Winding down 2011

With the year winding down, I'm taking a final look at my progress throughout this year. I'm also finalizing my plans for 2012 language learning.

On the Norwegian front, I can say that I have reached a C1 level, albeit a low C1. That was my original goal, too. Looking back, I don't think I could have gotten to a C1 level without the exposure I've had this year. I had the privilege of meeting and becoming good friends with two Norwegians this year. This has given me so much practice and insight that I would otherwise have missed. I should also make note that the relationship was pretty solidly formed in Norwegian from the start. This made a huge difference.

Aside from my daily speaking, I was exposed to a lot of Norwegian cinema. This year alone I've watched a good 20 Norwegian films, from comedy to romance to horror (and let me tell you, Norwegians know how to do horror!) I've also expanded my Norwegian music knowledge a bit too. I've amassed quite a collection over this past year.

I will, of course, continue to maintain my Norwegian. I've grown quite fond of the language and my friends.

Polish has largely been a disappointment. I never got beyond an A2 level. For a variety of reasons, it was impossible for me to find a conversation partner, and this - probably more than anything else - hindered any real progress.

I also had a hard time finding decent TV and movies to watch. I don't understand why Polish TV is so under-represented on the internet, but it was very hard for me to find anything worthwhile. And movies - Every Polish movie I could find (admittedly not many, but I managed to find a few) had a really annoying tendency to keep the original language volume raised, so it ended up being very mixed into the dubbed Polish. Music, on the other hand, was quite easy to come by, and I expanded my collection by a fair bit. Polish pop is pretty easy to follow, and I enjoy a lot of it.

That said, I probably will not continue Polish studies in 2012. The frustrations were just too many, and I'm not in the right place for it right now. Maybe I'll come back to it another year, though. It's a very pretty language, and I can certainly appreciate the history and culture that goes with the language.

Finally, Turkish has sort of become my new love of the year. I've probably spent the most time on this language - more than any other language I've looked at since Italian (another great love of mine.) I've reached a B1 level, which was my goal. When I'm not working or out and about, I have something Turkish playing/going on in the background. I completed three full courses, then later in the year went back and reviewed them again. I've discovered a huge amount of music. Turkish TV has thankfully been very easy to come by on the internet. I watch two programs every single night - Burada Laf Çok and the news on CnnTürk. And I've gotten into a soap on Kanal D called Yıllar Sonra.

I also got a regular conversation partner around the middle of the year. We started out talking 2-3 times a week for very short periods of about 10 minutes and have gradually upped the time to 45 minutes to an hour each time. That has helped tremendously. Over the last half of this year the conversations have gone from me asking quite basic things to being able to have a fairly unscripted conversation. I say "fairly unscripted" because we still try to have a topic in mind beforehand, but other than the topic, it's free-flowing for the most part.

I will definitely continue my Turkish studies in 2012. I hope to get to an upper B2 level by the end of the year.

And now on to 2012.

I won't be actively studying three languages like I tried this year. I think three was too much. Two, however, is doable. So in trying to choose another language to accompany Turkish, I decided I'd try and stay within the Anatolian region, looking at the languages that border Turkey. So that gave me Greek, Bulgarian, Georgian, Armenian, Persian or some form of Arabic. Quite a diverse choice, no?

In the end I chose Georgian. My little diversion this last year to learn the Georgian alphabet was a lot of fun and really piqued my interest in not just the language, but in Georgian history. I don't plan on getting to a very high level with the language - A2, perhaps, but not higher than that. This is partly due to the amount of learning materials I can find for the language, but mainly because I really want to concentrate on getting Turkish to a higher level.

To track what I'll be doing in Georgian, I'm going to be using a goal-tracking website that I learned about on Lifehacker called accompl.sh. I've already set up my basic goals here, although they're not scheduled to be locked into place until January 1, 2012. The list of goals is currently set at 28 and includes three courses to complete, as well as tasking me with finding music and movies. I decided to try to use the site to track my goals because it offers some social interaction, and even challenges that other users can suggest and/or join in.

So that's what my 2012 looks like.

It's been a great year overall for me, and I'm looking forward to 2012!

2011 Language Goals

When I started entries in this blog, my intent was and still is to track my progress with the three languages I'm taking on. I've started them at different times, so they're all at different levels, but my goal, of course, is to get them all up to a good, speakable level.

I'm not big on testing, per se, but in the past I've taken a couple exams to prove my proficiency in languages. I had to take a proficiency exam just to gain admittance to the Italian university system. I also took the same proficiency exam for Spanish to prove my competency in that language for work purposes, albeit indirectly. I later took another, more suitable exam for Spanish to work as an interpreter.

Really, when I say I took the same proficiency test for both Italian and Spanish, I mean that the grading and proficiency assessment were done in the same way, to the same standard. This assessment is referred to as the CEFR, or Common European Framework of Reference, and I believe it to be a fairly accurate measure of a person's language proficiency. So I've been measuring and will continue to measure my progress by these levels, even if I don't actually sit an exam. I'm including them here for reference:

A1 Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

A2 Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

B1 Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

B2 Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

C1 Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

C2 Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.

OK, now that I've established the levels, here are my very brief reasons for choosing the languages I've chosen, along with what I believe to be my current level of each language.

I initially chose Norwegian because I have relatives that came over from Norway, and I figured if I was going to study a Scandinavian language, Norwegian was the most neutral. I could easily move to another if I wanted, I reasoned. I can indeed read Danish and a fair bit of Swedish with no trouble. I've half-heartedly studied it for a couple years. It wasn't until this last summer that I truly got interested. It was due to finding a lot of old family paperwork in Norwegian after inheriting a piece of property. And it brought up old family pride. I currently see myself at a B1 level.

Polish became an interest when I moved to Chicago. Chicago has a pretty large Polish population (in fact, it's the largest concentration of Polish/Polish ancestry outside of Poland). My first job in Chicago was in the Loop and all I ever heard from any of the building maintenance people was Polish. How could I not be curious? So I started to study it. I became discouraged pretty quickly with its seemingly advanced grammar, and slowed my studying to a crawl, almost losing interest in the language. For whatever reason I was able to get through that phase and realize the grammar's not hard, just different. So I'm back to improving Polish. I current rate myself at an A2 level.

And lastly, there's Turkish. I became interested in the language because people told me to! OK, that's not really true. It's convoluted, but here's the reason: A couple years ago, I took a trip to Morocco and was absolutely blown away by the cuisine. By far the healthiest food I'd ever eaten in my life. When I would tell people about it, nearly everyone said “Oh, if you like Moroccan, you've GOT to try authentic Turkish”. When I say nearly everyone told me that, I really mean that. So I started digging. It led me to Turkish culture. That led me to the language, with all its reforms, political or not, in th early 20^th century. If that weren't interesting enough for me, I became fascinated with the structure and grammar of the language. I jokingly tell my friends that Turkish seems to have been designed and created by a bunch of linguists with nothing but a case of beer. It's incredibly logical. And very different than anything else I've taken on. I currently have a little less than 2 months with this language, and I would place my knowledge at A1.

So that was a long ramble to get to the part where I state my goals.

For 2011, I want to take my Norwegian up to a C1 level. I believe that's a very doable goal. I'd like to get my Polish up to a B2 level, with the goal of traveling to Krakow. I'm over the grammatical hurdle, so I don't see that being a problem, as long as I stay the course. And finally, I'd like to get my Turkish up to a B1 level. Because I'm still fresh with this language, I have no real reference to judge whether that's practical or not, but I think I can get there based on these last few weeks. The language is so different from anything else I've studied, and there's a real passion to learn it, to delve as deep as I can.

On December 31, 2011 I'll compare notes and with luck, I'll have matched my goals.