See key
Ve12.30 t460 a165
Sa12.31 t1393 a413 q55
Do1.1 t1437 a413 q274
Lu1.2 Pb-Mo-Da-# t1739 a413 q168
Mar1.3 t2282 a623 q52 UG1,UC1 TUG1-2 TUC1-2
Mer1.4 t3323 a997 q323 UG2,UC2 TUG3-5 TUC3-5 TR1-2
Gi1.5 TUG6-9 TUC6-9 TR3-5
Ve1.6 TUG10-12 TUC10-12 TR6-9
TARGET: a1050 Liv1Fin
Sa1.7 TU13-15 TR10-12
Do1.8 TR all, mini-test
L1.9 t4507 a996 q271 <- class starts at SDLDV
Mar1.10
Mer1.11
Gi1.12 t4763 a996 q385
Ve1.13
— observation: difficult to maintain >1000 words. Moving to “multimedia” but hard to review new vocab. Important to move to active vocab, and even more important (at this stage) to be able to rapidly conjugate verbs and use them in sentences. Generally speaking, I have failed to meet my higher objectives and would have ideally been at an active 2000 active vocab instead of the probably 1200 which I currently have. This is, however, extremely difficult to measure esp. given the many many cognates (and things which are not included, like numbers). Probably need to devise a better system for measuring. Typical pattern: make plan, start with enthusiasm, get diverted (put enthusiasm into related side projects), end up exhausted.
Sa1.14
Do1.15
L1.16
Mar1.17
ob: lots of time spend on rapid use of words and, esp. conjugation of verbs. I feel that at least the present, simple past (prossimo), and gerunds I am fairly rapid without many mistakes. I am also usually able to understand basic Italian conversations. I have purchased approximately 12 books in Italian and reviewed several. However, despite an increase in speed, I am not close to being able to keep up with native speakers. The primary limitation seems to be vocabulary, which, despite passive increase (from conversations and, esp. reading) does not include all of the normal necessary verbs and nouns. I think I must be more systematic here, although, as noted, I have not been keeping up with the online flashcard system. Another problem is not knowing what order to approach the grammar in. Although I am able to teach myself and memorize new grammar from the book, it is not always clear what is necessary at my current stage (for example, I memorized gerunds somewhat randomly). As noted to teacher in one-on-one class today, at the Goethe Institute I had the benefit of an orderly curriculum so that I could study the next level while in the current one (something I did), so as to move forward far more quickly than usually possible.
Sampling of supplementary purchased material:
– Bhagavad Gita (tradd.) by Raphael
– Fuoco di Acsesi by Raphael
– Grammatica Italiana per tutti i concorsi (O-Key)
– Letteratura Italiana dalle origini ai giorni nostri (O-Key)
– Selezione di Alberghi e Ristoranti in Italia (Michelin), 2004
– Asterix e Cleopatra (DVD)
Mer1.18
Gi1.19 t4947 a996 q790
ob: Received approval to go to level 2 on monday. Have or will cover all material from level 1 by myself or in one-on-one sessions. Suspect it is better to learn more useful verbs early on. Annoyed that there is no clear rubric for success. Devising system for tracking all necessary parts of grammar.
Ve1.20
Sa1.21
Do1.22 ob: I believe I have official entered a “funk” of sorts, commencing more or less from when my apartment was robbed on Wed. night. My immediate sense of safety was compromised, my room rearranged somewhat and I have not yet put things in order. Additionally, the event coincided with a work deadline, and I have been struggling to finish work by previously arranged deadlines although not in the best of spirits. To get out of it, I have mainly been spending time with co-patriates (Americans), who have been most kind and accomodating, although I fear sleeping on the couch of another for a couple nights may also not be great for recovering my previous rhythm. In any case, both fatigue in a new place and depressive episodes are not terribly unusual, although the triggers in this case (doubling up on schoolwork, taking on additional work, fatigue from foreign stay, and an unexpected robbery) may be pushing me past my breaking point in an unusual and frightening way.
L1.23
Mar1.24
Me1.25
Gi1.26
Ve1.27
Sa1.28 ob: Finally finished work-related project at 11pm last night, taking rather more time than expected and meaning that I could not dedicate a lot of extra hours this past week to learning. However, as of today I believe I have resolved my long-standing and often considered problem regarding a way to track progress with respect to grammatical points, which I will provide in a new key .
Starting off at 0: Grammar key record
Level 2 is fine. Mixed quality of students as before, but good teaching.
Here is a complete list of resources
Do1.29
Lu1.30 ob: received permission to move to Level 3 (B1) on Monday, provided successful completion of work this week.
Ma1.31
Me2.1 t5433 a995
Gi2.2
V2.3
S2.4
D2.5 ob: Virtually all extracurricular activity (save work) at the moment involves reading in Italian, including the memorization of traditional folk songs.
G2.16 t6125 a993 q268
ob: Tomorrow is the last day of class for level 3 (B1), will move to middle of level 4 (B2) on Monday. Overwhelming week, starting with both conjuctive and passato remote this past Monday, and finding that my mind is somewhat overwhelmed and, presumably as a result, feel that the quality of my speaking has gotten worse over the past week or so (esp. when I speak English with other students. I made a potential mistake in befriending another American student who I thought would speak only Italian with me). Also feeling this time that even though I am “levelling up,” I am not nearly as confident that my language ability is better than the others in my class. This is esp. clear when it comes to vocabulary, where I feel like I am lacking at present. Additionally, I have not been spending a great amount of time class material outside of class (reading, yes; singing, yes; grammar exercises, no), but feel that I need to review everything to this point. Sadly there is not a lot of formal structure here, and although I have asked to take the level ending exams, I have not had the ability to do so thus far, and, consequently, am somewhat frustrated as although I can guarantee that I am able to use the other parts of language, I can by no means guarantee mastery.
Some areas esp lacking:
– gender of nouns ending in -e or consonants
– plural forms of above
– vocabulary, esp. body parts, action verbs, clothing
– various transitions (e.g. therefore, so, because)
Ultimate problem is that I appear to be reaching a certain level of exhaustion simply from living in foreign land, and true immersion appears impossible at this stage. Also, I am uncertain where I stand given the somewhat unstructured environment — although thankfully the language itself provides structure because of the need to read and understand. Plan: review.
S2.18 t6513 a1083 q196
ob: achieved all available basic words at app. 1180 active words. Moving to intermediate.
D2.19 t7037 a1300 q0
ob: new resolution to limit max acquisition in a single day at ~100 words, so as to avoid overload (e.g. make sure you know everything before moving on).
L2.27 New week without classes, focusing on thesis.
2.28 t7504 a1450 q637
3.6 t7538 a1450 q742
ob. Classes commenced again yesterday, now level 5. Have a difficult time with new grammar, but we are almost finished. Need to review and build up vocab. Will take it easy the next week probably and then take a crash prep course for the C1 exam at the end of March.
S3.10
ob: bit exhausted, week ended. Still don’t feel on top of all the material or on par with the other students in my class.
3.12 reviewing c1 info, doesn’t look terribly difficult. Trying to find teachers for literature and things to read. Have way more books than time to read at this point — and I’m spending a lot of time in aimless wandering and seemingly useless thoughts.
3.13 t7904 a1450 q642
4.16
ob. Spent most of the last month attempting to read books, although I seem to fall into a similar cycle of getting exhausted after a few page (particularly with a difficult work), then distracted, then doing something else (like wasting time on the internet). I still haven’t found a good way to bridge the divide between speaking/conversational and “adult”/advanced reading, since it seems like the gap is quite large and the rather dramatic increase in needed vocabulary is not necessarily facilitated by normal classroom study. I think the proper respond might be transitioning into a “college” (or potentially high-school) level study program with peers who are native speakers, and force oneself to learn. An additional problem is that I seem to have fallen victim to a bit of “peer pressure” and am applying myself less than typically — a lot of this appears to be “in the air” in Rome, as people are here for the “vita bella” and don’t seem to do very much beyond thinking of food and sex. I have not figured out a way to separate myself from this energy except to remove myself from the environment, which means moving to Assisi. An alternative would be to surround myself with harder-working people, but I do not even know where to find such. One can readily observe the benefit of the previous “european tour” as undertaken by priviledged English youth of a previous era — some addtional structure would certainly benefit those seeking to appropriate the best of traditional Italian culture without being enmired in the worst.
4.27 Last week I have been in the countryside in new abode. Has been reasonably productive and in the last week and a half I think I have finally gotten into the swing of reading books in Italian. I think I will attempt to continue for the next little bit of time. Retiring to a place of repose with minimal human contact appears to be the “right” way to approach the problem, although greater efficiency could potentially have been achieve by doing this earlier.