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Tarvos - TAC 2015 Pushkin/Scan

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
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tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 705 of 1511
22 May 2013 at 11:30am | IP Logged 
The nice thing about long train rides every Wednesday is that it allows me to cover
huge amounts of ground in a single day. In fact, it allows me to cover such huge
amounts of ground it is getting a bit out of hand, because this morning's trip led to
me completing 5 (!) lessons of L'Hébreu sans peine in a row. It has to be said that
those lessons are fairly easy and contain very few unknown grammar points, and only
some new vocabulary. Those words which are new, like bishvil (a much stronger l), are
prepositions for example, and learning how to conjugate Hebrew prepositions with
pronoun suffixes is something the Routledge course taught me a long time ago. But it is
a boon, and I would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

In fact...

Dead Time

Optimize your language learning by using the time you never knew you had! I've finally
figured out the boon of AnkiDroid (I didn't have a smartphone until recently), but
since I travel around on metros and trams a lot, it means I have loads of time to
complete Anki reviews while on the go. Currently I have two decks (for Romanian and for
Icelandic; Hebrew has no deck, by way of experiment, and I deleted the old Russian
deck; I used wordlist techniques for Breton and Swedish). This is important because
there is a lot of time you can use for language learning that doesn't need to be done
at home!

Analyse your dead time spots. For example, in my case, Wednesdays involve long commutes
of almost 2 hours to and 2 hours back to work. This is FOUR HOURS I can use for working
on both my thesis and language learning. If you have such a thing, USE IT. Commutes are
ideal for listening to textbook dialogues, doing Assimil lessons, Anki reviews, etc.

Do you take trams often? I do, my girlfriend lives in the big city and I have to take
the metro/tram across town to see her. So it takes me time to see her! But I have Anki,
and since I hate sitting at home behind the pc to review vocab, I do it all on the go!
Just keep your phone charged.

Other ideas to optimise your time use:

- Bring simple textbooks like Assimil along, or grammar books. You can open these and
read in the bus or tram (if your line is not too crowded). Very good for longer
journeys. Put the recordings on your phone and listen to Assimil/Pimsleur over and
over! (I don't have a car and I think I would be too distracted in one, also I need
physical retention mechanisms beyond audio repetition).
- Set your phone/browser/video games/tv channels to your target language. My phone is
in Romanian and I already know most of the vocabulary for phones, even for weather
phenomena!
- Use Wikipedia in your target language. Wikipedia has articles for everything. You can
find material in Azeri on your favourite carpet weaving techniques, or in Polish on
catholic church history! Are you into traditional falafel production methods? Why not
peruse the Hebrew article on Falafel?
- do activities you would normally do in your home language in your TL, or start up new
hobbies and use your TL to fulfill them. Have you dreamed of learning to dance the
tango? Why not learn in Spanish? Need to install your new pc software? Read the French
section of the manual. It's important that you replace something you would normally do
in English (or in my case often Dutch) in your TL. You know how to read a science
magazine in English, why can't you do so in Romanian?

There are so many ways you can improve your language if you optimise your time
management. I am juggling two languages of intensive study and one of minor focus with
a lot of languages that need maintenance, and people have asked me before "where in the
name do you find the time". I do Anki revisions while attending to some of my physical
needs! Be creative!


3 persons have voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 706 of 1511
22 May 2013 at 11:39pm | IP Logged 
Given that I have made wicked progress in Romanian, Hebrew, Breton and Russian (I have
completed most of my goals except the visa one), it's time to think about how to
organise the coming months. I am writing a thesis, so I will not have time to improve
as consistently as I do now, AND I am now in a relationship which also takes up time.
Furthermore I have travels to Russia to organise, a festival to attend, and I hope to
visit Berlin this year (and yes, I will speak German).

So, here's my plan for the rest of this month

- focus on completing many Routledge course units. My goal for L'Hébreu was lesson 4 -
I am at lesson 32! so I really can forego not doing that as much and focusing on the
Routledge, which will teach me new things, not reinforce the old ones (with the
exception of a few odd bits here and there, most of the lessons are old hat).

- complete reading Spieltrieb (I am at page 230-something because I have had no time
for intense reading bursts yet that will allow me to cover ground; those that I have
had were more spent on other languages)

- I also have a French book to read, but I will keep it for after Spieltrieb, and then
there is Russian reading material as well.

Revised end of month goals:

- complete unit 5 of the Routledge course
- Finish Spieltrieb
- move onwards in Romanian.

I have completed two Icelandic units.

Here are my end-of-June goals:
- complete Metaphysique des tubes
- complete unit 6 of the routledge course
- get to lesson 77/28 of le Roumain
- get until lesson 45 of l'Hébreu
- complete until unit 4 of Colloquial Icelandic.

Hopefully by that time my Romanian and Hebrew will resemble B1 languages. Expect a
halfway stage evaluation of my 2013 achievements at the end of June before the trip to
Siberia. July/August will probably see Russian get some playing time, and what comes
after September (except for finishing my Hebrew/Romanian courses) I do not know. By the
time I have finished both, I will speak both conversationally (I speak semi-
understandable Hebrew already) so we will see what the next step is. Probably I will
maintain a light focus on Icelandic once I complete a textbook.

Edited by tarvos on 22 May 2013 at 11:46pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 707 of 1511
23 May 2013 at 11:14pm | IP Logged 
Limba română

N-am studiat mult săptămână trecută, dar am terminat la lecția a cincizeci și opta. Nu
a fost prea greu pentru mine să studiez limba română - sunt sigur că am destul de vorbi
și am învățat destul de gramatică pentru vorbi românește adecvat cu prieteni mei. Nu-i
prea greu. N-am nici probleme cu traducere și scrie... vreau să spun... cu limitate
care m-a învățat Assimil, desigur! Sunt desigur mulți lucruri despre ce nu știu nimic,
și trebuie să le învățam.

I also studied Hebrew, and spoke 75 minutes of good Russian (that's a first). And now I
shall read German. Before I go to bed that is, because tomorrow I plan to not do much
studying except some Anki reviews; I have a thesis to work and I will be spending most
of the weekend (when I am not working) with my girlfriend. So maybe you will hear
something from me on Sunday, hahaha...


1 person has voted this message useful



Suzie
Diglot
Senior Member
Belgium
Joined 3979 days ago

155 posts - 226 votes 
Speaks: German*, English
Studies: French, Dutch

 
 Message 708 of 1511
24 May 2013 at 11:38pm | IP Logged 
Tarvos, having roughly gone through your log, I must say I'm quite impressed by your various activities. I think it must be unbelievably difficult not to mix up anything, and to keep track simultaneously on those various languages. This requires skills I certainly do not have (loosing even my native fluency in German after immersion situations in foreign languages).

Thanks also for your interesting report on the Frisian language!
1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 709 of 1511
25 May 2013 at 5:33pm | IP Logged 
Surprisingly I don't really mix up any of my languages very much. Loss of ability due to
disuse is more common. However it's hard to lose languages you've spoken for 10 or 20
years, the more recent ones suffer from more problems (but not Russian or Swedish
really).

No problem about the Frisian, I wasn't intending on learning it (and for my girlfriend's
family I won't need to per se), but if I stay with her in the long-term and spend time in
Frisia it might be worth my while to take a look at it.
1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 710 of 1511
26 May 2013 at 10:16pm | IP Logged 
Deutsch

Kaum wäre ich zu Hause zurückgekehrt, ob ich fand mich wieder im Buchen, und ich habe
mich dran gesetzt, um am meinem Rumänisch zu arbeiten (was auch gute Ergebnisse gab)
aber ich habe noch mehr auf Deutsch getan (meistens Lesen, aber ausserdem habe ich
auch Deutsch geredet, was ich eigentlich wenig mache, obwohl ich dazu die Möglichkeiten
besitze). Aber das Hauptteil meiner Arbeit bestand aus dem Lesen von Spieltrieb, wobei
es mir aufgefallen ist, dass ich auf Deutsch immer noch langsamer lese, wie auf z.B.
Französisch. Aber einige Wochen haben mein Vertrauen wachsen lassen, und ich kann noch
immerhin Deutsch reden wie vorher (mann kann hier auch sagen dass das auf verschiedene
Gründe auch am Anfang nichts wert war, aber dagegen werde ich kämpfen. Das ist doch
bestimmt keine Wahrheit).

Aber es gefällt mir gut, mich wieder zu unterhalten auf eine Sprache, der ich
eigentlich seit Ewigkeiten nicht gesprochen oder geübt habe. Die letzte ein, zwei
Wochen habe ich wie sehr erfrischend erfahren, und ich halte diese Übung für sehr
wertvoll. Dagegen werde ich noch sagen dass mein Deutsch (auch wie vorher) mich noch
immer nicht in der Lage stellt, wirklich ohne Fehler mich selbst aus zu drücken (wird
es eine solche Leistung eigentlich überhaupt noch geben während meines Lebens?) Und es
gefällt mir auch, dass ich immer noch in der Lage bin, das hier mit Ihnen auf Deutsch
zu teilen.

Ausser meine Spracharbeiten mit der Deutsche Sprache habe ich auch am Hebräisch und
Rumänisch gearbeitet; das war nicht ohne Erfolg, und ich habe mehr Vertrauen das ich
auch bald hier (vielleicht nicht fliessend, aber ist mir Wurst) Hebräisch schreiben
kann. Naja, das kann ich schon, aber mit ein bisschen mehr Detail. Nur besser.
1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 711 of 1511
28 May 2013 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
I have managed to cover some more stuff in the past few days, including finishing
Spieltrieb. Actually I will list some achievements because I am too tired (and need to
get up tomorrow morning) to do any translations or write in any strange languages;

I have:
- completed Spieltrieb
- completed Unit 5 of the Routledge course (bar review exercises)
- completed until unit 34 of L'Hébreu
- completed until unit 60 of Le Roumain

and done some Russian translations, some French reading. With this I have completed all
of my May goals, so I can spend tomorrow's 4 hours in the train doing a lot of Hebrew
and Romanian. In fact before June 1st I will be able to add in a whole lot more
Assimil, which is useful because this weekend I will not be studying languages (unless
seeing Rammstein live counts as studying German). I hope to get through the review
exercises at the end of the week (routledge course), and cover some more Assimil, so
that I will be well prepared for a low-intensity language June. I might even decide to
drop Icelandic goals altogether for that month.

Furthermore I have found a spot to purchase Harry Potter 1 in Breton, which is
something I am going to get onto (coop-breizh!) in order to practice that language.

Edited by tarvos on 29 May 2013 at 9:26am

1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4457 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 712 of 1511
29 May 2013 at 10:46am | IP Logged 
Prenet am eus al levr "Harry Potter ha maen ar furien" e brezhoneg evit lenn
diwezhatoc'h. N'ouzon dare penaos e zeuin da-benn, met fur-kaer on, peogwir am eus prenet   
an dra e brezhoneg! Bremañ e vin furoc'h!

(I also managed to study Romanian until lesson 63/14 of the Assimil on the train. The
return journey will be spent on Hebrew).


1 person has voted this message useful



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