Language and/ other resolutions for 2012?

@customic Oops! Thanks for pointing that out - I think I’ll have to survive on just 1 hour a day, and 365 for the year! If, in the meantime I develop a method by which to slow time, I may switch to handle the original target.

@ozne

I was actually planning on stopping Turkish so I can concentrate more on Portuguese. XD

@Lyise

Listening to another language while riding the bus can be pretty funny. Once I responded to someone in Portuguese. Awkwardness ensued.

I’d like to see my Spanish around 25-30,000 total words by the middle of next year and see Portuguese at 12,000 by the end of next year, because I’ll have more opportunity to use it with my job. The wind has been sucked out of my sails a bit in French, but if I can find an environment that really encourages me to speak it and use it actively, I’d like to see word totals of around 12,000 or so, too… I can’t even imagine finding a way to squeeze Chinese into next year, though I would love to learn Mandarin and would have work-related opportunities to speak it. What’s more, I just can’t seem to reconcile a use for the intermediate French I know, but I’d hate to let it go after investing my time into it…

-ZW

After another month and a half, I’m seeing that my Dutch goals are far too low:

Known: 11948 → 21276
Lingqs: 10653 → 19284
Learned: 1358 → 2627
Listened: 110.8 → 220.3
Read: 613078 → 1327141

Therefore, I’m going to change my Dutch goal from 30,000 to 40,000. That might be changed again but it’s suitable for the time being.

A few days ago I decided to halve my Dutch input, which I’ll also slowly reduce this over the course of the year. I just don’t need so much any more. By doing this, I can focus better on other languages.

French is staying on-track, heading towards 15,000.
Yiddish is an unknown at the moment. I’m studying it, but can’t track the amount of words I know. I guess I’ll change this goal to B2.
Swapped Hindi for Navajo. I’ll be happy if I can just be convincingly A1 in understanding the language after a year of 1 hour per day! :slight_smile:

How’s everyone else going?

I must say that you might have the worst case of language wanderlust I have ever seen. Haha, Navajo? Have you ever been to the Southwestern U.S? More importantly, have you ever seen how the Navajo live? It’s not exactly a destination for tourists, let alone an opportunity to practice their language when they all are fluent in English and not keen on sharing their linguistic heritage with non-Navajo. There’s hardly any literature and not a chance in the world to find a native with which to speak - even in other parts of Arizona, let alone New Zealand. I can’t imagine what the allure could be. Language is a vehicle of culture and if you would never see that culture, read enough about it to understand it, or even be welcomed by it, why spend any time in that way?

Yes. Navajo. Nope, never been to the US at all, although I do wish to spend time in that area in the future. It’s very common for people to complain that particular groups aren’t willing to share their culture and language. Well, we can only give things a go. There are no guarantees for any language. But, showing an honest effort and interest usually goes a long way.

True, there’s little literature, but that’s not discouraging me. I’m not going to say it would be easy to find people to speak with, but where there’s a will there’s a way. It took me just over 2 1/2 years to find someone to speak Dutch with. Still, it happened eventually. (I live in Australia, by the way.)

To me, the first thing which draws me to the language is the language itself. I find it extremely interesting. It’s by a long shot the most difficult language I’ve ever come across. Certainly more complex than the scary East Asian or Australian languages.

I’m used to being ridiculed and treated like some sort of freak or dreamer for my language choices. At the end of the day, I’m happy with what I do - that should be enough for anyone. I’m not asking for my choices to be questioned. Ever heard of encouragement? :slight_smile:

I just was looking at it from a more practical standpoint, and I lived in Arizona for years - only heard the language once and it was on a field trip to a cultural museum. In Australia*, it took you two and a half years and the internet to find a Dutch speaker. I wouldn’t be surprised if only two-thirds of the reservation or so even has Internet access. What are the odds then with getting access to Navajo at all? I was more curious if you knew someone who spoke it or had a strange connection to the language somehow to want to learn it.

All I am saying is that there are other agglutinative languages that are more feasible to use or learn for an Australian - Turkish for example right on LingQ - that would perhaps give you greater reward than “I studied the hardest language I think exists to A1 level” - a gift of a new cultural perspective and way of thinking.

Just a thought, but if you have your heart set on Navajo, I wish you the best of luck.

I’ve only ever heard Greek spoken here in Australia once, as a child. We supposedly have 50k or more Greek speakers in this country. (Just an example). Surely if I was to go looking for it, I’d find more of it. Of the languages I’m learning, the only one people have said is practical is French. They’ve said that Dutch, Yiddish, Hebrew and Navajo are not practical and that it’s stupid of me to learn them. Well, I could base my life upon other people’s definitions of practicality and decide that I’ll only learn language which match their standards but that wouldn’t really be very satisfying, would it?

I’m going to learn Turkish at a later point; it’s within my top ten - probably after this batch and then Polish. I’ve listened to Turkish music for many years and can’t wait to learn it. But, is it that we must restrict ourselves to only the language which LingQ offers or which other people find ‘useful’? Not the sort of life I wish to live.

Surprisingly, I do know of a couple people online who know the language, although I’ve not approached them yet. They are interested in sharing the language and share videos and various things. Surely, I’d be able to connect with someone out there.

We’ve all got dreams, right Z33Dubyah? haha You should see one of the other languages I want to learn… 3000 speakers. :smiley:

P.S. I’d like to learn it past an A1 level, I was just implying that it’s an extremely difficult language and I’m not expecting to become all that good with it any time soon. Still, I’ve got good methods, a bit of experience now and I’m interested. So, who knows what could happen.