3 Updates: Learning Alphabets | 2023 | Upcoming Q&A for advanced learners
This newsletter will contain 3 different topics, because I don’t want to overwhelm you by sending a separate newsletter for each…
1. Upcoming Q&A for Advanced Learners
I will offer a Q&A for Advanced Learners at the virtual New Year New Language summit, which takes place from January 10-14. Register here. Participation is free - but if you pay, you can also access the talks from 2022 and 2023 (and I’ll get a small commission).
Each year, the New Year New Language summit focuses on a different language level: 2022 was about how to begin learning a language or tips for beginners, 2023 was about the intermediate stage, and this year will be full of tips for making progress in your advanced languages.
If you cannot attend, or need more personal advice, I’m still accepting new mentoring clients for 2024 here.
2. My 2023 in Numbers
I am a big fan of quantifying language learning (using LangTracker), and here’s why:
if I make a lot of progress, I can see what was necessary to do so
if I’m frustrated with my lack of progress, my LangTracker usually shows that I barely spent any time on the language, and then I’m less upset
At the beginning of 2023, I set my goals as: 150 hours of Modern Greek, 150 hours of Serbo-Croatian, 20 hours each of Chinese and Spanish, 10 hours each of various other languages that I don’t want to lose, and I also wanted to hit an overall goal of 600 hours (in 2022 I did 627 hours, in 2021 587 hours, and in previous years between 400-500 hours) not including time spent using German, English or Esperanto, in which I consider my language level “maxxed out”.
How did I do?
I lived in Greece for 3 months and did a lot of work emails and work conversations in Greek, winding up with a whopping 352 hours of Modern Greek! On the down side, I fell short of my overall goal, managing only 553 hours, and I only spent 88 hours on Serbo-Croatian (lack of motivation rather than lack of opportunities) and 17 hours on Chinese. The only other language in which I exceeded my goals was Spanish - 51 hours because it felt right to become more fluent in Spanish before traveling to the USA this September.
For 2024, I will do a lot of Greek again because I plan to pass the official C2 exam, and I hope to actually invest time in Serbo-Croatian and Chinese in the second half of the year. I want to become fully comfortable in one new language besides Greek.
3. How to Learn New Alphabets Through Games
The Polyglot Gathering has just published a recording of my 2022 talk on how to learn foreign alphabets (or even Chinese characters) through games. Enjoy!
No time to watch? I’m including a written summary of the talk below, as a bonus for my supporters.
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