My current language learning experiment

So, I’ve recently stopped doing my whole “do five sessions for ten different languages on DuoLingo” thing for a bit now. Not just because I was only really able to get six or eight done in a day — but because I’ve noticed that [language]pod101 website being a thing.

Now, I’m broke af. So I’ve noticed yes they have a free version… but the pay version of that website seems to be what you’d want to be grabbing when you do stuff on there.

That being said — from what it looks like, they seem to throw a _lot_ of stuff at you — and it does seem overwhelming. So, I have to wonder: how many people are overwhelmed by that stuff?

Now, I suck at learning new languages. The act of learning a new language is itself its own skill on top of the skill of knowing the new language. I am working on improving my ability to learn a language to help aid with learning languages.

As my goal, ultimately, is to know _all_ of the languages. I noticed the biggest badasses in movies usually are polyglots. This is something I’ve noticed since I was a child and would not stop shutting up about how in Latin there is no J, so Jehovah was spelled with an I. It would have actually been spelled with a Y… but well, that mess up gives away one of the biggest video games that had me totally on the polyglot thing.

Oh right… I was playing Indiana Jones: Last Crusade: Graphical Adventure_years_ before I saw the movie… and with that I’d love to say I’m selling these fine leather jackets. x3

The thing is… where I am, I do not know if I’d be able to easily tell if Intuitive Language Pod 101 — or whatever it is called is actually hot or not. I’d just not be able to properly tell one way or another due to where I am at.

So, I figured, since I am Canadian (or at least my human husk appears to be… they must never expect anything else… good thing nobody reads inside parenthesis) I’d try the French course on Intuitive Language 101. However, before doing that, I figured I’d power through the Duo Lingo French Tree. Just to make certain I know enough of the basics of French that I could injure myself. Some might say you cannot injure yourself with language — but those people have never known any French Canadians.

The plan right now, is to work through the French for English speakers with 10 sessions working on advancing my position on the tree — and 10 sessions working on cascading the tree. Currently I’m working on getting my 2lvl Crown tree… so the first ten sessions will be towards getting more 2lvl Crowns.

Cascading is a DuoLingo type jargon that is hard to explain without showing an example of a Cascaded tree — so if you assume it involves me hailing Satan ten times, that is completely okay. In face, if you don’t understand a jargon, I’m completely okay with you assuming I just mean “hail Satan” for a bit.

Then once I’ve completed a 3lvl crown tree on French for English speakers, I’ll work on plowing through the “Reverse Tree” — which is more DuoLingo Jargon. Which beyond referring to my reverence for the dark lords and dark ladies and dark enbies — it mostly just means “take the two languages in the current tree and swap them. So French for English Speakers Reverse Tree would be English for French Speakers”

Then once I get the English for French Speakers tree up to the 3lvl Crown, I will then jump in and get premium for the French Course on Intuitive Language Pod 101. I’ll prolly calling myself a Pod Person for a little bit, until I get bored of the joke.

Oh while doing the reverse tree, I will also be doing five timed practices on French for English speakers to try to get the Strength score up on the French tree. As yes… I do make use of DuoMe.

After starting Intuitive Language Pod People I will go back to my usual nonsense of five sessions on ten different languages on DuoLingo — as ultimately, I want to have all the flags next to my name in the forums, as I like to imagine that derails discussions to some level. While my retention doing it that way is still almost as shitty as your waifu, it does serve to give me the basic tools to move into the “serious language learn” mode I am currently doing with French… and well, after I see how Intuitive Pod People works with French — I’ll prolly also start doing stuff with the other courses they offer.

That being said, I have slowed down with language learning — for various excuses that I feel the urge to list — but I’m also too lazy to actually list. Also… kind of embarrassed to list them.

Though I have noticed that working on learning languages has made it so my migraines are not as bad. Like migraines that would have me knocked out for weeks, now have me out for maybe a day or so. Which — is a weird thing for me to notice with working on my goal of being a polyglot.

But then… I’ve not known too many polyglots that deal with decent sized migraines.

Also… no, I do not have any academic studies linking working on learning many different languages with the effects on migraine suffering… because uh… that would mean somebody actually did a study to check that out. I admit it sounds really really out there, fellow human creature.

Right now, it looks like my 2lvl crown is going to take a month and a half at the current rate I am planning to work at. Over all, if I keep powering through it, I should be ready to look at Intuitive Pod People’s course-ware by about August — roughly? For some reason my head is telling me it will be June — which I hate how my future memory is accurate as it tends to be.

It is like remembering a song you heard a month ago — or a movie you watched a year ago… and how you can kind of remember what the next note or scene will be… but like for the future. Honestly, future memory is more disorientating than it is helpful.

But hey — it does let me know that I do make progress with some stuff.

Oh right… this course on my plan for tackling Intuitive Pod People so that I can not be completely unable to judge a course took a really weird turn.

Oh right… I also have to work on doing more Language Learning courses with my GitHub, more CodinGame nonsense and more Skillshare silliness. Gosh… as… it will come together… I was to say 2023… but… 2021 will have a roadbump of sorts. See what I mean about having this really shitty ass memory of singing along to a song I don’t really know to well, but find familiar? This is my head all the time — and it is super awkward and disorientating.