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Kulelyn’s TAC 2015 (EN|TR|ES)

 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log Post Reply
15 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
Kulelyn
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 3514 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Norwegian
Studies: Turkish, Spanish

 
 Message 1 of 15
31 December 2014 at 11:36pm | IP Logged 
English
While I use English every day I've never actively tried to improve my skills after
leaving school. Now it looks as if I'll have to talk to strangers in a business
environment in the future. I'd feel a lot more confident, if I'd know that my
pronunciation and my grammar is in good shape. So I decided to start working on both
skills and to join the Advanced English team.

Turkish
After a long pause I began studying Turkish again at the start of 2014. I tried to
reclaim my former level (A2/B1) with several online resources and a grammar book but
I'm not there yet. I wanted to have a plan of action before starting my log but
because I've been ill that didn't work out. I never tried Gloss and I found some
Turkish books that I've already read in German or English. Together with the Turkish
Teatime podcast that should be enough to start the year. My goal for 2015 is simply to
work with the language regularly and to improve.

Spanish
Several years ago I started learning Spanish with Pimsleur and Michael Thomas. After
finishing both courses I began listening to Notes in Spanish and skimming through
Wikipedia and some newspapers. Then I lost interest and ignored the language for at
least six years. In spring I started studying again and have dabbled with Spanish
nearly every day since then. My rather chaotic approach included Duolingo, Memrise,
Destinos, Mi vida loca, Notes in Spanish, L/R with Cuento de navidad (A Christmas
Carol) and working with Spanish songs and Veinte Mundos. I had much fun and learned a
lot but I did not finish anything and my knowledge of Spanish grammar is very
fragmented.

I do not have a concrete goal for 2015 but I intend to spend my time more wisely and
to use a more systematic approach for learning the language. Until now I haven't used
any text books and since I am able to read easy texts I do not think it is necessary
to touch any of the beginner books. But I have to do something about my grammar and
decided to try my luck with the Practice Makes Perfect series. I did not join
the Spanish team but I'll follow the team thread and the members' logs.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kulelyn
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 3514 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Norwegian
Studies: Turkish, Spanish

 
 Message 2 of 15
02 January 2015 at 9:31pm | IP Logged 
Spanish
I finished the first section of Mi Vida Loca. I find it easy but I do not understand
everything that is being said. When I'm through with that series I'll restart
Destinos.
With Duolingo I'm on a 27 day strike. If I continue doing one new lesson per day I'll
finish the tree in summer. That takes way too long but since I do the lessons while
commuting I can't just double the number. I guess three to four lessons on weekends
and holidays should be enough to speed things up a bit.
I'm still reading/listening to Cuento de navidad and I'm at 20% now. After reading a
passage in English, I switch to my Spanish ebook and audio. Since I already know
what's going to happen I don't feel the urge to look up unknown words.

Turkish
After learning some vocabulary I checked some of the resources mentioned in the
Yürükler thread and played around with Headstart2 Turkish. I wasn't very
impressed and won't visit that page again. Then I followed the link to the team's song
now I can't get it out of my head. Help!

English
Yesterday I started working with the pronunciation course of the BBC. Half an hour was
enough to identify two problematic sounds. Because of a sore throat I could not start
working on them today so I tried my luck with a grammar test. I'm not done with it yet
but it doesn't look too bad. Fortunately they put a comment under each answer so I
know what topics to look up.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kulelyn
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 3514 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Norwegian
Studies: Turkish, Spanish

 
 Message 3 of 15
06 January 2015 at 10:05pm | IP Logged 
Spanish
Because I couldn't concentrate on my book today, I did several lessons from Mi Vida
Loca
and finished the second section. My copies of Practice Makes Perfect
have finally arrived. I'll start working with them at the weekend.

Turkish
I was not very satisfied with my resources for Turkish. When I learned it some years
ago I had access to audio and transcript of a radio channel's news program.
Unfortunately I can't find this site any more. Since Gloss is down today I looked for
a similar source and found two websites with interviews that have transcripts and
English translations. I don't care for the translations at the moment, but the
transcripts will help me training my listening skill.

English
Besides watching Murder on the Orient Express and several episodes of Doctor
Who
I did not do much.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Chung
Diglot
Senior Member
Joined 6915 days ago

4228 posts - 8259 votes 
20 sounds
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish

 
 Message 4 of 15
06 January 2015 at 10:08pm | IP Logged 
Kolay gelsin, Katya Hanım!
1 person has voted this message useful



Expugnator
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Brazil
Joined 4925 days ago

3335 posts - 4349 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, Norwegian, French, English, Italian, Papiamento
Studies: Mandarin, Georgian, Russian

 
 Message 5 of 15
07 January 2015 at 11:02pm | IP Logged 
Good luck with your languages! I've just started Turkish, too, for the Turkic Challenge, and the language is very interesting.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kulelyn
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 3514 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Norwegian
Studies: Turkish, Spanish

 
 Message 6 of 15
11 January 2015 at 11:03pm | IP Logged 
English
Aside from looking up my errors from the grammar test, I didn't do much. I should make
an Anki deck with the sentences I didn't get right. I'll do this in the comming week.
The week wasn't a complete failure because I had a lot of input with films, tv shows,
podcasts and videos from three moocs I'm following.

Turkish
Speaking of complete failure... I listened to some podcasts, made a new Anki deck and
worked with it and looked up some grammar. And that was that. Hopefully I'll be more
productive next week. Now that I'm well again, I should find it easier to work with
the language.

Spanish
For some reason Spanish gets more attention from me than the other languages. Maybe
it's because I have countable goals with Mi vida loca and Duolingo. On the
other hand, I did not start working with my new books. So I'm not really content with
my progress here either.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kulelyn
Triglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 3514 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: German*, English, Norwegian
Studies: Turkish, Spanish

 
 Message 7 of 15
18 January 2015 at 10:26pm | IP Logged 
Isn't it strange how a small mistake can mess up everything? I have a plan B for
nearly everything: a loading cable in case I forgot to load my handy, an audio
cable for my headset in case I forgot to load that one, an ebook reader in case
it is too noisy in the tram, some Spanish crossword puzzles and 3 pens in case I
can't use the ebook reader ... you get the picture. I did not have a plan B for
dropping and thus destroying my headset. Monday was perfect, Tuesday was the day
of the disaster and the rest of the week was chaos. While I did find an unused
in-ear headset at home, I couldn't listen to half of the planned podcasts
because my ears don't like these gadgets. Yesterday my new headset arrived.
Phew...

English
Does it count as listening praxis if you really enjoy the films and tv shows
you see? If not, I didn't do anything.

Turkish
I put an episode of Turkish Teatime on my daily to-do list. This would
have worked with a headset. Next week will be better. I found some pages with
nice example sentences for my Anki deck and added some every day. I also found
some nice Turkish films and shows on youtube. Didn't watch any of them yet but I
hope I can start with one tomorrow.

Spanish
I finished Mi vida loca. It was a nice little story and I actually
learned a bit. Tomorrow I start with Destinos. Except for listening to
some podcasts, looking up some grammar and putting sentences in Anki I didn't do
too much.

If I keep on with my current tempo I won't annihilate anything...
1 person has voted this message useful



Stelle
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
Canada
tobefluent.com
Joined 3903 days ago

949 posts - 1686 votes 
Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish
Studies: Tagalog

 
 Message 8 of 15
19 January 2015 at 12:34am | IP Logged 
Your approach to Spanish is very much like mine was at the beginning! I used Mi Vida Loca, Destinos, Duolingo,
Notes in Spanish (I skipped the beginner podcasts and started the intermediate ones about 3/4 of the way through
Destinos), Veinte Mundos... It's amazing how many wonderful (and free!) resources exist for Spanish!

¡Buena suerte con tus estudios!


1 person has voted this message useful



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