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Time management | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Tomohiro Octoglot Newbie Japan Joined 4137 days ago 20 posts - 41 votes Speaks: Japanese*, Korean, Galician, GermanC2, SpanishC2, Portuguese, Mandarin, English Studies: Russian, Old English, Armenian | Message 1 of 15 23 May 2014 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Time management: public transport, bathroom and gym.
I would like to get some advice about how I can improve or manage my time better inside one mean of transportation and two places I mentioned above. When I go to the work by bus, I tend to listen to some music in my target language because I rather prefer to relax my mind, instead of doing something else which only causes an additional and unnecessary stress. I have tried listening to some podcast before, but the buses motors are usually very noisy and by the time I take the bus, I cannot help it because every day it is very crowded. Unfortunately people usually speak very loudly and consequently I get stressed by not being able to concentrate on the listening and not being able to get the meaning. I have tried reading before, but I usually have a headache and I get distracted by other people’s noise or because of other people's songs turning on their cellphones volume to the maximum level; not to mention the fact that the buses shakes too much due to geographical conditions and holes that I often see on the streets. What are the other options? Is there something else better than just listening to music I can try? As for the gym, I must do some physical exercises to strengthen my lower and upper body due to a medical recommendation. To be honest, I do not like the bodybuilding exercises, but I cannot help it. I have tried training at different gyms, but the general concept here in the city I live in (perhaps it is everywhere) is the fact that they turn on the music very loud. I found it a waste of time to be obliged to listen to some popular songs that have not much meaning, at least, for my standard and my own taste. I have bought an Ipod which I use in the bus and yesterday I tried using it at the gym. My training endures an average time of one hour, not considering the stretching which is not that long. I thought about listening to some podcast which I can concentrate depending on the areas of the gym I am doing the exercises. Yesterday I could listen to the music I have inserted into my Ipod some weeks ago. Besides the podcast and music, what else would you recommend me? My other idea was to write down some vocabulary words into a paper sheet and bring it to the gym. It could be any paper that someone would throw away. I usually use its back to write something. I also could print something; bring a small notebook or even a small book which contains phrases in my target language. My cellphone was robbed when I was assaulted and it has been very common in my life. Therefore, I am using an old cellphone. It is still a smartphone that I use only for calling purposes. Its screen doesn’t help me much for reading. I also would find difficult to read something because the 3G service offered by the telephone company has not improved for years, at least, not in this city. Concerning the bathroom, I know that this might be very rude, impolite or weird for some people here since there are a variety of cultural backgrounds here. I will apologize for that. I have talked to some elders in this town and they have told me that they read newspapers while they are in the restroom. Among the elders, there are also those who listen to news by radio or even music. I have recently purchased an Ipod for working purposes, but I am using it at home for reading and watching some videos as well. I thought about listening to something while I am showering or shaving. It would be a waste of time if I ignore all those “free time” I have in a day. I may say that one hour at bus; one at the gym; 10-40 minutes waiting at the bus stop; and X minutes at the restroom could be used in a more efficient way. How do you guys use your time on the three places I specified on this thread? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6391 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 2 of 15 23 May 2014 at 3:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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You can get some ideas in this thread.
I personally need music while reading during a commute. I used to need instrumental music but now I can use music with lyrics too. Also, don't underestimate mental practice. You can simply make random sentences in your head/think in L2/translate what you see&hear etc. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5560 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 3 of 15 23 May 2014 at 3:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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First of all, don't stress yourself to clock in the extra minutes when the effort outweighs the quality of those minutes.
I personally read books or listen to podcasts in public transport because that gives me something to concentrate on other than other people's conversations. It is possible to reduce the distraction by using ear plugs for reading, or noise cancelling headphones or something to muffle outside noise (meaning you also don't have to put the volume as high), but it only makes sense when doing that doesn't mean you're stressed out more by doing it regularly. As for the gym and doing personal hygiene, I personally think those moments are best left to concentrating on what you are doing, not on taking in new information. Apart from that being more efficient and less prone to errors and accidents in many cases - our brain also needs breaks. Well, I do listen to podcasts when taking walks, but I find I can't really take in the information when I'm jogging or doing more complex exercises. Edited by Bao on 23 May 2014 at 3:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5030 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 4 of 15 23 May 2014 at 3:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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I believe that given the constraints you have with the loud noise on the bus and at the gym, you could perhaps use this time to have a conversation with yourself in your target language. For example you could decide to do an interview with a historical person. You then have to conduct the interview and answer all the questions as that person. Suppose you decide that you will interview "Miyamoto Musashi" (who is the only historical Japanese person I know) and you complete an imaginary interview with him in your head.
You (in your head, in your TL): Hello Miyamoto Musashi, please tell tell our audience about yourself. Him (in your head, in your TL): My name is Miyamoto Musashi. I was born in 1584 in the in Harima Province. I wrote the book Gorin no Sho .... You keep this interview going the whole time in your head, and if you come across a word in the target language you don't know, you write it down in your native language and look it up later. This helps you to identify vocabulary you don't know, and to use your target language without the need for books, iPods, or other physical materials, other than a bit of paper and pencil. The advantage of having imaginary interviews or conversations is that you are using the language just like you would when speaking to someone. If you were to just sit and try to say the TL word for everything you see then you will only use nouns. This method lets you use a lot of verbs, past, present, and future tense. In the toilets... I'll leave that to you. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5169 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 15 23 May 2014 at 3:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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Noise cancelling headphones should be helpful. They work fine for me with yelling kids around me. I hardly even notice the noise.
What type of workout do you do in the gym? Can you bring a book? That's what I did. I'd simply read for the 4-6 minutes between each workout. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luso Hexaglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5855 days ago 819 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, French, EnglishC2, GermanB1, Italian, Spanish Studies: Sanskrit, Arabic (classical) | Message 6 of 15 23 May 2014 at 8:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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You seem to have an amazing set of constraints.
I also have the concentration problems you mention. One thing that works for me is a small tablet I have, loaded with all kinds of texts in .epub and .pdf formats. I guess you probably own one already and, if not, well... you live in Japan, right? Buying one shouldn't set you back a lot. Anyway, you can load the tablet at home with light stuff and read it in most places. I'd advise against reading it on the bus, but the gym would be ok. No need to rely on good wi-fi, or whatever (since you'll only be reading the stuff you uploaded at home). Edited by Luso on 23 May 2014 at 9:30pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4641 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 7 of 15 24 May 2014 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't know... those things can be expensive in Japan unless they are second-hand. My little 16 GB Android Walkman cost almost 20,000 yen (roughly 200 USD). iPads cost at least three times that much. But other than pricing, I totally agree. Those kind of devices help out a lot. The Android Walkman is especially useful for the restroom, because you can operate it with one hand, freeing your other hand to... well... you know. Just make sure to keep the Walkman clean! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 3938 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 8 of 15 24 May 2014 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, I'll admit it...I use my phone to do anki reps in the bathroom. Ha!
2 persons have voted this message useful |
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