10 years ago  

I'm having a flashcard crisis. Memrise redesigned their flashcard software. Now I hate the app, but all my thousands of flashcards are on it. So I guess I have to go research to find a replacement and port all the flashcards over. Geez! That will be weeks of work.

10 years ago  

So I was holding on by my fingernails to make it to the end of KDA Level 2 class. Phew, that is over.
Then KDA teacher contacts me about signing up for Level 3 (right now, heck no!) But he suggests some things, and before I know it, I have signed up to take Level 2 class again. Basically, 3 more months where I revisit the same material 1 hour a week in speaking practice. I think this is a good thing. It lets me continue with trying to use the language, but not force me into new material before I fully absorb what Level 2 was teaching.
I feel a little nervous, like I spent money I wasn't meaning to and got talked into something. I was really looking forward to doing something other than KDA for a while.
Maybe I made a mistake.

10 years ago  

STICK A FORK IN IT - IT"S DONE! With great relief, I have escaped from Level 2 Korean Digital Academy. Boy, has this been a tough 3 months. I am toast. My brain is burnt.
Teacher kept saying "Watch the video, and if you do not understand, email me before the class. Don't ask questions in class. You are suppose to know the material to apply it in practice speaking session."
Problem is ... I am too lost to even form questions. Everything I learned, I learned from sources OTHER than the video. I am not someone who learns from audio. I need SEE it written down. But KDA only talks examples without explaining the concepts, and I can't process language that way. Thank heavens that's over!

10 years ago  

So I am thinking about what one does if you want to put learning a second language on hold for a month or two. I think I still need to do the flashcards and listen to the audio tapes, even during a break, to keep the Korean I have worked so hard to learn from escaping.
It is like adopting pets. You have to keep feeding them.

10 years ago  

I am studying the "As You Like It Chair" Aesop fable with my tutor.
http://jreidy17.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/as-you-like-it-chair-folk-tale/

10 years ago  

thinking today about history. How much do you know about Asian history of your local area? Boston's Chinatown is 130 years old. Chinese workers who came to the factories in North Adams, Massachusetts in 1870 to break the strike were not greeted happily by locals. Today, I am researching Massachusetts history.

10 years ago  

I have lost my motivation. I am failing KDA class. I am not even motivated for my tutoring. Days go by without doing my flashcards. All I want to do is sleep in this dark time of year. I have watched lots of American TV. It isn't satisfying, but my brain needed a break.
Something will need to change. I think I took away everything I found fun about learning Korean to become a "serious" student for Korean Digital Academy, but it left me with nothing to look forward to. Winter blues.

10 years ago  

I feel like I have so much to share! But if you read my blog http://jreidy17.wordpress.com/ you have already seen it.
* I might be addicted to the pleasure I feel when I learn new words, but it won't replace chocolate!
* I have conjugated all the verbs from 24 KDA classes. Still a struggle, but maybe inching closer to understanding
* my flashcards range from bed bugs to Will Smith, Flintstones, Simpsons, Jetsons, Jillian Michaels, and Grammaropolis.
* I didn't speak in this week's KDA class, and that felt like a huge relief

10 years ago  

I am starting to think that language learning is one of the most unproductive things I have ever done. I make flashcards, games, lessons on LingQ, Memrise decks, read, study, listen to audio, make Youtube videos, chat, email, and write in my blog. None of that effort actually helping anyone.
I'm pretty close to quitting KDA. Haven't studied the lesson this week.
Still plugging away on "The Giving Tree" and pronunciation for tutoring.
I feel like I paid for tutor sessions and the KDA classes, so I should at least finish the next 6 weeks.
It may be that instead of reaching the goal of speaking Korean by January 1, I will be burnt out and ready to do something else next year.

10 years ago  

Maybe I am just stupid. My teachers keep saying that I am not studying well enough. I am overwhelmed. Is that my fault? I am putting in INSANE hours at the computer trying to study. 10 - 15 hours a day, every day. I can't do more. I can't get caught up. I am so slow figuring things out in Korean. Maybe the crazy part is trying to do this online.
Or maybe, just maybe, KDA's videos don't work for me. I need grammar written out in steps/patterns and every logical step explained. I can't even understand half of what the students on the videos are mumbling. I can't read Rob's handwriting. I usually make it about 1 minute before I feel confused and go off elsewhere to seek answers to the questions Rob's videos aren't answering.

10 years ago  

Debate, debate ... do I continue working on "The Giving Tree" when it is already 10 AM, or do I go to sleep now so I am rested for the Korean Digital Academy class at 9 am? Or do I study more for KDA, or write up some of those blog posts that I started but haven't finished yet? Hmm ... busy busy!

10 years ago  

I found myself counting how many more KDA classes there are in Level 2. 7 classes. Roughly 2 months.
I admit, Level 2 is too fast for me. I can't keep up. I have been putting in 15 hour days of studying back to back to try to catch up. I think I sort of understand verbs now, but still so much more work to practice the verbs so that I can do it at normal conversational level instead of taking 5 minutes to conjugate.
Exhausted and struggling.
Really can't juggle tutor and KDA class at the same time.

10 years ago  

I'm still pretty lost when it comes to verb conjugation. I think I am approaching understanding, then Rob asks for a verb to be conjugated, and I just draw a total blank. I know the infinitive, but can't remember off the top of my head how to conjugate.
Practice, practice, practice. Some day this will become something I can do on the fly.
Think I need to write it down. Like the kid who is made to write on the chalkboard over and over again as a punishment.

10 years ago  

Some times I worry that I just vent here.
Discovered that if the nights are too long, and I wake at 4 am, that going to McDonald's with only my smartphone creates a great learning environment for doing my flashcards. Quiet, no distractions, I can get an hour or two of practice in while sipping coffee.
Got to chat a bit with Hansu from HelloTalk, too, this AM. HelloTalk is nice. I like how you can easily save sentences, even email them, and the translation option lets me converse with people beyond my ability to understand, then learn from that.

10 years ago