I personally don’t use living language because it has too many explanations (I borrowed it from the Library to try it out) but I read review of people who liked it.
Arabic is tricky and I personally wouldn’t mix learning MSA with a dialect (Living language Arabic does this) because to a foreigner, the languages are very different in vocabulary usage. I recommmend sticking to one or the other. I decided on Egyptian dialect of Arabic because it’s the most widely spoken & understood by other Arabs and I like visiting Egypt. Rocket Language Arabic takes you from zero to intermediate. Polyglots Felix Wang & Moses McCormick both studied MSA using Assimil and other resources and they have both IMO regretted starting with MSA because they couldn’t speak with ordinary people.
I had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant and I use my restaurant Arabic which is decent and the second I said “Aiwa”, they said oh you speak Egyptian “Masr” and they (husband & wife) adjusted their Arabic to encorporate many Egyptian words and it was an awesome experience. They said they were at home Egyptian movies. Same story with other encounters…not sure this will be the case with the other dialects or MSA.
Thanks! I live in Portugal but I am set up so that I only have to do occasional freelance work internationally. Spain is obviously very close, and then I’ll be travelling in South America for about three months in the second half of the year.
It’s interesting. I’ve thought about using LingQ to hone my Spanish skills although is my mother tongue. I would like to learn more literary vocabulary. Let me know how it goes!
I have one more question concerning that Living language Arabic. You said there is mixted MSA and dialect but is there at least clear which word belong to which or completely mixted without any remark?
Asdrubalivan, In 2016, I learned 2 months prior that I was to go on a business trip to several countries in Central America and my boss wanted me to act as an interpreter. The meeting were high level and I knew the presentations and conversations will be fairly intellectual about the economy and international affairs. I started listening to the news from those countries and quickly realized that I had a knowledge gap. I upgraded my LingQ account and started importing from local resources. All I did was listen and read everyday for 2 months an ammassed 15K know words in 2 months (only reading intellectual works). The trip was a success, I found out that I am better at simultaneous interpretation than consecutive because I would forget what they said. Anyways, lesson learned, instead of cramming, I will do a little everyday because you never know when the opportunity will present itself.
Yes, it’s clearly separated. At the beginning they focus mainly on MSA and as you progress they have sections in the different dialects which are clearly labeled.
I’m on vacation and wrote this thread only after I completed my 4 hours of daily language study. I try not to study more than 4 hours daily to avoid burnout. Also, I searched the Internet for an article or even a study that addresses learning multiple languages simultaneously and came out blank therefore, I wrote one myself. So far, I have enjoyed all the feedback which have been very motivational. For example, I just completed 2 hours of study and set time aside to write this response :).
For me, I want to improve my English and become fluent in this language. I’d like to get to 1 million words of reading, maybe more if possible, and 365 hours of listening.
This year will be the year that I will be able to read modern novels in Spanish, I hope! I am not in any hurry to start to speak or write. I have no motivation to force myself to activate my passive vocabulary and still I don’t have a solid base in this language.
I have been reading short stories on the LingQ Library and watching Netflix. I’ll keep doing what I am doing right now.
After April, I’ll focus on business English. I have bought English books to prepare myself for job-related CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) Exams. I’ll take the exam in English so that I want to be able to understand the questions and therefore I think that I need to enhance my vocablary in this field. Becoming CIA is the main goal of this year.
I want to be healthier and spend less time with mobile-phones or social media. I want to go to bed earlier and read at least 30 novels in my mother tongue this year. I figured out that for last two years I unfourtunately could not read as much as I used to.
that is some serious commitment, you must have days where you are thinking “I cannot be bothered” and just would like to enjoy your lunch and chill out for example?
My Plan for 2018 is to gain 20.000 words when I have met the 1 year mark of learning Spanish ( 5 months left until this ) and then once I have been studying Spanish for 1 year I may or may not start my third language which will be French. and while learning French still using my Spanish as much as I can and perhaps still reading for at least 20 minuets everyday.
oh and passing my Spanish interview in 4 months time.
My goal is to read both the Iliad and the Odyssey in Ancient Greek (using the Esperanto slot), get up to 20,000 words in Modern Greek (by finishing a number of novels), and perhaps start learning either Hebrew or Farsi…
Each to his own, of course, but I think you’d be better continuing with Spanish than switching to French. You’re doing all the hard yards now so it would be a shame to stop just when you get to the point where the rewards start coming (+20,000 words).
I really like your plan especially reaching 20,000 words in Modern Greek. I would like to reach it too though I have impression that it is rather a longer term possibility for me. Which novels are you reading for example?
Yes, I may be a little optimistic thinking I will be able to double my word count in one year in Modern Greek. I was hoping that being able to read novels would allow me to get more words more quickly… Perhaps not.
As for novels, I’m finishing Harry Potter now, because it’s relatively easy and I found an audio version on youtube. After that I’ll probably read Crime and Punishment, because I know the book well and I have an ebook/audio files I can use. After that I should be able to read most general fiction/non-fiction. I have a number of what I believe to be high school or college-level history books on certain aspects of ancient Greek history (Classical Athens, Alexander the Great, the Persian wars, …).
At the same time I’ll be keeping up with my Ancient Greek: the Iliad and the Odyssey mostly, but I have a lot of the Geoffry Steadmann commentaries for various texts: Symposium, Anabasis, etc. As well as tons of Loeb volumes and bilingual Ancient Greek/Modern Greek texts that I bought last time I was in Athens.
