Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Super Challenge discussion thread 2014

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
432 messages over 54 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 17 ... 53 54 Next >>
Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6357 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 129 of 432
12 February 2014 at 7:01pm | IP Logged 
That was the original implementation, but the rule was simply that anything between 100 and 499 pages = 1 book. 500 were two. And we were still hoping to read 100. Crazy times.

50 pages isn't any less arbitrary than 90 mins.

As for the bot, it's not even Cristina who's doing it. The bot de facto does the codification of what is right and legitimate and the best goal.
1 person has voted this message useful



Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 4926 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 130 of 432
12 February 2014 at 7:33pm | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:

Expugnator, the bot page currently says it should be up sometime in March, although
with the changes that we're asking for, maybe April is more like it (at least I'm sure
nobody will mind). We can totally advise you on picking the language(s)/materials.
Maybe say a little about your experience with other challenges, especially Tadoku?


I don't join other challenges like Tadoku or 6WC because I already have a routine that
takes up the whole day. What I want to do is work more on the languages I already do
native materials for, and, most important, I want to keep track of this progress so as
to analize how much I will have improved (or not) after the challenge.

Cross-posting from my log (it's long because it is detailed per language, you may just
skim it to get an idea):

Super Challenge

Well, I've realized that my 20 pages a day in French would be enough for
achieving a Super Challenge. On the other hand, I have been doing this routine of 20
French pages a day (mostly intensive but lately rather extensive) over a year
ago
and I don't think my French saw that huge gap. On the contrary: after dropping
the textbook stage, I think what I learned came more from videos than from reading. So,
I don't know if this challenge or my routine itself will be effective for this
transition. I don't even know my French level for sure. I believe I'm B2 with some
gaps, because I really can talk about almost everything despite making mistakes, and I
can also understand almost everything at spoken fiction French, including some
word eat-ups and slang.

I haven't calculated how it would work with videos. I take 20 minutes a day with
Norwegian video, plus 15-20 min of listening/reading. Maybe Norwegian is
elligible for a video challenge and for a half reading challenge (what I read are 10
pages which I happen to L-R because I have audio).

So, in theory Norwegian is the ideal language for a Super Challenge because I'm at a B1
level. Considering my current routine, though, I could do a full French reading and a
half French A/V challenge + a half Norwegian reading and a full Norwegian A/V challenge
without making any changes to my already intensive routine. In calmer days, I could
also add 10 more pages (from a different source) in Norwegian and 10-30 more minutes in
French, and that would allow me for a full challenge in both. I wouldn't stick these to
my main routine though, as it is already intense enough. I'm only replacing activities
instead of adding new ones, the exception being apps (Anki, Duolingo, Memrise) which
can be worked on in a more relaxed way. Maybe I could read 5 pages a day in Georgian if
I started with easy, translated novels (Paulo Coelho, anyone?); more than that would
mean a daily Georgian burnout. I already read 2 pages in a mirrored (Georgian-
English) reader and 2 more in a mirrored novel.

As for Papiamento, I listen to no more than 5 minutes a day and that's just
background, thus not elligible. There isn't enough interesting audio/video out there
for me to spend a challenge on that. In the case of books, there's just not enough
material at all in Papiamento, I'm afraid! That is to say, if we pile up all the books
currently available for purchase in Papiamento, it may not be enough to accomplish a
super challenge :/

EDIT: I almost forgot to analize Chinese! The situation is similar to Norwegian,
though the level surely isn't (I believe I'm at a higher A2 for active skills but
listening is far from transparent, not to mention reading). I could accomplish an A/V
challenge with 20 minutes a day of Chinese videos. No reading, though.
1 person has voted this message useful





emk
Diglot
Moderator
United States
Joined 5292 days ago

2615 posts - 8806 votes 
Speaks: English*, FrenchB2
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 131 of 432
12 February 2014 at 8:03pm | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
No ribbons for audio-only or books-only half challenges?.. Sounds like that, and kinda unfair if so, given that during the first challenge the Half Super Challenge options were considered equal, whether you do 50/50 instead of 100/100 or do just one kind of 100. I don't mind if it's changed for the next challenge but it was a legitimate option.

Yeah, there were a lot of people who completed audio-only challenges, but not the reading. And then there's one person who read way over 100 books but who only watched ~72 films.

The good news is that we're going to create a "Hall of Frame" thread sometime soon, and we'll include all the challenge details there, including everybody who completed an audio-only challenge, plus the TAC winners, and everybody else who wins a big challenge. So your extra movies-only challenges will not go unrecognized!
1 person has voted this message useful



patrickwilken
Senior Member
Germany
radiant-flux.net
Joined 4293 days ago

1546 posts - 3200 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 132 of 432
12 February 2014 at 9:32pm | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
There's also the fact that afaiu everyone who completed the 100 books challenge in French/German/Spanish and of course English was starting around B1 (and higher for English).


For the record I was A1 when I started the German SC.
1 person has voted this message useful



kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4649 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 133 of 432
13 February 2014 at 2:31am | IP Logged 
Oh Solfrid, did you make it easier by dropping the number of pages, or harder by tempting
us to try more?!?   'Cause I've already started a possible list for Italian, Spanish, and
French.

Thanks for making the final decision early - it will help us in moving on and planning
our own studies.

For Expugnator & others who are assessing their choices: I actually found the video part
more challenging. I could work in reading on the bus, at the coffee shop, over
lunch, on the beach ... there's a lot of flexibility. It was much harder to find the
time to sit down and watch a flic, and even harder to find 100 movies that I actually
liked (that part was surprising).
4 persons have voted this message useful



Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6357 days ago

9753 posts - 15779 votes 
4 sounds
Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

 
 Message 134 of 432
13 February 2014 at 2:50am | IP Logged 
Audiobooks, podcasts, sports and tv also count (as long as you're not just listening in the background, of course). There's no way I could find 100 movies that I like either (though I watched HP more than once for example).

@Expugnator, of course it's up to you but this challenge is mostly oriented at extensive reading. or reading with a popup dictionary (I know emk did that a lot). Have you seen this article about reading strategies, btw?
Also please note that if you do LR with both in the same language, you should choose what counts.
1 person has voted this message useful



Tsopivo
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4231 days ago

258 posts - 411 votes 
Speaks: French*, English
Studies: Esperanto

 
 Message 135 of 432
13 February 2014 at 3:59am | IP Logged 
Cavesa wrote:

I think the challenge is being too connected with the bot in our minds at times.


You are quite correct. For me, the bot was definitively the most important part of the challenge and that colours my opinion. Thanks for pointing that out.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Solfrid Cristin
Heptaglot
Winner TAC 2011 & 2012
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 5094 days ago

4143 posts - 8864 votes 
Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 136 of 432
13 February 2014 at 10:03am | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
g-bod wrote:
Serpent wrote:
Well it's not downright impossible but it puts the learners of these languages at a huge disadvantage compared to French, Spanish etc. And I'm speaking about the reading part here.


I'm fairly confident I could complete a Japanese SC now, but my reading skills are already around B2.
The question was about the original challenge, which was 100/100 and only at B1 or lower (otherwise 200/200). I agree that when you're at B2 you can complete the challenge in any single language.

Cristina, that's awesome! Just please don't force me to register and unregister by limiting it to three languages.

Also 2) made it sound like the actual challenge is 200 items, and it's up to you if you do 100/100 or 150/50, as long as you complete a star in both parts. No?

and 7) - it would be great if listing your level was only required if you're a C1 or C2 (or an iron solid B2 ready to pass a test at that level). I have no clue how to list my level in most of my languages for example, but I'd happily make it clear that I've already reached advanced fluency in Finnish (and English).



I doubt that I will strictly prohibit any number of languages, I will just make a VERY STRONG RECCOMENDATION that people stick to one language only, or two or three as an absolute maximum for the crazy ones. Now for the ones beyond crazy, like you and Kerrie, I think I will just let you do your thing :-) I am just afraid that when people see you guys enlist with 4 or 5 they will think that this is the normal thing, and that doing just one Super Challenge is a walk in the park. Even with the reduced reading, finishing a Super Challenge is still a major acheivement, and I would much rather that people do just one language, and succeed with that one, than that they fail in 4.

Point 2.
The actual challenge is 100/100. However, if you do 150/50, you will get the 4 stars for it as a motivational boost, and you will get a mentioning at the Hall of Fame, you will just not be a Super Challenge winner. In order to complete the challenge you must do 100/100. Given that the reading has been reduced to half that should still accomodate most people.

Point 7. I think it would make more sense if we all listed our levels - even if it is just an estimate. If you know you are an A1-A2 you are less likely to lose confidence even if you are a slow reader, if you see that your faster reading competitors are at B2. In reading speed, the difference between a low A2 and a high B1 can be major.


2 persons have voted this message useful



This discussion contains 432 messages over 54 pages: << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.3945 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.