Doing the 90 Day Challenge with travelling back to the UK and Christmas in the middle of it. Goodness, I’m impressed. I had a fortnight’s holiday when I started the 90 Day challenge and it took me just for ever to catch up again with the listening. But maybe you are doing the 2 hour a day input you did with Spanish?? Best of luck with it. (And let’s hope that, over Christmas, you get the amazing winter sunshine we’ve had here over the last few days…
I spend Christmas eating and reading so to me in makes perfect sense! I don’t think I will do 2 hours of listening input with Kichwa because I want to keep going with Spanish and I just don’t have enough interesting content to listen to in Kichwa. It will probably be 1 hour and reading a short story (150 words) a day. That to me seems manageable.
Weatherwise I really hope so! In Quito we are spoilt with amazing weather - beautiful sunny mornings, dramatic afternoon thunderstorms (right now!) and beautiful sunsets. But whatever the weather it will be great to be home and among friends and family.
Sounds good!
I’m now going to go and do another hour of listening - and then I’ve met the 90 Day goals - but I realise that I really should be aiming at more than ¾ hour reading a day and should try for something nearer your two hours. However even this more limited task has considerably upped my aspirations…
Enjoy Christmas and a safe flight home…
hahah Ok Simon, You’ve sparked my interest to try to hear what this Kichwa language sounds like ! (On My way to Youtube.Lol)
Ha great! Let me know what you think! Search for poesia kichwa, its quite a lyrical language and makes good songs and poems.
Two months in, and my avatar is creeping towards leaving it’s egg shell behind!
As Diana said, doing the 90 Day Challenge over the Christmas season was quite a bold (foolhardy?) move. I definitely slacked off a bit and my listening especially has fallen a little behind. However I think the important thing is that I kept at it even though I wasn’t in the country and didn’t have anyone to practise with. That’s going to make it easier to accelerate in the next few weeks.
Now back in Ecuador I am hoping for a Kichwa filled final leg of the 90 Day Challenge, a fair bit of consolidation of the basics and focus on increasing my vocabulary. I should find many more opportunities to try out speaking as well and do some listening, and then we will see where I am in another month!
What an inspiration you are!! Great, great progress. I’ve just had a quick peak at your figures and am well impressed! Looking forward to seeing that mortar board! I guess you’d let your avatar wear it for just a little bit?
Now I’ve successfully finished the Challenge (though still waiting for my mortarboard!), I too am thinking where to go next… I’m investigating a Dutch total immersion week here in Whitby! Now that’ll be a challenge to organise as well as to do - but i think it may well be doable!!
Oh and a Happy New Year!
Thanks! And congratulations on completing the challenge! The immersion week sounds great, good luck with that!
I’m sure I’ll let my avatar wear his mortar board. Actually since there isn’t a special cap for Esperanto/Kichwa 
I might let him keep it for good. After all he will be the first Kichwa Avatar, and the first to complete the challenge
Yay, you’re back in business ! Checked your stats as well, I am so impressed . It’s really great that you thought to add the two threads , Spanish and Kichwa, to your profile, very helpful ! Your new year is starting with a blast then.
Well I’m looking forward to seeing an egg in a mortar board! That’ll be a first.
Now need to go on the beach with my Dutch. You should be glad you’re not at home. It is just SOOOOO windy!! Do sailors like this? No,they do not!
I know, I was worried that the wind was going to trap me in the UK! Here it is 20 degrees and apparently it is winter 
Thanks! I actually did far more Spanish than Kichwa over Christmas. But that’s because enjoying a good paperback hardly feels like work.
Well the bad news is it looks like I am almost certainly not going to get my mortarboard this time around. In the last month I have been ill a lot and my listening and LingQ learning fell behind. I haven’t been able to get out and try what I know either, so it’s not been a great month for my Kichwa. Not feeling that great about it right now, feel like I have lost a lot of my initial enthusiasm.
Good news is that I will be moving to a more Kichwa speaking region next week and I will be putting practising Kichwa up to the top of my agenda. I’m hoping to get back on the horse, and get stuck in, to mix my metaphors…
I’ve also decided that since I am not happy with the amount of Kichwa learning material online I am going to take matters into my own hands. I have set up the following site http://haisell.net/kichwa to pull together all the information that I feel should exist but doesn’t. The most important page is going to be my collected Sample Sentences http://haisell.net/kichwa/samples-sentences/ because what I really want is simple sentences to read and become familiar with. If I get my act together I may get a native to record these, but that’s for another day.
I also feel the LingQ targets are just not sustainable right now at this level so I’ve reduced them to fit what I think I can achieve without burning out.
So it is a mixed bag after 3 months. Any words of encouragement welcome, because I’ve reached that delicate moment in learning a language, when the initial excitement has warn off, and you’re starting to realise (and remember) what a long distance journey it is.
Oh Simon! Don’t beat yourself up! You work so hard and you’ve just been ill Feeling a bit despondent and losing the language sparkle is only to be expected. Be gentle to yourself. Take it easy. The mortarboard will be around when you want to hit the road again.
But maybe just relax a bit. Enjoy what progress you’ve made. Celebrate the ground breaking work that you have ALREADY achieved. And think how few people have gone before you.
And DEFINITELY relax the targets. You always remind us that this is meant to be fun. Pushing yourself to places that are unnatural will just take this fun away.
Why not take a few days off? You’re probably suffering from burnout as well as illness - and that’s a toxic combination.
Good luck and get better soon.
Kudos on learning Kichwa. I lived in Quito for 2 years as a child, and only knew a few words. Sort of missed out on a good opportunity, so I’m glad to see somebody taking it up. I was often sick when I was there too. High altitude 3rd world country…
Thanks! I will certainly relax a bit. And yes you’re right, I’ve achieved a lot already, so I should be pleased about that.
Thanks for the kind words, I hope you are having a good time with your Dutch!