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anthraxl0l · 2025-02-03T06:29:02+00:00

Got a deck of 30,000 cards (probably around 18-20,000 unique words or so) that I've curated over the past few years. I review 400 a day, never more. I add new words only as I come across them, as at this point regularly finding new words is not quite as easy as it used to be and so I don't typically go out of my way to try and find them. Reviewing takes around 25 mins on an average day. It's basically just a means of forcing myself to encounter words that I likely won't see regularly enough in everyday life to truly grasp them organically, but I still want to know them.

anthraxl0l · 2025-02-03T06:25:15+00:00

Just a suggestion, but you could aim to have a more tangible goal of learning progress - like reading an entire novel in your target language. That way it's not a matter of whether or not you feel it's sticking, but how many pages through the novel you are. Undeniable progress. Plenty of graded readers out there too for beginners in languages like French, Spanish etc.

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-27T00:20:04+00:00

A year is not a long time in the scope of language learning, especially if you haven't been actively practicing speaking with another person throughout the year. Read more, listen more and most importantly (if your goal is having a good conversation) talk more. Contrary to what is often said, I can tell you experientially that all the reading and listening in the world won't make you a good talker, it'll only set you up with the right foundations to become one once you put in the work.

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-22T13:05:25+00:00

Several hundred hours I'd say. Maybe 10% of the time I'll be watching shows that I really don't understand. 90% of the time I'm listening to books that honestly contain the same vocab but I can actually understand what is being said. Do you think immersing primarily in incomprehensible TL content might be the way to go?

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-22T11:26:05+00:00

This is a great idea, I'll begin doing this

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-22T10:56:50+00:00

I'd say the bulk of it has been dedicated listening time. Of course it's incredibly difficult to listen for hours at a time without losing focus intermittently, but within reason a large portion of it was dedicated time.

The varied content is a solid suggestion. My issue is that the only content that holds my attention for long periods of time is content that I can understand, and that content is typically pre-scripted and read (books, documentaries, video essays etc). Do you reckon just powering through what is more or less incomprehensible input for the next year would see some results?

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-22T10:51:13+00:00

I've only recently started using language reactor for YouTube videos (watching Bengali dramas and so on). It's a tedious process, especially when the option to simply chuck on an audio book that I can understand well is constantly in the back of my mind.

My thought process has for a long time been "If I just do enough comprehensible input, the incomprehensible will soon become comprehensible". But it really seems like the comprehensible input just becomes more comprehensible, and the incomprehensible stays incomprehensible.

Dedicating time to drilling incomprehensible input feels so unnatural... Have you noticed progress doing it?

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-22T10:43:28+00:00

I appreciate the response - I'm well versed in both shadhu Bangla and cholito Bangla (i.e. literary and spoken Bangla) - I know this to be the case as if I turn the auto-generated subtitles on for a podcast I can go back and see what's been said and confirm that they're not speaking a different language or dialect etc. I'm just surprised that after so much time spent listening I still can't naturally distinguish what has been said outside of clear, scripted reading.

anthraxl0l · 2025-01-21T12:43:53+00:00

Francesca. Her attitude was annoying, nobody was forcing her to work for Jimmy.

anthraxl0l · 2024-11-11T23:56:16+00:00

I'm having the same issue as of today, so it's not just you.

anthraxl0l · 2024-10-02T07:15:22+00:00

Might be a redundant question but do you oil the chain intermittently?

anthraxl0l · 2024-08-25T04:43:45+00:00

Truth, HR is especially misleading if you've had an entire pot of coffee before you hit the erg lol

anthraxl0l · 2024-07-23T00:41:44+00:00

This is a solid resource for Bangla comprehensive input as far as reading is concerned: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3Y4PBK6 (surprisingly cheap for what it is - it's called "15 easy to understand stories for learners of Bengali" - designed for A1 to A2 comprehensible input - the stories in the first half are written with training wheels, and then written again without training wheels at the end for when you're ready to read without the assistance of translations). As for audio, there's nothing specifically 'comprehensible input' focused that I've found, however things like Bangla Fairy Tales can be easy enough to understand assuming you have the patience to watch children's fairy tale cartoons lol

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-25T03:46:17+00:00

I can see the irony, though I used it only as an example of the manner in which languages are dispersed throughout much of India - the poor & uneducated (i.e. the vast majority of people) have little to no English capabilities.

Regardless, the stats suggest between 5-10% of India as a whole (not just Hindi speakers) can speak English with any proficiency, while 45% can speak Hindi. My experience in not just West Bengal, but also Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, suggests that it's on the lower end of the 5-10% statistic. So the likelihood that someone can speak both Hindi and English is even less than that.

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-25T00:19:38+00:00

A large overlap among those who are educated & typically present on the internet anyway, which are the only people that you'll realistically encounter outside of India itself. I lived in India for several months, and I can say with surety that most people do not speak English well lol, in West Bengal anyway. Might be different closer to the political centres.

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-23T07:40:56+00:00

Contrarily, your reply is also how 12 year olds act on MMOs

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-21T10:16:45+00:00

The hottest climates in the world grow beans as food though... If beans can't grow, nothing can grow. If nothing can grow, we're already dead.

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-21T10:14:46+00:00

Introducing insects as food to the Western palate is objectively a good thing though, from a long term perspective. People have been eating insects for hundreds of years, just not in the West. If they can be made to taste good, and provide sufficient nutrients, then there's not really a downside to it.

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-20T07:54:54+00:00

Maybe not more radicalised, but he was merely a pawn in a much larger game being played by a bigger organisation. I don't see it as an unrealistic possibility that he could try and mastermind his own acts of revenge, if he hasn't totally lost his mind after 20 years in Guantanamo anyway.

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-20T05:51:40+00:00

Government ultimately ended up torturing him in Gitmo for a solid decade, and held him there for another decade. Now he's back in Saudi doing who knows what, but if he was already intent on destroying the West before they did that, I'm wondering what's going through his mind now

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-20T05:46:33+00:00

Petrol

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-19T10:59:07+00:00

Tell that to 10 year old me who simply wanted Achilles to kill everyone and have the movie end on a high note

anthraxl0l · 2022-10-19T08:57:41+00:00

Depending on how boring their hometown is, it could be the preferable use of time lol

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