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Bakunin TAC 2013 Asian 鶴 / Żubr | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6103 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 89 of 94 26 September 2013 at 11:27am | IP Logged |
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I share some of your feelings. Whether or not HTLAL is inspiring, I try to keep going a day at a time. However the progress can be so painfully slow and the rewards so infrequent, that I have moments when I wonder whether the investment is worth it. Or why I didn't start with an easier language. Then I remind myself of the progress I've made, the friends I've got to know, the thrill of new a culture, the satisfaction of learning and all the future possibilities with this language.
Learning a language seems to be an emotional rollercoaster, as well as a mental challenge, at least up to the intermediate stage. My hope is that I'll get more and more comfortable using the language and be able to enjoy it, rather than continually striving after it, as if chasing a wind-blown leaf. As others have said, it's a long journey so I might as well enjoy the ride - or at least try to! Best wishes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 90 of 94 06 October 2013 at 6:45pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks, Mooby :)
Time for another update… Listening: 309 Reading: 363 Speaking: 122 Writing: 42 Other: 144 Total: 980 Listening: Listening is my main activity these days, mostly podcasts and radio talk shows in the morning. Reading: I've never read that little in a 20 hour period, and hadn't I spent the last hour reading a long-neglected novel, it would have been even less. I love reading, but I've been having a hard time recently sitting down with a (Thai) book. Maybe I need to try to read in different places, like on my way home from work (instead of listening to podcasts), or in a coffee shop... Speaking: Some phone calls and a few minutes with Thai staff in a shop. Writing: Some chatting on whatsapp. Other: I do my ten minutes Anki spelling exercises and continue to copy school books. The last lesson I copied was about how to wash veggies and peel fruits. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 91 of 94 18 October 2013 at 11:22am | IP Logged |
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I've just hit the 1000 hour mark this morning! I've also achieved the other goals I set for Thai as well as Polish, so TAC 2013 is a success. I've been thinking of taking a break from HTLAL and journaling my language activities for some time now, and that's what I'll be doing. This post will wrap up TAC 2013 as far as I'm concerned. I enjoyed the challenge a lot, and it certainly helped to push me to a very regular study regimen… but life has a lot more to offer than structured language learning. I'm not going to give up on language learning, not at all, but I'll take a break from measuring time and progress and just pursue whatever language-related activity I fancy instead of sticking to a regimen.
Here's my wrap-up for Thai: Listening: Listening has been one of my main activities this past year, a total of 317 hours, 300 of which were spent on listening to the radio and podcasts, the rest on watching TV. It's hard for me to assess whether and how I've improved over the year. Reading: I've read a total of 369 hours during this year so far, 2/3 of which was spent on novels and 1/3 on intensive reading using FLTR. I've read something like 28 novels of various genres, mostly books for young readers but a few adult crime novels as well, and worked through another 14 school books; a total of 6500 pages. I'm much more comfortable reading any kind of text now than I was at the beginning of the year, and the unknown words per page ratio has been steadily going down. My reading speed has slightly improved but is still way below of what I achieve in languages using latin characters (English, French, even Polish). Speaking: Speaking totals 123 hours, split about half-half between phone calls including tutoring, and live conversations either here or in Thailand. My speaking performance is very random, sometimes I'm excited about how well I can hold a conversation, and at other times I'm exasperated about not being able to express the simplest thing. But I've come a long way since the beginning of the year. Writing: 42 hours, 37 of which I spent on chatting and emails, and 5 on lang-8. My spelling has improved massively over the year, mainly due to focused spelling drills using Anki. Other: I've spent 149 hours on 'other activities', 121 of which were typing (copying) school books. That's one activity I really enjoy and certainly will continue to do. I have written regularly about how useful I find it to work with school books, so I don't have to repeat it now. It's certainly the most effective way for me to acquire vocabulary and cultural knowledge in a systematic fashion. The remaining time was spent on Anki and some Scriptorum-ing. I had two side goals, one relating to the royal register and the other to basic Buddhist terminology. I've read many stories and a few news items involving royalty and think I know the most important terms by now. Since Buddhism is a school subject, I've had ample exposure to Buddhist terminology. I recognize many words, but recall, let alone spelling, is a bit harder. Overall, I'd say I passed those two goals as well. Here's my wrap-up for Polish: My goals were modest: 120 hours of listening and reading combined, and 3 books. I'm currently at 135 hours, split about half-half between those two activities. I've finished 7 novels with about 1250 pages. All goals passed. My listening comprehension has improved a lot, but I mainly consume news and discussions about current events. I suck at everything else, in particular tourist-related stuff. Reading has become easier as well and is usually good fun (if I can make the time…). I've bought heaps of books I'm keen to read, and I've got plans for a few more bicycle trips to Poland over the next years as well. I wish my fellow TAC-ies all the best for the remainder of the challenge, and thanks to everybody who followed my log! Edited by Bakunin on 18 October 2013 at 11:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6103 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 92 of 94 18 October 2013 at 12:19pm | IP Logged |
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I just posted my congratulations in the Team thread, but I'll repeat: well done Bakunin. I've always enjoyed your posts and I look forward to hearing from you when you have time.
Trzymaj się. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 6103 days ago 707 posts - 1220 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 93 of 94 31 December 2013 at 11:59am | IP Logged |
For his noble efforts in Team Żubr, I have great pleasure in awarding the Żubr medal* of honour to Bakunin:
*Courtesy of Białowieża National Park Well done! Best wishes for next year. Thanks for your support Bakunin, it really helped. Mooby 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 5128 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 94 of 94 31 December 2013 at 12:36pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks, Mooby :)
I also enjoyed being on a team with you and following your progress. I'm doing lots of Polish these days, so we'll certainly see each other around next year! All the best! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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