#ways to practice. im following along with a textbook so there's some structure there but no way to like. hold myself accountable u know

[daughterofsarenrae]

anyone have advice on learning a language when you don't have anyone to speak it with

#my only language learning experiences have been very structured + in a school setting #and im very unlikely to find someone to practice this with (like. im not going to look for people online) #(id really only be ok with practicing with someone i know bc i have The Anxiety) #(and also i am nowhere NEAR far enough along to need actual practice) #but just like. general tips if yall have them #ways to practice. im following along with a textbook so there's some structure there but no way to like. hold myself accountable u know #bel speaks #maybe eventually i'll feel ok finding a practice buddy but that's not an option atm

[rigelmejo]

how my chinese progress is going:

i can watch a cut of zhu yilong’s character in border town prodigal and mostly understand all the dialogue/chinese subtitles in real time. like, 80%. some lines i can follow completely. but to be fair its easy stuff like “first we aren’t friends, second don’t touch my sword” and “no i don’t want to get drunk/drink” and “i’m leaving”. 

i also watched the pilot of The Shaw Eleven and followed it well enough to at least jump into the second episode (which had english subs), and have been familiar with most of the plot (except i hadn’t been clear on if zyl’s character was the brother or fiance of the main pretty girl - turns out he’s the fiance). but to be fair - this show is pretty much a fighting game as-a-drama, so the plot is ridiculously simple, and easy to follow, and most of the show is just fights - which require little language skill to understand lol. but yeah, anyway, when i watched the first episode i just read the chinese subtitles/listened and tried to follow along in real time, so i think that’s pretty decent comprehension. no where close to like total, but i followed the gist. i translated some lines to my roomate chilling in the room with me. 

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i want to get to the point i can READ a novel and. wow. that is so far away. i want to also get to the point i can watch case-type shows without english subs and... i imagine cause those plots are Puzzles that i am a ways... away from managing something like THAT. i want... to watch anti-fraud league. and it apparently isn’t subbed anywhere in english. i followed the pilot well enough without english subs but... because its a case-type show, i doubt i would continue to manage to follow along decently enough to comprehend whats going on...

and a note for myself: my comprehension skills are definitely outpacing my production skills. i can recognize a lot of characters i cannot write (and there’s a decent number of words i can listen to and recognize, but don’t know what they look like). that’s not a major issue right now, but it might be later if i’d like to ever speak/write decently, so i should probably work through a grammar book again/textbook and practice writing some, in the future when that’ll be a goal i want to focus on. also - my reading ability is outpacing my listening ability just a bit. the gap is less extreme than it is in french, but i definitely can scan through text and make guesses/inferences, whereas if i am listening to dialogue i only really recognize the words i already am sure i KNOW. since reading, ultimately, is my main goal, this isn’t too much of an issue. but i need to remember to play audio when possible, when i’m reading. and i need to remember to try and read aloud to myself when possible, when i know the pronunciations of characters, so i can practice their pronunciations and make efforts to remember them.

it is interesting to me that certain things are easier to ‘learn’. in reading, im getting much better at following ‘time explanations’ and dialogue. reading more, just general reading practice, has also helped the grammar start to make more sense to me without very much conscious effort or self-explaining on my part. its just, i’m seeing the sentence structures more and more and they’re becoming easier to follow. descriptions especially are starting to become easier to parse out. so i guess, i’d say at least within my own experience, the advice of ‘read more and expose yourself to the language more, and the grammar will become more understandable to you’ is pretty on point. 

#rant #i SWEAR the only way i really learn and learn fast #is to just get thrown headfirst into deep water and be FORCED to understand #because i've learned most of the characters and words i know #from making myself read and watch shows without english subs #i learned the characters for eye and foot just because i kept seeing them over and over in Silent Reading #i finally learned anzi means case and an means case because it shows up in EVERY think i watch #i learned sha and su super easy cause again. guess what turns up in EVERYTHING i watch. #i think all the ways to say "you okay? im fine #. its nothing. of course' would make sense if i hadn't seen them in context over and over in Detective L #since they can mean both 'its nothing' and 'its right' and 'okay' #whereas when i try to learn from flashcards it is a STRUGGLE to get through like 10 an hour and my brain hates it #and when i try to read a structured book on characters AGAIN my brain fights it to just get through a few pages #but like? me trying to Actually READ in the language itself? #my brain feels filled to the brim and like its working HARD. but its engaged. it can keep up its attention. at least for 20 minutes or so. #but because its ENGAGED i actually remember a bit more from the study session even though it was INTENSE #i think in part its because as much of a struggle it is - its interesting and feels like puzzle solving like im achieving something #and because later when i try to do it again - i can physically FEEL the difference in ability. and literally SEE how much i've learned #based on how much easier the task is to do the next time i try it.