Spring is finally on its way

It's been a while since my last update, so this post is overdue.

March, unfortunately, was a really bad month, both personally and professionally for me. As a result, I just didn't have it in me to write anything. Thank God March is over, and I can get on with April and everything renewed.

I really should have at least posted an update for my Turkish B2 test. I passed, so that's a positive. The test took two days, with the oral portion on the second day. I've taken CEFR tests in the past, so there were really no surprises, just an exhausting couple of days. So what now for my Turkish? Well, I continue to watch anywhere from two to three hours of TV a day, so listening maintenance won't be a problem. I've also continued with my conversation partner - now two years strong. I've mentioned this before, but I'm a pretty strong believer that to get beyond a B2 in a second language, living where the language is spoken is a must. At some point, I want to spend at least a year in Turkey, which should up my level. But for now, I'm quite happy with my level and how long it's taken me to get here.

Starting at the beginning of this year, I decided to take another look at Ojibwe. I've completed the Pimsleur course, and have, in fact, added quite a bit of my own material to better round out the course. My progress with the course and language in general can be seen here. I still have to update the blog with the last couple of lessons, but they're complete.

To complement my Ojibwe studies, I also enrolled and completed  a course on Aboriginal Worldviews and Education through Coursera. The course was offered by the University of Toronto, and the focus was pretty heavy on Canadian issues. I liked the course, overall. I do have some complaints about Coursera, though. The last week of my class, the Coursera website just collapsed, and I was unable to get to my course at all. As a result, I missed the final test for the course, and took a hit on my grade. Frankly, it's turned me off enough that I don't know that I'd consider taking another course through Courera. I've found plenty of courses through MIT OpenCourseWare that I might try them next. I'm not after another degree, but I do like being able to study different courses (and the structured nature of these courses is nice), so the recent surge of MOOCs is nice to see.

So what's on tap for the rest of the year? Well, as I said, I'm certainly going to continue with my Turkish, and I'm also going to  continue with Ojibwe. I purchased Anton Treuer's book "Living Our Language: Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories", which is some pretty fantastic Ojibwe text, also with English translation. That should definitely keep me busy for a long while.

I think I also mentioned in a previous post that I might like to return to Polish. I will probably take that up again the second half of the year, but I occasionally pull out some material a review it so I don't lose what I've already learned.

Here's to a much brighter April (and beyond)!

Turkish B2 exam date set!

I've finally got confirmation on my B2 exam date for Turkish. It'll happen on February 19. It's a bit sooner than I wanted, but I'll deal with it.

I've been going through the TELC practice material to prepare. The TELC website has a mock exam, but I've also purchased the extra practice material, so there's plenty for me to use prior to the tests.

Additionally, I've decided my second language this year to study, or rather continue to study, is Ojibwe. I first looked at this language about a year and a half ago and was really interested in it. I couldn't find many resources, though, so I let it slide. Now that I'm returning to it, I'm pleasantly surprised to find many more resources available. I'm reviewing the Pimsleur course that I'd initially found notes to, then bought the audio course. What a difference having both makes. I understand things much better now.

Another resource that I'm finding to be really helpful is the Anishinaabemowin language page. It's quite complete as a grammar reference. I've also found this Ojibwe grammar site for any other questions I may have.

I'm taking it slow with Ojibwe until I get through my Turkish exams, but will probably concentrate more on it after that. In the meantime, I'm documenting any lessons or learning points on my Indoojibwem! blog.

2012 - Year End Review and Thoughts for 2013

I've been terrible at updating this blog the last half of 2012. I've been quite consistent with my Turkish studies, and have gone as far as I could with Georgian, although I would have liked to have progressed much further with it.

I've now completed the complete Yeni Hitit series of courses. This course has given me everything I was looking for to push me forward. I've doubled (at least) my vocabulary and strengthened my grammar. I've spent a lot of time with my conversation partner and feel muh more comfortable speaking. Of course, I still stumble with thoughts at times, but I have no trouble communicating what I want to communicate, and if there are holes, I can converse my way around them and usually end up learning something in the process.

I've also spent a considerable amount of time watching Turkish TV, whether it's CNNTürk, Kanal D or NTV. I've averaged 3 hours a day with this type of input, and continue to do so.

I finished Kayıp Sembol and gained a decent amount of vocabulary from that too.

What's next for my Turkish? Well, the first quarter of this year I plan on sitting the B2 exam. It's being arranged through the Turkish American Society of Chicago - a really great group of people. I highly recommend checking them out for learning the language and culture if you're in the Chicagoland area. So, for the next three months, preparing for the exams will be my focus.

As for Georgian, well, I completed most of the courses I wanted to, except for the Hewitt grammar. I had and still have so much trouble with that book. I was unable to watch the number of movies I wanted to. I just couldn't find enough material that interested me. Music, on the other hand, was plentiful. I learned twenty new Georgian songs.

Do I think I reached an A2 level? No. A strong, A1, yes, but I just don't feel comfortable saying I'm at an A2 level. I also had trouble finding conversation partners for the language. Had I succeeded in this, I think I would be comfortable in saying I reached an A2, but without consistent conversation, I'm just not there.

I will most likely not continue studying Georgian this year, although I'll try to maintain what I've learned, either by looking for more comprehensible input, or reviewing what I've already learned. This approach has worked well for me with maintaining Polish - something I may pick up again later this year. More on that in a minute.

Finally, I participated in a 6 Week Challenge with Piedmontese, and continued with the language after the challenge was complete. It's definitely something I have incorporated into my daily life. In fact, the last half of 2012 was spent writing a comparative grammar that is due to be published this month. It's something I'm pretty proud of. There are so few resources out there for English speakers that are interested in the language.

So, for 2013...

I don't have any plans for a new language for the year, as I've done for the last couple years. As I mentioned, the first quarter of this year I'll be concentrating on the B2 exams for Turkish. What I am at least tentatively thinking is resuming my Polish studies, and maybe another language that I've previously either briefly looked at or studied. I feel like I'm in a much better space mentally this year to take on Polish again. The 6 Week Challenge was good motivation for me with Piedmontese, so I will probably try to take advantage of that again with Polish and another language.

This year, I want to approach things a little differently than in years past. I don't want to have such rigid goals, aside from my exams. Although some goals are important, they tend to just get in the way when something goes off track.

So there you have it. I want to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2013.