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Kerrie’s TAC ’12 Team Žá / Romantics Log

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kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4689 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 113 of 236
30 May 2012 at 3:03am | IP Logged 
The advanced Assimil definitely helps with reading - a lot of it uses the passé simple,
and there is a fair amount of the other literary tenses. These tenses almost look
'normal' to me now. It's also slower going than the With Ease books - the lessons are
denser, and there's much more to take in with each.
1 person has voted this message useful



blackdahlia
Pro Member
United States
Joined 4529 days ago

64 posts - 66 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, French
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 114 of 236
30 May 2012 at 3:10pm | IP Logged 
Good for you for making that decision. The 6WC was good to jumpstart me with Assimil, but I noticed that I was getting burnt out towards the end (which led to me drifting away for a while) and we wont even mention that I was nowhere near the top 10.

And I hear you about getting ahead of yourself. I think I sometimes get so caught up in what other people do to study and where I want to be, that I find myself trying to rush the process. So I just had to step back and lay out a realistic workable plan that will alloe me to really build and solidify my foundation for the language.

I didn't realize/remmeber you were doing Assimil, are you on the French with Ease?

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Kerrie
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Kerrie2
Joined 5195 days ago

1232 posts - 1740 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 115 of 236
30 May 2012 at 6:01pm | IP Logged 

Yes, I'm doing the French with Ease, and will probably do the Using French (their advanced course) next. I just finished Spanish with Ease a few weeks ago, and I'm also doing German with Ease, and Le Croate. I like Assimil, they are very effective. =)

I am also doing Michel Thomas and Practice Makes Perfect (Complete French Grammar), but those are secondary to Assimil right now.

Edited by Kerrie on 30 May 2012 at 6:01pm

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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6397 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
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 Message 116 of 236
30 May 2012 at 8:03pm | IP Logged 
Kerrie wrote:

I have decided that the 6WC is not for me. I find myself trying to clock minutes (and hours) instead of getting things accomplished.

It used to be that I had a goal for each language for the day. One chapter of my Spanish book. One French Assimil lesson. Half of Disc 3 of Michel Thomas for German. The first half of the unit of Colloquial Croatian, and 10 new vocab words off Facebook. (Yes, I do that. It's actually useful sometimes!)

I never used to count time. I loosely kept track, and tried to fit my designated activities into a general time frame. 20-30 minutes for an Assimil lesson, etc. But that was a result of getting goal x, y, or z accomplished.

Now, I find myself doing things that are not at my level, and not really within my current goals, simply to count time. I can watch a Harry Potter movie in French, and clock two and a half hours. Or I can spend a half hour doing an Assimil lesson, an hour working on my Practice Makes Perfect Complete French Grammar book, and learn 10 times more. It's a much better use of my time, both in quantity and quality.

Granted, watching a movie in my target language will be useful. With my Spanish level right now, more native/natural material is perfect. I can watch Harry Potter or Stargate in Spanish and not even think about it being in another language, even when I don't understand every word. This is the perfect time for that, because the next materials I use will be completely new, and it will stretch my language abilities.

But I'm not at that point with French yet. And if I want to have a fighting chance at finishing my Super Challenge by the end of next year, I need to do more active studying right now.

I am going back to my "original" goals with French. Nevermind trying to place in the top ten for the 6WC. I am going to finish Assimil (about 25 lessons left, so about 2 per day for the next two weeks). I am going to finish the Michel Thomas courses (three more Vocabulary and the Advanced course left), and I am going to continue working with Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar. I will still splurge from time to time and watch a Stargate episode here or there, or watch Harry. But I think I'll save most of that for once I'm finished with Assimil, and have finished an advanced course and a grammar book. I have The Teach Yourself Improve Your French, and the advanced Assimil French book - I'm not sure which one I will decide to do, but I feel like I need to put more homework before I go out for recess to play. =)
It simply sounds like you chose the wrong language to sign up with? Anyway, good luck with your new goals! Great that you can evaluate your progress without caring about the rankings :)

Also, how about reviving our consistency thread? *_*

Edited by Serpent on 30 May 2012 at 8:07pm

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Kerrie
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Kerrie2
Joined 5195 days ago

1232 posts - 1740 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 117 of 236
31 May 2012 at 1:05am | IP Logged 

I don't think I chose the wrong language, Marina. I think it was high time I made French a priority. I finally feel like I'm making some headway with it, which is very definitely good.

The problem is that I've changed my focus from getting x, y, and z done, to getting caught up to the person in front of me on the 6WC rankings. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to spend three hours studying Assimil and a grammar book. So in order to rack up the hours, I have to find something easier to do. Granted, LRing and watching HP movies is effective, just not nearly as productive (time-wise) as studying Assimil. or Michel Thomas. or a grammar book. At least not at the level I'm at.

I know some people LEARN that way. And I could, too. But I advance much more quickly with a STUDY approach. I am Dutch, so I like to get as much bang for my buck as possible. Well, the most out of my time. (I suppose that's a stereotype, but it's really true of most of the Dutch people I know! LOL)

I would rather spend an hour on Assimil and grammar than two hours watching a movie, because quite simply - at this point for me with French - I will learn more.

It is more efficient for me to plan my studies around a certain goal, than around a certain time frame. A French Assimil lesson. Sure, I try to work in 20-30 minute chunks, but I don't cross it off my list until I'm satisfied I've learned the material. And the 6WC had me doing the opposite. I would be trying to get my 30 minutes, but I wouldn't always be focusing on what I was supposed to be doing. It's kind of like being in chemistry class. You're there, but that doesn't mean you're learning what you should. Does that make any sense?

So I have decided to go back to checking off my mini-goals, rather than clocking in and simply showing up to class. I will continue to report to the 6WC bot, but I am no longer doing it as a competition. I will certainly continue studying, but I'm going back to what was working for me earlier in the year. =)

So for the present, my daily goals:

1-2 Assimil French lessons, until I am done!
Read 1 chapter of Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal
1 Assimil German lesson
1 Assimil Croate lesson, or review vocab from frequency list

Once I am done with French with Ease, I will be adding Italian back into the mix, just a half an hour a day with Assimil. I really miss it, but - as much as I like Assimil - doing it in four languages is too much for me! Then I will be back to juggling five languages a day, but I think I can manage it if I keep setting short-term goals for each language and taking one step at a time for each of them. =)
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Kerrie
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Kerrie2
Joined 5195 days ago

1232 posts - 1740 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 118 of 236
31 May 2012 at 1:06am | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:


Also, how about reviving our consistency thread? *_*


That would be a good idea.. if I can get back to being consistent. :D
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Kerrie
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Kerrie2
Joined 5195 days ago

1232 posts - 1740 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 119 of 236
31 May 2012 at 2:09am | IP Logged 

Now, after having gone off on a tangent about being productive and all that.........

I have to confess.. my Harry Potter Blu-ray box set came from the UK today. 15 audio tracks, 28 subtitle options..

So I might start being more productive tomorrow. =)

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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6397 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
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Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 120 of 236
31 May 2012 at 10:00am | IP Logged 
Congrats!!!!

Well I only mean the wrong language from the point of view of the level.

Also don't forget about sites like gloss and lyricstraining - they're fun but effective regardless of your level :)


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