7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 46
Hey everybody,
I hope your week was marvelous!
Updates
I spent half my week away visiting a friend and somehow still found the time and energy to keep up with reading short novels for the current biweekly challenge.
Spending a few days away meeting new people for the first time in a long time felt great but it also showed me how much I’ve come to struggle with new encounters since I have had many for over a year.
As I told you last week, my plan to go to Taiwan has fallen apart so I’m now considering spending the beginning of 2022 in Thailand before moving to Japan for a month for a friend’s wedding. As a result, I’ve begun learning the Thai script!
Thai’s script felt impossible when I first tried to learn it almost a decade ago but no anymore! I’ve been using this simple video to learn the different letters while writing down each countless times.
It’s yet another beginning. It seems I’ve broken the fear I had of Thai now so it’s time to discover a new world again. More on this in the following weeks!
Alrighty then. Let's dive in!
7 Bullet Points
Each week, I share 7 things that could be useful to your learning odyssey. I hope they can help you improve your journey, tickle your curiosity, and inspire you to keep exploring.
One video: Overcoming Procrastination & Burnout In Language Learning — By Robin MacPherson
I’ve had my fair share of struggle with procrastination. From writing to learning languages, to even just going out. I’ve found my own ways to deal with procrastination and even seen some positive out of my own procrastination. In this bit of Robin’s (amazing) not-so-secret-podcast, he share his own perception. I loved the second take on it and I’m sure you will too!
One article I read: The Ultimate Guide to Anki Language Learning: Study Tips, Benefits, Shortfalls and Beyond
I’m a firm believer in Spaced-Repetition. Anki is probably the most well-known and flexible. It also used to be the only one that existed so I got used to it long before anything else was on the market. For newcomers, however, setting it and learning to use it can be daunting. If you’ve thought of using Anki, this long article should help you get started!
One article I wrote: Learning a Strange Language Could Be the Best Choice You Ever Make
Did you know I love languages? I know, that’s not a surprise anymore but I’ll never get tired of saying it. Learning languages is a magnificent journey. It changed my life and I know it’s changed the lives of everybody who stuck with it for long enough. And in this piece I tried to share once more why learning a language rocks.
One podcast episode: How To Improve A Language When You're At A High Level —By Mezzoguild
I’ve got quite a few languages at a high level. At this stage, it’s easy to get discouraged and feel like you can’t improve anymore. Well, in this old podcast episode, Donovan shares useful tips to overcome this plateau and keep rising ever higher.
One tool to try: Vocabboost (Firefox and Chromium extension)
Want to turn any of the webpages you visit into a test? Vocabboost might be what you need then! This extension hides certain words throughout the text you select and it’s your job to fill them in. If it’s too hard, select “show choices” and you’ll be able to pick which word goes where. Neat, right?
One quote to ponder: “It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
Current biweekly challenge: Read a short story (or more!)
I got a Kindle so I’m psyched to get some more reading practice now. Whether you have an e-reader or not, let’s try to read at least one short story in the next two weeks. Depending on your level and the length of it, have fun spicing things up with exercises (like summarizing it orally or in written format, copying some passages, or even reading more than one)!
Sum-up of the 1st week of the challenge:
I’ve chosen to make this challenge about German so I’ve been reading this bundle of short stories. I’ve read two so far. I love that they have short exercises to check understanding. I’ll be honest, I got half wrong for both stories but it all became clearer after a second or third read. Looking forward to reading a few more stories this incoming week!
Let me know how it went for you by replying to this mail or commenting!
As always, thanks for reading!
Mathias Barra
For more of my articles, you can find them here.