I'll just have to speak more and try my best to improve my speech/accent. I know accent isn't seen as the most important aspect of speaking a language (my grammar is what really needs work), but it would really help my confidence if I could improve my accent. Oh yeah, my friend might also be able to tutor me next semester - not sure though. Looking through my university's library, it seems there are a few Hindi learning materials! I took out just two for the time being: Bender's Hindi Grammar and Reader and Harris and Sharma's A Basic Hindi Reader. I haven't done much with the former, especially because the use of only romanization really turns me off. But the latter? I love it! There are two main sections, the first of which has many sentences that are similar in nature; there are no translations, but after each part, there are some explanations of grammar and expressions. The second section of the book has several reading passages; these are especially nice because each deals with something about Indian culture or history. And finally there is a glossary. So far I'm really enjoying this book and find the explanations quite helpful. So what became of Spanish? A friend of mine knows basic Spanish and she is offering to help me with practicing and whatnot. I don't even know enough Spanish to really have a conversation, so I told her I'd practice once I've really been studying the language. Problem is that I'm not very passionate about Spanish; I don't have the burning desire to learn it that I do for Hindi. However, I really don't want to go back to work back home and not know any Spanish. The only Spanish materials I got anywhere with and enjoyed was the Michel Thomas course. When deciding how/when to go to India, there's always some kind of excuse that pops up. I was considering studying abroad at one point, but I think I've now come to a decision. I saved up all the money I earned at work solely for traveling, so if possible I would like to book a ticket to Mumbai for the summer. This is what I want to do so there's no sense putting it off! Edited by Tenebrarum on 03 October 2011 at 11:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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