I’ve definitely slowed down when posting updates, I do apologise (if anyone was particularly interested in them... haha!). As I’ve said many times before, I’m also juggling decorating an apartment and work at the same time, so some days I find myself quite busy.
Following on from my small update yesterday, where I wrote a little post in Korean saying I had no time and I didn’t study Korean yesterday. I didn’t study anything yesterday BUT I did watch two episodes of the anime ‘Death Parade’ and noted down some new vocabulary which is always nice. I then rewatched both episodes later that night with my boyfriend which reinforced that new vocabulary, which is always great! I’ve been keeping up with Memrise for all languages - which is an amazing feat for me. Duolingo has taken a backseat once again, unfortunately. I find it hard to keep up with it sometimes, but I’m eagerly awaiting for Korean on Duolingo! I hope Android gets it the same time as iOS! Still also waiting for Dutch tree 2.0, when that finally releases I think I’ll definitely work on finishing the tree, and getting right back into my studies. Norwegian is slow as ever, but that’s how I like it!
Okay, that’s it for the general summary. Let’s break each language down and see what I’ve been doing:
Korean: I found the TV show Heart Signal recently which seems to be the Korean version of Terrace House with a twist. All the participants need to anonymously text the person they are interested in at midnight every night. They don’t know who the text is from as it gets to set to a manager who then forwards it to the right person. There’s 3 girls and 3 boys, and I’ve watched all of episode 1 and about half of episode 2. The episodes are quite long (1 hour and 20 minutes!), and a lot of it is subbed in Korean, especially the interactions between the house members. I’m really enjoying it and I’ve picked up some words/expressions already. It’s great to hear real, natural Korean out in the wild, it’s also interesting to see dynamics between young Koreans from a cultural standpoint, and how they build relationships. I’m really enjoying it but I’ve had to take the episodes in small bites, as it’s hard to commit almost 2 hours everyday to just watching a TV show, so I’ve been watching it alongside working through ‘How To Study Korean’, a site I am really enjoying working through. I’ve also been keeping up with Memrise and doing the HTSK deck there. All in all, Korean is going quite well, and I’m very much enjoying it. I’m hoping by next week, I can write a small paragraph on HelloTalk and receive corrections/improvements to see how far I’ve came so far!
Japanese: I went by my fathers house last night and picked up yet more books. I have a huge bookshelf there with all my Japanese books on, and I’ve been slowly picking them up. Tonight I grabbed my N2 新完全マスター series books (and some manga!) Very happy to be reunited with them. Planning to work through 語彙 and 文法, then possibly 読解. I have plans to eventually take the N2, I’m thinking it’ll be next years resolution, but for now, I’m using them to refine my Japanese, especially vocabulary and grammar. I’ve been practising speaking on HelloTalk by sending voice messages. I’m not confident enough to call people, and I’m worried about awkward silences, so I figured voice messages are better. I can take my time, and can still get some speaking practice. It’s been quite successful so far, and it feels really good when you speak, send it off, and they reply... you think, huh, I’m actually communicating in this language! Alongside that, I’ve been keeping up with my 読書の秋 project. I read about 3 pages last night, and noted down about 15 words. The words themselves are very literature-only, so I’m not sure if I want to commit them all to memory. I would say about 3 are actually daily use. I plan to read more pages today, and I’ll write a post about it either tonight or on the weekend.
Dutch: Forever forever sitting in the back. I’m still watching a Dutch video daily, however! I have kept up with that. I’ve also kept up with doing Dutch on Memrise, still working on Dutch 1 but slowly approaching the end. Dutch 2 is in sight! My boyfriend showed me a conversation with his friend last night and I was able to read it and laugh. My passive knowledge is seemingly light years ahead of my active knowledge, but that’ll soon be changing once I get started working on textbooks again. I luckily have a lot of exposure so even though I’m not actively studying it, I’m still hearing it, or reading it, or even using the odd word with my boyfriend.
Norwegian: Right now, it’s the posts I see on Tumblr and Memrise. I don’t mind though! I’m enjoying taking it slow. I also got recommended a Norwegian Youtuber, so I’m thinking I’ll add their videos into my daily routine. But not a lot to report on Norwegian.
and that is it! Slow and steady wins the race, I guess. I’m enjoying taking my languages at the pace they are, as I’m terribly worried I’ll get burnt out. It’s not the goal, its the journey (keeps telling herself motivational phrases to deal with everything)... hehe.
-appelrin
