thanks for the idea, it sounds interesting and perhaps I can give it a go in the month of March!
Yeah, it’s not difficult if you are consistently going through new texts / audio. I am just wondering if its a more productive use of time to re-read texts / re-watch videos that I have already but the problem with this is if too much time is spent doing this, the 9100 LingQ’s target becomes a little farfetched if you only have 1h/day to dedicate to language learning. Thats for me atleast! but everyone is different of course and learns at different paces.
strange, here is how it looks for me: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
It is the Hard Core challenge. What do you see when you follow the links I posted above?
@tjbandel: no, I’m not because there is no LingQs number in the normal 90 days challenge. It’s only based on coins. And LingQs/known words are together.
What are you looking for exactly?
My page looks like the one posted by bamboozled.
My point was, if the goal was changed to 9k LingQs, it would tilt the balance, so to speak and require the participants to continually seek out new content. I personally like to review lessons, go over them many times, using different methods. Listening and reading at the same time, listening only, shadowing etc… This way, I would struggle to reach this number in French. Chinese, as Jan pointed out, is a different ball game altogether.
“require the participants to continually seek out new content.”
That´s easy if learners just choose a few audiobooks and the corresponding ebooks at the right language level. If you use audio reader software (LingQ, ReadLang or LWT) and YT / Audible etc. in parallel, the setup is a matter of minutes (!).
I´ve been following this approach in Spanish (at an adv. level) and in Br. Portuguese (at an interm. level) for more than 3 months - and it works pretty well.
Toby (@noxialisrex), who has been using this approach for more than 500 days in three Germanic languages, has came to a similar conclusion.
You´re welcome!
Thanks Peter,
But I don’t need convincing 
. I have been using a similar “Listening-Reading-approach” for a long time already. I first discovered it in here: Listening-Reading system (Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies) Language Learning Forum
But let’s get back to the thread topic: What is your opinion on raising the target for LingQs in a HC challenge from 1183 to 9100?
Just for reference to those wondering, about a year ago I started reading 2,5 hours a day reading (and listening) and another 1 - 1,5 hours listening to content in addition to that.
In the beginning, I could maybe read 8 - 10.000 words an hour. That increased to 10.000 comfortably for a long time, and most recently up to 12.000 per hour.
While I do try and target an average of 10.000 words read, per language per day. The real benchmarks I have in my head are 5-half hour blocks reading + listening. I think of this as active study time.
However, as my comfort with my TL’s has gotten to a very high level, it is very rare that I get to the end of that time and just and think “well that was fun, time to go back to English.” I just do whatever I want to do, and in whatever language is required/relevant.
@noxialiserx: I’m not really concerned about the number of words read but what I’m able to convert with those words step by step in the language learning.
Although, I have to say that I haven’t completely understood your last paragraph. Could you elaborate it a bit more? Thank you.
Arrgh, the LingQ forum software has just deleted my longer reply 
OK. Here´s my short answer:
“What is your opinion on raising the target for LingQs …”
I´d ignore this goal and focus on daily Pomodoro blocks instead because I know from experience that all other metrics will take care of themselves 
See, as an example, my recent stats for Br. Portuguese in about 2.5 months (until LingQ v5.0 was launched):
Have a nice evening
Peter
Thanks, Toby: you´re the master!
I remember reading somewhere - probably here on the forum - where people experimented reading the lingq mini stories until they understood all the words, or just read on ahead reading new texts and did not pause on any of the stories.
In the end they evaluated which group was further ahead. It turned out to be the second group.
Be that as it may, I’ve read texts that are far above my level, making 50 Lingqs in just one or two pages of texts. The result of reading such difficult texts is that you read far less than if you would have read simpler texts. My experience in this was not great.
I think you need to hit the sweet spot. Texts that build on what you know and are slightly above your current level. You keep encountering enough new words and keep seeing enough of your previous lingqs.
Although in the end, I’m still convinced that whatever keeps you reading “most” is the correct way to go.
@davide
I do not get to the end of 2,5 hours in the day and just “stop”. I maybe stop reading and listening with the express intention of learning the language, but I do not immediately just revert back to then only using English for the rest of the day.
If there is a video game I want to play and it has a localization into German, I will do that. If there is a TV show I want to see on SVT Play, I will do that. (I do not usually watch På Spåret, but I have been told I need to see Friday’s episode.)
When I go to reddit, it will be a mix of /r/ich_iel/, /r/sweden/, /r/norge/ and /r/magictcg/.
Because it is almost Fat Tuesday the recipe for semlor that I will make will almost certainly be “på svenska”.
I just do the things I would otherwise do, and using whatever language is relevant.
I am not sure if in the long run re-reading 2000 words 3x is more productive than reading 6000 words once. Maybe in an ideal world it is, but gosh, it is boring. I try to make language learning as interesting and engaging as possible rather than as productive as possible.
Well this thread has gone a little off course…
But I’d like to come out in defense of repetition.
Where Steve Kaufmann has his mini stories, I have this course:
I have learned more Chinese from 大康先生 than from any other definable source. The format is simple, he presents some news items and then gives his commentary. Of course, everything in this course is now literally old news and, I frankly disagree with him on political matters, but none of this bothers me at all. First of all, I forget things all the time - what was the word for insurrection again? (叛乱). And more importantly, I like to listen to him. He has a clear, at times forceful delivery and a pleasant Beijing accent. Also, I find that he uses the language well (can I even be a judge of that? Oh well…)
This is the first course I created on LingQ and when I started in July I didn’t understand a thing, now I’m able to follow every single lesson, of course there are still thousands of yellow words, but I always know what he’s talking about.
While it is interesting, and necessary to seek new material, it is always good to come back “home” and realize how far I’ve come, that I’m actually able to understand real Chinese. And, repetition is what has gotten me to that place, if I listen to something unfamiliar of similar difficulty, it’s going to be rough.
The way I’m currently using this course, is by shadowing one or two lessons a day using the new iPad app in lyrics mode. I use the screen loupe to make it readable (Settings app → Accessibility → Zoom → double tap with three fingers).
In sum, I still find this activity, going over yesterday’s news, to be profitable; and expect it to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
That thread was my inspiration as well! I credit the LR method to getting my reading ability up so quickly. It’s cool to see other successful learners mention it.
I so bummed when I read that it takes years to be able to read books in Mandarin, so I spent awhile researching the best strategies, and have been using LingQ to do my own version of it.
By the way, the LingQ goals in the challenges are based on your streak goal. I think these are the same as in 4.0 so the highest tier would be 100 per day. Then I think it was 50, 25 and 13.
The new streak system is based on “Coins”, but the hardcore challenge goals look like are using that old math.
If you reduce your streak goal for a day at the end of the challenge the LingQ goals will go with it.
@tjbandel
60 min a day for 90 days is enough to make (significant) progress in your Indo-European target language.
For example as follows.
- 2 Pomodoro blocks à 25 min a day: ultrareading while listening
- 10 min repetition activities (SRS, re-listening, whatever)
or:
- Only 1 Pomodoro block à 25 min a day of ultrareading while listening (that´s still almost 0.5 million words read in a period of three months!)
- 35 min repetition activities and / or writing (summaries, etc.) and / or speaking
In short, it´s not “either - or”, but “both - and”