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Output Challenge Discussion Thread

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garyb
Triglot
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ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*, Italian, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 33 of 42
09 April 2015 at 11:42am | IP Logged 
I wrote half a fairly tale last month. I should really finish it soon!

I love the idea for this month, I'd like to do a video (probably something music-related, relating to my recent log post about music vocabulary), but 30 minutes seems like an excessive length. I doubt I'd have the time to produce a video that long or find something to talk about for that long and keep it interesting, and I wouldn't expect anyone to watch for that long. I think, say, a 5-minute minimum would be more than enough when you consider the effort involved in preparing, recording, and editing.

Then again, I don't expect to complete the audio part of the challenge anyway, I'm realising that 100 hours of recorded audio will never happen for me. So I might just opt out and do my own thing based on the audio challenge ideas.
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rdearman
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 Message 34 of 42
12 April 2015 at 6:58pm | IP Logged 
garyb wrote:
I wrote half a fairly tale last month. I should really finish it soon!

I love the idea for this month, I'd like to do a video (probably something music-related, relating to my recent log post about music vocabulary), but 30 minutes seems like an excessive length. I doubt I'd have the time to produce a video that long or find something to talk about for that long and keep it interesting, and I wouldn't expect anyone to watch for that long. I think, say, a 5-minute minimum would be more than enough when you consider the effort involved in preparing, recording, and editing.

Then again, I don't expect to complete the audio part of the challenge anyway, I'm realising that 100 hours of recorded audio will never happen for me. So I might just opt out and do my own thing based on the audio challenge ideas.


Don't worry if you only do 5 minutes. I put 30 minutes to encourage people to rack up the numbers.
Quote:
This month I'm challenging you to up the numbers.
If you think you can only hold interest for 5-15 minutes, then go for it. Seriously, this challenge is to motivate people to do some output, if 30 minutes is a demotivater for you, then go ahead and bend/break the rules. A little of something is better than a lot of nothing.
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rdearman
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 Message 35 of 42
20 April 2015 at 12:05pm | IP Logged 
Well I finally did it! I managed to complete one of my own challenges!

I've completed a 10 minute video which shows how to make Arancini; stuffed rice balls that are coated with breadcrumbs, and fried. A lovely food which my family love, but is a bit time-consuming to make from scratch.

The video took me about 3 days to produce. I found some cool public domain background music on OpSound. Opsound has all kinds of great free music which artists release in the public domain, have a listen.

I used subedit to generate the sub-titles, luckily I knew how to use this software because of all the work I have done with subs2srs recently, and EMK's instructions.

The single worst part was figuring how to upload sub-titles to YouTube, which doesn't support dual subtitles, e.g. English & Italian on screen at the same time. So had to break up my cool dual sub-station alpha sub-titles and upload separately. You can select either UK English or Italian when you watch it, but I think it defaults to English for some mysterious YouTube setting I couldn't figure out how to change.

Lessons learned from this video. Do a script! Learn to pronounce all the words on the script correctly before you start recording, record each sentence separately and finally do more than one take. From these lessons you'll gather that the pronunciation is very bad.

I'm disappointed at my own poor pronunciation, but I am happy with doing this mini-challenge. It made me lookup and learn words that I'd never used before (and probably never will again) and it was fun. So if I haven't put you off too much...

Here is the video!

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Expugnator
Hexaglot
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Brazil
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 Message 36 of 42
30 April 2015 at 12:19am | IP Logged 
I entered a much more busy routine the past months and I don't have the quality time for output I used to have before. I totally left the fable behind, so no need to extend the deadline because of me. I really don't know when (or whether) I will get back on track for writing dialogues and paragraphs again at Georgian or any other target language.
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rdearman
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 Message 37 of 42
30 April 2015 at 12:40am | IP Logged 
Expugnator wrote:
I entered a much more busy routine the past months and I don't have the quality time for output I used to have before. I totally left the fable behind, so no need to extend the deadline because of me. I really don't know when (or whether) I will get back on track for writing dialogues and paragraphs again at Georgian or any other target language.


If you write one, ten word sentence each day, you'll have done 2460 words. :)
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rdearman
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 Message 38 of 42
01 May 2015 at 6:02pm | IP Logged 
Hi everyone! It is a new month, and time for a new mini-challenge for you outputters!

A quick reminder of the previous challenges, then the new challenge. Remember you can do as much or as little of these as you like and you can do them in any order, or repeat them constantly, or not bother, as you like. Remember you're trying to get your output up, up, up, so why not have a go?

The March Mini-challenge was:
Audio Challenge: Find a short fairy tale in your target language and record yourself reading it.
Written Challenge: Write a fairy tale, it can be as long or short as you want

The April Mini-Challenge was:
Audio and/or Written Challenge: Create an instructional video, audio dialogue, or a written manual which gives "How To" instructions. This can be on any subject from how to build a multi-hulled catamaran, to how to change a battery in a remote control. The audio/video should be at least 30 minutes long, and written instructions must be at least 750 words!

Here it is the May Mini-challenge and it's all about games.
Audio/Video Challenge: Describe the rules of a game, it can be a board game, football, rugby, chess, card, whatever.
Written Challenge: Create a crossword puzzle completely in your target language on a 12 by 12 grid.

To help you create a crossword puzzle you can use QXW which is an open source free puzzle maker. Works on Linux, Mac, and Windows and you can download it here. Didn't seem to have great support for non-Latin character sets, but you could always do it the old fashioned way with some grid paper and a pen. This is a great way to learn words, and make sentences (clues) for the game. Remember crosswords should always have words of more than three characters.

Good luck everyone!
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rdearman
Senior Member
United Kingdom
rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin

 
 Message 39 of 42
31 May 2015 at 6:48pm | IP Logged 
Hi everyone! I'm starting a new job tomorrow, so I thought I would pop this months mini-challenge in a little early!

A quick reminder of the previous challenges, then the new challenge. Remember you can do as much or as little of these as you like and you can do them in any order, or repeat them constantly, or not bother, as you like. Remember you're trying to get your output up, up, up, so why not have a go?

The March Mini-challenge was:
Audio Challenge: Find a short fairy tale in your target language and record yourself reading it.
Written Challenge: Write a fairy tale, it can be as long or short as you want

The April Mini-Challenge was:
Audio and/or Written Challenge: Create an instructional video, audio dialogue, or a written manual which gives "How To" instructions. This can be on any subject from how to build a multi-hulled catamaran, to how to change a battery in a remote control. The audio/video should be at least 30 minutes long, and written instructions must be at least 750 words!

The May Mini-challenge was:
Audio/Video Challenge: Describe the rules of a game, it can be a board game, football, rugby, chess, card, whatever.
Written Challenge: Create a crossword puzzle completely in your target language on a 12 by 12 grid.

Now for the June Mini-challenge. Vlogging / Blogging / Diaries / Journals these are all basically the same thing, a way of tracking what you've done each day, writing about your experiences, feelings, etc.

The June Mini-CHallenge:

Audio/Video Challenge: Do some vlogging or audio recordings about your day and your life. A quick 5-10 minutes each day would quickly build up into a significant amount of output over the course of the month! So have a go.

Written Challenge: Grab a notepad, a diary, or whatever you want to write in, and keep a journal. Perhaps you could do a food diary, or just a list of cool people you met? Doesn’t matter what you write, you don't have to share it.


Here are some interesting reasons for keeping a journal from Dr Philip E. Humbert, author, speaker and personal success coach.
Quote:

    A journal will clarify your goals.   As you write a few thoughts each day, your ideas about what is important, what is worthy of your life and your time will become much clearer.   You'll automatically discover what you really want in life.

    A journal will simplify your life. Spending as little as 10 minutes with pen and paper describing your values, noting your achievements and giving thanks for the joys of life, will make you less tolerant of life's distractions.   Things become much simpler when you write them down.

    A journal will strengthen your relationships.   It will give you time and the words to express your feelings, it will help you understand and be patient with your loved one's peccadilloes, and it will teach you to love more powerfully.

    A journal will make you more attractive. Socrates said, "Know thyself."   Keeping a journal will help you know yourself and express yourself more clearly, and that is amazingly attractive!

    A journal will empower you. Thinking with pen and paper forces you to eliminate fuzzy or confusing images and "laser" in on precisely the right word, the most powerful image to express yourself.   Keeping a journal will make you more a better communicator, and that can make you rich!

    A journal will eliminate temptation. Some ideas sounds great in our imagination, but when written on paper they just aren't the same!   It's easy to blurt out "I hate my job!", but writing about what it means to quit, change careers and start over will quickly result in one of two things:   The temptation will go away, or you'll start generating actual plans to make your life better.   Either way, you win!

    A journal affirms the reality of your life. Writing about life adds meaning and power. Journal your child's first steps or first tooth, starting school, her first date and high school graduation adds substance to these things.   A friend of mine just became a grandfather for the first time and gave his son, the proud father, a fat 3-ring binder of notes he'd written as he'd watched his baby boy grow 25 years ago.   Together they cried and laughed at the reality that life is a sacred, wonderful thing.

    A journal helps you be quiet. Journalizing has been called a form of meditation.   It has a similar power to quiet the mind and focus your thoughts.   It even has the power to turn off the TV!   It can heal anxiety, change your breathing and make you smile.   What more could you ask?

    A journal helps you speak out. Many of my articles, letters to the local paper, and letters to friends began as notes in my journal. A journal helps ideas become words, and it provides a nursery for words to grow into sentences and paragraphs, until finally they need a stage on which to express themselves.   Sometimes that "stage" is a candle-lit dinner, other times it's a protest sign or a letter to an old friend.   Whatever form it takes, many of those messages would never have been born without the safety of a journal in which to grow.

    Finally, a journal just feels good! Using quality paper and a fountain pen or other a beautiful instrument with just the right "heft" and feel is a wonderfully sensuous, delightful experience.   It will cheer you up, reduce your stress, make you smile and add to your life.   Who knows, it may even improve your sex life or make you more patient with the kids!   (Well, it might!)


And I'll add one more: A journal will increase your output in your target language and help to activate your learning!



Good luck everyone!
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Elenia
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
lilyonlife.blog
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239 posts - 327 votes 
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Swedish, Esperanto

 
 Message 40 of 42
31 May 2015 at 8:12pm | IP Logged 
Great challenge! Also a very challenging one. I'm not even good at keeping a journal in
English, much less in Swedish.


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