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Duan’s TAC 2014 (Sokoły / Triomphe) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4578 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French | Message 1 of 25 31 December 2013 at 5:08am | IP Logged |
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Hi there, I'm Duan and this is my language log for the Total Annihilation Challenge.
This is my first time taking part and in fact I've been a very casual peruser of these forums until now. Certainly, that will have to change! I have joined up with team Sokoły to work on my Polish, and Triomphe for French. Polish I've been studying Polish for a little over two years now. I did it for a number of reasons, but they were all pretty oddball, at least for the conventional language learner. I have no Polish descendants nor significant others, or even really any friends or acquaintances. I had no plans to visit the country (I had been to Europe once years ago and if I ever went back Poland wasn't high on the list of places to visit). The secret main reason is just because I really like the sound of it. Also I heard it was tough and I wanted to give myself a challenge after trying and failing repeatedly to learn any language through school (first French, then Japanese, Spanish and German). Well to make a long story short even without a dedicated regimen I was able to get myself to a good enough level that I was able to travel to Poland after all (twice!) this year, and have actual conversations (and be fully understood). Since a lot of grammar points have so far failed to stick, I would class myself as still in the A level (probably closer to A2 than A1, but who knows?). This year, I'd like to get solidly in B1 or B2. The real goal is to get to the point where my passive skills (listening and reading) are effortless. Listening especially is still hit or miss for me. That being said, I'm really proud of my Polish. I've been complimented several times on my accent and even been proclaimed a genius by one of my new polish acquaintances due to my acquisition of the language. Quite the ego boost, considering I can still recall the time that it took me three days of practice to successfully get the pronunciation of a single word! Materials: Pimsleur Polish - I started off with this and considered this the source of my good accent. Some people have said that it goes too slow and has too much repieition but for me, it was perfect. Considering that I needed to learn to recognize and repeat new phonemes that were totally foreign to me at the time. That said, I haven't gone back to it after going through it twice. Maybe now would be a good time after so long. Hurra! Po Polsku - This textbook with audio is completely in Polish, but having already gotten the basics, I haven't found this book to be too difficult to get into. However, I did get stalled and bored around the chapter on telling time. Going to have to try this one again. Anki/Memrise - I have an anki deck and Memrise decks, though I've been absent from Memrise for a long while. I should really go back and take a look at what they have. Skype - I generally have an hour call weekly with a Polish friend to get in my conversation. French As a Canadian, I took French classes throughout my school career, stopping a couple of years into high school. It will come as a shock to no one I'm sure, that I can't string two words together. However, it feels like a lot of it is still somewhat stuck in my brain - I can count to ten without any effort, for example. So while I'm starting from "scratch", I likely have a pretty high passive knowledge that just needs to be reactivated. Well, I'm hoping that's the case anyway. My reason for learning French is not only to conquer my first second language, which sent me away with my tail between my legs, but I plan for my daughter to attend an immersion program come September. So I'd like to be capable of speaking to her with it so that she sees its relevance right away. Similar to Polish, I'm aiming for a conversational ability in the language. Materials: Pimsleur French - I liked this so much for Polish, so I'd like to do the same for la Francaise. I also have a book with audio for French tucked away in storage that I need to bust out and see if it's worthwhile. I'd also like to get into Quebecois as soon as possible, since I'd like to be a proud patriotic little Canadian :) Also, I heard that it's easier for Quebecois speakers to understand Parisian than the other way around, so that seems like another point in its favour. Not sure where the best resources are yet for that but I don't think some kind of reference will be that hard to find. As a father of two kids, one with special needs, I will have plenty on my plate as it is. I plan to commit to three updates a week or so and hope that my posting frequency will be adequate. Here's hoping it's a good year! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4578 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French | Message 2 of 25 02 January 2014 at 4:56am | IP Logged |
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January 1st, 2013:
French: So, I started the year off reasonably well with Pimsleur French. Ignoring the advice, I went through the first three lessons, twice each. That puts me at about 3 hours of study so far. One thing I am noticing is that my previous knowledge in the language is manifesting itself in that my receptive skill is way better than my expressive at the moment. I could pretty much understand the first conversation right off the bat with no problems. Of course, producing the same was much harder. Currently my focus will be on the spoken language, attempting to wrestle my atrocious accent into a merely bad one. One unexpected thing is because I've done this course using Polish and it follows a very similar script, I find myself responding automatically in Polish instead of French if I'm not paying attention! So I have to make sure my wires get uncrossed and pay attention until responding is more natural. Went into storage and found the other course - Living Language French. It also has an audio course and claims that I should be able to "Speak French with confidence in just 6 weeks!" So after getting through Pimsleur French I, we'll put that to the test :) Tomorrow I will continue to go through the Pimsleur course at my current accelerated pace. So far I don't feel that doing multiple lessons a day is a problem, but if I do I can always dial it back. Polish: Not much active Polish study today, though I did wish a few Polish friends a Happy New Year on social media, and reviewed my Anki deck. Tomorrow I will listen to some podcasts to get in some more listening practice. I will also likely start Hurra! Po Polsku from the beginning as a review. And how could I forget the other text I work out of, Teach Yourself Complete Polish? It's yet another course that contains audio that I listen to regularly. Unfortunately this is mostly in a passive way during my commute and I'd like to actively study it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Bakunin Diglot Senior Member Switzerland outerkhmer.blogspot. Joined 4912 days ago 531 posts - 1126 votes  Speaks: German*, Thai Studies: Khmer | Message 3 of 25 02 January 2014 at 8:13am | IP Logged |
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Hi Duan, I'll be watching your progress in Polish and French with interest. All the best for this year's TAC!
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| hribecek Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5131 days ago 1243 posts - 1458 votes Speaks: English*, Czech, Spanish Studies: Italian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Toki Pona, Russian | Message 4 of 25 02 January 2014 at 1:32pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Duan
I'm one of your new teammates, so just wanted to wish you luck for the year. I also like the sound of Polish and hope that this reason alone will keep you motivated enough during the year. Of course, as your teammate I'll be following your progress. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4578 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French | Message 5 of 25 02 January 2014 at 3:44pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks guys! I will be sure to check out your logs as well!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4578 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French | Message 6 of 25 03 January 2014 at 3:41am | IP Logged |
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Janvier 2, 2013
French: Today I had to return to work, so I only did two lessons, so only an hour this time. However, I'm already learning new things: - The expression "Mais si" (well, that's how it sounds; not sure on the spelling because I am purposely not focusing on spelling. And after being spoiled by phonetic spelling with Polish I realize this will be much harder with all the silent endings) - Speaking of which, silent endings. Did not realize you actually pronounce them after vowels. I sure didn't pay very much attention in all those years of school. - I've been pronouncing "bien" wrong for the last 30 years! Oh well, guess it's never too late to learn! - I like saying madamoiselle. Ok, not much to report really to report. I guess updating every day will be hard. Just trying to keep up momentum. Polish: More Anki, Also started getting back into Memrise and going through my old lists. So far pretty good. I need to get the podcasts. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 5887 days ago 707 posts - 1219 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 7 of 25 03 January 2014 at 9:11pm | IP Logged |
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Hey Duan, I'm glad you've got going with your log.
What kind of podcasts do you listen to? And from where? Podcasts have become central to my learning, and are so interesting in their own right. I get to practise reading and then, reinforcing the comprehension through listening. In the process, I learn a lot about Polish (and world) culture, science, news etc. It's all good! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Duan Newbie Canada Joined 4578 days ago 36 posts - 48 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish, French | Message 8 of 25 04 January 2014 at 12:55am | IP Logged |
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Cześć Mooby,
The podcasts I listem to currently are at realpolish.com. I like them because they have text to go with the audio for when I don't understand (which is often unfortunately). I'm always on the look out for more good content though, so please feel free to make any suggestions! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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