Week 2 is here and I feel a bit more confident than the last post!
In the previous post, I wanted to find a way to understand German grammar and how it was implemented in a basic sentence. After some research, I can happily say I found a site that answered most of my questions!
German with Laura is primarily a site to buy their German course (similar to Rosetta Stone and Busuu). However, the website has some fantastic articles on various grammar topics. It takes a grammar topic (ex. nouns) and explains how it is used in an English sentence. It then compares the English sentence to a German sentence and explains the similarities and differences between the two sentences. It does a great job at breaking down each case, provides a good amount of examples and exceptions to each rule. Some of the articles also give good study tips and advice on how to tackle the subject. This site helped clear a lot of confusion I had when I started Duolingo last week. Now when I use Duolingo, I can use some of the strategies and pattern recognition from German with Laura to clear the units without losing a lot of hearts.
I found another annoyance with Duolingo. I wanted to look back at some of the vocabulary and sentences I practiced in Duolingo and compare it to the general rules on gender groups (whether the word is masculine, feminine or neuter) from German with Laura. It turns out there are guidebooks as to what kind of material you’ll be learning in the unit, but there is no set list. If you want to find a word, you have to go through some of the review units or redo a previous lesson, which in my opinion wastes time. Perhaps one of the reasons to not include it is to, again, emphasize the game element of the app. I will continue to use Duolingo as it is a good practice tool, but I will search for another alternative that allows me to access vocabulary lists to look at and practice with.
The websites I use most frequently nowadays include Google, UR courses, Youtube and Spotify. To a lesser degree, I also use Facebook and Instagram. Google and UR courses are mostly in line with my academic pursuits in education. I’ve used Youtube as a way to take breaks from school work. To ensure I don’t go down a rabbit hole, I keep my watch history and search history options off. I use Spotify to provide subtle background music when I’m working on assignments. I only have Facebook and Instagram on my PC and check it once or twice a day for a couple minutes. I find if I have those apps on my phone, I end up doom-scrolling for an hour or two, switching between apps as needed. This in turn caused my productivity to decrease drastically. I’ll also use Steam once a week to play games with online friends
No recommended distractions here
I’m fairly old-fashioned when it comes to organization and productivity. The only digital tool I use is Google drive, as it is a convenient storage medium that is easily accessible whenever I use my chromebook or phone. Whenever I write papers on Google Drive, it points out grammatical/spelling errors and it automatically and frequently saves whatever I’ve done.
I have physical paper calendars sticky-tacked to a wall, which have all important deadlines and events coming up, both academic and personal. I create study schedules with a big portable whiteboard and try my best to follow the schedule. I physically write important notes/flashcards when studying for a test and I use my whiteboard to organize my thoughts and ideas for papers and projects. If I feel gross from staring at a screen for a long while, I’ll purposely go for a walk or read a book to readjust.
I believe these methods help create a healthier boundary between technology and myself. My goal is to use technology only as needed. I personally think society has become too reliant on technology. Whilst technology has its benefits, I think it has more drawbacks, especially if it malfunctions or dies at some point. I ask myself “Am I able to do this task if technology is not available?”. If my response is negative, I try my best to find a non-technological method. The reason I do this is to ensure that I have personal growth independent of technology. My identity and abilities are not tied to technology.
Establishing goals is the first step to balance technology and personal wellbeing. Recognizing what is distracting you and how you deal with it are the next crucial steps towards balance. What follows afterwards is maintaining discipline to reach your established goal. Once some time has passed, the final step is re-evaluation. Are you more productive with your academic work whilst having a healthy mental state? Do you need to have a stricter regiment or can you have a more relaxed regiment? Are there any loop-holes you have to address? When you understand that achieving balance will take time and not be instantaneous, you will excel.
I love languages, real and fictional. I find it fascinating to see how different words and sentence structures can be between languages. I also loved the twists and surprises a language can carry in terms of similarities as well. Modern day English is a stew of many different languages.
When I was in grade 6, I decided to go into french-immersion. I recognized it was a skill that would be good to have in the future, for occupational and traveling opportunities. I stayed with the french immersion program till I graduated highschool and enjoyed it thoroughly. There were some challenges to overcome, but I was able to complete them with ease.
When I came to the UofR, I discovered they offered Latin and Greek courses. I took the Latin course because latin is the root of the 5 romantic languages (french, italian, spanish, portuguese and romanian). If I knew some of the Latin vocabulary and how it was structured, I could use it as a baseline for learning other romantic languages in the future. I completed the course with ease, thanks to my French immersion background.
One of my dreams I’d like to fulfill one day is to travel Europe. I’d like to visit countries like England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I’d include more countries, but it’d be pretty expensive for one trip. I’d love to spend a week or so in each country to see the history, to eat unique dishes, and to experience the culture. I believe I have enough French/Latin to do moderately well for half of the countries I’ve listed. The other half is another story because their languages are not based on romantic languages, but rather the germanic languages. The Germanic languages are another branch on the tree of languages with its own vocabulary, verbs and sentence structure that generally have no relation with the Romantic languages.
I believe learning German will prove to be a bit of a challenge considering I don’t know a lot about it. I know a couple of words and some of their pronunciations because of movies and world war 2 documentaries. I have two advantages going into this learning project. One is that I have a general idea as to how languages work and where to begin, thanks in part to learning French and Latin. The other advantage going into this is my knowledge of English. According to the tree of languages, the English language is a branch off of West Germanic, the same branch as the modern German language.
For the first week, I wanted to learn some basic verbs (to be and to have), adjectives (hot, cold, loud, quiet, beautiful, etc…) and nouns (family and food). I decided I would try Duolingo, as it is one of the more popular apps to learn a new language and I know some friends who use it. After using Duolingo for a week, my conclusion for now is that it is an alright app for beginners.
I was able to get through 3 units in the Rookie section. I think it is a good tool to practice new vocabulary. I’ve been able to go through some of the units fairly quickly because of the combination of pattern recognition and repetitive practice. The sentence structure portion has been fairly simple, which is understandable given what level I’m starting from. However, I’m disappointed the app has only had me learn partial conjugations for 2 verbs so far – to be and to come. I was expecting to know the full conjugations for those verbs and learn the verbs ‘to have’ and ‘to do’.
Duolingo is one of the free mobile apps to learn a language, but it is also plagued with 30 second long ads after each lesson. The other drawback is that you have a limited amount of hearts/attempts to complete the lessons. If you run out of hearts, you can gain one every 5 hours. This isn’t a great way to learn a language as it punishes you for making mistakes, which is inevitable when learning something new. By the time you get back into the lesson, you may have forgotten what your mistake was, and then get punished again. Duolingo provides opportunities to regain hearts by practicing, spending diamonds (money) or subscribing to their Super plan. I was tempted to try their Super plan to see how much more efficient the course is. However, I recently tried the PC version of Duolingo and because I have an ad blocker on, I don’t see those pesky ads! The heart system is still lingering in the background, so I have to be careful.
For the next 3 weeks, I want to expand my knowledge in 3 areas. Each week will focus on a different verb tense (present, future and past). I want to continue growing my vocabulary and will focus on numbers, colors, emotions, vehicles and more. Finally, I want to understand how to properly compose a sentence or question. This last point may seem odd, considering that Duolingo content seems to imply an English-like sentence structure (from an English speaker’s perspective…technically it’s the other way around). However, the French language places their adjectives and adverbs a bit different from English. With Latin, there is an order to follow where to put nouns, adjectives, adverbs first and verbs at the end of a basic sentence.
I may be a bit ambitious with what I’m wanting to do, but I hope for the best!
I am currently a first-year BEAD student, majoring in Biology and minoring in General sciences towards secondary education. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Psychology at the UofR in 2019.
I’m originally from Chilliwack, a city in the far away lands of BC, the land of rain and hipster culture. Fun fact, there was a band named after it! Hiking is one of my go-to activities in the summer, climbing up mountains and discovering the beauty of nature. When hiking isn’t an option, I love reading and watching movies of all genres. I’m also an avid piano player and a trumpet enthusiast. Exploring new genres of music to listen to is one of other hobbies I do on the side, but jazz and post-metal/rock are my favorites.
Josh is gazing over the Grand Canyon
Throughout elementary and middle school, most of my teachers used overhead projectors and whiteboards to convey their notes. I remember copying the notes and finding it useful because I found I could remember details easier. Most assignments and projects were done in the computer lab, using Microsoft Word or Powerpoint. Some teachers used modern projectors for movies and youtube clips. My French teacher used the modern projector to show websites to students that would help them practice/improve their verb conjugations or grammar structure.
I have more experience with education technology in highschool. Most of my teachers now used modern projectors to show their notes on powerpoint presentations. I remember my math teacher using a SMART board to convey mathematical formulas and graphs. It was cool at the time because the teacher didn’t necessarily have to erase a number, but could drag it to a graph. He also could flip the graph around or angle it to fit the equation he was demonstrating. It was time efficient and was a good visual tool for me. My science class used an app called Socrative, which created quick quizzes and polls online. The overall results were projected on a screen for the whole class to see, but the submitted answers were anonymous. This created a freedom to participate in the quiz/poll with your classmates without having them judge you on a wrong answer.
Let me tell you right off the bat….I am not a blogger or journal person. I’m that guy that loves to talk to people face to face, most of whom I have at least an acquaintance level relationship with. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d put all my thoughts and opinions on a blog and share them with who knows how many people who I won’t have a chance to interact with in person. But hey, welcome to the modern age!
I’m not a blogger because of one of my personal philosophies with posting personal pieces on social media as a whole. The idea is that when posting personal or conversational material, there is a layer of interpretation the reader must decipher. How the reader deciphers the material is going to create a mental image of who the author is, similar to how they interpret a painting. You may wonder how there can be interpretation. Think of a blog as an extended text message. Each text serves a purpose, ranging from a statement to a reaction. But how it was written can alter your perception of the text’s purpose. Afterall, when you text, you most likely don’t include descriptors like adjectives and adverbs. A text from an acquaintance could be perceived as sarcastic or genuine, depending how you interpret it and how well you know them. In most cases, this is not an issue when talking face-to-face because you can listen to the tone of their voice and read their facial/body language.
What insight can a viewer discover about a blogger? Is the blogger being genuine with the content they’re posting? Or are they doing it to fill a prerequisite/goal? If you were to meet the blogger in real life, does it match your online perception of them? How close to the truth can you get?
