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TAC 2011, Team KEN, Teango | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5554 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 1 of 130 26 December 2010 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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INTRODUCTION
Last year was my first real foray into language learning from home (i.e. not just Harry-pottering about and collecting pretty language course box-sets to gather dust on the shelves). I didn't know it back then when I started the team challenge, but it turned out to be a true awakening, and lists or scraps of paper with ideas and methodologies started to be put into real action for the first time. I made progress and friends along the way, discovering which techniques worked or didn't work for me, and the odyssey with all its ups and downs certainly seemed to sharpen my language wits and knock some of the kinks out of my confidence. Most importantly, it brought the joy and study of languages into clearer focus and confirmed it's genuine place in my lifestyle. If last year was anything to go by, then I expect this year to be full of surprises and illumination. I don't know how much time I'll be able to invest, especially having moved both country and career, but I really want to give any language project my best shot. Hence with the adventures of 2010 (TAC 2010, Team K, SP: Fighting Windmills, SP: El Mariachi and SW: Dreams of Valhalla) already pretty much behind me, I'm all suited up for fresh new battlefields and linguistic horizons. And I'm particularly thrilled to be making this charge into the unknown accompanied by a flashing brigade of excellent comrades-in-arms: M. Medialis, Adrean and Buttons. Long live Team KEN...hip-hip hooray! hip-hip hooray!! hip-hip hooray!!! :) I'll be posting my weekly team updates in this log from the first week in January, and will try to keep track of ongoing study, progress and resources used throughout the year here in my initial post (which will hopefully serve as a quick and easy reference point from time to time). I also wish everyone else success and joy in striving towards their personal language goals in 2011 - during which I'm really looking forward to following your steps and seeing you win! :) LANGUAGE GOALS Primary target: A1+ to B2+ in Russian Extended targets (if time permits): - B2 to B2+ in German - B1 to B2 in Spanish - A0 to B2 in Irish - Learn how to write and identify the basic meaning of 500 general-use Japanese kanji Maintenance languages: German SUMMARY SO FAR STUDY IN 2011 Russian: 254.5 hours  
Japanese: 17.1 hours Spanish: 1.6 hours German: 1.8 hours TOTAL: 274 hours WANDERLUST Anglo-Saxon, Arabic, BSL, Cantonese, Danish, French, Georgian, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Jamaican Patois, Korean, Latin, Marshallese, Scots, and Serbian. TOTAL: 32 hours READING LEVEL German: 94% (B2+) 
Spanish: 92% (B2) 
Swedish: 92% (B2)
Russian: 91% (B2)
CONVERSATION RANK  English Native
 German B2
 French B1
 Russian B1
 Spanish B1
PROGRESS NOTES Russian: A1+ -> B2 in reading Irish: collected lots of resources but haven't started studying yet Spanish: no further study since the summer of 2010 German: nothing much so far, a couple of movies at most Japanese: put together comprehensive kanji spreadsheets, some kanji studied RESOURCES USED RUSSIAN: - М. Булгаков, "Мастер и Маргарита" (Master and Margarita) [c,lr]* - Евгений Замятин, "Мы" (We) [c,lr] - Сергей Лукьяненко, "Дневной дозор" (Night Watch) [a]* - Александр Серый (director), "Джентльмены удачи" (Gentlemen of Fortune) [f]* - Russian music (309 songs) [m] IRISH: - none so far SPANISH: - none so far GERMAN: - Conrad Rooks (director), "Siddhartha" [f]* - Steven Soderbergh (director), "Ocean's Twelve" [f]* JAPANESE: - Reviewing the Kanji (with Heisig order kanji wall-poster) [w,s]* - Jack Halpern (editor), "The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary" [s]* - James Heisig, "Remembering the Kanji I" [s]* - Kenneth Henshall, "A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters" [s]* - Gorō Miyazaki (director), "ゲド戦記" (Tales from Earthsea) [fs] - Dave Boyle (director), "Big Dreams Little Tokyo" [fs] - Hirokazu Koreeda (director), "After Life" [fs] Abbreviations key for resource lists: a = analysis and reading scores c = study-and-click f = film fs = film with English subtitles l = listening only lr = listening and reading m = music and music videos r = reading only s = studying t = tv w = website * = unfinished italics = film underlined = website underlined italics = movie details on IMDB Notes: I'll try to update this summary once a month. "Polyjitsu belts" and "language medals" used above are explained further in my study-and-click article. Edited by Teango on 26 December 2011 at 2:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6355 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 2 of 130 28 December 2010 at 12:10pm | IP Logged | ||
Lol. I find it a bit funny that you went from 'Harry-pottering about' into 'LR-ing Harry Potter'. ;D Only a few days left now...Soon we'll enter a brand new year, which we can fill with brand new breath-taking victories! Edited by M. Medialis on 28 December 2010 at 12:12pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5554 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 4 of 130 28 December 2010 at 5:06pm | IP Logged | ||
I can feel the adrenaline pumping already in the countdown to a new year of possibilities...well, between Lemsips and blowing my nose like a snuffleupagus...atchoo! ^.^
 Edited by Teango on 04 January 2011 at 5:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5554 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 5 of 130 09 January 2011 at 7:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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PROGRESS UPDATE, WEEK 1
SUMMARY  RUSSIAN
Active study this week: 10 hours (study-and-click: Евгений Замятин, "Мы") Total active study this year: 10 hours Basic reading test scores for week 1, using "Дневной дозор" by Сергей Лукьяненко: Day 0: 58% (initial reading score) Day 1: 70% Day 2: 70% Day 3: 78% Current estimated reading level:  A2
 JAPANESE
Active study this week: 2 hours (expired kanji review) Total active study this year: 2 hours Current estimated reading level:  A0
 German
Maintenance this week: approx. half an hour (film: "Siddhartha", emails) Total maintenance this year: 0.5 hours Current estimated reading level: B2+
WANDERLUST CONFESSION BOX I re-read my little blue book on Teeline (a form of shorthand used by reporters), but was otherwise well-behaved. TEANGO’S WORDS OF THE WEEK "хихикнуть" (to giggle, tee-hee, titter) - this one was a cinch to remember as the first part sounds just like a giggle. "записки" (formal notes) - I wouldn't normally include such a boring word, but it stands out in my mind because I mistakenly said "написки" today, to show off some new vocabulary, and my girlfriend began to laugh, as apparently it sounds like a made-up word from "написать" (to pee). NOTES I eventually got round to leaving the starting blocks and studying Zamyatin by the end of the week. I think I've made reasonable progress so far, and am really enjoying regular dips into the voluptuous waves of the Russian language again. One of the things I've already noticed is that I wake up each morning with Russian words and phrases floating around and replaying in my head. I also received Henshall's "A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters" in the post this week, and spent a little time looking up the fascinating stories behind the history of some of the kanji. I discovered that Heisig and Henshall can differ significantly in their use of keywords and radicals, so I've therefore resorted to looking up kanji in my trusty Kodansha dictionary for deciding on the best meaning in these cases. Edited by Teango on 07 June 2011 at 3:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6355 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 8 of 130 11 January 2011 at 9:47pm | IP Logged | ||
I just had a look on the Henshall mnemonics and they look really good. :) Have you reached the kanji '処' yet? This is the only kanji that I deeply regret my mnemonic for (Heisig's keyword lead me in a bad direction..and it's so darn hard to get it out of my head now when it's there ;). It's a very common kanji so I would probably go for root memorization if I got the chance to relive my life. Anyways. You have already developed a nice study flow this year. Keep up the good work, I'm eager to see your progress. :D Edited by M. Medialis on 11 January 2011 at 9:48pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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