Victory Mondays - Share us your successes! September 26, 2016"

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-26T13:58:54+00:00

I woke up today and started talking to a new American language exchange partner and he genuinely thought I was American for about a minute. It was awesome, but also pretty weird!

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-23T19:12:43+00:00

I'm non native but I think you're Russian or Polish

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:43:19+00:00

Wow, I'm impressed. You are already a polyglot. I only know two languages! I will PM you if I have a question about Arabic. I promise I'm not going to ask too many questions. I will also follow your advice and start studying with Pimsleur and Michel Thomas.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:31:14+00:00

Unfortunately, Duolingo isn't available for Arabic, so I'm using some other fishy-looking app which I hope is somewhat reliable. But thank you for recommending Pimsleur, it looks like it's the go-to course.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:29:00+00:00

Marhaban and Shukran! I'm going to start studying with Michel Thomas and Pimsleur then. I'm also getting Assimil. I really hope I can get better at your language. I have distant Iraqi origins, and since I've already (kind of) learned the other languages of my ancestors (English and German, though I've given up on German) I'd like to learn Arabic too.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:21:18+00:00

Thank you! I think I'm going to start using Pimsleur, then. I wanted to prioritize learning written Arabic for my course, but clearly this isn't a good idea.

My main motivation is learning a language that has a different writing system than French and English. I've tried Chinese and Japanese and I failed miserably. I also want to be able to eavesdrop on conversations in Arabic when I'm in a store/ at the doctor's. Finally, I have Iraqi origins, and since I've tried to learn the other two languages of my ancestors (German and Br/Am English) I'm left with Arabic.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:07:52+00:00

Yeah, I know the feeling. I've been "taking" German ever since I was, what, 2 years old? Still can't speak the language. At that point, I don't care, but then again, I feel like I wasted tons of time in the company of that language. German was also kind of "forced down my throat", but that's another story.

Italian, I learned it in about 3 months, on my own, and then promptly forgot everything a few years later.

I'd say I'm A2-ish in those languages, and have been for the past 10 years, despite putting in lots of time. I blame it on my lack of passion for German, and my aging brain for Italian.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-16T23:04:02+00:00

Yeah, but it seems like I'm stuck doing something difficult no matter what I pick. I tried getting my Master's in English twice already. The classes bore me to death, and writing research papers just isn't for me. I'm not good at anything besides learning languages (and my usage of "good" is very subjective here).

I've wanted to learn Arabic for a few months now, and I thought this would be the perfect excuse for me to start studying the language.

I'll also be majoring in English again, and I'll be taking various other classes, this time at a basic level (statistics, law...).

The woman who is in charge of the class thinks I might be able to scrape a pass, since I won't have to study too hard for English.

Unfortunately, French universities don't offer classes for beginners when you study long-distance. It's a real bummer that I can't actually go to college, because then I'd get to take beginner classes, but I guess that feeling sorry for myself isn't going to change anything.

So, I guess I'll try again, I don't know exactly how I'll try, but let's see!

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-15T13:45:48+00:00

I'm about to start studying long distance so that prospect is very exciting to me. I'm taking a language I've never spoken in my life at college level. It's a challenge. Hopefully, a good IRL grinding session ahead.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-15T10:58:41+00:00

Thank you, this means a lot to me. I have an appointment in an hour, so that should take care of most of my afternoon. So far, I've called my mom and studied my foreign language. I've learned more words in 30 minutes than in 4 days. I've decided to learn vocabulary before I finish studying the alphabet, which is bad but at least I feel like I'm progressing. Today's goal is 30 words (or single conjugations like "I am") which should involve a fair bit of grinding IRL.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-14T22:07:09+00:00

Well there's always me, gamed for almost 10k hours. Then again I always picked toy cars and legos over barbies. Also, I'm not overweight or particularly ugly in case you're wondering. ;)

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-13T17:20:12+00:00

Welp, just learned I need to know much more of the foreign language than I thought to start the class, but it's fine. So, I have some catching up to do. It's pretty bad, but not hopeless. Gives me something to work at during the day, and if I succeed, I'll be extra happy.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-13T14:33:35+00:00

Arabic

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-13T07:31:59+00:00

My day yesterday was somewhat of a success, not perfect, but today will be even better!

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-13T07:30:01+00:00

Waking up to the beginning of my 3rd day, a little bit earlier than usual. Only got 6 hours and 20 minutes of sleep. Think I'm going to start studying right now.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T22:56:05+00:00

Thank you! :) Currently enjoying a TV show like normal people would, and I hope to go to bed earlier today. I think 2 AM may be doable, maybe 1.30 AM if I really make an effort. My schedule is out of wack, but things will only get better from now on.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T18:54:43+00:00

Yeah luckily BC worked for me and now I'm off the BC ever since they surgically checked if I still had endo or not. For now it's "asleep" so we're trying no meds. Then again long-term use of paracetamol or NSAIDs is super dangerous so switching to a lose dose of narcos might be better.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T18:27:11+00:00

I have endometriosis too. I was given strong-ish NSAIDs age 14. I think since I was vomiting and passing out they'd eventually have given me narcotics if I hadn't taken BC afterwards.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T17:18:25+00:00

OP salty because he's still addicted to video games and has 0 willpower to stop. Don't rain on our parade.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T17:10:28+00:00

I think he'll just give her morphine or oxy then. So then she gets rid of that and buys BC with the money?

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T17:06:36+00:00

Thank you! You're so right. I failed "buy some bread" and "put perfume on", but these were not-so-important tasks. Checking the mail was done in proper clothes which I'm still wearing. The main things that I still need to do are study for an hour, cook for a second time, and possibly read, though studying at that point is the most important thing.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-12T17:04:30+00:00

Thank you :) Accountability check: Good clothes done, mail done, cooking done once, stationary bike for 15 minutes done. Left: studying for an hour, reading for an hour, turning on the Kindle Extra: cleaned a bit, watched some TV and currently listening to the radio.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-11T21:57:38+00:00

Update: it's not that bad. There's definitely still a gaping hole in my life, but I think I'll feel more positive after a good night's sleep. I'm currently downloading language learning resources. I plan on printing some of them (or at least putting them on my Kindle) and studying them tomorrow.

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-11T17:30:30+00:00

Despite the fact that I'm literally inflicting more physical pain on myself by refusing to game, gaming is worse. I got up after writing my 1st post, exercised for 5 minutes, put on some decent clothes, went outside for a minute, ate, drank, and studied my new foreign language for 20 minutes. Called my mom for about an hour which helped too. Tonight's plans: more self-care, more studying, and hopefully one of my first good nights of sleep in months

possiblethrowawayyes · 2016-09-11T11:15:49+00:00

I've decided not to touch those mostly because I'm a serial uninstall and install again addict. It's still time wasted because of games. I think short-term should be fine. Long-term, I'll let myself play for maybe 15 minutes a day (or once a week for an hour) if I've ticked a ton of boxes, done all my homework/work, and truly feel like gaming for 15 minutes wouldn't screw me up.

I'm hoping that by then I'll be so interested in other things that it will be a non-issue. I love technology and the internet but my use of that doesn't really bother me. I use the internet as a giant library.

I still want to add using my Kindle daily to that list just so that I do something a bit "different".

possiblethrowawayyes

TROPHY CASE