Let’s get into my language studies!
Road to polyglot
Where do I start? In some ways I consider myself a polyglot, but I am also very much aware of all the work that still must be done to get better at the languages I already speak. I got reminded of just that when I went on a business trip to Germany last March. My knowledge in the language has gotten broader, but at the same time I did find out what I lack.
Timing was also very sensitive when it comes down to all the languages I am studying this year. The year started with settling in a new house after the biggest move I have ever undertaken. In the past when I moved house, it was never with more than just a couple of suitcases. This time around I moved together with my mom from a very big house on the outskirts to the centre of a completely new village in a much smaller house. On top of that I started a new freelance job at the same time. I am honestly surprised how well I managed.
My focus for the first three months of the year was to just do whatever was possible. For me it was more important to settle in and also do some fun stuff. Like travelling and going to concerts.
The second quarter of the year I had high hopes, but it didn’t come fully to fruition the way I had hoped. So let’s get into that!
German – B2
My hope was to get to advanced B1 level with my speech and as of right now I think I am there. The test will be very soon when I am travelling to Germany for my holiday. But I have been practicing my speech and conversations a lot. Almost daily. My accent is still closer to Austrian than German, but lucky for me I will be spending most of my vacation in Bavaria anyway, so I will get by with “Servus!”. Also, I am perfectly fine with my speech sounding closer to Austrian, since that’s where I lived last and I wear the accent as my proudest souvenir.
Korean – Level 4
Unfortunately I am still at level 2 just like last quarter. My attention wasn’t where I had hoped it would be. It was frustrating, on the other hand I knew there was no way for me to manage more language classes. So what I did was shadowing where it was possible and when I did have more time in my schedule I did take some classes, only just not as much as I had hoped. Levelling up to level 4 before the end of the year is going to be a challenge, but I will see where life will take me.
After I come back from Germany, Korean will probably take another backseat so I won’t lose momentum with my German. Especially since getting my German to B2 has priority. However, the plan now is to finish level 2 by the end of summer and start autumn with level 3. That should be manageable.
French – B1
At first I was like: did I do anything with this language? But then I remember I actually read quite a few articles in French since I wasn’t able to do so in any other language. I was looking into some very specific history of Paris and was blown away by a niche topic that was only available to read in French. I had so much fun reading and discovering once again how much Dutch and French are alike, makes sense, cause for everyone who doesn’t know, the French language has some deep roots in the Netherlands. We even used to have French schools! So a lot of our vocabulary is borrowed from the French language or has other French origins. Even when I read C1 level texts I could figure out most words with Dutch as my mother tongue.
Besides, I also have been watching level videos to get used to hearing French. That’s very important to me since I am planning on travelling to France later this year. Starting from August I want to plan my studies around everything I might need during that trip.
How is it going with your language studies?
Love,
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