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Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 697 of 812
17 May 2015 at 5:41pm | IP Logged 
I really need to revise my methods of studying. Purely out of boredom after having practised German in Duolingo in order to earn 30XP I went to English for German speakers,
and it was good until both English and German vocabulary have failed me. Clearly I have to find some other way of fixing the weak spots in both English and German. The weak
spots and some explanations are, as follows:
English:
- listening (the lack of immersion; pessimism)
- grammar (constant influence of my native language, bad methods of building up the language's grammar back when I have started learning it)
- writing (no matter how funny is my style sometimes, it's time to face that it's also funny in a way uneducated people write. The line between funny and stupid is thin
here)
- pronunciation (this is a minor problem for me now, but its foundation is obvious and goes around really bad methods of studying again)
- vocabulary (it's not small, I won't argue with that, but also not sufficient, at least for me)
- dialect stuff (I want to speak British English. I just want that)
- the absence of certificates (this is more of a weak spot in my CV, but the reason behind that is related to the fact that I am not ready to sit any kind of ESL exam)
- technical English (no comment)

It sounds like the whole English language is my weak point. Anyway,
German:
- vocabulary (nuff said)
- grammar (I get a lot passively, but what's the use of that? Plus Russian is interfering here just as well, because case system isn't all that different, let alone
genders)
- listening (it isn't even a skill I really train or test often. Therefore it cannot be the one I have no problems with)
- pronunciation (again, it isn't that important, I barely practice it now when I have no one to Skype with, but I am not going for any immersion anytime soon just as well)
- speaking/ writing (the place where all the problems listed above combine with an incredible pessimism and my former desire to study the language strictly passively)
- dialect stuff (Austrian German is something I could get really interested in as I learn more)
- motivation (no real-life goals but a sense of being cursed isn't really a strong motivation sometimes)

I am really good at blabbing about all the stuff that I need to be doing. When it comes to actually working on my problems, my enthusiasm wears thin really fast. Given that
some of the problems listed here aren't even possible to fix on one's own, you can see that I am doing it again - just blabbing. But there's hope that one day I will get
tired of blabbing and start to act.
1 person has voted this message useful



Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 698 of 812
18 May 2015 at 5:13pm | IP Logged 
I guess I'm gonna do basic French, Duolingo only, just to broaden my view of languages.
Italian pretty much failed me there, and I am too tired of waiting for the Esperanto course.
Eh, like I don't have enough things to do even without all that. But it's still 6WC, after all.
1 person has voted this message useful



Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 699 of 812
19 May 2015 at 2:27am | IP Logged 
Alright, I think I know why do I have this whim to deal with French, I honestly doubt it'll last long, but let's
just see. So far I react in two ways: I either laugh or become hysterical. Or just go all WTF on verb forms
which sound exactly the same, but are written differently. French looks like typical guide on how to make
your life complicated.
But, as the 10th Doctor says, allons-y!
P.S. French keyboard is a pure example of meh.
1 person has voted this message useful



Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 700 of 812
19 May 2015 at 3:05pm | IP Logged 
The way French spells stuff is just a bloody joke. Not that I wasn't aware that they spend millions just because of all the excessive typing and writing, but you never know for sure until you deal with that yourself.
But I am guessing English has been a good student of French here, though thankfully not good enough to drown us in all these letters that aren't ever pronounced.

Anyway. I have glanced at the shortest grammar book possible, noticed long lists of verbs, their forms, the times they can take... Dunno what should motivate me to get through all this, if this is a part of basic French. I really just want to be able to
understand a few language puns, stuff people generally say in or about French. Yes, yes, there are Les rois maudits, but, ehm, this isn't that strong a motivation.
But let's just see, hehe.
P.S. You know what else is a bloody joke? My pronunciation. As ever, though.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 701 of 812
20 May 2015 at 6:46am | IP Logged 
It's so typical of me to write about all the stuff I need to fix in German
and English, and then start learning French. And it isn't really learning, I still
can't wrap my mind around ALL THE WORDS THAT SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME.
(I drink sedatives, by the way. Maybe I could react even worse)
Anyway, Duolingo is simply not enough here, I can't remember the forms and spelling,
so I have taken a few textbooks and French in Action.
Why oh why.
Also I probably should consider starting Swedish over if Esperanto doesn't come out by
June. Oh, wait, I have exams in June. July then. Oh wait, I have an internship in
July. August. Oh wait, I have to get ready for IELTS or TOEFL or whatever exam I have
to
pass to satisfy German or Swedish universities.
What the hell is wrong with me.

P.S. 3rd place in overall studies in 6WC so far. Doctor Who is getting me
places.
P.P.S. I thought I had easy access to Doctor Who in French somewhere. I don't, but
even if I did I bloody have German and why the hell do I think about French so much?

Edited by Via Diva on 20 May 2015 at 6:53am

2 persons have voted this message useful



BOLIO
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4438 days ago

253 posts - 366 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 702 of 812
20 May 2015 at 6:43pm | IP Logged 
This French thing you are doing is very helpful to me...as in helpful that I should never do this to myself. :)

You have a very interesting log here. I don't know that I have seen one just like it. This was a very interesting post to me: "It's so typical of me to write about all the stuff I need to fix in German and English, and then start learning French." I have felt like doing something like this when my Spanish studies start to weigh me down but I have never gone through with it. Interesting. The biggest example of Wanderlust I have gone through is taking a couple of hours to learn the sounds of the russian alphabet and put them into Anki. Well, that and order The New Penguin Russian Course, which I will start next year as my Spanish has improved to the point of being more comfortable in using the language vs "studying" it.

Anyway, I am glad I found your log and all the best.


BOLIO
2 persons have voted this message useful



Via Diva
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4014 days ago

1109 posts - 1427 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek

 
 Message 703 of 812
20 May 2015 at 7:09pm | IP Logged 
Hahaha, well, I did entitle this log "How not to learn languages" two years ago when I have started it :)
Actually I have considered myself to be wanderlust-proof, so to speak. But then there was Swedish, and then Greek, Italian and now French.
__________
French is still makes me wanna throw things at those who have started pronouncing... ehm... vin like va. All these silent letters in the end of words. I could bear with vowels 'cause English. But consonants? Why are you so lazy (or tired, okay,
that could be the reason too, haha).
Still I wanted to glance at the textbooks I've downloaded, but American Gods has the higher priority. And in case I still can't write a philosophy essay (hate that I have to) I probably watch Doctor Who instead. Today morning I've secured 4 first seasons
of the new era on my laptop, so I might as well watch an episode in German and then in English, or the other way around.
Not today though.
1 person has voted this message useful



Elenia
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
lilyonlife.blog
Joined 3636 days ago

239 posts - 327 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto

 
 Message 704 of 812
21 May 2015 at 2:47am | IP Logged 
Hope you enjoy American Gods. It's a challenge, but it's worth it. When I read it, it
caught me by the throat and wouldn't let me go until it was done... in a good way, of
course!

Good luck with French! Gird your loins, there are many more trials to come!

Edited by Elenia on 21 May 2015 at 2:47am



1 person has voted this message useful



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