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Language learning support/community thread

Just for once, finished the work set before needing to get the bus there - any bets that it'll turn out to have been the wrong bit?
 
After a bit of a lapse in learning, I'm motivated to get going again. For the the next few weeks (and then I'll change it up a little) I'm going to go through a podcast everyday, listen to it twice, write down the phrases and the key vocab then review the previous 6 I've written down already. Also, going through 1 level a day on an app I've downloaded as well as carrying on using the Unlock Your Phone app to go over vocab everytime I unlock my phone. I've also got 2 small whiteboards on my door that I'm going to write 2 Chinese idioms or phrases that I can learn (a lot of which will be motivational type phrases). On top of that I'm going to go through various YouTube channels I've got bookmarked and try consume the content as often as I can.

Most important of all, I need to speak more to people and stop being such an unfriendly twat! :D
 
awesomeChloe said:
can you advise any book for learning Spanish? I am begginer:confused:
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Castillian (Spanish) Spanish or Latin American Spanish? BTW at the risk of being rude, I don't think that English is your first language. If I'm right, this will make things more difficult for you; learning a third language in a second language is going to distort it more than if you were learning it in your mother tongue.

It really depends on why you want to learn it and how soon you need enough language to manage when shopping or asking directions. I ought to warn you that a book could be superb and still get you nowhere unless you use it on a regular basis.

I'd recommend these:
Any audio course at all to help you get used to how the language sounds.
An illustrated dictionary (Dorling Kindersley have a range of illustrated dictionaries which include adult vocabulary) because pictures tend to stick in the memory more easily than long lists of words.
One Asterix or Tin Tin book in Spanish, to get your eyes and mind used to decoding the language in context.
One phrasebook (IMHO Lonely Planet are pretty good) to learn bits for basic survival.
One Spanish dictionary small enough to carry around easily.
Youtube has plenty of clips for language learners of all levels - if you can afford the data allowance.
 
Been really motivated recently. I'm tweaking my routine here and there to make things more effective but have probably been averaging 3 hours a day for the last few weeks. I should be able to carry on with this for a few more weeks at least (before work gets busier) and I feel things are really progressing. At the moment, I'm really focusing on reading and writing more than I used to as I never really did this much before. Thinking about doing the HSK4 sometime this year. Will do some HSK3 practice exams once my reading/writing improves, then I can have more of an idea how long it will take for me to get there.
 
Going to start watching UFC on a Chinese streaming service, so it has Mandarin commentary rather than English. Already watch mostly Chinese films and the only other thing I like to watch is rugby, but doesn't seem to be much of it in China unless it goes via Hong Kong (and therefore has English commentary). Looking at download a couple of Chinese TV series too but so much of it is awful :D Thinking I'll start with Journey to the West and Ip Man as I'm already familiar with film versions of them.
 
New year, new term? Not exactly. The money which would have gone on the course fees, the fares to get here and back, and snacks bought while hanging around will be set aside towards Berlin.

The time not spent getting there and back frees up roughly 3 hours a week, and there's a lot I could do in that time if less tired, distracted, and stressed. There are enough links to youtube, enough bits of grammar, the workbooks came with a CD, and there's still Michel Thomas to get the spoken bits up to speed.

Come this autumn, if I can't just about get by without a phrasebook, £20 will go to the Conservatives and I'll take the clippers to my hair.
 
I've been considering some formal language course but when I really think about it, I don't think it's worth the money. So much free content out there these days, if you know where to look, for any motivated student to use. If you really need a tutor then italki is definitely worth a try. German will be more expensive but the Chinese tutors are very cheap compared to tutors IRL.
 
ReturnOfElfman said:
I've been considering some formal language course but when I really think about it, I don't think it's worth the money. So much free content out there these days, if you know where to look, for any motivated student to use. If you really need a tutor then italki is definitely worth a try. German will be more expensive but the Chinese tutors are very cheap compared to tutors IRL.
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Thanks for the tips. I have neither full broadband here, nor skype, nor a smartphone. Free content isn't free if it pushes my data allowance to breaking point, although I use youtube etc when I can, and have downloaded a few ebooks in my target languages.

FWIW I do think that group classes are worth it, when there's a good match. IME it was good for some things (ie the competitiveness, conversation practice, the motivation, tips and tricks, and realising that others sometimes find it difficult too), but the ability spread was a bit wide for comfort. Other issues too, but the weird timing and bus journey were the final straws.
 
I'm doing the second stage of the Japanese course at the local Uni in two weks...a year late! I couldn't do it because of work/cashflow last January.

I have two weeks to catch up on what I learnt in the first course! Eek!!!
 
Greebo said:
Thanks for the tips. I have neither full broadband here, nor skype, nor a smartphone. Free content isn't free if it pushes my data allowance to breaking point, although I use youtube etc when I can, and have downloaded a few ebooks in my target languages.

FWIW I do think that group classes are worth it, when there's a good match. IME it was good for some things (ie the competitiveness, conversation practice, the motivation, tips and tricks, and realising that others sometimes find it difficult too), but the ability spread was a bit wide for comfort. Other issues too, but the weird timing and bus journey were the final straws.
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If you have a problem with bandwidth, you could possible get a friend to let use their internet to download some torrents for offline use. I've found some brilliant resources using torrents. I think most of what I'm using now are from torrents actually
 
Sorry if it's been mentioned on the thread already, but has anyone has any success with language groups on Meetup? There are loads (some informal and free, some lessons that you pay for, some incorporating various fun and games such as sport or dancing). I joined a big load of them the other day but haven't attended any yet. I am a bit tired at the moment for going to things in the evening, but might try to get to a few of these when I'm on maternity leave. Some of them appear to be pseudo-dating groups though. A lot of them state an 18-40 age group, and that's not cool if you're really there to try to practice your language skills.
 
Ordered a couple of audiobooks, which will arrive in their own sweet time. A collection of short stories and "chasing the King of hearts".
 
Once I've got through this book to help improve my character recognition, stories are something I want to get more into too. Seen some pretty decent looking books that should suit my level without being aimed at children.
 
Hi thread :)

I've been meaning to start learning a language again for ages now and spending 5 days in Lisbon last week seems to've finally given me the kick I needed to actually get on with it. Everyone I was with managed to get by ok in English but I was pleased to find that I still seem to be able to pick up new words and their accent fairly easily, so I'm hoping with a bit of effort I'll be able to teach myself enough Portuguese to just about get by with basic everyday stuff. I've had a look at duolingo and ordered a book that comes with CDs, a grammar book and one with loads of basic exercises for practice. I'm hoping posting this now will mean I keep on with it rather than creep off the thread in shame after giving up a few weeks in..
 
Ive been absolutely bollocks at practising french and spanish. The idea was to try and find an email pal...... but I forgot :facepalm:
 
Well, the 4 CDs of Polish songs turned out to have one disc which has most of the tracks in English, the music's not exactly to my taste, and some of the lyrics are a bit politically incorrect. OTOH I'm starting to at least notice individual words. :hmm:
 
It's hard to find music in your target language that you like from my experience. Probably a lot to do with the different culture from what you're used to.
 
I can't believe Kerstin Gier wedged that in. Chick lit including an old lady whose cat answers to Muschi (pussy in both senses of the word).
 
Not posted on here for ages. My language learning has gone up and down over the last 3 months. I'm getting more chance to practice now due to my work demanding me to speak more Chinese (both in person and typing on my phone) but not getting down to the studying I need to do. I've been really inconsistent and just unmotivated. I've cancelled my lessons with my online teacher just because I feel like I'm not putting in enough effort for it to be worthwhile. Every week I'm doing vocab reviewing on Memrise app, listening to 5-10 podcasts a week and getting through some graded reader books (I've completed all six 300 character books and on my first 500 character book). I've also been doing more language exchange type stuff but it's all just using my phone really.

The thing is, a year ago I'd be thinking I'm doing lots of learning as before I'd struggle to 30 mins learning a week. Now, I feel like I should be doing an hour a day minimum, but never doing that.
 
I signed up a while ago to "francaisfacile" to add to all the others which I don't make much actual use of ...

Cardinal

Début :Éminence

Formule de politesse :Daignez, Votre Éminence, agréer l’expression de mon très profond respect.

http://www.francaisfacile.com/exerc...sletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl-3106
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:hmm:

I did a quick and dirty test the other day - only gap-filling - and scored a pathetic "A2" on the CECR (cadre européen de référence pour les langues) where B2 is the threshold for citizenship and is still regarded as minimal - though I would be at least 65 before eligible to apply and hence exempt, but it's a wakeup call. I want to integrate in France perhaps even in a way I never have in the UK.

I appear to have finally made the change to only listening to French radio ... I'm finally getting the hang of the French Paltalk rooms which are many and various, come and go on the whim of the owners and get quiet around mealtimes - I'm starting to spot some of the regulars... but it will be a while before I start contributing on the mic ...
 
gentlegreen said:
I did a quick and dirty test the other day - only gap-filling - and scored a pathetic "A2" on the CECR (cadre européen de référence pour les langues) where B2 is the threshold for citizenship and is still regarded as minimal - though I would be at least 65 before eligible to apply and hence exempt, but it's a wakeup call. I want to integrate in France perhaps even in a way I never have in the UK.
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I did the DELF B2 exam to get Belgian citizenship and found it fucking difficult. The écrit production is the hardest part IMO so practice that. I had an hour to write a book review without recourse to a dictionary! The "Réussir le DELF B2" book is pretty good for ep practice.

You can also watch loads of wank French TV with the 6Play app which helps with immersion.
 
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Book review ? :eek: I'm doomed - I've probably only read 50 books in my whole life and half of those were Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie and none in the past 20 years.
I got "ungraded" for my English lit O Level .

French TV even at its best is rather poor. When it was free to air on satellite we got all the channels at work. I need to get back into the habit of watching the one or two programmes I actually used to watch like "Thalassa" - but I've more or less stopped watching TV.

The radio is very good though - even "Radio Bleu Breizh Izel" has the edge on Radio Bristol.
If I'm not fascinated by the topic, I can go away and look up new things I hear (usually a confirmation), and build on it - thinking up more examples ... I use a contextual tool both ways - though I have to be careful as it's heavily biased towards Canadian French...

http://www.linguee.fr/search?tool=opensearch&query=%C7a+vaut

But I desperately need to do everyday conversation, and I'm struggling to get started with the people I'm meeting on "ami ou plus " - but then I struggle with small talk in any case and it's another skill I need to acquire over the next 5 years ...
 
gentlegreen said:
Book review ? :eek: I'm doomed - I've probably only read 50 books in my whole life and half of those were Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie and none in the past 20 years.
I got "ungraded" for my English lit O Level .
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Your production écrit for B2 won't definitely be a book review, the topics are selected at random. When I did mine the topics were drawn, with great ceremony, from a velvet bag that looked like it dated from the Ancien Régime. My production orale was making a series of hotel bookings for a football team who had a goat for a mascot. All of the hotels had different numbers of rooms with different numbers of beds at different rates and variable levels of caprine tolerance. It tested one's powers of mental arithmetic more than I thought was strictly fair.
 
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