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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Via Diva Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4023 days ago 1109 posts - 1427 votes  Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek | Message 105 of 129 23 June 2015 at 3:54am | IP Logged | ||
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I never had to prepare to something language-involving in a short period of time, but I guess it's only fine to switch between languages just to keep the brain fit, so to speak. Concentrating on something usually does no good (except the cases when you
really want it). So yeah, good luck! I meant the background in Austen of course, so why don't you pick up her books in Swedish too? Use audio in any language you know better to make it easier, if you want to ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3645 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 106 of 129 24 June 2015 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I try not to consciously focus on one aspect of a language too much because I tend to get restless, irritated and frustrated - or to do everything BUT the thing I said I'd do. But I've reached a point where I need to sit down and actually STUDY GRAMMAR rather than hoping it'll just click for me. I've been doing French for ten years, and I can string together a sentence with relative ease, but I am making the same, easily avoided mistakes again and again.
About Austen in Swedish - I'm a step ahead of you! I'm only on Chapter two of P&P, but I recorded myself reading it aloud for the output challenge. Somehow, when I'm am simply reading aloud to myself things are fine, but the instant I turn the microphone on things start to go pear shaped... --- I've done a lot of Swedish today. I read through the FSI dialogues from 7-12, again, something I should have recorded, and listened to the first chapter of Låt den rätta komma in without reading along. It went well! as it should have done, considering how well I know the material. I also messaged with my boyfriend a little in Swedish, and watched the first episode of Taxi through twice: first with subtitles, then without. This evening is the Swedish meetup, and at this exact moment, I have about an hour before I should leave, if I want to be there right from the start of things. I received a follow up email from the University of Groningen, who created the Introduction to Dutch course that I have yet to finish. They are offering two courses, both much heavier than the introductory course. The first aims to get participants to A1, the second to get them to A2, I believe. I am wondering whether I should shoot for the A2 course. It will be an eight week course with an estimated 8-10 hour per week workload. I know I can get to A2 by myself without paying €175, but the course will include skype sessions with the tutors... I'll have to see how things go. I don't particularly want to do the A1 course, so I'll have to get myself there on my own before the course starts. I haven't done all that much for my other languages. For French, I'm reading slowly through the most recent copy of the revue 'D'ici là'. It is interesting, a mix of text, sound and image, but for some unknown reason I am taking it slow. I am also slowly watching through Livre I of Kaamelott. For German, I have been reading the German translation of the lyrics to Kaizer's Orchestra's Violeta Violeta trilogie. The Nynorsk and the Deutsch are kind of supporting each other, in that I'm having to rely on them both to understand the words. Thankfully, I've read through the English translations of all the songs and know what they're all about, which helps a lot. The downside is... major wanderlust!! The more I read it, the more beautiful Nynorsk is - not to mention that I love Kaizers Orchestra, their music and the way Janove sings. I feel like chances of my actually confusing Nynorsk and Svenska are relatively low, but I'll stay away at any rate. I have enough Germanic languages on my hit list as it is. In the week that follows, I will hopefully continue on an upward path. I guess I should set some goals, as that has worked well for me in the past, so here they are:
Study French grammar three times. Watch an episode of something in French. Alternate between episodes of Mumin and Taxi. Listen to more Låt den rätta komma in. Swedish dictation. Record something for the output challenge. Carry on reading through Violeta Violeta in German. Read two chapters in German. For the pieces of D'ici là that are visual, I will try to write and post a comment on them. I won't set restrictions of what this comment has to be, or how long. It just has to exist. I will also aim to study grammar for at least fifteen minutes each session. At any rate, I will count a session as fifteen minutes long. So if, say, today, I only study for ten minutes, I will have to study for a further five minutes to make up one session. Just to make things harder for myself, however, I won't count a single session of half an hour as two sessions. I don't want to binge on grammar and get a lot done at once and then neglect it again. As we all know, French episodes can vary wildly in length, and so I will be counting 'episode' as a fixed unit - either half an hour or forty five minutes. I am undecided on this point. I will try to watch an episode of Mumin and Taxi every day, or the equivalent amount. So, I should have around seven epsiodes under my belt this time next week. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll have fourteen episodes down - which would equal and episode of each every day. The dictation may well be of Låt den rätta komma in as I have the text for that, but it could be something else. I also will try to listen to some more of a podcast. I tried doing so yesterday, but it was a lot harder than TV watching, and I didn't help myself by doing dishes at the same time. If I can find some time to consecrate purely to understanding a podcast, then I will do so. Otherwise... who knows? Although, for the interested, På Minuten seems like an entertaining one. And for German? Well. I'll try my best! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 107 of 129 24 June 2015 at 10:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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Nice to see you back and with plans! The first time I listened to Kaizers Orchestra, back in 2001, I wasn't even aware of all that 'Nynorsk being used in music' thing. I thought they were just singing in dialect while I should search for songs in 'bokmål' instead.
I tend to suffer from not having enough grammar consolidated when I reach intermediate stages. I may either review old textbooks just for the grammar or pick up denser grammar books when available. Either way, I find output important later for consolidation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4310 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic | Message 108 of 129 24 June 2015 at 11:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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They do sing in dialect (jærsk - one of the most beautiful dialects if you ask
Norwegians) usually, but the written down lyrics might be normalized to Nynorsk (I don't know for Violeta Violeta though, I mostly listen to older stuff). It's hard to find music which is really sung in (modern) Nynorsk, not just some Western dialect. Edited by daegga on 24 June 2015 at 11:36pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| rtickner Diglot Groupie AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3307 days ago 61 posts - 95 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB2 Studies: French, Spanish | Message 109 of 129 25 June 2015 at 3:21am | IP Logged | ||
This is EXACTLY where I am at too - have studied German for ten years, fairly fluid with conversation, but find myself "winging it" a lot when it comes to case declensions, unknown genders, etc. Have come to the same conclusion, that I need to sit down and work through a whole bunch of grammatical exercises in order to get better. Looking forward to seeing how you come along with it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3645 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 110 of 129 25 June 2015 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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@Expug - I avoid it, but it feels really good to sit down and set out some goals and see myself achieve them. I'm hardly ambitious with my time - and if I was I would have to change the name of this log! - but it can sometimes get frustrating to be meandering aimlessly. But my French is really crying out for help. I have never really sat down and tried to learn grammar. Explicit grammar lessons only came in University, and they mostly just confused me. I'd study for a test and then instantly forget everything we had learnt. So I think this is going to have to be a long, slow process - I can''t really brush up or consolidate, because I have barely even got a starting point, aside from knowing how to conjugate.
@daegga - I'm not sure whether the written lyrics are normalised or not - I can't tell. But for those interested, they can be found at Konzert Junkie. And now I know the dialect, too... making this that much harder to resist! @rtickner - yeah, it becomes harder to sit down and really work at it after more time, because you feel like there are things you should already know, or which you half know, and other things which have become ingrained and need serious work with ajax (a comprehensive grammar) and a wire scrubbing brush (exercises upon exercises upon exercises) to get out. Hopefully I do get along with it, and that I can be a model to all those students who, like me, have been avoiding all things grammar for too long. --- A propos of this awful grammar situation, I have thought about getting a tutor for more guidance. I have worked through an exercise in my Ultimate Review and Practice, and I have come to two anti-conclusions. Anti-conclusion one is that I don't know if I like that book. Explanations are clear enough, but I feel like I need even more exercises than they typically provide for each subpoint, and more examples, too. Anti-conclusion two is that I don't know whether I should be going back and working my way through it from the very beginning, ironing out the small flaws and points of confusion, or if I would be better served only working on the things I really don't know. The book seems to build upon itself, which is great except for all of the things I kind of sort of know. In which case, should I just switch to the grammaire progressif that I have? So much confusion, in so little time. For now, I'll finish the exercise that I'm on, and then have a look at the corresponding section in my Schaum's. Perhaps I should also take a peet in my Glanville-Pryce to see if that helps. A definite conclusion that I have reached is that I need to change my grammar goal for the week. I forgot to start timing my sessions, and I have realised that by time isn't the best way to categories them. Instead, I should work on the basis of concepts studied. I've decided this because some concepts will obviously need more time dedicated to them than others, but I don't want to have to whizz through things in order to make sure that I make up my time as that would be to the detriment of my comprehension. I will therefore try to study TWO GRAMMAR CONCEPTS in this week. I've reduced the number, because I really need to get these things buried deep in my mind. I have finished reading the first piece in the revue, and I have started thinking about the commentary I should write on it. Although it is a written piece, and I only said that I would comment on the visual pieces, it would actually benefit me to comment on the written pieces as well, talking about the formm, the subject, etc. I am hoping to worm my way into publishing somehow, possibl in foreign rights, so being able to talk about literature outside of an academic context will probably help. The big news is that I went to the Swedish Meetup. Yay!! There were eight people there, and I think they were all learners, although there was someone who was possibly a heritage learner (I didn't speak to her, so I can't be sure). I almost didn't go, but I'm glad it did. It was my first time talking Swedish in a social, group situation, and also my first time speaking in a public place. The other members were all quite quiet, and at one point a large group of children trudged into the Royal Festival Hall where we were meeting and stood around indecisively making a lot of noise, but that only posed the smallest of problems. So I'm pretty happy! Despite two small hiccups - not being able to remember 'att hitta' and not being able to find a suitable Swedish equivalent for 'to graduate' - I had all the words I needed, and sometimes the words that other members of the group needed, too! Sadly I won't be able to make the next Wednesday meetup, as I'll be in Sweden. Damn! ;) But I'll try to make the one after that. My hours at work will be changing too, so I should also be able to make the monthly Thursday meetup, too. Nothing done for German so far, but I'll get back to it as soon as I have time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Expugnator Hexaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 4955 days ago 3335 posts - 4349 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian | Message 111 of 129 26 June 2015 at 1:51am | IP Logged | ||
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Sounds like a plan, Elenia! I still stick to my 10-page a day for the grammars I read, because I think aiming for 'completion' would add a lot of stress. I ahev no problem with reaching time goals but reaching a quick 'learning goal' would bring me stress. Go figure.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Elenia Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom lilyonlife.blog Joined 3645 days ago 239 posts - 327 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto | Message 112 of 129 27 June 2015 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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10 Pages a day! That's more Grammar than I can fit into my head at one time! But we all have different limits, and what is important is knowing what they are and working in a way that suits us. Besides, your exceptional dedication and ability to do so much are inspiring to me! Do you prefer plan grammars with explanations and example sentences, or exercises?
--- I moved over to Schaum's as I said I would, and I find that I much prefer it. There are better explanations, and more examples and exercises. But I'll continue working through both of them, to maximise the amount of exercises I am doing. I guess it would be beneficial to try and use those sentence in my writing... which reminds me, I still have not written a comment on the first two pieces of D'ici là. I have a lot to do today, but hopefully I will have some time to get a little more done. I read another chapter of Stolthet och fördom and recorded myself. My speaking total for the output challenge is now 26m30... not that much >.< But I have been doing other speaking that hasn't been recorded for the challenge. I don't much mind that it won't count towards my total, as I joined the challenge to actually get more confidence with speaking, and to speak more. So any output is good output, in my humble opinion. My written output is also languishing at around 1,200/1,300 words. Got to do more of that, then! I spent a good portion of time yesterday experimenting with apps for my computer in Swedish and German. There are a lot more for German than Swedish, but I managed to find 'Tricture', an app where you have to guess three words from a picture. So, you'll see someones feet standing on a bollard by water and you guess 'shoes', 'chain' and 'water' (skor, kedje och vatten, if I a remembering correctly...). There is also an interactive mumin story that you can buy (I only tried it out in English, but you can have the choice to change language when you purchase). I only got one app in German, a comic optimised for digital reading. It is called Die Legende der Drachenritter, and I'm having to look up most of the words, but I'm having fun. I really like comics using that format, although I still think it was done best using the comixology app - lovely, fluid transitions between images. But, this tale was being given away free for a limited period - others were around £7. Finally, it looks like there will be no Barcelona trip for me this summer. There's no more holiday at work, for one thing, and I'll be changing section so it'll be difficult to coordinate. But my friend will also be coming to stay with us for a while, and I'd rather not leave her alone for five days (my sister will be here for some of the time). Not that I don't trust her or anything like that, but I don't want her to feel lonely or anything, as she lost her father very recently. So, that means Cataln will be pushed back, or at least, not studied in earnest. But, I do want to go to Italy with my cousins and my sister in October, so it looks like Italian is on the menu. I've never particularly wanted to learn Italian, but I did dabble in a bit when I was younger. As I got older, I developed an active dislike of Italian (alongside Spanish and French...) but I guess I can overcome that. My friends want to go to Italy next summer, too, so it'd be nice to have a grounding in the language... 1 person has voted this message useful |
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