This morning I finished German with Ease lesson 90. They are certainly taking me more than a day, but I have picked up the pace since starting a blog, so it's working as a motivation/to keep me honest. Part of how I've done this is through better focus. For example, I felt I got a little bored sometimes listening to the same lesson, so I would have a play list of the current active and passive lessons, and the one before of each as well. Also I'd sometimes have the DW news downloaded on there too. This worked a bit to prevent boredom, but I lost focus, and the ability to repeat the lesson several times to get it into my head and then be able to repeat it. I had the new lessons in the playlist a few times so they played more often (and then I set it to play randomly) but I think it's a little distracting. The purpose is simple - repeat the lesson until you know it cold - you need to be able to repeat the german version at the original speed and know the english meaning really well.
Focus and repetition. Do I still get bored? Absolutely I do. So when I get sick of repeating the lesson, I would just switch over to listening to some german music (Rammstein or, lately, Unheilig) and sing along with them.
Now I need to move on to complete the active lesson which I'm hoping to find time for today. I've already managed to add the new sentences to my Anki deck. Now I just need to do some listening and then get the german version down cold.
It's all about stolen moments. I have a fulltime job, 2 hours of commuting every day, a house that needs lots of work, a busy social calendar, and a 4 month old daughter. There's plenty to do always. I even have to occasionally post on my blog to keep myself motivated and honest!
But no excuses - commuting is a chance to listen to the german program on SBS radio, or german music, or german lessons. While I'm waiting for my code to compile (I'm a programmer), or for my food to heat up in the microwave, etc, I might get in a few more words/phrases from my Anki deck. This is how it has to be. I no longer live in germany, speaking only german at home is not an option, watching inordinate amounts of german TV shows or movies is not going to happen (my wife usually has the remote control anyway!), and I can't exclude my english speaking friends, family and life just for this purpose. It will be hard enough to try to meet up with german people to make new friends - I often don't get a chance to meet my english-speaking friends as much as I would like. I'll do it, but all I'm saying is, for most people, this is the way language learning has to be - whenever the time can be stolen for it.
I only got to finish lesson 90 and update my Anki deck this morning because my daughter is asleep and my wife is out. Now I've got to get back to doing my taxes so that hopefully I'll be able to find some time in the afternoon to focus on completing lesson 41 "actively" :-)
Of course, I'll be listening to something german the whole time, but real focus will have to be in those stolen moments...
Bis später!
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