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Hidden’s TAC 2013 Log Team Asian 鶴 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 57 of 68 01 August 2013 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Inspired by a post that I saw from emk in another thread, I have started a '30 day trial' for all 5 of my languages. The idea is for me to do something in each language every day for 30 days. No excuses, no skipping and no "I'll do extra tomorrow to make up for missing today" (which I then never actually do).
Honestly, for someone who wants to learn languages, I seem to be going out of my way to make sure that I DON'T. I've had so many days where I just haven't done anything at all, and it's certainly not because I don't have the time at the moment. I started my 'trials' yesterday, so that's one day down and 29 to go. Lets see how it goes. ________________________________________________________ Completely off topic non-language mini-rant. (I don't even know why I'm posting this here except that I have no one to vent to in 'real life') I knew I had problems with nerves and anxiety, but today I hit a whole new low. Spending 20 minutes in tears because you spoke to a door-to-door salesperson is just ridiculous (why did I even open the door?). Damn it! I'm pathetic. :( 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 58 of 68 06 August 2013 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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Update
I’m 7 days into my ‘trial’ and I haven’t missed a day for any language yet, although, a few times I have only done a token amount for some of them. I’m a little disappointed with myself for doing that, but at least I’ve managed to stick to my initial plan of doing something in each language every day. My aim now is to get through the next 7 days without resorting to making token efforts on any of my languages. I think it will be difficult but, hopefully, not impossible. Other I’m being ‘slightly’ hindered at the moment by the fact that my computer finally gave up the ghost. I’ve been forced to borrow an old laptop which is a ‘little’ on the slow side compared with what I’m used to. Oh well, it’s better than nothing I guess. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 59 of 68 10 August 2013 at 12:09am | IP Logged | ||
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Day 10
A third of the way through my trials and I’m finally starting to appreciate the benefits of preparation. It seems like such an obvious thing to do now that I think about it, but I’ve only just realised how much easier it is to study if I make some time each day to plan the next day’s activities. Obviously I can’t plan exactly what I’m going to do minute-for-minute, but having a basic idea of what I want to work on means that I can get going straight away instead of spending the first 5 to 10 minutes of my ‘study’ time messing around deciding what book(s) to use, the vocabulary I want to revise or which grammar points I want to work on. I have to admit that organisation has never been one of my strengths; however, I think that even I should be able to manage setting aside a few minutes at the end of every day to sort out my materials for the next day. This way I not only know what I’m going to be doing but I also have everything set up and ready to go when I need it, which means that I can actually use all of my study time to study! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4476 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 60 of 68 10 August 2013 at 2:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi teammate!
Glad to see that you're doing well with your project and that you seem to feel better than a few days ago! :) Keep up the good work and may you complete your month successfully! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 61 of 68 12 August 2013 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks vermillon. Unfortunately, yesterday I resorted to token efforts again. I just couldn’t get myself to focus on languages. Oh well, at least I managed to get something done for each one. I think it’s helped that I have a chart on my wall for the languages, which I cross off every day after I’ve studied them. It’s created 5 nice little chains and I don’t want to break them (sad but true). :) As for the other day; it’s upsetting when I have one of my little meltdowns but, on the plus side, since I’ve started making a deliberate effort to overcome my anxiety it’s happening nowhere near as often as it used to. At least I can see the improvement there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 62 of 68 16 August 2013 at 3:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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Day 17
I’m past the halfway point of my trials and still sticking with it. I haven’t managed to cut out my token efforts completely, but I have been able to reduce the number of times that I resort to them, which I’m relatively happy about. I’ve finally managed to get through the Michel Thomas Total German course, making it the first course for any language that I have actually ‘finished’. My tendency to jump around through different materials means that I’ve never actually stuck with a course all the way through before. I still intend to go back over it for some revision later, but for now it just feels good to actually ‘complete’ something. I’m still feeling frustrated by Mandarin. It seems that, every time I learn a new word or phrase, I come across another source that lists that same word/phrase with different tones! (ok, obviously not every time, but more than enough to confuse me when I still have trouble distinguishing tones by listening). I hate having no idea whether or not what I’m learning is right or wrong. :( 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 63 of 68 21 August 2013 at 10:18pm | IP Logged | ||
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Day 22
I’m still hanging in with my challenge and I haven’t missed a day yet, although, there have been a few close calls where I almost skipped a language. French and Mandarin are the worst culprits for this at the moment. On the plus side, I finally seem to be settling into a routine which, for now at least, appears to be working for me. I’m beginning to think about whether or not to ‘renew’ my trials and try for another 30 days. I’m inclined to continue but, with still over a week left of my current challenge, the only thing that I’ve decided for certain is that I’m not going commit to anything more than completing my first 30 days. I know from previous experience that, if I try to think too far ahead, I’ll probably get overwhelmed and it will all start to fall apart. ‘One step (day) at a time’ I guess. Other I somehow managed to pass my main college course this year. Considering the fact that I almost quit halfway through, I’m actually glad that I stuck with it (after some encouragement from the other people on my course). I’m now sat here twiddling my thumbs and working myself up into a nervous wreck while waiting for my last exam result (G.C.S.E) which comes out tomorrow. In my head I’ve already convinced myself that I’ve failed, though other people seem to think that I’ll have done ok. Isn’t that always the way? (well, for me at least). *sighs* *crosses fingers and hopes for the best* Hmm…I wonder whether or not I’ll manage to get any sleep tonight…???... O.O Edited by Hidden Linguist on 21 August 2013 at 10:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hidden Linguist Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4157 days ago 64 posts - 87 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin, Sign Language, French | Message 64 of 68 22 August 2013 at 8:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Exam update
Panic over. I got an A in my G.C.S.E. :D *phew* I can breathe again! Although, I still keep checking my results slip to make sure that I’ve read it right. Results day should be classified as a sporting event. If nothing else, opening that envelope is great cardio; gets your heart rate right up. O.O PS: I did actually manage to get some sleep last night, although it wasn't easy. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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