From January to April 2015, I will be studying French and Spanish. I intend to use this blog as a record of my language learning activities; after reading an article or watching a video, I will post the link to the blog and write a summary/reflection. Target frequency is 2-3 posts per week, although I may read/listen/watch more than this without posting about every article/video. I also intend to study grammar through websites devoted to this end, in addition to paying attention to usage in articles/videos.
Target competencies for improvement are listening and reading. Writing blog posts in the foreign language will allow me to improve in that area as well. Speaking and interacting is harder to do when learning on your own, but I am comfortable with pronouncing words, reading aloud, repeating the dialogue on videos, etc. Of course, nothing beats conversing with a native speaker, so I'll keep an eye out for opportunities when I'm traveling, in the mall, etc.
Goals for French: be able to better understand familiar French as well as the French that is used in the rest of the Francophone world. I am most comfortable with the language used on news broadcasts, in the classroom, in the restaurant, etc., because I've been exposed to those situations the most. I have trouble with street French - the lower registers of the language that often mix with Arabic, for example, and that are used most by young people. I would like to expand my vocabulary on the upper end of usage, as well - the flowery, sometimes obscure words you'd find in a poem or a dissertation.
Goals for Spanish: be able to understand most news broadcasts and articles; establish a strong familiarity with the grammar; be able to pronounce every sound in the language; and begin to understand the cultures and worldviews of Spanish-speaking regions.
Organization of the blog: At the top are the pages: Home, francais, espanol. Home is where all blog posts live. The francais page provides quick access to resources for learning French, including instructional sites and French-language news sites, etc. Ditto for espanol. The labels, located on the right-hand side of the blog, allows you to filter the posts by language and by competency. For example, clicking on "francais" takes you to all posts that relate to my study of French. The "listening" label takes you to all posts where I have watched a video, listened to a song, etc., regardless of the language.
Target competencies for improvement are listening and reading. Writing blog posts in the foreign language will allow me to improve in that area as well. Speaking and interacting is harder to do when learning on your own, but I am comfortable with pronouncing words, reading aloud, repeating the dialogue on videos, etc. Of course, nothing beats conversing with a native speaker, so I'll keep an eye out for opportunities when I'm traveling, in the mall, etc.
Goals for French: be able to better understand familiar French as well as the French that is used in the rest of the Francophone world. I am most comfortable with the language used on news broadcasts, in the classroom, in the restaurant, etc., because I've been exposed to those situations the most. I have trouble with street French - the lower registers of the language that often mix with Arabic, for example, and that are used most by young people. I would like to expand my vocabulary on the upper end of usage, as well - the flowery, sometimes obscure words you'd find in a poem or a dissertation.
Goals for Spanish: be able to understand most news broadcasts and articles; establish a strong familiarity with the grammar; be able to pronounce every sound in the language; and begin to understand the cultures and worldviews of Spanish-speaking regions.
Organization of the blog: At the top are the pages: Home, francais, espanol. Home is where all blog posts live. The francais page provides quick access to resources for learning French, including instructional sites and French-language news sites, etc. Ditto for espanol. The labels, located on the right-hand side of the blog, allows you to filter the posts by language and by competency. For example, clicking on "francais" takes you to all posts that relate to my study of French. The "listening" label takes you to all posts where I have watched a video, listened to a song, etc., regardless of the language.
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