Hello, Language!

#ClearTheList in the middle of the month

I don’t know where to start so I will commence somewhere in the middle.

The time has come when I decided to start sharing my language learning journey and my love for foreign languages. The #LanguageLearning community is a big thing on social media — look it up on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube if you don’t believe me. YT, in particular, seems to be a place where language learners and teachers share their ups and downs, tips and progress. I’m not a video-maker though — at least not if the video is meant to feature me. I can script, film and edit all right but being in front of the camera? Thanks but no, thanks.

So it looks like it’s going to be good old-style blogging for me with some Instagramming on the side.

September #ClearTheList

#ClearTheList is a link-up idea started by Lindsay Williams and Shannon Kennedy (and if you don’t know them then you’ll certainly hear a lot from me about them and their friend Kerstin Cable because they do tons of stuff that I like.) The point of it is holding yourself accountable by sharing what you were up to last month (language learning-wise, that is) and what your plan is going forward. It sucks a bit to write it over halfway through the month but hey, I’ve had a pretty busy month so far so I’m not going to beat myself about that. (Which, incidentally, is good advice to follow when learning a foreign language or anything else for that matter.)

Shall we being then…

My (current) languages

I have two languages that I ‘own’ by which I mean that I’m fluent in them, I feel an intimate connection to them and I use them to write fiction and poetry: Polish (my mother tongue) and English (the language I speak at home and at work as I live in London, UK and have a British partner.)

Otherwise, during my lifetime I have been learning six other languages to a various extent and in different settings. Last year I made a commitment to reconnect with all of them and build on the existing knowledge. I must say that the horrible 2020 has been quite helpful so far — language learning is my main way of coping with this worldwide disaster and the insecurity it has brought to our lives so I dedicate more time to languages that I probably would have in more pleasant circumstances.

Italiano

My focus numero uno. I try to maintain daily contact with Italian which seems to be easy enough as my comprehension is at the intermediate level (speaking is an altogether different kettle of fish!) — I can follow Italian accounts on social media, read newspaper articles, listen to podcasts without straining my brain all the time, etc.

I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone else but for me, it becomes so much easier to engage with the language once I am able to understand some native content. It’s just pleasure, not the chore and I’m very happy that I have reached this level in Italian.

As I mentioned before, September has been hectic for me (mainly due to house refurbishment) so I’m keeping it light for all the languages, including Italian — I paused my one-to-one lessons on italki and kept only the activities that don’t need so much scheduling.

• I’m taking part in the 30 Day Speaking Challenge (the challenge that certainly deserves its own blog post) but I’m not pushing myself — I’m hoping to do 15 voice recordings this month, rather than 30. (As of 18 September I’m 8 recordings in so I’m on track!).
• I’m a member of a small group of 7 people (1 Italian, 6 foreigners) who meet up weekly on Skype to chat in Italian for an hour. Normally, I try to show up every week but this month I’m cutting myself some slack and aim for two meetups (one done so far at the beginning of the month.) By the way, we found each other while taking part in the 30 Day Speaking Challenge a.k.a. #30DSC. Another reason to check it out! #LearningIsBetterWithFriends
• I try to read a short newspaper article every day. This month I’m not pushing myself too much — I absorb what I can understand (which, to my pleasant surprise, is quite a lot) and don’t use a dictionary. I’m just enjoying my daily contact with the language. (Pro-tip: I changed my phone settings to Italian which resulted in Google suggesting daily readings not only from Polish and British but also from Italian newspapers. Priceless as I don’t have to spend time looking for something to read.)
• Goldlisting! I started this method of learning vocabulary in August but I’m not particularly consistent this month (only 3 new lists so far.) Finding 20 new words or phrases per list is time-consuming so it’s effectively on pause until we finish the renovation.
• Otherwise, I keep following my favourite Italian accounts on Instagram, comment from time to time, listen compulsively to Giusy Ferreri and try to catch up with my favourite podcasts at least once a week but without a particular structure or putting pressure on myself (more on that resources in a future post dedicated solely to Italian!). I’m also all ears when I hear Italian in my vicinity (relatively easy in multicultural London) — only today I eavesdropped on two Italian conversations!

(And I gave this blog an Italian title because… why not?)

Deutsch

German is my heritage language (one of my great-grandmothers was from Germany) but somehow I never got round to learning it until last year. I needed a project which would take my mind off very sad things that were happening in my life and as I decided to learn foreign languages as a self-directed, independent student, I thought it would be a good idea to start from scratch with a new language to see if it works. So I picked German.

I started with the Pimsleur course, German Level 1 for Beginners, and I enjoyed it a lot. Although dubious at the beginning (I really need a visual component when learning languages) I was surprised that I learned quite a lot. After completing level 1 I had to make a choice. I borrowed this audiobook from my local library which had in stock many Pimsleur courses but nothing beyond level 1. (Which says something about Londoners’ commitment to learning languages, by the way…) If I wanted to continue, I would need to purchase level 2 and Pimsleur is quite a pricey resource.

After some research, I found something that seemed to suit my learning style better: German Uncovered by Kerstin Cable and Olly Richards. A comprehensive, story-based course thoroughly covering vocabulary and grammar was exactly what I was looking for and it didn’t disappoint me: I love this course!

Although initially I was hoping to complete the course by the end of October this year, halfway through September I’m only on chapter 8 out of 20. But I don’t sweat — there is so much material to absorb that I don’t see a point in rushing through. Plus, I’m not in a hurry, I’m not learning for an exam, I don’t live in Germany, I’m just enjoying the journey!

• In September, I’m aiming to complete chapters 8 and 9 of German Uncovered, using a grammar book I bought in Poland as a companion resource. Normally, I also have weekly 30 mins conversations with a community tutor on italki but this month they are on hold due to other commitments both on my and my tutor’s part.
• I’m also listening to podcasts in slow German for beginners as a leisure activity — I’m trying to see how much I can understand without stressing about it. Surprisingly, quite a lot! (More on podcasts in general in a future post.)

Český

Czech, my love! I’ve been in love with this language for almost 20 years and when I was at university, I was able to speak it quite well but I lost touch with it when I moved to London in 2007… until this year when I decided that I just needed to get back to it.

I’m quite relaxed about learning Czech though— normally, my main resource is lessons on italki with my absolutely favourite teacher but this month I’m not aiming for more than two lessons (one done at the beginning of September.) Otherwise, I just listen like crazy to native content… OK, to one type of the native content which I just have to share: a true-crime podcast Opravdové zločiny (I’m linking their YT channel but I usually listen to the podcast only.) Lucka, Bara and their murder stories deserve their own blog post and it will surely come at some point but now it’s time to reveal the ambitious goal for September:

• I’m planning to write them a listener letter describing a true crime story from Poland. That’s it. Difficult enough, thank you very much.

Français

My relationship with French is complicated (I will tell you this story one day) — almost as much as French itself! For now, it’s pretty much on hold (apart from listening to my partner’s parents speaking — I always respond in English though!) but I’m squeezing in listening to podcasts now and then. I have some more ambitious goals for October but in September I need to do one thing only:

• I will write an email to a hotel near Paris to negotiate the rebooking of our stay for next year as it looks like a planned weekend in France won’t happen in 2020. It was already screwed up once in April and we got an extension till the end of December but well… you know what happened, don’t you.

Latina

The language of my teenage years, my favourite subject at school. I haven’t opened a Latin book since 1999 but somehow this year on Twitter I accidentally stumbled upon Lupercal Legit and the rest is history.

I’m currently attending an online course for beginners, enjoying the fun atmosphere, refreshing my long-forgotten knowledge… and discovering it’s not entitely forgotten in the end!

• My goal for September is very simple: one hour of group class a week and approximately half an hour a week of homework. I’m not sweating — we are covering material which I was very familiar with years ago and I can keep up without too much effort.

Pусский

Not too much to say on this topic yet… I used to learn Russian in primary school (we’re talking last century here) and I understand a lot — partially due to thorough studying at the time and partially due to the fact that Slavic languages are easy to understand for me, a native Slavic speaker.

I want to get back to Russian and I figured I try Pimsleur — same as with German. It will be a different experience though: firstly, I have prior knowledge of the language and secondly, the method is aimed at native English speakers so I’m prepared to be slightly bored or maybe doing two lessons in one go.

For now, I’m on a waiting list for Beginners Level 1 in my local library so that’s that!

A presto!

Gosia

P.S. I’m thrilled to have been invited to become an affiliate for Fluent Language courses which are an absolute top of the league. German Uncovered mentioned above is an affiliate link which means that if you purchase the course after clicking through it, I will earn a commission with no additional cost to you. It’s genuinely a fab resource which I was recommending left and right anyway before I was invited to the programme.