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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4795 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 9 of 217 14 January 2015 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks for all the support, guys and gals! Now this log is really going to fulfull the
purpose of public shaming should I be lazy! :-D NIeng Zhongan: Well, the fact the northern Spaniards are finding the andalusians harder to understand at times, that is a little bit of an excuse, isn't it? :-) No, I haven't spent significant amounts of time in any francophone coutry. Yet, I am not afraid of the comprehension part of the exams, from what I've seen in my preparatory books, the Super Challenge, although unfinished, has prepared me excellently for that (to people having only disdain for sci-fi: it is a painless way to assimilate lots of real science vocabulary as well). The trouble will lie elsewhere. One of the main troubles of my writing (and to lesser extent speaking) are the stupid mistakes in things I know that I make once I am writing too fast (and thinking too fast). I will need to calm down during the exam, read everything after myself as many times as I can squeeze in the limit. Both parts will depend largely on the topic I will get in the exam. Despite warnings from some people, I signed up for the science option. (I am under the impression most people doing DALF are humanities students, so of course they are scared of science but I may be wrong) I think I chose well as I heard yesterday about a guy who got the evolution of the French language in his DALF C2-lettres. Really, I am not a linguist, I have nearly no clue about such things and I don't like many subjects of humanities and many literary genres either. For the science, I am quite lucky to be student of medicine as that is quite a usual topic. Apart from that, I need to look at some wikipedia articles about motors, physics and so on, to get the common vocabulary down, especially due to the matter I mention in the next paragraph: The key to success lies not only in good mastery of the language. When you are writing, you need to keep inside of the narrow area between reusing phrases from your source texts and getting out of the topic, both of which are a disaster. Let's see. This is quite an adrenaline rush. I am quite likely to fail, truth be told. But I have still got a month to squeeze as much French between my university exams as possible. My action plan for the first week of the preparatory frenzy (that is from now to the 20th of January: -Grammaire Progressive-finish the grammar review as much as possible in order to minimize the chance of stupid mistakes that are due to stress, high speed of work or overthinking -Vocabulaire Progressif-get through the books and get all the vocab that is ACTIVELY not 100% drilled to the brain. Anki is the tool. --Why: I have large passive vocabulary. I am good at figuring things out of context, I can exploit all the overlaps with my other languages, including the rudiments of Latin. However, I tend to stick to less rich vocabulary when I am under pressure. And vocabulary, no matter what some people commonly speaking about the exams think, IS being evaluated. You cannot pass such an exam using just a 1000 words long frequency list. -Write at least 4 plans de texte and one essai argumenté Apart from that, I've been reading Pevel in the public transport, Les Lames du Cardinal. It is awesome, especially given the coincidence I am reading this right after Les Trois Musquetaires. But I don't have much time for it. Thanks for the Chez Jerome link, it is already on my reading list. I've been reading some explanations of how to write a proper plan de text and such things. It is very valuable to see it from another point of view than just the one from my preparatory book. Really, can't the Scary Red Book's authors see that the DALF candidates have not spent years in a French lycée and that the works written there are totally different from those writen elsewhere? Apart from French: I am using Duolingo for German (and today Swedish out of procrastination, stupid me) just to keep slightly in touch with it. Truth be told, I am surprised to see so many changes to Duolingo since I last tried. Sure, the translations do have some drawbacks (for exemple translating a German sentence to English. the sentence can be translated either with present simple or present continuous and both are correct but Duolingo recognizes just one...), but I like the voice recognition and the other exercises as well, especially the typing ones. An interesting experience: Yesterday, I started taking bachata lessons with my boyfriend. And in our group, there is a latinoamerican guy who doesn't understand any Czech. And a guy studying French at university. This is gonna be fun. And I love bachata! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| sctroyenne Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5177 days ago 739 posts - 1312 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Irish | Message 10 of 217 15 January 2015 at 1:28am | IP Logged | |||||
One exericse that may help this is to practice dictées. It really trains you to develop a process for double-checking your writing (make several passes checking for one category of errors each time rather than everything all at once). There are tons of practice ones all over the internet.
AMEN! I've spent years now still not quite getting the actual French writing process. They have a very set structure to writing and argumentation and a very strict set of methods taught to them in order to acheive it (reflected in the little trousse with multi-colored pens, white out pen, ruler, etc that literally every student has at all time on their desks). You don't learn that just from a little test prep guide! Oh BTW, were you still going to be in the Advanced Study group? No pressure to post your intro or contribute right now if you are. Just want to get our "final" roster done. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4795 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 11 of 217 18 January 2015 at 12:55am | IP Logged | |||||
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So, I am behind on my plan but not that much.
-I am continuing the grammar review from the three tomes of Gram. Prog., finished last bit of Intermediare (yeah, when you are going through more levels at once, tiny pieces of the easiest one are just going to just lie around for ages), so only Avancé and Perfectionnement are still in the game, partially filled out. -Worked a bit more on the plans but not too much as my university exams are interfering. Other languages: -I am using Duolingo for German pros: it is easy to use in tiny pauses between other things, the gamification helps, it is some contact with the language, I like it as additional practice. And some of the sentences are pretty funny, no matter whether intentionally or not. cons: i am not progressing, i need to get back to assimil and other serious sources asap. And I really cannot understand how could anyone use it as their main source for learning a language from the beginnings. i tried duolingo for Spanish and gave up as I really didn't like it. From what I've seen, it uses weird vocabuary, that means for words I know, it uses synonyms I've never seen anywhere, never heard in Spain or in a tv series etc. And I hate the way it uses the personal pronouns in every sentence, to make them more similar to English. No, the real Spanish doesn't have them in most sentences, wake up. Scrtoyenne, I am glad I am not the only one struggling with this :-D (of course, I'd be glad if you didn't struggle like I do, you know what I mean...) I read a few dozens pages in French but still not finished. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4795 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 12 of 217 09 February 2015 at 11:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hi guys and gals, I am freaking out because of the DALF.
Here is the situation: I haven't done even one third of what I planned. I caught cold and I am sleeping lots and lots, I am studying for my university exams as well and so on. I feel like I'm gonna fail horribly. And procrastination is here again, as the hope fades out. I am not afraid that much of speaking, even my tutor believes I shouldn't have trouble with that part, at least if there are no weird things like in my B2 (such as one of the two examinators leaving, possibly for a coffee or I don't know, and the other being extremely stonefaced and passive despite being supposed to spend a significant part of time by posing questions and making me react). I hope the C2 will happen as it is described in the official exam information sheet. My writing might be the disastre. My recent creations are nothing that awesome. -First problem is that my tutor is checking only for mistakes and not for the formal things, which are however just as important. Sure, I understand he doesn't want to get through a series of texts and then go for the formalities but still. And while he had prepared people for various exams in past, I found out quite late DALF is was on the list. So, I can only hope his feedbacks is sufficient (it should, as the DALF writing is basically what all the French write at lycée. I hope.). -Second: I am not writing enough. -Third, I am making tons of mistakes I hate myself for. I suppose that will be much better at the exam as I will probably be more focused and I will have plenty of time to check everything twice of three times after myself. -Fourth: I am not gaining much confidence in my writing, such a loss never helps anything. Did I mention the cold and sleeping 12 hours a day and eating tons of vitamines to survive without getting worse? Oh, and the full nose is gonna help my pronunciation for sure. One more ill person around me and I am f...ed. That is no way to study efficiently. I hate February and winter. I hate flu epidemies. And I wish so much the DALF schedule would offer me another option than intererence with university exams, that way I would not only have more time for preparation. I would be much less stressed in general. I've passed two exams so far but the third one (approximately one week after the DALF) is going to be the most difficult of the three I must pass this semester. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| PeterMollenburg Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5262 days ago 821 posts - 1273 votes Speaks: English* Studies: FrenchB1 | Message 13 of 217 10 February 2015 at 8:14am | IP Logged | |||||
I had to laugh at this... the leaving for a coffee was somewhat amusing, but 'being extremely stonefaced' made me laugh :) Sorry I know this doesn't help your exam that's coming up.
You may or may not want to hear this or you may or may not label it as rubbish. People in today's world tend to ignore the body or treat it like an abstract robotic thing, that can be fixed with more abstract things, or chemicals. I'm not suggesting you do this, but I am pointing to the fact that our modern world does not promote a good immune system. I think you ought to take a look at your general health whether it be after this stressful period ends or right now, or perhaps some change now, some more later. My personal advice in your situation. Cut out the sugar (depletes immune strength) as much as you can without 'shocking yourself' this includes white flour/bread/pastries, alcohol and other processed foods and sweets. These imitate the effects of sugar- weakens immune strength, raises blood sugar, increases inflammation, promotes illness, attacks protein structures. Boost your immune strength via natural methods. Don't necessarily trust marketed gimmicks (i don't buy vitamins, but do buy some natural remedies, but generally eat a lot better), so get good wholesome food into you. Analyse the flu injection. Vaccination is an extremely controversial topic. Studies have shown that it has done NOTHING to reduce the number of sick days taken by employees and an article I read even had excerpts of Australian scientist who'd help work on developing the shots and he stated it was worthless. Many alternative sources state with most vaccines you are better off running the risk of getting ill/sick than taking the -not reported sufficiently enough- risks involved with the shot itself. Many natural specialists and a small percentage of daring doctors advise you are doing your immune strength much more harm than good by having these shots. Much of the media and mainstream medecine reports otherwise. Sometimes it's hard to see the truth when you're saturated with one side of the argument. Your choice, I'm not telling you what to do, just suggesting you take a look at this too if you want to strengthen your immunity. Don't shock your body but start to build your immune strength by what you put in your body, don't destroy it with processed crap. If you want to go real extreme (now or later) look up the health benefits of very very low carb diets with higher volumes of healthy fat. In short it sounds like you need to take better care of your body. Do what works for you. The above comes from a personal perspective. It's amazing how much better you can function on the right foods, and when taking extra care of yourself (no accusation at all intended there). Try some experiments with your diet. Don't eat wheat and gluten for a month, then eat it again. You'll then more than likely notice how much that one source of food was seriously messing with you. Gluten weakens your immune strength too by damaging the micro-vili in your gut and thus weakening immune strength leaving your GI tract vulnerable. This might seem way off topic, but fact is the healthier you are the more you can enjoy your life and the things you do. PM 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5768 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 14 of 217 10 February 2015 at 9:18am | IP Logged | |||||
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Aww good luck with the exam. Try not to put yourself under unnecessary stress. Unlike your university exams, if you do fail horribly it doesn't actually matter. You lose your exam fee and maybe take a blow to your ego, but that's all. And you can resit as many times as you want.
It's rubbish being ill but all you can do is accept it, rest and recover. I'm in a similar position being full of cold while I have to prepare for a job interview that is not of my choosing. My husband got sick a couple of weeks ago and I did so well to avoid infection. But I let my guard down at work last week and realised too late I was surrounded by infected people. Like a bad zombie movie! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4319 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 15 of 217 10 February 2015 at 10:11am | IP Logged | |||||
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I just realized you changed log for the New Year. Lots of luck with the French exam. C2 sounds so grown up!
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6383 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 16 of 217 10 February 2015 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
To balance out and to amuse Cavesa :))) Good luck! 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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